The Cliffs of Moher, Trad Music capital of Ireland, Wild seas

April 14, 2013

The Cliffs of Moher, Trad Music capital of Ireland, Wild seas

March 28/29, 2013 – County Clare

On to Doolin, County Clare, known for being the heart of the trad (traditional) music scene in Ireland. Also home to the famous Cliffs of Moher, and close to the Aran Islands (no, we didn’t go there, but a Western Ireland Island Trip combined with Scottish Isles sounds like a good future trip).

On the way to Doolin, we stopped in Kinvara. At a very quaint little shop of hand-crafted goods, Donna purchased five wool hand knitted hats for the kids from Valerie (she said, she’d have to get out the knitting needles that night, and gave Donna the fifth one for free).

Got a bit lost finding Nellie Dees, our B&B for the next two nights, but between Donna asking directions in O’Connors pub, and me getting our international phone to call Nellie Dees, we made it. Nellie Dees is unassuming compared to Mallmore House, but very nice. Jimmy and Loraine are the proprietors (Loraine’s the brains of the outfit, Jimmy’s the laborer – this according to Jimmy, who was a lot of fun).

A short walk down the road brings us to McGann’s Pub, and good food and music for the evening. Music didn’t start until 9:30 (the norm), so Donna grabbed her journal and caught up while we waited in the pub. The musicians wandered in about 9, and a tour bus disgorged a bunch of German tourist about then, so the place was packed. The banjo player was great as was the female singer – she had a beautiful voice and sang several poignant songs (Circle of Life – whatever goes around, comes around. Whatever goes around, comes around again). Unfortunately didn’t snag a great picture of either of them, but do have a few others from that night.

Next morning it’s breakfast at Nellie Dees and some fun banter with Jimmy. Also that morning there is a 70ish Irish gentleman and his early 20’s Swiss friend. Another young friend showed up near the end (he had an immersion at the pub the last night and was a bit rough around the edges, according to our 70ish friend, who was fascinating.) The three of them had met on a trip in India. Donna mentioned the gorgeous scenery in India, and he commented “if you like 20 plastic grocery bags with a few goats chewing on them”. He talked about the utter chaos of the roads, and that it was common to see an entire family of five or six on one small motorbike. He noted “The entire family could easily be wiped out. But no bother… it’s like changing a pair of socks; they’ll come back next week as a cow or a rat. “ He wasn’t mean spirited at all, but rather full of living life, and commenting as he went.

We decide to pass on the expensive parking for the Cliffs of Moher (which turns out to be a good decision – see later in this discourse), but drive on out to the Loop Head Drive (another Lonely Planet find by Donna). There is a lighthouse at the end of the road at Loop Head, and we walk down the hill to the sea and spectacular crashing waves against the cliffs – very awe inspiring; and of course we have the place to ourselves. We searched for another “Lonely Planet drive” along the cliffs at Kilkee, (County Clare’s “other cliffs”) but never did find it. Drove back towards Doolin and the Cliffs of Moher, stopping at the Star of Sea Church, and Spanish Point, where again there are some huge waves.

Donna had read about a way to approach the Cliffs of Moher and avoid the crowds, and although nothing was marked I take a chance and turn down a road, and keep turning towards the Cliffs, and voila!, it worked. We park our car along with a few other cars, and the Cliffs are a short walk along a farmers field. I talked with Bill from Killarney, who had just come back from the Cliffs. Bill lived in Boulder, Colorado for 4 years about 20 years ago. We had a really fun chat, and he shook my hand twice as we were leaving. It feels like we could have made ten new best friends on this trip if we had wanted to. And there is that theme again, the Irish are very friendly! We ended up walking the Cliffs for almost an hour and a half as the sun is setting, and had the Cliffs almost entirely to ourselves (and this is fairly amazing, since this is one of the big tourist draws in Ireland). It couldn’t have been any better time to be at the Cliffs – really nice light for photos – it’s the kind of light the pros come out to take the pics for the postcards.

We had hoped for another night at the pubs and trad music, but it is Good Friday, and the pubs are closed. So we go the Riverside Bistro, where Jimmy and Loraine’s son (Dylan) and daughter (Emma) both work. Of course we start running into people again – this time it’s Jim and Claudia from Livermore, California, who eat at the bar (we are seated at a table at the window – this room has the fire!!) Jim is a retired English high school teacher (also taught Latin – one more Latin connection to go at our next B&B), Claudia is an artist. Jim and Claudia have four sons, one of whom went to Metropolitan State (where Kirsten got her degree, and where Colin is currently going) on a baseball scholarship. A great couple and a fun visit (pic coming up in next installment). Jim and Claudia then introduced us to Eva and Gunther from Germany, who are also staying at Nellie Dees. We ended up visiting with Eva and Gunther the next morning at breakfast (although we visit with Gunther thru Eva, as Gunther doesn’t speak English, but you can tell he is a jolly guy, as he is always grinning, and when Eva translated for him he always comes back with a fun quip). Eva is working for IBM in Dublin but returns to Germany again soon. She is also a bit of an entrepreneur, promoting a Dublin trad music group she came across in Dublin. She offered to have us stay our last night with them in Dublin, and/or go to hear the group on Friday night. We really hoped to pull that off, but unfortunately we couldn’t reach her on our new international phones we got for this trip (they worked only so –so) when we got to Dublin the next Friday.

Another adventure filled couple of days.