Rossan Point

The last walk we took from Oideas Gael was around the coast to Rossan Point. We were mostly looking for wildlife. Tony pointed out a stream the otters use to wash the salt water out of their fur. Sadly, none of them showed up while we were crossing the stream. Mostly what we saw were nesting sea birds and a lone seal. But we did see something on this walk that we had not seen all week. Sunshine!

I can’t believe how blue the water was and how white the wave caps were.

The walk wasn’t quite as difficult as the hike up to Glen Head on the first day.

That's Glen Head, waaay over there with the tower on top.

I really enjoyed the time I spent tramping around Gleann Colmcille. It’s going to be really hard to leave tomorrow. But, I’m not going to think about that now. Tonight, we have dinner with the Belfast Lasses and the final Ceilimhor. After this walk, I hope I can hold up for at least a dance or two!

Frustration

Thursday turned out to be a very frustrating day. The Music Man (an fear na cheoil) and I stayed out way too late on Wednesday night. (We got to bed at two am) On the way to the language class, he started feeling really bad and went back to the room. I couldn't concentrate on the lesson and walked back to Teach Gleann Dobhar at the tea break. He was feeling a little better and wanted to drive to Killybegs to get some money and find a pharmacy. 

I wanted to do at least one of the set dance classes and since it was still cloudy and very windy, I thought today would be the day. An added incentive is that the President of Ireland is at Oideas Gael this week and is in the set dance class in the afternoon. I'd like to say that I've danced in a set with her. Maybe I'll get the chance at the Ceilimhor on Friday night!

My husband said we could be back from Killybegs in a couple of hours. In my heart I knew it was going to take longer than that. It did. It took nearly three hours, which meant I missed the start of the dance class.

So, we decided to visit Tra Ban (Silver Beach) at Malin Bhig, just a few kilometers away. We had heard that there were 150+ steps down to the bottom. That's a lot of steps but it was so worth it!

 

From the car park.

 The famous steps. There might be 150+ I didn't count.

 

 Atlantic waves

 

Tomorrow is our last day, so it's language class in the morning and hillwalking in the afternoon. I'm already gearing up to say goodbye. Sniff.

Coastal Walk

In Alabama when somebody talks about a coastal walk, you know they’re going to be in Gulf Shores walking along the sugary white sands in their bathing suit. Coastal walk here in Gleann Colmcille means something quite different.

On Wednesday, the weather was cool and wet, again, especially on the heights, so Tony opted for a walk along the headlands just to the northwest of the village.

I’m sure he sighed heavily when he saw Sean and myself waiting in the parking lot with the others. Slow pokes again. Sean said it seemed to be the natural order.

This walk wasn’t anywhere near as strenuous as the first two, in the beginning, at least.

We saw sea caves.

We saw quartz outcroppings.

 

We saw rocky areas that looked like they could be on the surface of the moon.

This is our housemate, Elisabeth.

We climbed down rock faces. Well, some of us did.

We were going back by the beach, but the tide was in and we had to tromp through a farmer’s cow pasture. That was the steep part on this walk and while sheep are prolific, um, poopers, they got nothin’ on cows.

My boots stayed in the car all night. I hope they don’t charge us the extra fee for cleaning it out. 

Belfast Lasses

We’ve met some wonderful people here. After the orientation on the first night, we met three women from Belfast, Northern Ireland. This is their first time here at Oideas Gael, too. They are Helen, Michelle and Ruth. I don’t know anybody’s last name. It’s like they don’t really exist while we’re here. The Belfast Lasses, as The Music Man and I call them, are a little younger than we are and a lot of fun for me to hang out with while my husband plays in the pub sessions.

Session at Roarty's on Wednesday night.

We have explored the Church of Ireland graveyard.

The Belfast Lasses and me in the church graveyard.

We save seats for each other at the evening concerts.

Michelle and Helen at the Wednesday night concert.

Ruth at the concert.

 

We’ve talked about our children, our pets and our jobs. It's fun to see them around the village and wave hello or stop to chat in the miniscule grocery shop. Makes it almost like home.

Tomb Walk

Our second hillwalk was to a five thousand year old Neolithic tomb. The weather was cool and wet again.The climb over the hill was a long one and I lagged behind all the others just like the first day. Luckily, there is another slow walker in the group. His name is Sean and he’s a retired member of the Irish Parliament from Dublin. 

We started out at the Oideas Gael campus and took several back lanes to get to the road over the hill. It finally leveled out and then started downhill.

Once on the other side, we could see the tomb, or what’s left of it, on the other side of the road, in a bog.

Our guide, Tony, said this kind of tomb is called a court tomb. It has small antechambers and was rather large. There are spiral carved into some of the larger stones, but they are very hard to see, especially on a cloudy day. Archaeologists found burned and unburned bones inside, but can only speculate on what that means. 

 

 

Further along the walk, he pointed out a collapsed dolmen in somebody’s sheep pasture and told us about an uncollapsed dolmen that a local farmer uses for a dog kennel. Why not? Dogs gotta have shelter, too.

Drumcliffe To Gleann Colm Cille

We’ve been to Donegal all three times I’ve been here. Google maps said it would take four hours and thirty-seven minutes to get from Ennis to Gleann Colm Cille. I didn’t believe it and I was right. We did make some extra stops looking for a USB car charger to no avail. We also stopped at Drumcliffe. The weather was gorgeous so we had some lunch al fresco at the tea shop just outside the graveyard.

St. Columba’s church at Drumcliffe is a protestant Church of Ireland. W.B. Yeats is buried just outside the front door. After lunch, we took a stroll around the church and graveyard. Just past Drumcliffe is Benbulben, a spectacular, mesa like mountain. It makes a dramatic backdrop. 

The church was open so we went inside. To my surprise, the entire back wall of the church is lined with memorial plaques for one Jones or another. Since that’s my maiden name, I guess some of my ancestors could have come from there.

After being stuck behind tractors and “caravans” on the N15, we turned off and headed toward the dreaded village of Killybegs. It’s a very nice village with a large fishing fleet that operates out of the harbor, but the last time we were there, a slashing Irish rain was pelting down on us as we tried to find our way to Sliabh Liag to do some hillwalking. No matter which road we turned onto, we ended up back in the center of Killybegs. On Saturday, however, the sun was shining and we thought there would be no problem, until we came to a sign that said “diversion”. With all the orange cones and fence, they weren’t talking about entertainment. But, the Fair Ones were smiling on us and we found our way to Kilcar and Carriagh, and just past that to Gleann Colm Cille.

There are not adequate words to describe how beautiful this place is. Everywhere you look is a picture postcard. Even if we don’t learn a word of the Irish language, I feel blessed to have come here.