A Day Trip to Northern Ireland

Leaving Dublin we got onto the motorway, recently developed mainly to get the trucks out of the city.  However, when they built the motorway tunnel they didn't compensate for the European trucks and Dublin Port Tunnel was built 3cm too low for the super trucks which still have to go through the city.  Dublin seems to have not a great deal of success in construction.  Another example would be the The Millennium Spire, which was supposed to be finished in 2000, however it was finished in 2003, no longer able to be called the Millennium Spire and now goes under several 'alternate' names (such as "The stiffy in the Liffey"). 

First stop of our Northern Ireland tour was a place called Carrick-A-Rede and Larrybane.  Carrick-A-Rede means "the rock in the road".  The road in this case is the sea route for Atlantic salmon on their westward journey past Carrick Island.

Sancha crossing the rope bridge

For over 350 years fishermen have strung a rope bridge 30 metres above the sea to allow them to cross and access the best places to catch migrating salmon.  The views are spectacular once you cross and I also managed to get over (just told myself not to look down). It was an achievement to say the very least since I hate heights.

Larrybane Headland

Larrybane or Laragh Ban means the ancient white site, and is the name of the limestone headland lying to the west of Larrybane Bay.  An iron age fort stood on the headland around 800 AD.  Absolutely stunning views of not only the headland but also over the sea to the Scottish coast.

Next stop was Giant's Causeway about a 10 minute journey from Carrick-A-Rede.  I was eager to see this UNESCO World Heritage site as I had read so much about it and seen a ton of beautiful photographs in tourist brochures.  Let's just say, I wasn't disappointed.  The rain and the wind managed to hold off for this trip too, thankfully.  I have noticed that Australia seems to have the whole safety issue(s) down pat when it comes to cliffs and viewing platforms - they actually have the area surrounded by fences or wooden boxes.  Here, however, there are only a few fences, you can basically just walk out onto the cliff in most places and see the sheer drop below. All the while hoping that no big wind storm is going to suddenly approach and blow you off.

Giant's Causeway Headland

I was intrigued with this site as the Giant's Causeway has formations of unusual six sided basalt columns and numerous walking tracks around the headlands. It is also tremendous for photography. After closer inspection, some of the photographs I took came out as if I had painted them.  I wished that we had longer to explore the headlands as I spent most of my time around the Giant's Causeway stones, such a surreal environment set against a green (headlands) and blue (atlantic ocean) background gave off contrasting colours in the stones.  I loved it.

Giant's Causeway Basalt Columns (it's a photograph, not a watercolour)

Then it was time to head to Derry (or Londonderry, depending on who you ask).  We stopped for a quick photograph of Dunluce Castle which would have been nice to have time to wander through, but I guess with tours you are always running out of time or waiting for someone who has made the group late.  However, Dunluce Castle is gorgeous and is thought to be the most romantique and picturesque Castle in Ireland dating back to the 14th Century.   Our bus driver had a great saying though "Do you know that song by U2 'With or Without you?, well if your late, we will be going 'With or Without you'" (we thought that was pretty funny).

Dunluce Castle in Portrush

After about an hour and a half's drive we arrived in Derry.  The town is also known as Londonderry by the English, and is one of the longest continuously inhabited places in Ireland.  The name Derry derives from the old Irish word 'Daire' meaning oak grove.

Once we hopped off our tour bus we joined a walking tour of Derry, somewhat disappointed that we had such a large group (50+) as it was difficult to hear at times and we were also restricted to what we saw, because moving a large group of adults and children is somewhat slow. We started off with a tour of the City Walls, one of most visibly striking historic features of the city is the historic walls.  It is the only remaining completely walled city in Ireland. The walls were built between 1613 and 1618 by The Honorable The Irish Society as defences for the early 17th Century settlers from England and Scotland.  The prefix London was thus added to the name of the city and the city became known as Londonderry.  The walls which are approximately 1.5km in circumference act as a unique viewing promenade and form part of the walkway around the city.

Historic City Walls in Derry

My favorite part of the walking tour was the famous murals that are throughout the city which have had the world's media attention in both the Bogside around Free Derry Corner and the Fountain which are testament to the role Derry played during 'The Troubles'.  They are known as the Bogside Artists, the series of 12 large-scale murals depict key events in Northern Ireland since 'The Troubles' began in October 1688.

Bogside Mural

This was our last stop of the tour and we began our journey back to Dublin.

Giant's Causeway Basalt columns

Giant's Causeway Basalt Columns with Headland in background

Free Derry Corner

Derry or Londonderry Loyalists side

Giant's Causeway