Hi Folks,

As some of you may recall, I mentioned in an earlier post that we were due to fly off to Cancun in Mexico on an all-inclusive deal last month.  Thanks to the untimely demise of Thomas Cook, this didn’t happen.  Instead, we ended up visiting Ireland. On the face of it, Ireland, Mexico, not much difference. Except, perhaps, everything.  As it happens, this turned out to be a great idea. We loved it and especially the very beautiful region of Connemara.

Connemara

Connemara is on Ireland’s West Coast and is one of the most scenic regions in the country.  It’s craggy Twelve Bens mountain peaks, expansive sandy beaches and laced network of lakes exemplify the peaceful solitude and rugged beauty of The West of Ireland.  We stayed on the Renvyle Peninsula at a place called Tully.

Getting there was easy enough. We had driven down and overnighted at Llanarmon DC in Wales, before heading to the ferry port in Hollyhead.  The ferry crossing was smooth and quite pleasant. Given it was a largish ferry, Small could run around exploring, keeping herself occupied during the 3 hr crossing to Dublin. Hence it was a happy bunch of Wannabes left the ferry at Dublin and set off on the cross country drive to Connemara.

The Wet Drive

It took around 4 hrs to drive from Dublin to Tully. The last few hours were completed in darkness and driving rain. We had started off on motorway’s but after passing around the outskirts of Galway we were on very minor roads for the rest of the journey.  With the weather being so foul and with no external lighting we missed all of the scenery. Later that week, driving the same roads in the daylight, we discovered a stunning landscape. But on this occasion, it was miserable and very, very wet.

Eventually, we passed through Tully Cross and a mile or so later came to Tully. Our accommodation was on the opposite side of the village and easily found. The old Coastguard Cottages.  There we were met by Suzie our hostess and had our first view of our home for the next 10 days.  It was great. Well decorated, warm and inviting and very peaceful.  A little too peaceful for Small. “Where is the TV?”  There wasn’t one.  I don’t think she had realised that life could exist without TV.  It got worse. No Intenet either. We were going to have to go old school and actually talk to each other for 10 whole days.  How would she survive?

Tully

Next day broke wet and windy. This was to set a pattern for our time in Connemara.  With one or two exceptions, each day started off wet but generally faired up by lunchtime and when it did, it was stunning.   Our first proper view of the area was of distant mist-covered peaks, grey seas topped with white caps and rugged fields dotted with small, low lying crofts.  This was to be a ‘settling in’  day, getting our bearings and planning activities for the next week and a bit.

Tully is a smallish place that boasts a petrol station with a quite well-stocked store, an equestrian centre and a small shop that seemed to sell everything under the sun.  I love these little village shops. Scotland does them too and I enjoy setting them challenges.  A bulb had gone on the Volvo. Would they happen to have one of those?  I offered the failed bulb and a moment or two later, the proprietor reappeared from the back with the very replacement. Over the next week or so he also provided us with a torch. An adjustable spanner and a toilet seat. Don’t ask, but just goes to show, this was a top-notch, ‘sells everything under the sun’ shop.

What was lacking in the village was a pub.  It appears there used to be one, but it was shut all the time we were there. Still no matter, just a mile away in Tully Cross there we had a choice of 3.

Tully Cross

If anything, Tully Cross is smaller than Tully, but it did have a choice of 3 pubs plus a takeaway.  We tried 2 of the 3 hostelries but our favourite was Paddy Coyne’s. Paddy’s is a traditional old Irish Pub and boasts a mean pint of Guinness, good food and friendly staff. More of Paddy’s later. We also tried Paddy’s next-door neighbour, The Anglers Rest.  They do a great Seafood Chowder and equally good Guinness, but Small was captivated by Paddy’s and the fuss the staff made of her there, so that was that.

There are some wonderful old thatched cottages in Tully Cross. The Renvyle Thatched Cottages which are available as holiday lets.  Close to the pubs, I can see they would be a great base to further explore Connemara.

