Category General

Jul 12 2023

The “Twelfth” in Belfast

“The Twelfth” as it is known in Northern Ireland (Ulster) is a local public holiday on the 12th of July which commemorates the Battle of the Boyne where the forces of William III (William of Orange) defeated those of the deposed King James II. This defeat ending James II attempt to retake the crown. The battle actually took place on 1st July 1690 in the Julian calendar. Each year, as I understand, “Orangemen” who are Protestant Ulster-men, demonstrate their loyalty to the British Crown by holding parades in which the various lodges to which they belong to march through the streets. I believe that there were 18 parades this year.

We have a uneventful journey from Londonderry to Belfast, apart from Anne getting a new experience, her first ever speeding ticket! Somewhere we missed the 30mph sign as the rest of the route is 40 mph or above and she was clocked doing 39mph.

Coaches for the parade participants

Anne chose a nice hotel with a laundrette close by to catch up on washing, however that idea was thwarted by, yes you have guessed it, a public holiday. Heading towards Lisburn Road around lunchtime we are stopped at a police roadblock, no not Anne’s speeding ticket, Lisburn road, which we have to cross, is the main route for the parade in Belfast. You would have thought that supposedly experienced travellers would have planned a better route. Oh well. We have noticed in Northern Ireland that when the police are diverting traffic that they seem to spend an inordinate amount of time talking to each driver. When we reach the front we get detailed instructions on how travel some distance around the parade via the George Best Airport! Or we can wait until the road re-opens after the parade passes. We choose the later option and only have to wait some 15 minutes. We navigate Streak and Storm though the crowds and the few broken bottles that seem to have appeared along the parade route. I am mindful of punctures and I can imagine that there will be a few more bottles by tomorrow morning.

Wait until the parade has passed
Streak and Storm at their hotel

After lunch we wander down the Lisburn Road towards the centre of Belfast, where I presumed the marchers had gone, unsure about when they would return. Along both sides of Lisburn Road are small family groups, deckchairs in place for the return of the bands and marchers in the afternoon. It feels like a party atmosphere with children twirling batons high into the air and catching them. A local skill I imagine not replicated elsewhere in the UK.

Front row seats for the parade
Cheerful spectator on Lisburn Rd

As we get towards Sandy Row, which appears to be an epicentre of party activity, the crowds grow both in number and enthusiasm. Alcohol is evident everywhere and consumption is steady. Seems the “no alcohol rule on the streets” is ignored today or the police would have to arrest hundreds if not thousands of people. We have no idea when the marchers will return so if in doubt “ask a policeman”. Firstly it seems that I had the direction of the parade completely wrong. The parade goes out of town and then back into town. They should be back in an hour or so we are informed. We learn the parade takes up to 90 minutes to pass. We did hear that it is considered “bad luck” to cross the road in front of the marchers, so make sure you are on the correct side to get home. In the Belfast parade there are around 60 lodges represented by bands and attendant marchers from around Ulster. We are also advised that Sandy Row, which is the only section of the parade route where barriers are needed to separate the marchers and spectators, can get more boisterous as the evening progresses.

Party atmosphere as they wait the parade return
Down near Sandy Row

It should be noted that our presence is in no way related to the evenings news item on a leaked report which suggested that the march route could be changed next year to avoid Sandy Row due the boisterous activities of some of those present.

We position ourselves close to the hotel to see the start of the parade go past. Each lodge seems to have flag and office bearers, a band and marchers. Colourful uniforms, bowler hats, batons twirling the bands playing and marchers for each of the lodges pass by. We only stay for part of the parade which is enjoyed by those watching.

Marching with vigour
A Band visiting from Scotland
Having fun
Can you play the flute?
Colourful uniforms for a marching band
Street Art, taken by Anne riding through Belfast streets

We spend a last night in Ireland quietly, having enjoyed our time here. We saw great scenery, met interesting and wonderful people and even retrieved memories from way back in 1977. We will come again but not leave it so long next time.

– Anthony

Jul 11 2023

Connemara and beyond

Each night we try to plan the following day’s destination route and activities based on the current weather forecast. Each morning we get up and make adjustments. Leaving the Burren we plan to head to Westport but do we go via Connemara or just take the main shorter route north from Galway? Miss all that amazing scenery, of course not. We will not let a little rain deter us, well not yet anyway.

