• The Brown PeacockIreland 2023Traveler
    Views from the morning drive.
    Views from the morning drive.The Aasleagh Falls at the head of the Killary FjordWhen this is what you see out the car window!!These views just do not get old.Sheep on the beach! 😉Richard skipping rocks on Doo Lough in the Doolough Valley.Crough Patrick. Named for St. Patrick's time on top of the mount.The National Famine Memorial - a sculpture of a coffin ship.Near Doogort Pier on the north side of Achill Island.2Sure, just park in the road at the crest of a blind hill so you can take your photos! 🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️Keem Bay is stunning.The green and the blue are prefection!This guy. Nothing like living on the edge!Checking out the White Cliffs of Ashleam.All those little houses give you an idea of scale here. I'll take one of those houses!The clocktower in Westport.Town Square. We stayed in the yellow building.An interesting car park! Wonder what this building used to be?

    Stunning coastal sites

    May 16, 2023 in Ireland ⋅ ☁️ 57 °F

    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.    Read more