Letterfrack

Following the road through Tully Cross will take you to the village of Letterfrack.  This is a slightly bigger village and has the County Store where we ended up on the first day, stocking up on essentials for the stay. It also has a bunch of pubs and eateries. Our favourite here was Veldons Seafarer Bar. If you ever go there try the Captains Platter. Delicious.

Life Without TV

It has to be said, Small adapted to life without TV surprisingly well.  We played lots of board games. Snakes and Ladders, Frustration and Scrabble were the favourites.  We also played cards and read lots of books.   This taught me lots.  It taught me that Small may only be 8 but she is a world-class card sharp, is unbeatable at Snakes and Ladders and cheats at Frustration. Although I never did fathom out how she managed it.  Oh, and her spelling is as bad as mine, which makes Scrabble very entertaining. Unless you are my Wife in which case it is just extremely frustrating.

It was good spending family time, talking and playing and not just staring at the idiot box.  There was a lot of bickering, especially over spelling on scrabble. But as we lacked a dictionary, I got away with murder.

Walking and Riding

We also walked lots. It was often wet and breezy, but none of us seemed to mind as we enjoyed the beautiful Connemara scenery. The weather being so blustery meant the hoped for sea fishing trip never materialised.  We had a couple of fine, still days, but had already booked alternative activities.  Another time perhaps. As for the other activities, they seemed to comprise mainly of horse riding which I wrote about the other day, here.  The rest of my time was spent exploring the countryside and shooting at the Connemara Shooting Ground. We spent a couple of afternoons exploring the town of Clifden and a fascinating visit to the Glengowla Mines Museum.

Glengowla Mines

The Glengowla Mines are located on a working farm about a 40-minute drive from Ballynahinch on the Glann Road and are steeped in history.  It seems, when ploughing the fields, the farmers would often turn over large chunks of rock which were actually Galena. Lead and silver ore. They would place these ‘rocks’ on the stone boundary fences and when the landowner visited, he saw the whole wall sparkle.

He got this sparkly ore tested in Liverpool and discovered it was around 80% lead 3% silver. This meant lots of money.  The first mining started in 1851 around the time of the Irish famine and whilst hard, physical work, at least the miners could feed their families.  The entire mine was essentially excavated by hand. Standing in the mine it’s mind-blowing to consider these men, hammering away at chisels through solid rock. Once a hole had been hammered into the rock, it would be filled with explosives and everyone would run.  Hard and dangerous work.

Johnathon

The same family, the Geoghegan’s, have owned the mine and the surrounding land since its origin.   Not directly related to the family, our guide for the day, Johnathon, described the original Geoghegan as a bit of a Del Boy character, in that he made and lost a great deal of money. In total, the mines were only active for around 15 years. Having been underground in the mine, its apparent there is still lots of mineral ore present. It’s just not economic to produce.  And that was the problem back in the 1860’s.  With falling prices, the decision was made to ‘mothball’ the mine until the price recovered.

Panning For Gold

If you go down the mine you soon realise just how wet it is down there. With the pumps for clearing the water shut down, the mine soon flooded. When years later, they tried to reenter, the original pumps were not powerful enough to handle the floodwaters.  The cost of new, bigger pumps that would do the job was a kings ransome. So that was the end of the mine until the latest generation of Geoghegan’s reopened it as a museum. They have managed to pump out the mine and are gradually making more seams accessible.  Some 40m deep and spreading for over 200 ft in parts, it is fascinating and not at all oppressive or claustrophobic.  Even Small was impressed and it takes a lot to impress a tech-savvy 8 yr old.

That said, she was just as captivated by the “Panning for gold” activity on the surface. She happily panned away for ages and was very pleased with her haul of a number of “precious stones and gold nuggets”. Some small baggies were provided by Johnathon for the purpose of collecting this treasure and are now on proud display in her bedroom in Scotland.

Paddy Coyne’s Pub

Before the treasure made it to Scotland, it was well and truly showed off at Paddy Coyne’s Pub.  That evening, as we were having dinner, I don’t think there was a patron or a member of the bar staff that didn’t get the tale of how Small had panned for gold. They were subsequently shown the fruits of her labour. It was easy to spot her favourites. They were gifted a “precious stone” or “gold nugget”. This is a big deal coming from Small and we were duly impressed.  But not overly surprised, as the staff really were very good with her and indeed with us.

