Our first bit of fun was the airport, Knock Ireland West Airport. After landing we came to a stop at the end of the runway, we turned around and taxied back up the runway to the terminal. As we pulled into the two-airplane-sized parking area, we watched the other airplane do a 180 degree on the spot and just as we got off our aircraft the other plane came roaring down the runway for take-off just feet from us. Jonathan and I agreed this was the coolest airport we’d ever been to!I shalln’t write an exhaustive account of our holiday, but just give the highlights. These were Jonathan’s favourite parts of the trip:
1. Downpatrick Head
A sea stack broken away from Mayo’s northern coast. We had a bit of a bumpy drive to get there (never take a wrong turning in rural Ireland unless you have powerful shock absorbers). The coast is riddled with caves and as we walked up to the edge to see the stack we passed several spots where the caves have collapsed and the spray from the crashing waves blows up through the aperture.2. Lighthouse and seashore
Jonathan has never been to a lighthouse and that was his only must-see. So I drove him to the tip of the Belmullet Peninsula to see the Blacksod Point lighthouse. Jonathan was intrigued by a snall plaque on the wall (just visible on the wall) that commerated a weather forecast the lighthouse sent for D-Day in 1944. We then walked down onto the beach where we collected seashells and Jonathan played cat and mouse with the waves, games we repeated up the road at Elly Bay, at Achill and at Roonagh Pier.3. Croagh Patrick
The holy mountain where Saint Patrick fasted for 40 days and nights in the seventh century. The mountain is 765 meters high and we made it to about 100 meters, a decent victory for a 9-year-old and his auntie who rides the elevator to her third floor apartment. It afforded us a stunning view of Clew Bay and it’s dozens of grassy islands. 4. Museum of Country Life
We stopped at the National Museum of Ireland's branch in Castlebar which describes and displays the traditional lifestyles of rural Ireland. I thought this would be the best way to learn something about our own family, which we did. And Jonathan was delighted with his 8 out of 10 score (later upgraded to 10 of 10) on the quiz on traditional farming techniques - he would have made an "excellent" farmer.
We stopped at the National Museum of Ireland's branch in Castlebar which describes and displays the traditional lifestyles of rural Ireland. I thought this would be the best way to learn something about our own family, which we did. And Jonathan was delighted with his 8 out of 10 score (later upgraded to 10 of 10) on the quiz on traditional farming techniques - he would have made an "excellent" farmer.
Some other highlights for me were the playground in Newport
and the bleak beauty of the Dooagh pass.
The Mayo landscape features dozens of mountains, many along the coast, and all of them bare of trees and bushes, and covered just in bracken and grass, kept short by the ubiquitous sheep that cling to the steepest of inclines. There were sheep everywhere, in gardens, on cliff tops, on the lakeshore, in the middle of the road...
And lastly, there were the scars on the landscape where the peat turf has been dug. In most places the grass has long since grown over, but the troughs where our forebears cut their fuel are still clearly visible. And it's not just a feature of the past. Most cottages we passed, even the most prosperous looking homes, had stacks of turf drying under tarps in their gardens. An interesting link to the past.
Here is the complete set of photographs.