Two Drifters

Ireland2018

The County Hunter

So, about 10 days ago, probably in Belfast, Liz has this idea "why don't we make sure we visit every Irish county, both north and south of the border". Brilliant idea that would have been even better had she had it at the start of the trip. We've been a

Ireland2018

The Donegal Ring (of Fire)

Whoops, I forgot to put in Friday's 132 mile route. Here it is. Yesterday, Liz included a picture of Mount Errigal in her blog. I was driving so didn't get the opportunity. We'll head back into Glenveagh National Park. Whoops, just driven too far and no photo ops this side

Ireland2018

Going with the flow.

From the campsite we can see the ancient 6th century hillfort The Grianan Of Aileach, one of Ireland's ancient capitals and thought by many to be the main old capital of the island. Not a good picture as it's about 4 miles away but you can probably just about make

Ireland2018

No surrender

Last night I read up on Derry's history, the siege, the unrest, Bloody Sunday. Probably if any town in Ireland encapsulates the chequered history that has led to 21st century Northern Ireland then Derry is it. Take The Troubles, for example. It is probably reasonable to say it started as

Ireland2018

You put your left leg in ...

A lovely sunny day, despite a still quite bitter wind. This is a lovely campsite. Facilities are new but what really sets it apart are the little touches. There's a small community room, books and toys and even a travel cot. Perfect for families when rain makes a tent or

Ireland2018

Checkpoint Ciaran

No pictures today, a moving-on day. Another peaceful night in Bushmills park and ride car park. It's a nice site and I hope motorhomers respect it so it remains available. Shopping in town. Call in on the single charity shop (Liz buys a nice cotton damask tablecloth), the local butchers

Ireland2018

The Game Of Stones

A quiet night in Bushmills park and ride. Now, it's not a park and ride like UK cities, to keep traffic out of Bushmills village, it's a park and ride to serve the nearby NT visitor's centre at the Giant's Causeway. Since the bus is free it seems crazy to

Ireland2018

Diggers not dippers

Woah, it's 10am when we wake up. I knew staying in the pub until almost midnight might not be a good idea. We stayed on for two reasons. Primarily to see if any real craic broke out and secondly to make sure the dreaded Lough Neagh flies were well abed.

Ireland2018

The Birds (a technical aside)

Is scary, really scary. We're having a quiet coffee in Cookstown this morning and Liz casually mentions "the birdcam seems to be down"!! Panic stations, panic stations! All those little Tintinhull children deprived of the ending to the story of the hatchlings they've been watching for the last couple of

Ireland2018

Oh, No, don't start de car-nee-val

Today's blog entry is dedicated to Deborah, a lovely weaver in Lisburn. There's a lot a places we'd like to see today but too many to fit into one day. Sadly the Ulster Folk and Transport Museum is one of those that must be missed, despite passing it en route

Ireland2018

Belfast cuisine

It's another wet and very windy day, it really doesn't help us explore Belfast but at least we've done the stuff we really wanted. First port of call is the weekend market, only open until mid-afternoon. It's a mix of food market, craft stalls, clothes stalls, and antique tat. Lots

Ireland2018

In Search of Thomas Walter King

My great-grandad Thomas Walter King was one of two master-at-arms on the ship and perished in that fateful night in April 2012. God Rest His and all the other Souls Belfast has not just a Titanic exhibition but The Titanic Experience. Being an Experience and a multi-media interactive experience at

Ireland2018

Giving peace a chance (The Troubles pt. 2)

To keep the peace, the peace lines, peace walls were erected to separate rival communities. The one along the Crumlin Road came down as recently as 2016 but many still remain and not just in Belfast. However the most famous one is the division between the Falls and the Shankhill

Ireland2018

Complex division (The Troubles pt.1)

We all saw the violence that erupted on the Belfast streets in the 70s, 80s and in into the 90s. Some may even have been touched by it closer to home as IRA bombers targeted the UK mainland. But I suspect few of us understood it. I certainly didn't. Why

Ireland2018

Dueling Bus Cos.

It's raining as we leave the campsite. The forecast is rain all day until evening. Whoopee! Still waterproofs have been donned and a brisk walk to the bus stop gets us there just as the bus hoves into view. 30 mins or so later we jump off in central Belfast,

Ireland2018

Kathy's Song

I hear the drizzle of the rain Like a memory it falls Soft and warm continuing Tapping on my roof and walls I left off yesterday saying how we'd really just paid for the view at Carlingford Aire. What view? We awake this morning to what we believe is referred

Ireland2018

Spirals & Diamonds

Let's continue yesterday's themes (the ones in the main blog entry not the codicil) - "bucket list" and "chance conversations" Bucket list first. What do you make of this? It was carved 5,000 years ago, about 3,000 BCE. No big deal. That would be a full 1,000

Ireland2018

Yesterday, once more

No, not The Carpenters, I just didn't finish off yesterday's adventures. We decided to overnight at a pub. The Irish Stopovers app suggested The Sally Garden pub, shop and deli just a couple of miles north of Slane (and its famous castle) was a van friendly venue. So we trundle

Ireland2018

So many titles to choose from!

What title to choose for today's blog: "Sacred Flamingos", "Another Bucket List Tick", "Mel Gibson and the Elder Tree", or "Chance Conversations"? Let's start with the last first. In the local bar next to the Lough Ree campsite last night, during lulls in the band's performance we struck up conversation

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Luain's bar

I remember now why I chose Athlone as our inland destination this part of the trip - Sean's Bar, the oldest in Ireland and possibly the oldest in the world. A few years back renovation of the pub turned up a wattle wall with coins, trading tokens dated at 900AD.

Ireland2018

Standard Bog

Time for moving on and saying "Farewell" to Dublin. It takes us about 2 hours from getting out of bed to leaving the site. Since that includes breakfast, morning toilette, showers, readying the van, cooking tonight's dinner, etc. I think that's pretty good. The shower was unusual, on site here

Ireland2018

The Lily Of The West

This late blossoming spring is slowing us down. Once again there is a bitter wind and it is raining as we eventually drag ourselves out of bed at 9:30. The forecast has the weather changing fortunately, but it does mean we've not explored Dublin as fully as we might.

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Technicals (and Weaving)

Technicals indeed this morning. Liz decided that she would like commenting to be available on her blog. To do this in Ghost required her signing up for a Disqus account and registering her website. Simple enough, even on the phone. But it also required a file being edited on the

Ireland2018

Drowned

It may be May and the may may be out but it's still way to cold to cast a clout. We plan to be in town until latish tonight and being inclement we have already decided to make it a late start. So another van morning. First port of call

Ireland2018

The Workman's Friend

Dublin today, but a deliberate short day. The forecast is poor and it is chilly enough without strong winds and driving rain. Still it was a mad panic rushing for the 11:30am bus and then a 15 minute wait - in that aforementioned driving rain and howling wind, of