Clare Island

Well, after Inish Turk, where we actually stayed two nights, we ferried over to Clare Island. That island is pretty also and the town seems busier and more populated. We hiked up the mountain and took lots of pictures, my feet were killing me here because we were walking on the rocky road, which is harder on my feet than the spongy turf we had been hiking on the past couple of days. The hike took about an hour and a half and while we were walking a cute little girl ran down her driveway to say hello to all the tourists. I asked her if I could take her picture and she said ok with her Irish brogue.......very cute.

When we got to the center of our hike, we had the option to go up to the lighthouse, which would add another hour and half to the hike and though my feet were blistered, I went uphill to see the lighthouse. The view was spectacular, it always is, and we sat up there on the ground to take it in.

We stopped to see a small church, which is said to be the burial ground for Grace OMalle the pirate queen of Connemara (I am told a really great book to read by the way) and inside the church, the ceiling was painted with fresco figures which Jerry explained in detail. It was very beautiful and we spent about half an hour listening to stories and looking at the artwork. If you look carefully, you will also notice that the two narrow windows in the church are shaped like a flickering candle at the top, really cool!

After the Island walk finished, we got back on the ferry and went to the mainland accross to catch our bus and three hour ride back to Abbeyglen castle were we stayed for the night (this was not included in the package but most of stayed on because we didn't want to say goodbye yet. The dutchman sang his song again(he had made a song for Jerry and sung it on the second night at Inish Turk) and it was quite good. I have it recorded, but cant upload it right now. I was put in a beautiful room with a huge tub, which I fully used before supper. The picture of the castle is the Abbeyglen, very pretty scenery.

The evening went well, we all said our goodbyes and then I turned in at around eleven thirty, so tired I dropped into bed and fell asleep quickly.