Day Thirteen – Field Trip, April 2016

We had a very busy day today continued our way around Ireland. We had to have our suitcases ready to be loaded on the bus by 7:00 am and ourselves in seats on the bus at 8:00 am.

Our first stop was at Ballintubber Abbey which was only about an hour from the hotel that we were housed in Westport. Ballintubber Abbey is reputed to have been in continuous use for worship since 1216. In 1653, Cromwell burned it down, but the people continued worshipping on the grounds with lookouts posted. It has since been rebuilt except for some sections in the back of the Abbey.

While mass was being administered in the building, our guide took us on a tour of the exterior grounds which have been set up in three courses, the Stations of the Cross, the Way of the Rosette, and the Way of Patrick. We then explored the interior of the building, however, I wish that I could have had more time to explore.

Our next stop was in Galway City. This is a port city on Galway Bay and I believe that my 3^rd great-grandparents, John Robert and Margaret, left through this port to travel to Canada in 1832. Our guide had a certain route planned until he learned that we were mostly family historians. Then, he changed his route and gave us information that could help us fill in the gaps in our search for records.

After the tour, we were invited to have our lunch at various pubs near the end place of the tour. My brother and I chose to eat at GBC and had an enjoyable lunch. The wait staff was very quick taking our orders and delivering our meals. We were on a schedule and were able to meet our deadline for continuing our journey.

From there, we travelled around the shores of Galway Bay and up the Corkscrew to the Cliffs of Moher. The cliffs are 700 feet above the Atlantic Ocean. I didn’t go right to the very top as I was starting to get tired and I realized that I was starting to get short on time. I did manage to take some pictures which I will post when I go into further depth on each of our stops after I return home.

We are now in our hotel, having a rest and doing small activities until we go for a medieval-style banquet later this evening. I will try to cover the highlights tomorrow. We will be leaving our hotel for the next day early and spend tomorrow evening in a different hotel.