We bypass Galway, which we have heard is a very beautiful town, but there is not enough time for everywhere, we will just have to make do with Matt Malloy’s pub in Westport recommended by Patsy. After riding around Galway lunch is taken at Joyces Craft shop/Post Office/Petrol Station/Bar, which sits next to Glendollagh Loch, which seems to cover just about everything in one building. We find the bar seemingly closed however with enough of us tourists congregating at the bar door, it magically opens and we are in shortly followed by the locals who must know the opening times. After lunch we head north past Lough Inagh.

Glorious vistas, even in the rain
Anne’s excellent riding photography

The scenery in each region we have spent time in as we travel up the west coast of Ireland has been so different and Connemara is as varied again. At Leenaun we are faced with another choice, the direct route to Westport or the longer smaller road via Doo Lough. As usual the longer route wins out and we are treated to a spectacular ride. Anne talks to a couple at the north end of Doo Lough who come each year to the region and this is their favourite spot. We understand why and the pictures cannot capture the beauty, you will just have to visit yourselves.

Most beautiful view : Doo Lough
Assleagh Waterfall on the Erriff river, near Leenaun
Riding along the seashore near Gar’s Glen

Thanks for all the suggestions of staying out late, sampling the local “Uisce beatha” which translates into “water of life” and nightlife into the night. Anne has been practicing a little of the forma but if we attempt the latter then the next day would be a write-off and affecting our tight timetable for Ireland. We do visit Matt Malloy’s which turns out to have a long musical history and reminds us in some ways of the Station Inn in Nashville.

We love great music venues, The Station Inn and Matt Molloy’s
The town square in Westport
Colourful Westport buildings

As we travel the thin line that is our route, what are we missing on either side? During a stop to avoid a rain showers ahead, we detour via Mullaghmore. A clifftop ride we would not have experienced without the detour. However if we did this all the time we would still be on our first RTW trip!

Riding into another storm on “Storm”

Giants Causeway is the last major place we want to visit during our time here. We cross into Northern Ireland after another drenching. The storms do seem to have a habit of finding us, but perhaps it’s a trade off for the blue sky riding we have had over the years. The crossing into Northern Ireland is uneventful, just a road-sign with the word “Northern” crossed out. Nobody has asked to see passports since we departed France.

We get the hotel to both turn on the room heating and get an extra heater. The hotel staff were bemused until we explained we were Australians then the hotel staff understood. The temperatures have rarely reached 20 degrees Celsius during our time here. We spend the evening trying to get a semblance of dry back into our clothing.

Dunluce Castle; a “Fixer-upper”

Getting to the Giants Causeway has us dodging the rain again, but the weather cleared to give us, and the seemingly hundreds of others a clear view of the Giants Causeway. The mostly six sided basalt columns, close up, appear to have been stacked that way. I understand the shapes were caused as the lava cooled and contracted the shapes were created. Cooling rates created a different number of sides. I prefer the story that it was created by giants, much more plausible when you see the columns close up. The other side of the causeway can be found at Fingal’s cave on the Island of Staffa in Scotland which we visited in 2019. A circular walk back to the top gave us great views down onto the Giants Causeway, well work the extra distance walked and the 100 or so steps we had to climb.

Surely this is Giant made?
Precision crafted stone
Quite impressive close up
The “Organ” at Giants Castle
The walking track to the top at Giants Causeway
After a great walk at Giants Castle

Given the time we spent at the Giants Causeway we only have time for one more visit this day. The rope bridge and motorcycle museum will have to wait for another time. Although neither of us has seen Game of Thrones, we decide that seeing the “Dark Hedges” will be something different. A row 150 of Beech trees planted in the 18th Century, of which 90 remain, provide a somewhat mysterious looking vista.

The “Dark Hedges” in daylight

Tomorrow we will head to Belfast for the last night of our time in Ireland. It is a public holiday, Orangemen’s Day.

– Anthony

Jul 8 2023

Lisdoonvarna, County Clare

Over our late breakfast in Killarney, we check the weather radar again. It has not improved since last night or this morning and is looking very grim. Gale force winds and lashing rain are forecast. Not the best combination to stay shiny side up. We definitely will have to skip the ring of Kerry and head north.

