13 Aug: Greencastle and Magilligan

We drove through Inishowen again yesterday. We started the trip with lunch at Harry's in Bridgend. Then we drove to Greencastle, named for the 13th century castle ruins, which are covered now with green moss. We took a ferry across Lough Foyle to Magilligan, UK. We walked around the Martello tower and beach in Magilligan. M and I went to a small aviation museum. The museum's owner gave us a brief tour. We read about Antarctic explorer and Ireland native Ernest Shackleton and Amelia Earhart, who ended her transatlantic flight in Derry. A short drive through Greencastle and tea in Moville rounded out the trip.

Meanwhile, back in Derry, the annual Apprentice Boys' Parade took place. We were glad to have missed it, as there were a few clashes between police and demonstrators. From the Wikipedia article: "The Apprentice Boys of Derry is a Protestant fraternal society with a worldwide membership of over 80,000, founded in 1814. ... The Society aims to commemorate the 1689 Siege of Derry when Catholic James II of England and Ireland and VII of Scotland laid siege to the walled city which was at the time a Protestant stronghold. Apprentice Boys parades once regularly led to rioting in the city by Nationalist youths, but recently a more conciliatory approach has taken place and now the parades are virtually trouble free."

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30 July: Moville and Buncrana

On Saturday, we drove back to Inishowen. Our first stop was Moville, where the annual town festival was happening. We watched a little of the kayak races and I shopped the Craft Fair. I talked with the owner of a local yarn shop and, while I didn't buy anything, I plan to visit her store when M is soccer camp in nearby Muff next week. I did shop, though, from the handmade purse lady. She many gorgeous bags at her table and told me that she never makes the same bag twice, each is a one-off. I love the one I bought and love too that I will be the only person to own that bag.

We decided not to wait for the rest of the festival to get underway and drove to our favorite village of Buncrana. We walked the beach, had lunch at The Beach House (seafood chowder, yum!), and M played at the playground.

25-26 June: More pictures

Here are links to more pictures from our weekend. First, the Peace Bridge events and then Inishowen.

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26 June: Inishowen 100

or "At points, it's just you and sheep" and "Home of Ireland's most northerly mobile espresso bar."




We spent Sunday driving around the Inishowen peninsula. We mostly followed the "Inishownen 100," a 100-mile drive around the peninsula. We started in Buncrana, with a stop at the beach and a playground. We then drove up to the Dunree Fort. The fort's museum hadn't opened for the day, but we still enjoyed the views.

I took a few pictures of sheep by the side of the road and M laughed to hear them 'baa' at me. We had lunch in Carndonagh and, after lunch, headed up to Malin Head, the most northerly point in Ireland.



At Malin Head, there are rocks that spell "Eire." The rock words date from World War II, when the Irish wanted to make sure that if German bombers headed to England blew off course, they would not bomb the wrong island.
There is also an old radio tower at Malin, which is where nineteenth century Irish first learned news of the California Gold Rush and of President Lincoln's assassination. A local family also runs Cafe Banba, which they call Ireland's most northerly espresso bar. They make a mean macchiato. After Malin Head, we drove back to Derry.