I hope you enjoy viewing these 30 photos from May 19-23, 2018 from our vacation in Ireland. Optionally click on a photo for a larger view and slide show.
This is the third of three posts of this vacation. The title of the first post is May 9-11, 2018 Ireland Vacation.
During these 5 last days of our tour in Ireland, we stayed in the Three Towers Eco House and Organic Kitchen south of Loughrea while exploring Counties Clare, Galway, and Limerick.
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Andrew St. Ledger of the Woodland League
led us on a tour in Raheen Woods, one of the
last few acres of that once thrived in the
region. |
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Andrew introduced us to the Brian Boru Oak, at 1,000 years old,
one of the oldest trees in Ireland. |
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The girth of this oak below the first branches is 26 feet. Thousand of acorns from this revered tree have been planted throughout the country. |
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This photos is the first in a series along a trail over the fractured limestone of the Burren National Park to the 7th century spiritual hermitage of St. Colman. Near the end of this easy ramble, we visited a small sustainable hillside farm. |
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Dense growth of wild garlic in low, wet area along the trail at the base of Eagles Rock. |
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In 590 A.D., Colman mac Duagh left a monastery on the coast to commune alone
with his Creator on a forested hillside . The photo above shows the entrance to the small cave, 5 feet wide by 15 feet long, where he lived for 7 years. |
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St. Colman's hermitage includes a holy well above and ruins of a small chapel below. |
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The Poulnabrone Portal Tomb is located in an open field 10
miles away from the secluded St. Colman's Hermitage. The
Poulnabrone is a popular tourist attraction, one of the most
photographed megalithic monuments in Ireland. Portal tombs
have two vertical portal stones and an end stone supporting a
sloping capstone. These stones were probably originally
covered by an earthen mound with the area below the capstone
forming an 8 foot by 4 foot tomb chamber.
Archaeologists found the remains of 21 people in the main
tomb chamber. This tomb was used for a period of 600 years
between 5,200 and 5,800 years ago.
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The crevasses in the limestone pavement
are called GRIKES which form between
the blocks of limestone called CLINTS.
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Early Purple Orchid |
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Bluebell flowers |
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The commonly seen Gorse shrubs have
beautiful yellow flowers and enormous
thorns!
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The cool herb is my namesake: Stinky Bob |
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We visited the very popular Peppers Bar and Restaurant to
swill beer and listen to a live performance of Irish music. |
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Oonagh O'Dwyer provided information on
edible marine plants and organized a wild
and locally grown scrumptious lunch buffet. |
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This was my favorite limestone of the
Burren, on the Lough Avalla Eco Farm. |
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View of a portion of a round stone fort, still on the Farm. |
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Kudos to Lorna, an excellent herbalist. |
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On our last day with the tour, we stopped at Glenstal Abbey
for a guided tour of the gardens by Father Anthony. |
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This is a new-to-me tree, a Monkey Tree. |
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The exotic plant Gunnera can be found in
many gardens ... it has a multitude of thorns
on its stems and leaves. |
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LCD on board the plane shows the distance flown between
Shannon, Ireland and New York. |
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Almost back to the USA! |
This is the last of the three post of our Ireland vacation.