Ireland – Day 8
Absolutely the best day so far on the trip. The weather was perfect and the light was wonderful. A great day for a ferry over to Clare Island. Clare Island is the largest of the islands in Clew Bay, with a population of about 160 people.
Boats at Murrisk
On the way over to catch the ferry we passed through Murrisk. As the tide was in, we stopped to photograph some boats moored near the shore.
Mooring at Clare Island
We took the Clare Island ferry, the Very Likely, across the bay, through the Atlantic swells. The harbor at Clare Island gives a good welcome to the island with brightly colored boats moored against a backdrop of cottages on the island.
Cottage on Clare Island
We walked up to the hotel on the island with the intention of getting some lunch before heading up to the lighthouse on the north side. On the way to the hotel, we passed a number of typical Irish cottages, which, against a wonderful blue sky, we beautiful to look at.
Once at the hotel, the disaster of the day occurred when contrary to what we had all been told, the hotel was closed. As it turned out, this was a very good thing. Olcan had arranged with the woman who drove the island bus to pick us up and drive us up to the lighthouse. Olcan owns a cottage nearby the lighthouse and we stopped at his neighbor’s house, who graciously agreed to feed all of us later, when we came down from the lighthouse. More on that later.
Surf below the cliffs at Teach Solais Lighthouse
The Teach Solais Lighthouse is situated above steep cliffs on the north side of the island. The cliffs are an abrupt drop off from the hills behind them, with wonderful ware action around the rocks.
Clough Patrick from Clare Island
The lighthouse, which has been decommissioned since the 1960′s, is under renovation. Instead of going onto the grounds, we hiked up along the cliff line for great views of the bay and the mainland. Clough Patrick was clearly visible across the bay.
Teach Solais Lighthouse
Coming back down, we have beautiful views of the lighthouse complex and the bay behind it.
From there, we walked down the road to Olcan’s neighbor. Ciara Cullen owns a yoga retreat and practices organic farming (http://www.yogaretreats.ie). She put on a wonderful lunch for us with various items grown in her gardens and a most wonderful apple tart for dessert. The people in her house were welcoming and we had probably the best experience of the whole trip.
Maude Cullen, Ciara’s daughter
After lunch we walked over to Olcan’s cottage (still under construction) and then we were picked up by the bus, which still had three school students on it. Typical Irish kids, they were talkative and polite. And like all kids, when asked what they did at school today, the answer was, “the same old thing.”
The bus dropped us off at the harbor and we sat on the beach for an hour until time for the ferry. While we were sitting there, a brief shower passed over and shortly after, we were looking at a beautiful rainbow over the harbor. A great way to end the day.
Rainbow over Clare Island Harbor
