Erin go Bragh...Ireland forever!

I have been wanting to travel to Ireland for many years, especially since my father's side of the family is from there and I had never been.
I also heard how beautiful the west coast was so finally I ventured out and visited Ireland and Scotland.
In this blog post, I'll just cover Ireland as there was plenty to see. So let's begin!
In Ireland there were a lot of ruins and lots of green so I decided to try and capture both in an image

 

An old cemetery and ruin frame the beautiful countryside

 

An old cemetery with a round tower. You see these towers often in Ireland

I do have to comment about one thing of Ireland and Scotland, they had the cleanest, nicest bathrooms that I have found in Europe. This is an important factor when you are living in a van! :-)
This bathroom really caught my eye due to it's unique shape. It was also Ireland's bathroom of the year in 2012!!

This peculiar bathroom was Ireland's bathroom of the year in 2012, deservedly so!

Throughout the countryside, I would find very peaceful settings in the rolling hills and greenery. This church and lake was very nice!

This lovely lakeside church in Gougane Barra was a very serene setting

Next to the church were these reeds which really transfixed my attention.

These reeds reflecting in the water provided some good thoughts

I did find a few streams that really stood out for their beauty.

  

This beautiful stream was really accentuated by the greenery

And this one....

  

 This stream had some great white trails as the water descended

While I was mostly in Ireland for the scenery, I did stop in a few towns and catch some music and pubs....

A jam session in Dingle providing a great mix of sound!

And this one....

A punk bar in Dublin where I was king of the pool table, at least for 3 games. Great place!

And then it was back to nature...!

 

I loved seeing the rock formations that have been battling the weather for eons

The Cliffs of Moher were fantastic once the weather cleared (this was 7am before all the tourists showed up)

Caught this beautiful sunset in Horn head, up on the Northern coast. Was also my overnight locale which was nice and quiet

 

Most of the roads on the trip were single lane with little passing sections that you had to use...and always remember to stay on the left!

My last stop on this tour was the Giant's Causeway in Northern Ireland. When I first arrived, about 7pm, there were still a lot of people about so
I waited until about 9pm when they all left and I was able to grab some photos.

The Giant's Causeway provided some spooky scenery, especially after dark!

Another view of part of the Giant's Causeway

A view of the bay holding Giant's Causeway. Beautiful contrast with the green hills surrounding

I wasn't too happy with my nighttime shots (at least not when I reviewed them later in the van) and happened to wake up at 6am and drove back
out there. It was great as it was still free entry and no one around!

Giant's Causeway during the morning sunrise

That was pretty much my trip of Ireland (skipping the 1,800 other photos that I shot).  I really enjoyed the scenery but I have to say that on this trip, it was the people that I met that stood out much more than the scenery. Very friendly people that I won't forget.

On the map below, it shows my journey of 4,700 miles (7,500 kms)
and how I got from country to country using ferries.

A map of the road trip, all 4,700 miles (7,500 kms) of it!

See you next week with the photo blog on Scotland! Slainte!