The Ireland Blog got it’s very first email of a reader sharing photos. Missy is from Germany and said she will keep sending in photos of her latest trip from Ireland. Thank you Missy! Do you have stories and photos to share? If so please email them to me…

Sliabh Liag / Slieve League

Photo Credtis: Missy

The cliffs of Slieve League with their 595 meters are very often described as the highest of cliffs in Europe which is not correct. Apparently the Cliffs of Croaghaun on Achill Island are higher. Even though I can’t make the height out .. not even on Wikipedia. I just compared the information on the Wiki’s which one is higher but on both sites they clame to be highest cliffs of Europe.

Well anyways,

One of the ways to view the cliffs is taking a small road of the town Teelin which leads by Carrigan Head up Bunglass Point.

Sources: WikiDe / WikiEn

Long time no see. Are you wondering where I have been? Well I am wondering myself what happened in the last month Everything is well, I was just on holidays, I also got to finally spend some time in Dublin.

So get ready for the Ireland Blog going live again.

I took this video in the temple bar at temple bar .. this was the very first time I go to listen traditional irish music since I moved here. What a shame!

The Shrine from the outside.

The Holy Shrine.

Holy Water Pumping Station.

A religious raffle … they must be kidding.

We visited the Knock Shrine … we had to find out why they had to built an Airport for the millions of people visiting the shrine every year. This experience was just bizarre … I am not a religious person and watching people really getting into it was just out of my world. It was fascinating and the Knock Shrine will be on the list of things to do for our guests to come…. if they want it or not.

21 August 1879, fifteen people whose ages ranged from five years to seventy-five and included men, women, teenagers and children, witnessed what they claimed was an apparition of Our Lady, her husband St Joseph, and St John the Evangelist at the south gable end of the local small parish church, the Church of St John the Baptist. Behind them and a little to the left of St John was a plain altar. On the altar was a cross and a lamb (a traditional image of Jesus, as reflected in the religious phrase The Lamb of God) with adoring angels. More information: Wikipedia

We looked out of the window last night and were surprised to see that fire. Apparently this is a common thing … our whole town had bonfires all over the place on that day.

Sorry for being so cheesy but I do love both shots.

Technorati Tags: Photography, French Bulldog, Blossoms, Close up, Cheesy

Went went to the Lacken Strand Horse Races .. I think it was 3 weeks ago. As you can see the horse race is right on the beach … well it’s more like a little bay which gets flooded when it’s high tide.

It was a beautiful but very windy day. Can’t wait for the race next year.

The Lacken strand races were revived in 1997 after a 44 year lapse, carrying on a century old tradition of horse racing on Lacken Strand. The last recorded races in 1953 were very different to the modern day races now held there. In 1953, horses would gather from the surrounding parishes. These mainly consisted of Connemara ponies and working farm horses which were Irish Draught and Half Bred in the main. Today’s racing is far removed to that of the 50’s with the horses and ponies being all thoroughbred and most of them coming from the top stables and the leading bloodlines in the country. Due to the ever-changing tidal conditions, the races take place towards the end of May each year.

More info on the Lacken Strand Horse Race

Technorati Tags: Fun, Photography, Travel, Lacken Strand, Horse Race, County Mayo, Irland, Pferderennen

Sorry for not posting in a while but I just got back from a trip to the US to visit my 2 month old niece. Today (well by now .. yesterday) was my first day back in Ireland and I went with my Mom to take walk around Aughris Head and there it was .. a fisher boat which got smashed against the cliffs just 2 hours before we got there. Nobody got hurt ….

Technorati Tags: Bizarre, News, Aughris Head, County Sligo, Boat Accident, Cliffs, Smashed

Guess whom we saw today in Killala? Bertie Ahern was just walking down the streets to shake hands and to win couple of more votes before the election. He did shake Mike’s hand but not mine. Well he lost my vote … but he could make it up to me by showing up for some tea .. lol.

Of course I didn’t have my camera on me. Was anyone else there and managed to snap a pic. If so … please let me know so I can post some.

P.S…. I am not allowed to vote here anyways … so Bertie … it’s all good.

Technorati Tags: News, Bertie Ahern, Killala, County Mayo, Election, 2007, Shaking Hands

I am off Shamrock hunting

Remember, 78% of all statistics are made up. So even though they say there is only one 4-leafer in 10,000 clovers, thats not entirely the whole story. One clover is just a member of one White Clover plant, which can cover from a few square inches to a few square feet. And some plants are more susceptible to mutation than others, so if you find one, look hard in the near vicinity.

Link: Full Guide

Technorati Tags: Fun, 4 Leaf, Clovers, Guide, Shamrock

When we went toAran Island couple of weeks ago, you probably remember that we missed the first ferry .. to cover the 3 hours wait for the next one we went to have breakfast and some time on the awesome coral beach in Carreroe.

Maerl beaches, the cast-up remains of coralline algae, are a stunningly beautiful feature of some parts of the west of Ireland. This beach (left) is at An Cheathrú Rua (Carreroe), Co. Galway about 25 miles west of Galway city. Frequently called "Coral Strands" or "Coral Beaches" they have nothing to do with animal corals but are the remains of seaweeds that grow in detached, rock-like growths in the subtidal. These beaches are a unique part of our natural heritage and no such material such be removed; in fact it is illegal to remove any material from Irish beaches.

Source: Seaweed

Technorati Tags: Bizarre, Coral, Maerl, Beach, Strand, County Galway, An Cheathrú Rua, Carreroe