Ireland, Haunted castles to stay at in west

What is a Scion besides a little car????

sci·on (sn)
n.
1. A descendant or heir.
2. also ci·on (sn) A detached shoot or twig containing buds from a woody plant, used in grafting.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[Middle English, from Old French cion, possibly of Germanic origin.]

My sweet Amy is a detached twig??

My mother use to say the same thing to me. I was 51 when this picture was taken. Why stop now??!!



Attached Image. (Click thumbnail to expand)

That picture just makes me feel ill, my husband does stuff like that to me.

We really need to get back on the subject of interesting places in Ireland to visit, above Shannon that is.
We are leaving May 3rd, and will be going up as for as Donegal I think, Anyone know anyplace interesting to go?
We are going to InisMor, recomended by Shrule Egan.
Anyone know anything about Sligo?

Before you get to Sligo, you need to make a few stops. Take the N-17 to Claremorris and go to the middle of town and look for Higgins & Co. It can be found on the east side of the street. It's a store carrying all sorts of better quality Irish goods, plus, they are the manufactures of the Celtic Design Collection of Irish rugs. http://www.celticdesigncollection.com/

Next as you head north, you need to take a little ride west to Foxford and visit the Foxford Clothing Mills. Some of the best made Irish woolen goods can be found there.

Next, there is an exit off the N-17 for the Knock Shrine. Never been there but the exit off the Thruway is rather busy, so I will take it, it's worth stopping.

After driving up to Sligo, off to your right, you begin to see Benbulben. The N-15 traces the outline of Benbulben all the way up to Bunduran. This mountain creates a non-stop view that will have you taking pictures the whole time. A picture of Benbulben is below. My picture was taken while I was heading south.

As you ride up the N-15, about half way to Bunduran, look to your left, out towards the ocean. You will see a castle in the distance. I don't know the name of it off the top of my head but most Irish maps have it listed. I'm told that it is a very nice castle and a nice ride out through the countryside to get to it. If I remember the name of the castle, I'll post it.


When you enter Ballyshannon, take the time to ride up and down some of the streets, esp. the western side of the round-about, up the hill. The store fronts and bars are all colorfully painted. Very neat little town and the pubs are fun to check out.

After Ballyshannon, the next real fun town to stop in is Donegal. Find your way to Donegal Castle and park your car. Do the tour of the castle, then go walk around town. Your camera will stay very busy.

That should be enough for you to ponder and research for a bit. If I think up more, I'll post it.




Attached Image. (Click thumbnail to expand)

Fantastic! I found them all on my map! If you think of anything else, let me know. Have you been above Donegal?
And we were planning to go to the shrine in Knock, fred's wife really wants to go, we already have a B&B booked. Thanks, Wendy

Donegal is as far north that I have been. Just remember, you will only be a few miles from the Northern Ireland border and may want to cross over and check out some of the sites there to. Such as, The Marble Arch Caves (http://www.marblearchcaves.net/), between Sligo and Enniskillen, along the N-16. May need your passport for crossing. Not sure of that.

The castle mentioned above, is Classiebawn Castle, in Mullaghmore. It's a fairly new castle, built in the 1800's. The castle is privately owned and not open for tours.

Just north of Sligo, you will find the Lissadell House. Unfortunately, we didn't have enough time the day we were passing through to stop and see this mansion. Check out the web page: http://www.lissadellhouse.com/home.php


That's all I have for tonights edition.

Thanks again, we just may want to cross into Northern Ireland, I can't beleive were leaving in a month from today!

You could always take the Irish Whiskey tour.

Tullamore Dew Heritage Centre
Bury Quay,
Tullamore,
Co. Offaly.

Entrance on Bury Quay. Central location and all-day parking. Disabled access and toilets.

Tel. +353 57 9325015
E-mail: [email protected]
Web: www.tullamore-dew.org
Opening TimesMonday - Saturday 9am - 6pm
Sunday Midday - 5pm


Old Bushmills Distillery
Bushmills, County Antrim
Northern Ireland

Tel. 44 2820 733 218
www.bushmills.com


Old Midleton Distillery
(The Jameson Experience)
Midleton, County Cork

Tel. 353 21 461 3594
www.whiskeytours.ie


Old Jameson Distillery
Bow Street Distillery
Smithfield Dublin

Tel. 353 1 807 2355
www.whiskeytours.ie



Locke's Distillery Museum
part of the Cooley Distillery
Kilbeggan, County Westmeath

Tel. 353 57 93 32134
www.lockesdistillerymuseum.ie

Good idea! That will have to be another trip though.
I see 2 more trips to Ireland after this one in my future, I hope.
How many times have you been to Ireland A Shrule Egan?

Only twice, nine days for each trip. The first time was for genealogy purposes but I still found time to explore. The second, we met with the relatives for two days, then we explored the rest of the time. Having a motorcyclist mentality is a very big plus when visiting Ireland. I needed to know what was down every road.

Hello ctbard,

If you wish to cross into Northern Ireland you must go and see the Giant's Causeway it's quite remarkable and there is of course the city of Belfast and one of the best preserved Norman fortress by the Belfast lough is Carrickfergus.

Still in Antrim Co. you can always stop by Carrick-a-rede Rope Bridge although you must walk quite a while to get to it but once there the view is breathtaking.

One guide book that I find very complete when travelling is the Michelin Green Guide, it is a very easy to read guide book and clear. I am sure you will enjoy your trip very much.LOA

Oh, Thank you, I'll have to look online for that book. I would like to go to the Giants Causeway, but I think it will be to far, we'll have to wait and see how good we do with driving time, when I was there before didnt get very far it seemed.Wouldnt it be great to have an entire month there? Or an entire summer!! I would miss my animals too much though to be gone so long.