We woke up in the morning and decided to start our day taking a walk along Bertra Strand, a nearby beach. Unlike Iceland where we didn’t see many dogs at all, the Irish seem to love their dogs and they were all on the beach that morning, living their best lives running in the wet sand.
We then packed up and took off, stopping at the National Famine Memorial to see the Coffin Ship statue. This commemorates (if that is the right word to use in this situation) the Great Famine of 1845-1850. Evidently a lot of the workers in the countryside came to the town to see their “Lord” in charge of their land because they were starving. Instead of helping and feeding them, he put them onto boats going to America. Most of them died of “starvation sickness” prior to landing on the shores of America. It is a horrible story that is still very close to the surface in Ireland. The statue of the Coffin Ship was put up in 1997 in a large park and garden.
We continued on through Donagal and the Slieve League Loop and traveled to the top of the cliffs there. The coast is not usually beaches in Ireland…but towering cliffs with a fierce, churning sea far below. I mentioned that the weather was also moody in Ireland…we hiked up to the cliffs in County Donegal in a driving mist…. then the rain stopped…then was off and on again the whole time we were up there. There were a few moments where the sun broke through the clouds and sent gorgeous sunrays onto the ocean’s surface. These are moments are when I think Joe is showing me that he is with us still. We weren’t the only ones who noticed the beautiful sight. As we drove towards our stop for the night, we got to see several rainbows…even a double one!
Messina Musings 