Achille Island to Bushmills

(Please remember to click on the title of this post or the link above that says “Read on blog” so that the videos and full formatting will load for your enjoyment!)

Achille Island in County Mayo was the primary filming site for “The Banshees of Inisherin”, a beautiful but ultimately very sad movie about the end of a friendship. One of the protagonists lived on this strip of beach.

Evidence of wool and egg production were noted along the road…

The Oweninny Wind Farm had not yet opened its visitor center to the public, but made an exception for a couple of curious seniors.

The manager explained how industrial burning of peat had provided electrical power in the area for many years…… (She and Henry are standing in front of the center’s sensory room, intended as a calming environment for neurodivergent visitors who might be overstimulated or confused by the displays.)

Here’s a look at the way peat was harvested by hand….

Peat harvesting and burning release significant quantities of harmful carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Wind power has therefore become a preferred energy source, as it does not have this effect. Old attitudes die hard, however, so the Wind Farm has established this center to educate residents and visitors on the whys and hows of the transition.

A precious tiny cottage was the base for exploration of County Sligo….. where a guinea fowl makes its home on the windowsill and donkeys greet the morning just outside the door.

The area included stunning cliff-side paths along the ocean…..

Plus a quiet beach that yielded several fossils that intrigued the happy rock hound.

A couple of canine encounters and lunch overlooking the beach…

Continuing north to County Donegal, more cliff walks and spectacular ocean vistas…

Donegal Castle was not particularly fascinating….except for two things. First is its sad history as home base for an Irish noble, who in the face of English encroachment decided to leave Ireland to seek help from sources in Spain and France to secure his homeland. Instead, while he was gone, the English seized his land (and that of many of his fellow absent noblemen) and redistributed it. This episode, referred to as “The Flight of the Earls” led to large-scale allocation of property to English settlers, relegating many of the native Irish to serfdom.

The second factoid gleaned in Donegal is an incredible story linking this area to the Choctaw Nation in the US. Bear with me……. In 1831, the native American Choctaw people were forcibly relocated from their ancestral home in Mississippi to a reservation in Oklahoma territory along a route now called the Trail of Tears. About half of the tribe perished on the 500-mile march.

Less than 20 years later, they learned of the devastating Great Famine in Ireland, where the loss of potato crops led to starvation and death among the Irish populace. Despite their own tragic losses, the Choctaw raised $170 (tens of thousands of dollars today) to send to Ireland to aid relief.

In 1990, Choctaw leaders came to County Mayo to participate in a re-enactment of an Irish famine walk that occurred in 1847; in 1992, Irish leaders returned the honor by participating in a 500-mile trek in the US that followed the Trail of Tears.

One of the Choctaw leaders who now resides in County Mayo, Ireland, painted this piece called “The Gift of Life”, that hangs in Donegal Castle.

A deeply moving story that again illustrates that we are all connected – one way or another – across cultures, national boundaries, religion and affiliation…..

Another exciting encounter in Donegal…….with a real-life peat farmer!

Bushmills is in Northern Ireland, and is perhaps most notably known as the home of the distillery by the same name.

Bushmills is also the gateway to still another geological wonder on the North Atlantic coast…. The Giant’s Causeway.

A couple of very parenthetical contemporary observations…… In one small town, secondary school students had just completed final examinations. Flocks of young women traversed the town center toward a party venue wearing identical tubes that varied only in hue…. Here are just a few of easily 60 to 70 girls on parade.

Strangely, we noticed no boys of similar age, but maybe they weren’t as flamboyantly attired! Or maybe just overwhelmed and in hiding.

And a brilliant safety net for anyone who might end up on an uncomfortable first date, colorful attire or no…..

How reassuring…. And quite civilized!

And that will conclude this lengthy post. The next phase of our journey takes us to Belfast, where we meet up with Henry’s daughter Holly, husband Matt and children Lily and Caleb for a cruise through the British isles and Northern Europe.