Day 18: The drive to our next stop, Galway, was uneventful, with exception of a stop due to cows crossing the road. Arriving at O’Hallerans, Bill had us parked in no time. Got to say it is MUCH easier for him to park the small MH verses our behemoth 5th wheel/truck combo.

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We walked to the nearest Hop On/Hop Off bus stop, hoping to take the tour. Since it’s not high season anymore, the buses don’t run as often and the only one we saw was going the other way. Finally, I called, and they told me where to wait and the expected time it would go by. That worked and we got on the next bus. When the bus got to the official start of the tour, we had to get off and then we had some time to walk around town before getting back on. Since our arrival in Ireland, I’ve been on the hunt for Claddagh hoop earrings, and that day was my lucky day! In the shop where the very first Claddagh ring was created! How cool is that? I took out my old hoops and started wearing them right away!

From the Thomas Dillon website:

“The Claddagh Ring is believed to have originated in the fishing village situated near the “shore” or “Claddagh” of Galway Bay.

The ring shows two hands holding a heart which wears a crown. This motif is explained in the phrase: “Let Love and Friendship reign”, and ideal poesy for a wedding ring used by a small community for over four hundred years.

The ring grows daily in popularity because of its unique design, peculiar history, sentimental appeal and close association with ancient Claddagh of Galway on the River Corrib.

The tradition of how to wear this ring is very distinctive. If the owner of the ring wears it with the crown pointing towards the finger nail, he or she is said to be in love or married. To wear the ring with heart pointing to the finger nail, he or she is said to be unattached to anyone.”

We stayed on the bus for the rest of the tour and got back off where we started, at the closest stop to our campsite.

That evening we took a walk along the promenade, enjoying the cool evening air.

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Day 19: The next stop was Donegal Town. We parked at the Aire Linda suggested, Quay Street. The cost was €3 for 24 hours, but as Bill was walking to the kiosk to pay, someone gave him their ticket to use so we got to stay for free! How nice was that? There were already one or two motorhomes parked, but many more came along and filled in the empty spaces. The walk through town, which was only a 5-minute walk away, took about an hour and a half. We stopped into a few of the shops and read a few of the menus posted outside the restaurants.

Directly across from where we were parked there was a boat that offered tours and we decided to take it. The weather was perfect for it and we learned some local history. On the way back to the dock, there was drinks to sip on while listening to live music.

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I had been hoping for trad music but that was not to be; the three places we went to in town had talented musicians but no tradition Irish music that night. Either way, we loved all that Donegal Town had to offer.

Day 20: Having slept our last night in the Republic of Ireland, we made our way into Northern Ireland and to the famous Giants Causeway. I had seen many pictures of this place and was excited to finally see it for myself in person. It did not disappoint! We opted for the “moderate” hike and joined many others walking down the path. I think I was expecting it to be bigger, but the area was very unique and easily accessible to climb on.

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About 2 hours later we made our way back up; it had been a long day and we wanted to get to our campsite for the night. Feign Farm was east to find and offered great views, clean bathrooms and a quiet place to stay. There was some confusion when we first arrived because I didn’t know they only took cash and we had no pounds. She would have taken Euros, but we had spent all but a very few of our Euros. So we were very grateful she accepted American dollars. Whew! It was especially nice since we were already parked, and the nearest ATM was about half an hour away! We later realized, making matters worse, we also needed £2 each for a shower (it’s very common to be charged extra for a shower in Europe) but once again, thankfully she took our last few Euros to exchange for pounds.

Day 21: We woke the following morning to a cloudy/drizzly day. Our next stop was Belfast and we would be reuniting with Steven and Linda. We had been texting all morning about trying to catch a ferry that day verses waiting until the following morning. Steven called to find out if that would be possible and found out we’d need to try and do it in person.

After a challenging drive, we met at the Stena Line ferry terminal and learned the 3:30 ferry was full but we could get on the 7:30 one. This would allow us to begin our long drive day in Scotland much earlier than if we had took our originally booked 7:30am ferry.

The 2 hour 20 minute crossing allowed plenty of time for a meal in the onboard restaurant and a couple of adult beverages in the lounge.

Not wanting to drive too far after we disembarked, we opted to stay the night in the nearby overflow terminal parking area. More on that next time!

Bill’s Lingo Lesson:

Nappies = Diapers

Severe Cues = traffic

Dual Carriageway = motorway, two lanes of traffic each way

Dismantlers = junk yard

Dash Cam Footage:

This was taken while driving through the little town of Kinvarra on our way to Galway.

This is on our way to Donegal Town and shows an example of the largest roads we saw in Ireland.

In this next one, we are arriving in Donegal Town.

We crossed into Northern Ireland by crossing the bridge in this next clip.

Our first single track road on the way to Belfast. Thank goodness we didn’t have anyone come the other way because we didn’t see any passing places.

Below we are getting on the ferry in Belfast heading back to Scotland. That’s Linda and Steven in front of us.

Don’t Want To Miss: Dingle, Milltow Malbay, and Doolin

Watch For: Fort William

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