North Trip Day 4: Sligo to Louisburgh

Day 4 was a beautiful day as well, which was perfect for the day of visiting tombs and cairns while driving back to Louisburgh!

A statue in Derry showing how Catholic and Protestant are bridging the gap -- really cool symbol.

The remnants of my Skittles ice cream. SO GOOD.

Other highlight of the morning -- Katie K and Taylor had A LOT OF COFFEE!!!!!!!

The bridge, I believe crossing the Foyle River, that breaks up North and South.

To be extra tourist-y, we didn't just drive over it, but we got out and walked on it.

It had some very pretty views and it was a very nice morning, so I didn't mind :)

Owen pestering Brittnie :)

First big stop of the day -- a court burial site.

Cairn = lots of rocks!

We were trying to figure out if the stones were arranged to be kind of like a ship. I like the idea.

Once again, teeny tiny archways

Second major stop: Drumcliffe, where Yeats is buried. This is a statue representing one of my favorite poems of his, "Aedh Wishes for the Cloths of Heaven" <3

The swan doors.

Drumcliffe itself is a cool church that Yeats' relative was the reverend of, way back in the day!

Yeats' tomb!

Me attempting to be cool and tourist-y at the same time.

Interior of Drumcliffe -- a very pretty church

Tom and Pat with Yeats' tomb!

Pat memorized one of Yeats' poems, 'The Lake Isle of Innisfree' and recited it for us :D it was really cool to stand there and listen to the words he wrote!!!

Third and final major stop: Queen Maeve's tomb. Sadly, it involved a huge uphill hike to get to. This is the view back from a little ways up...

The path ahead (can't even see the tomb yet)

The tomb is visible!! But oh wait, we still had to climb a lot more to get there...

The tomb! Legend has it that Queen Maeve was buried here standing upright, staring down her enemies in Ulster :) it's a 40' tall stone cairn, kind of like the Creevykeel one we saw earlier, but cooler.

At the top of the tomb are yet more stones -- these are brought up by pilgrims. I was never told why, just that I should grab a rock to bring up. I brought a palm-sized pebble, but clearly others bring larger offerings.

Calla and I enjoying the wind at the top of the tomb

View from the top :)

There was a different path off to the side that offered a really nice view of the shore, so I rambled on that for a little bit to get my calves to un-cramp...

Calla, Katie K, Ava, and Sara starting the trek back down

As Taylor so aptly phrased it, Bailey getting a ride on a "Kyle taxi"... not that she was very happy about the situation...

Every time we see Croagh Patrick, I know we're home again :D

 And there you have it, friends! A successful trip to the North. We have much less than a month now, but we're enjoying every second of our remaining time :) I'll try to post again sometime in the near future with all the fun things we're getting up to!

-S