End of the Trip

So what else is there to say about Ireland?  More castles, tower houses and manor houses.  In the photos, they all look pretty much the same.  We visited the Cliffs of Mohr on the Atlantic coast - if you have never been to the Pacific Coast they are remarkable, but I grew up on the Oregon Coast, so it was not so special.  We visited a Work House where poor people were housed during the potato famine of the mid-1800's.  Families who were housed there were separated, parents from children, men from women, boys from girls and put to work to support themselves, but not to compete with the local economy which was struggling also. 

We stopped at a cathedral ruin on our way back to Dublin which is reputed to be where St. Patrick preached.  We learned some interesting facts about St. Pat.  His official color is light blue [not green].  He has never been sainted. by the Church.  He is actually an amalgamation of two or more missionaries who came to Ireland to spread Christianity in the fifth century.  The name Patrick likely was derived from the Latin "Pater" (father)  and was bestowed as an honorific for the Christian missionaries who came to Ireland after the withdrawal of the Romans from Britain. 

We ended our trip with two full days in Dublin.  That was very cool.  We went by the front of Guinness Brewery in St. James Gate,  There is no tour of the brewery, just a museum open to the public.  We did tour the first new distillery in Dublin in a century.  We wandered through Temple Bar and toured Trinity College.  Ate more Irish dishes.  Sheppard's pie is good, but Irish stew is my favorite.

So there you are.  Ireland is the only place I have visited outside Oregon where I could imagine wanting to live.  If Donald Trump is elected, that is where I am moving.