Stunning coastal sites

We said goodbye to our "moo"bors and retraced a few of our steps from the previous day. Not a problem for us to see this landscape twice!! 

Once we arrived back at the fjord, we did a  short hike up to the Aasleagh Falls where the Erriff River meets the fjord. This is a salmon river, but we did not see any. 😔

Have you ever seen sheep on the beach? We did today. Well, sorta. Driving through the Doolough Valley, there were some beautiful lakes and sheep strolling the rocky lake beaches. Richard practiced his rock skipping skills out there...lots of super thin and flat rocks on this beach.

Murrisk, a village on the southside of Clew Bay, sits at the foot of Croagh Patrick (Mt Patrick). History says St. Patrick spent 40 days atop the mountain, thus it is now seen as a holy site for many. Each year, there is a pilgrimage where thousands make the hike to the top. 

In addition to the Crough Patrick, the National Famine Monument is here. It is a sculpture of a "coffin" ship. These were the ships that took up to 2 MILLION Irish to N. America during the famine. They called them coffins due to high death rates that ocurred on the voyages - apparently aveaged around 30%!! 😢

We had read and heard a lot about Achill Island but had not figured out how to get there in our limited time. However, with the changes in our schedule yesterday, we had some "extra" time today to make the drive. It was quickly clear what the "hype" was all about . The water out there was some of the most beautiful shades of blue. WOW! Keem Bay is magical!

After leaving Keem Bay, we stopped to see the White Cliffs of Ashleam Bay. I was quite distracted at this stop by the sheep who looked like he was gonna fall off the edge of the earth!

Time to head to the lovely town of Westport for the night.Leggi altro