A Man's Home is His Castle

A small castle :) for the monks to be comfortable while fishing in the winter and an unusual way to fish, juxtaposed against a large castle that makes Downton Abbey look tiny. The large caste was originally built in the 1200's but added to, remodeled, reconstructed and is now a 5 star hotel. The most visitors who stay, come from California. Go figure!

Ballymagibbon Cairn

Our very fun driver, Brendan, found many stops along the way that were interesting. This was on of them.

To get here required climbing a wall or at least through a narrow opening in the wall and trudging across a field while dodging cow and sheep dung, then climbing under another fence. Oh my! For me all this was done in Birkenstocks. probably not the best shoe choice but who knew.

Once we arrived, we found this mini Stonehenge of large flat stones sitting in an upright and circular pattern. Then there was the huge rock pile that one could climb if you had proper shoes or were so inclined. They describe it as undisturbed (fool me) and not knowing what was beneath all the stone. I do hope we were not trampling on someone's burial site.

Donegal Golf club and Duncliffe Monastery

One of the nice things about this trip was a chance to play some really tough golf followed by some site seeing. We were really lucky having Brendan as our tour guide. He found interesting things to see and do all along the way.

 Donegal Golf Club was yet one more tough one for me but the weather proved to be favorable. It is ranked 20th in Ireland's Top 100 Courses. Fool me, they are all ranked first. The course architect was Eddie Hackett. I wonder if he is a relative of mine. That is a family name.

Next up was the Duncliffe Monastery. All that remains of this are three stone crosses and a tower. Adjacent to the land is the 19th century church, St Columba. The church grave yard is the burial site of William Butler Yeats, the well know Irish poet.