Tomorrow’s wind forecast – over 100kms/hr winds

We have a friend in Miltown Malbay who is attending a week long music festival in her home town. There is no accommodation available there but we find one hotel with one last room in a village up the road. That will do. It is the Ritz at Lisdoonvarna. Someone with a sense of humour I think. Our route has been changing every day because of the weather so we were unable to organise anything with our friend in advance. She is busy tonight and tomorrow but can meet tomorrow evening. That means booking another night which turns out very interesting and answers some questions we have been asking ourselves ever since we arrived in Ireland: why are all the hotels booked out. With a sudden influx of 3,500 Ukrainian refugees in the county (there are over 84,000 Ukrainian refugees in Ireland as at early June 2023), hotels have turned into refugee accommodation. While good for hotels on the one hand as they have 100% occupancy, it means they and other businesses around are missing out of tourist money which is spent on food and drinks etc. Not too surprisingly, The Ritz is fully booked tomorrow and according to the usual websites I use, so is every other hotel in town and the area. The manager is very helpful, suggests 3 other places we could walk to and ask in Lisdoonvarna and says that if we find nothing to come back to her anyway and something will be sorted, not to worry. We did say we had a tent we could pitch beside the bikes at the back of the Ritz. That could be an option. The first hotel/bar is strangely deserted and we quickly disappear. The next one is fully booked too but we are told to wait while she double checks the booking system: she pulls out a massive white board from under the counter. She rings one number and leaves a message about a lovely couple looking for a room. She then calls another messages and gives the same story and embellishes it some more. It turns out this booking system has the names and numbers of a number of unofficial guest houses that can cater with hotel overflow. And we now have a huge room with private bathroom at this little old lady’s who used to have a guest house but now lets out rooms in her new home whenever the local hotels recommend someone. It’s nice to know we look trustworthy enough to be recommended to her. What a perfect arrangement.

Once again, we have a fine evening – our mornings so far in Ireland have always started wet and wild, and by late afternoon, the sun comes out. Time for a short walk around the village before dinner at the Ritz – it sounds good doesn’t it?! – which served up good simple tasty pub food. As we walked around Lisdoonvarna, the only language we heard on the street was Russian. Sitting outside one large hotel were three groups of women, of different generations, all talking in their native language. The small supermarket in the village was staffed with Ukrainians. People helping people….

I have circular route planned out for the next day – starting inland first as I do not fancy riding the Wild Atlantic Way in 110km/hr winds forecast that morning. First stop is the Burren Centre in Kilfenora, a very well presented museum that explains the UNESCO Geopark we are about to discover today. The Burren, an Irish word for “stony place”, is the largest expanse of limestone pavement in the world and measures 530 square kilometres! Within the Burren area, we visited Caherconnell Stone fort and Poulnabrone dolmen.

There are many flags welconing Ukrainian refugees in Ireland
Riding across the Burren, county Clare
The Burren near Pulnaborne
Wildflowers thrive in these glaciokarst features

Caherconnell stone fort is a remarkably well preserved medieval stone ring fort, 42 metres in diameter and with walls of up to 3 meters in thickness and 3 meters high. This 1000 year old fort was inhabited up to the late 16th century. The craftsmanship of the walls is awe inspiring. Things were built to last back then.

Caherconnell Stone Fort, county Clare
One of 3 different stone wall constructions – Caherconnell fort

Just up the road, is the Poulnabrone dolmen, an unusual neolithic dolmen portal tomb that was used as a burial site between 3,800 and 3,200 BC and is believed to have been used as a centre for ritual well into the Bronze age.

Poulnabrone tomb, Ireland

Ballyvaughan, a very picturesque little village, has a Saturday market on which we decide to stop at. What a treat to find a pancake stand who could make gluten free pancakes for Anthony.

Ladies having oysters and wine at Ballyvaughan Saturday market

We stop for a walk along Fanore Beach before getting to the spectacular Cliffs of Moher which rise 200 metres above the Atlantic Ocean: a truly breathtaking sight, especially as the skies cleared in the afternoon as per usual. The wind also died down this afternoon which made the ride along the Great Atlantic Way coast road very enjoyable.

Unlike some surfers, we did not brave the icy waters of Fanore Beach
The Cliffs of Moher, county Clare

Today is capped off with catching up with our friend at the Roadside Tavern for an evening of good company, good food and of course good music.

With our friend Patsy in Lisdoonvarna
Great music at the Roadside Tavern, Lisdoonvarna
The Roadside Tavern, Lisdoonvarna

Patsy gives us some ideas of places to visit tomorrow as we head north towards Derry (as LondonDerry is known here) but it is the Matt Molloy’s pub music in Westport which settles our next destination.

– Anne