I don't think a place has ever enchanted me more than Clare, Ireland. It was a weekend to be together. We were quiet as our souls met the rugged Moher cliffs and the islands. They took our breath away in every sense.
Day 1
My sister bravely taking the left side of the road! The photographs from this day were taken by the two of us.
There's a fiddle song my violin teacher from Sandpoint gave me which I always loved, called "The Road to Lisdoonvarna." I couldn't help remembering it (and subjecting blessing my travel companions with its glorious sound, thanks to Spotify) as we drove down the N23 in a direction towards Lisdoonvarna. ;)
The view from our Airbnb in Liscannor, which we loved!
Doolin
Ennistymon, Baile Stairiúil (town with a past)
I found this information on a sign hanging on a fence outside the cemetery_ "In 1775, Ennis man James Kenny renounced Catholicism, and was appointed the first Church of Ireland clergyman to the parish at Kilmanaheen Ennistymon.
He received a grant of £390 to build a church on this prominent site and it was completed in 1778.
In his 45 years as minister, Reverend Kenny lived in fine circumstances at Kilmanaheen Glebe, outside the town.
During his tenure, he converted 45 local Catholics to Protestantism.
The church was damaged during the 1798-1799 United Irishmen’s disturbances, when the windows and doors were smashed in.
By the time the Catholic Emancipation Bill was passed in 1829, Reverend Kenny’s church was in ruins.
The Graveyard was originally for use by the Protestant congregation, but during Rev. Kenny’s time, there were only 7 burials and they were members of the Finucane family, former residents of the Ennistymon House.
After 1829 the graveyard was used for Catholic burials. Several of the Christian Brothers from Mount St. Joseph Monastery are buried here, their graves marked by small black crosses, with their names traced in Irish."
Cill MacCreiche
The Cliffs of Moher website shares the following legend about this cemetery_
"The Cliffs of Moher are situated in the parish of Kilmacreehy.
The parish takes its name from an early Irish Saint Macreehy who, according to folk legend, killed a great eel that came ashore to feast on corpses from the cemetery of his church which lies just beyond the village of Liscannor.
The saint’s bed is visible as two stones on the shore, which are covered at high tide.
A carving of the eel was to be seen on a stone in Kilmacreehy cemetery until a few generations ago, but has since vanished."
The Cliffs at Sunset
A story about the lost city of Kilstiffen_
"Looking south towards Spanish Point, you might see an area of disturbed water. This marks the location of the ancient city of Kilstiffen or Cill Stuifin. The city has also been called Kilstapheen or Kilstuitheen. The city sank when its chieftain lost in battle a golden key, a key which used to open the door of a fine castle there.
The city will not be restored until the key is recovered from its unknown location – some say it lies under the ogam-inscribed gravestone on Slieve Callan, east of Milltown Malbay, while according to others it was thrown into the little lake on the top of that mountain.
The city, with its golden-roofed palaces, churches, and towers, may at times be seen shining far below the surface. Once in every seven years it rises above the waves. But beware!! It is said that those who catch a glimpse of this city will die before it appears again.
Cill Stuifín is the Clare variant of the idea of an otherworld island, prevalent all along the west coast of Ireland... Within the reef of Liscannor Bay there are submerged forests and bogs and this combined with the record of a great earthquake and tidal wave between 799 & 802 AD may form the basis for the legends of the sunken city or lost island" (Source).
