Ennis & Galway: A Weekend to Remember

What a weekend- I have to be honest, I'm completely exhausted!

We left DCU around 1pm on Friday and headed to Ennis, a town in County Claire on the west coast. Ennis' population is approximately 25,000, which makes it the sixth largest town in Ireland. We made several stops on the way there, including one to see the Co. Claire Famine Memorial (see picture in my last post). Our group of 39 stayed at the Rowan Hostel, which was locates just across the water from the main street running through the town. After exploring the town for a little while, we got ready for the night and then ate a late dinner at the restaurant connected to the hostel. Our tour guide, Caroline (who is also my history professor), along with her cousin John and his friend Louie took us on a pub crawl through the town. We visited three different pubs, got a chance to speak with some locals, and hear some great live music. We danced a little at the last of the three pubs; there was a "hen party" at that one (an Irish bachelorette party). After leaving the pub, we all headed to Queens Nightclub, the only nightclub in Ennis. (In Ireland, they call clubs discos, so the real name of the club is Queens Disco.) We had the greatest time at the club, which reminded me of something out of the 1970s: maybe it had something to do with the fog machine?

Saturday morning came early: We left Ennis and headed north the Galway City. On the way, we stopped to see the Cliffs of Moher, one of Ireland's tourist hotspots. With its absolutely breathtaking views (see last post), does it get any better? There are two different paths you can take to view the cliffs, and at one point at the end of one of the paths, there is a plaque memorial dedicated to those who lost their lives while visiting the cliffs. As young adults, I don't think the wall of the plaque scared us as most of us climbed over the wall to walk along the dirt path right along the edge (see pictures from my last post). I never felt scared about being so close to the edge, although now when I look at the pictures it's pretty incredible to think how close we really were. I made sure to wave as we looked over the Atlantic Ocean, but I don't think anyone back home was able to see me! Our next stop was Caroline's family farm. We learned how to play Gaelic football, saw a newborn calf, walked through a barn of expecting mothers (cows), and took a hike on the Burren mountains. The views from the mountain were absolutely beautiful! After returning from the hike, we all piled into the house for a lunch of quiche, cold salads, brown bread, and warm apple tart (a.k.a. apple pie). Two of the boys who live down the road played music for us during lunch, and a few people from our group sang as well, before we all joined in and sang several American and Irish songs together. We got back on the bus and headed into Galway city. Most of us were really tired and opted to take power naps before dinner. We ate at Monroe's Tavern: I had the best traditional Irish stew yet! After dinner, we all hung around for drinks, I had my first Irish coffee: coffee, Jameson whiskey, brown sugar, and homemade cream. One of Caroline's friends played in the band at Monroe's on Saturday night (see last post). We split up into smaller groups after hearing the first band, and several of the girls headed to the King's Head. We met a group of Gaelic football players, and one insisted on buying us each a drink. He introduced us to the rest of his group, including his twin sons who were all in Galway for the weekend. We heard another band at the King's Head, and one of the girls made sure to request they play "Galway Girl." We went to several other pubs and one nightclub: Coyotes. A Texas-themed bar/club, I thought it was interesting as it was decorated with Texas longhorns memorabilia.

Sunday morning, a small group of us ventured back in the Galway's city centre. I had my first creme egg: a Cadbury chocolate egg with pure-sugar creme filling. We walked along the river Corrib, and on a stone-covered beach near the bay. It was drizzling when we left the hostel in the morning, but it stopped and the sun broke through the clouds and was bright for the rest of the morning. A few of us stopped at a place for crepes, and then head to the Claddagh ring museum. (The Claddagh ring is said to have originated in Galway!) We left Galway around 1pm, and started to headed back toward Dublin. We stopped after we crossed the River Shannon for tea, and again at Clonmacnoise, an ancient ecclesiastical site founded between 545-548 (pictures in last post). We arrived back at DCU around 6pm after a great weekend!