Homeward Bound

After 5 weeks in this magical land it is time to head home. One last ferry ride from Wales back to Dublin, up to Sligo to return the harp, and a quick dash across Northern Ireland to see the Giants Causeway and visit Ballymena to search for one of Jo Ellen's relatives. I sure wish we could stay longer, but we definitely made the most of this trip. Here is a wee harp video from the Island of Inisheer with pictures from Bushmills in the north and from the west coast.

This is the spire in downtown Dublin, making it impossible to get lost. It is HUGE.

Here are some pictures from the Giants Causeway, on the tip of Northern Ireland. Of all the places we hiked around, I think we saved the best for last. Nature's playground for sure! (Click to enlarge)

Before we left for Ballymena Jo found a poem that was in an old family bible about Dunluce Castle. She said "hey, that's only a mile from here!" We cruised over to check it out. Wow...just...wow...

Jo Ellen was searching to find out about her grandmother's grandpa James Finley who was from county Antrim. According to the bible notes he was from Frocess. Frocess doesn't really exist anymore as a town, but the lady at the library research desk was very helpful with maps and records, and the proprietor of the B&B where we stayed directed us to the Old Frocess Road. As we were speculating about how grandpa Finley probably cruised on this road and lived along it, we came to this.

 And this had to be his house.

Our work here was done.

Goodbye Ireland. We WILL meet again.

 

This is the 10th post of the Journey.  For previous posts scroll down or see "blog archive" at the top of this page.

 

 

Signs

Part of the fun of traveling is seeing signs. Here are a bunch from Ireland and the UK. Some are ridiculous, some a little bit cheeky, some completely off the wall. I'll just post them, without comments or stories. Click to enlarge.

This is the ninth post of the journey. I still have a couple more posts coming as we finish the trip. 

For previous posts scroll down or see "blog archive" at the top of this page.

Cheers!