Day 3: Friday June 21, 2024

We started our day roughly at 8 am at Galmont Hotel’s Marina Restaurant where we enjoyed our first Irish breakfast. Breakfast typically included many cold meats, cheeses pastries, eggs, Irish breads, potatoes, mushrooms, thick bacon, waffles, toast, juices, coffee, hot chocolate, etc. Something for everyone and very tasty, I think most would agree this hotel had the best breakfast on the trip. 

As soon as we were done with breakfast we boarded the bus to start our adventure to the Cliffs of Moher. We head south/south west out of Galway following the coast and proceed to the Cliffs of Moher going through a very scenic region call the Burren. The Burren is a very interesting place as the limestone was scraped smooth by the glaciers providing very porous but almost waterless limestone landscape. It is ideal landscape for wild flowers and plant life but rarely a tree is seen. The landscape makes it very difficult for human life. In the mid-17th century General Ludlow reported to Oliver Cromwell that The Burren possessed “not any tree to hang a man, nor enough water to drown him, nor enough earth to bury him”. 

We stopped for a quick 15 minute break to walk around The Burren and to take a few quick photos. Where we stopped we could see the Cliffs of Moher rising up in the distance from the coast line. Our break at The Burren short was to beat the crowds and the rain that was expected at the Cliffs. A experienced rock climber or hiker may have wanted to stay longer. 

Our bus moved up the narrow roads to higher elevation winding through some smaller villages as we arrived the Cliffs of Moher. Upon arriving at the Cliffs we were the second tour bus of the day to arrive beating the crowds and the rain. Once the bus was parked we had the choice to walk or take a trolley (8 Person Golf Cart) to the top. It was recommend to go to the cliffs first to beat the rain, by the time we all started to head back down the drizzle was becoming a very steady rain. With the rain the gift shop and the informative movie theatre was packed. 

The Cliffs of Moher is a very different landscape of the The Burren. Its a towering layer of shale, silt, and sandstone towering 682 feet over the Galway Bay with amazing views of the Aran Islands. There is a 30 mile trail along the edge of the cliffs that is unguarded. The tower on the Cliffs of Moher was built in 1835 and on a clear day the mountains in Kerry can be seen. From here there is noting but ocean to coast of America. The views were amazing and the group has repeatedly reported this was one of their favorite parts of the trip. 

We left the Cliffs about 11:30 AM to travel the town of Lisdoonvarna and play the “The Road to Lisdoonvarna” in the center of town. Unfortunately the rain was now a very steady down pour so we stopped for a quick sing along on the bus at the city center. On our bus tour of we learned why people would be so happy to be on  “The Road to Lisdoonvarna”. The town is the host of the largest Match Making Festival in Europe with 100,000 people flooding the town after the fall harvest for the fest. Host of the fest is the town and Irelands last official matchmaker Willie Daly. 

After our “Sing Along” we made our way to the town of Kinvara for lunch. The rain at lunch made it a bit soggy to enjoy lunch at the outdoor Farmers Market. We had several pubs to choose from and a grocery store for us to find lunch and dry off a bit. The Great Famine of the 1840’s through the 1960’s the population of Kinvara dwindled down to 100 people but since the 1960’s the population as grown to about 1,000 people. Our bus driver, Flan, pointed out the  Pub that the legendary song writer John Prime use to visit when he lived in town. 

We made our way back to Galway to the Claregalway Educate Together N.S. school to have a after school exchange with the Lackagh Comhaltas, a power house of traditional Irish music. Its a youth group that dominates the Fleadh Cheoil music scene with winning many All-Ireland Awards. Both groups played a few tunes for each other and shared our music with them. They sounded amazing and also had two harp players. During their performance they also had dancers perform traditional Irish jigs. After the performance exchange they taught us how to dance. Big smiles and fun for all!!

The exchange lead to big appetites so we made our way to downtown Galway where we had a 5:30 dinner at Monore’s. I should point out that our time in Ireland was also the beginning of the 2024 Euro Cup, so Football (Soccer) was on every screen at dinner with many roars of cheers. Many of us would watch the games back in the hotel to wind down the day. At Monore’s we had a choice of Irish Beef Burger, Bacon & Cabbage with Mash & Parsley Sauce, Beer Batter Fish & Chips, or Hearty Beef & Guinness Stew with Creamy Mash Potatoes. It was a very tasty dinner. 

Our evening was not over after dinner, we enjoyed a quick stretch of the legs at 7 PM to Carrol’s Bar. Carrol’s Bar is famous for live session music, very cozy, festive place. The music was slow to get started which some stayed to enjoy and other went into the heart of Galway’s Latin Quarter that is filled with live music and street performers. Walking through the Latin Quarter was fun walk back to our hotel for much needed rest on this very busy day. Our day