Drumcliff, Bundoran and Belleek

Nine o'clock is always a good target for getting on the road again. We drove towards Sligo but were able to bypass the city centre and keep going, enjoying Irish scenery in all her greenness, even when it hasn't rained the whole time we've been here. Three weeks without rain in Ireland. Unheard of!

Benbulben Mountain provides a beautiful backdrop for the final resting place for W.B.Yeats, one of Ireland's most popular poets. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in literature in 1923.

Yeats left clear instructions about his tombstone. It was to say only: 'Cast a cold eye on life, on death. Horseman, pass by.' Speculation varies on what it means, with some suggestion that it was the final stanza of his poem 'Under Ben Bulben'.. Anyway, his tomb sits in a very pretty spot in the Drumcliff Churchyard.

The Drumcliff Church

The door of the outside entrance to the church has two swan handles, which, when the doors are closed, face each other. These handles were donated to the church by the WB Yeats society of Western Australia in 1989. We thought they were impressive.

The mural at the front of the church is also impressive.

As we drove towards Bundoran, the Mullaghmore mountain dominated the skyline.

Bundoran is a hugely popular beach town, the Irish flock to it. It is a surfing destination and is listed as one of the top 20 surfing beaches in the world. The beach was very flat so I presume there is another beach where the surf rises in Bundoran.

This rocky outcrop is sitting just along the beach. We were overlooking it from the cliff walk on the golf course. We were amazed that there were people walking on it. Its quite high and if anyone fell they would suffer injury. Australian safety precautions wouldn't allow it! After lunch we continued on to Belleek, taking Graham and Ammie into Northern Ireland for the first time, even if only very briefly. A visit to the pottery was on our iternary as was afternoon tea. And then we were on the last leg of our trip, to County Cavan and the farm at Corranure. It was good to be back again and see family. And here ends the blog on our trip.