Day 12, 22 May 2012 - Part 2

Craggaunowen had taken up the morning, and time well spent it was.  Our next stop would be the town of Quin.

Quin Abbey

Nana and Granddad wanted to go to Quin because their friend Colleen used to live in the area and had told them a story about a night in a pub.  It seems that closing time came and went and the patrons, Colleen and her husband included, did not want to leave.  The publican locked up the doors and everyone kept drinking.  The first Guarda showed up, but they refused to leave.  The second, followed by the third and the fourth Guarda didn't change the situation.  They stayed that way all night, patrons inside drinking, Guarda outside, insisting they go home, until morning when the milk man arrive for his delivery.  At this time the publican opened up, needing his milk, and the Siege of Quin was over.

We were in town long enough to ask for directions, drive to the pub, take a picture, and drive back out.  While Granddad was taking pictures I ran over to the abbey to get some shots.

The map of the area.  Ennis is the largest down.  Quin is right and down from it.

More ruined church.  There was a castle on this site at one time.

This was as close as I could get.

Following Quin we headed on to try and visit the Clare museum in Ennis.  I didn't get any pictures here because it was a nightmare of a midevil town with one lane streets running in random patterns.  We finally parked, got some direction and found the Clare Museum, only a couple of blocks from where we had parked.  We decided that lunch was more of a priority than the museum so we got some soup and sandwiches, which took almost an hour.

We had to be at our cottage at 1600 to meet the owners, so we didn't have time for the museum.  We fought our way our of Ennis and got on the road to Doolan.  As we approached Doolan we got a call letting us know that the owners would not be at the cottage until 1700.  We drove on, following the directions as best we could and found a house.  We didn't know if it was the right one (I hoped it was not) but it seemed to be in the right place.  Since we had over an hour until the meet up we decided to explore down in Doolan.

On top of the beach wall, looking towards the pier and the cliffs of Moher in the background.

A small island right offshore.  It has a shrine on it.  I don't know anything about it.

We wended our way through the town, it is very spread out.  Arriving at the beach the boys and I went climbing down the rocks, to the sand, and over to the pier.  Mama, Nana and Granddad stayed up by the car.  There were some significantly large boulders making up the back of the beach.  Owyn was up and over them like a mountain goat.  Rhys needed a bit of steadying in places.  When we got to the pier we checked out the ferries, times, costs, that sort of thing.

Looking back from the beach.  Nana and Mama look on.

The beach, looking out to sea.  There is some sand to our left.

One of the ferrys coming in.

Owyn was loving the climbing.

"Yes"  fist pump.

A concrete tidal basin.  It is underwater at high tide.  The van is over by the white camper in the distance.

Tracy had wanted to go out to the Arran islands.  We had been looking at the big one as it has the most to see.  The ferry operator recommended that we go the small one, Inis Oirr as it was closer, (30 minute ferry ride vs 90 minute ride).  It also had everything within walking distance and had a fantastic playground for the boys.  The trip also included a run to the cliffs of Mohrer for only an extra 5 euros.

We wandered back over to the car, got everyone on board (a long and convoluted evolution every single time) and headed back up to where we thought the cottage was.  Happily it was not.  We were able to get a hold of the owners and they guided us in.  The directions were completely useless, but it all worked out.

The view from the front porch.

Furze in the foreground, Doolan in the middle and the Cliffs of Moher in the background, with the sea.

The house was very nice.  Big rooms, modern, a ton of toys, great views.  The owners lived right behind the house.  The kitchen was a bit lacking, but we made do.  We dropped the ladies and kids off and Granddad and I ran over to the gas station for enough groceries for dinner and breakfast.  We planned a big shopping trip in Ennistymon (rhymes with simon) for the next day.