Moving South

Day Fifteen: June 17th

Front door greeting in Miltown Malbay

Today we drove so long (32 miles!) that we talked at length with no one person.  I have little dialog to convey which makes this much easier.  This makes for a nice brief picture-rich blog entry.

We stayed at McGann's pub until mid-day using the internet that they had finally rebooted in the morning.  At the stroke of twelve noon the place went from peaceful and empty to absolutely mad with three busloads of tourists less than one half hour apart.  It was a total full press effort by the young waitresses and the cooks must have been even crazier.  The food at McGann's is always good, not super great, but I now have a newly-found respect for them.  

We briefly went north to the Doolin Cave.  This cave was discovered in 1953 by two nineteen-year-old British spelunkers who found a disappearing stream and a nearby crevice.  This they followed for 450 meters on their bellies, into and out of streams. They had told no one where they were or what they planned to do.  This is what they found soon after re-lighting their kerosene lamps that they had turned off to conserve fuel:

This is the second largest stalactite in the world in one of the largest caverns in the world.  Perhaps the greatest singularity of the stalactite is that it dangles dead center with no other competing features crowding it.  It is stupendous. The stalactite is 23 feet long, the brown half is not adding material anymore but the white half still has a water source.

Here is how easy our effort to reach the stalactite 250 feet below the surface was:

Our guide at the adit above the vertical tunnel that was dug by hand to prevent vibrations

Twelve landings, 120 steps straight down

Hard hats were absolutely essential; we walked stooped until stupidly we stood up, cracked our heads, and had to stoop again

 

From the cavern floor looking back up

Cave sheep.  The square thing is a grass roofed low-profile eco-visitor's center.  Ruminants were given full run of the place, roof included.

The original entrance and disappearing stream, you have to click to enlarge this photo to see it. 

After Doolin Cave we headed south along part of the much promoted and popular Wild Atlantic Way (Also known as the Coast Road).   Road signage can lead any driver to wonderful views and interesting towns that might otherwise have been bypassed in the formerly under-visited west of Ireland.

We encountered a ton of traffic on the Wild Atlantic Way

The cattle dog was the star of the show.

We stopped in Miltown Malbay, a medium-sized town famous for the Willie Clancy Festival held over a full week in summer.  Willie Clancy was a famous piper.  Here traditional Irish music and dance is celebrated by Irish musicians and dancers.  It is not geared as much to tourists.  We were told that villages that circle the town have pre-arranged sessions that only those who are in the know and good musicians are invited to.  The festival this year starts the weekend we leave so we will miss it.

A statue of the piper Willie Clancy on the main drag.  He was rain-pocked but still smiling.

Our destination this day was Kilrush where my great grandmother Mary Shannon Butler was born. Kilrush is a port town at the very wide end of the Shannon River twenty three miles from where it meets the Atlantic. We just had dinner and went to bed that evening in our stay at Crotty's Pub, a mecca for Irish concertina fans. Elizabeth Crotty was a huge promoter and player of concertina.  There was a yearly festival here until 2009 in her name.  Her music is piped to the outside tables all day.   It will be two days until we explore Kilrush with any depth, so stay tuned.

Crotty's pub is on the old Market Square in Kilrush