Rugby At the Pub

I am a rugby fan and my one concern staying in a cottage with no TV was how I would see the Rugby World Cup Quarter Finals. As the competition was being played in Japan, it meant the start times were very early in Ireland. Not to worry, of course, you can come to the pub and watch the games here. And so it was, when Wifey and Small went off horseriding, they dropped me off, early morning at the pub.

I assumed there would be coffee. Perhaps the odd bacon roll to accompany the games. Not a bit of it. Guinness,  Guinness and more Guinness.  The Paddy’s kitchen didn’t open until 5.00 pm but the bar manager,  Colin,  did take pity on me and ordered me a sandwich for lunch from the pub next door to keep me going.  By the time we had celebrated England stuffing Australia and commiserated Ireland being thumped by New Zealand, it was pushing two o’clock and I thought it better I leave whilst I could still walk.  It was a bright sunny day as I walked home.  About halfway, I had an irresistible urge to pee. Well, I did have gallons of Guinness floating about inside me.

Irresistable Urge

I reckoned I could make it back home, plus there was absolutely nowhere to go. As I walked along trying to desperately think about anything other than this growing urge, I realised there was no way I could make it. In desperation, I looked about for somewhere, anywhere I could relieve myself. There was a hedge-lined field on the other side of the road. It had a wooden fence around it, so I thought I could climb the fence and leap behind the bushes for some privacy.

Sounded good. I climbed the fence, jumped and disappeared up to my thighs in a thick, muddy bog.  I managed to struggle out and find sweet relief but was then faced with two problems. One, how to get back out of the field. and second, how to explain to Wifey why I was liberally covered in mud.  I did get out of the field easily enough. Courtesy of the gate at the end, oddly enough.  Fortunately Wifey was still out, so a quick change, a visit to the washing machine and a shower later, she never suspected a thing. Until she reads this, I guess.

Ballynahinch Castle and Connemara Shooting Ground

I can’t finish without mentioning Shane at the Connemara  Shooting ground located at Ballynahinch castle.   Here, I had a couple of very enjoyable mornings with Shane and I have to say, he is, without doubt, the best shooting instructor I have ever had the good fortune to meet.  Put simply, I  believe I learned more, useful tips from him in a few hours than I had picked up in the preceding 20 years.  Shane has a simple philosophy towards shooting and its one even a dullard like me can pick up and appreciate.  Not only is he an excellent instructor,  he is also a real gentleman and a jolly nice guy.  I intend to keep in touch with Shane and I am sure I will be visiting him again at Connemara shooting, as much for the conversation as for the excellent tuition.

The shooting ground itself is in a stunning location. Bordering onto a lake in the Ballynahinch castle grounds it has a  fantastic backdrop. I suspect I only saw a fraction of the facilities on offer during my sessions but even so, I thoroughly enjoyed myself. More importantly, I came away, a more proficient shot and bristling with confidence. As if I needed more confidence.

The Castle itself is actually a jolly good hotel and has a pub attached to it. I can recommend the homemade Chicken and wild Mushroom pie at the Castle Pub. I had it for lunch after both visits to Shane,  whilst awaiting the arrival of Wifey and Small from their horseriding exploits.  Excellent.

And Finally

All in all, our Connemara Adventure was a very fortunate accident.  Both Wifey and I were initially disappointed to not be going to Mexico. After a week or so in Connemara, we agreed that whilst not warm and sunny, this was even better.   We liked it so much, at one point I thought I might have to rename the Blog to the WannabeIrishman. That’s probably not going to happen, but we will definitely be back and are looking into the local property market.

With its beautiful scenery, charming people, great pubs and awful weather, Connemara has won a place in our hearts.  I for one am looking forward to our next visit and getting to know the place better.

 

Graham Wannabe, 4th Nov 2019