…And to the Republic….

Cousins Sam and Helen are taking Laura and me down to County Clare in the western part of Ireland. In doing so, we passed from Northern Ireland into the Irish Republic. We were somewhat surprised that not only is there any recognition that we’ve passed into another country, there wasn’t even a road sign identifying the transition.

While the trip is only about 250 miles, road travel in Ireland is deceptively slow and tedious. There are few large, nice motorways across the country. Instead there is a network of farm and town roads connecting small villages, some of dubious quality. Most roads pass through the center of these villages which can be amazingly crowded – particularly on the market day in each village. Getting a few miles through one of these villages can take half an hour.

After a few hours, including a stop in a pub for toast and coffee, we settled on the town of Athlone for lunch. Athlone includes a very nice castle located right on the river Shannon. Crossing the river, we stopped for a bite and some quick window shopping and were back on the road.

Shortly down the road we stumbled onto Cloghan Castle, built in 1239. It is obviously still lived-in, so we snapped a few photos from the end of the driveway.

Passing through Lochrea and Gort, we found Thoor Ballylee - the streamside home of W.B. Yeates. Were it not for the need to find a loo, we would not have found this delightful home.