Thursday 13 July

We actually got to bed early and watched TV last night. I watched an old 'Inspector Frost' re-run that Russ wasn't interested in so I delegated the diary writing to him.

Something I don't remember mentioning. When is a pub a hotel or pub? Apparently a hotel is a place that sells booze and/or food (pub grub) AND does accommodation! A pub however only does booze and sometimes food ...no accommodation! Then there is the 'off-licence', in other words a grog shop!

Monumental Warrior Overlooking Boyle.

Drumanone Dolmen.

We were told the weather for the day is to be gleaned by checking the mountain visible from our room...over the top of the Abbey. This morning it was indeed dark and gloomy.

Breakfast was a full house as late yesterday afternoon we were inundated with cyclists looking for shelter and a German couple who like us are 'driving' Ireland. Unlike us, they wait until they get into a town and cruise the B&Bs 'til they find one 'they like the look of'.

It was raining when we set out to do the designated tourist circles of the area but luckily it lifted and wasn't too bad a day with some sunny patches.
The first stop was Drumanone Dolmen. This Portal Dolman is said to be the largest in Ireland with a tabletop spanning 15 feet by 11 feet supported by 5 upright pillars. We were told by another tourist that these are apparently to do with ancient burial sites.

St. Attracta's Well

Elphin Windmill.

Then we saw St. Attracta's Well. She is attributed with a connection to the origin of the Celtic Cross (which is a cross with a circle around it and appears everywhere).

Moygara Castle ruins were next. This meant hopping over a stone wall and hiking through a cow paddock with long wet grass and disinterested cows to get photos. Unluckily for me too wet and gloomy to sit and sketch or paint. Not much of that happening at all this week!

We skirted 2 of the local lakes (loughs), Lough Key and Lough Gara. We found the islands interesting as unlike the tidal lake islands we are used to with beach or swampy surrounds these look quite symmetrical and are forested with tall trees...not scrub or mangroves. Some of the islands are actually man made. At Lough Gara when the water levels fell during drainage works in the 1950s they found the remains of about 350 'Crannogs' or lake dwellings together with other ancient artefacts, some of which have been preserved in National Museums.

Lough Key Castle Gatehouse

Lough Key Castle Island

Elphin Windmill was a very interesting restored 18^th century windmill, which was used to grind grain for local use. Before restoration it was barely more than a stone tower. I dared to ask what may have been a very silly question... how they could tell it was once a wind mill and not just another fortification tower if there were no other remains? That was resolved because local verbal history and ordinance maps (back to the early 1800s) had always shown the area to be called 'Windmill Lane'. It was a major project requiring many skilled labourers and imported materials. Even back then, around 1720, the grinding stones would have been brought over from France.

As yesterday, lunch was back in town at a restored 200-year-old Gatehouse cottage next to the bridge over the Boyle River. We got another cash advance from the Bureau de Change and collected our next lot of photos, which had been processed over night.

Lough Key Fairy Bridge

Once again today we were confounded with the road signage! Time and time again what is on the signs has no relevance to the maps or vice versa. And with the narrow, hedge lined roads it is hard to turn to retrace our steps. The few times we came to an intersection with signs there were so many of them it took several minutes sort them out and if we'd had no-one behind for miles, naturally as soon as we'd stop, there was someone in the rear view window! Tomorrow we will head North to County Sligo and then to the north west corner through Donegal.

We mentioned to Mary that we'd been unable to find some of the historical sites. Although she had just put bread in the oven she whisked us into her car and did a quick tour. We covered so much in about 50 minutes. She suggested we return tomorrow morning to see some of them in good light and get some photos.

We have finally succeeded in contacting Northern Ireland only to discover our friends Colin and Caroline were back in Brisbane already. I must have really messed up the dates there.