Day 20: Craggaunowen, Quin and Ennis, Ireland

Our first stop this morning was supposed to be the grocery store, Aldi in Ennis. The GPS somehow decided to take us to our last destination, Craggaunowen, first, so  it took a little longer to get to the grocery store than we had hoped. We did turn around before getting to Craggaunowen, so we weren’t delayed too badly. On top of GPS problems, driving is still stressing me out. The roads are so narrow. All of the ones around our place are only big enough for one car, barely.

All of the credit card machines were down at the grocery store when we got there, so we were glad we had cash. We went back and forth about whether or not to shop just for breakfast/lunch or for the week. We decided to just buy for the week even though it meant another trip back to the house down the crazy roads, which is about 15 minutes away. Groceries are surprisingly cheap here and we definitely had enough cash for our purchase. We had worried we wouldn’t have enough cash to cover the purchase, which had made shopping harder than it should have been. It didn’t matter anyway because Apple Pay worked at the register.

We went back to the house, ate, and drove back into Ennis. This time we went to the city center. We parked and paid at a lot near the Ennis Friary. We visited the tourist information office and went to the attached (and free) Riches of Clare Museum. The tourist office had Heritage Island coupon books I had been looking for and information about a Hop On Hop Off for the Cliffs of Moher, which I also was looking for. The museum was small, but well laid out and informative.

On our way to the Ennis Friary we came across the Riches of Clare free summer traditional music concert series. The musicians sang and played fiddle, harp, penny whistle, a thing Edon called a squeeze box, and a keyboard. It was great. Unfortunately, we only had time to listen to a few songs.

We went to the Friary and bought Heritage Cards, so now we have “free” admission to many historical sites around Ireland. The kids’ cards were only 10 euros, so they will pay for themselves very soon. Mine was 40 euros and I don’t know that it will pay for itself. Maybe. 

The Friary was interesting and quick to visit. 

Next, we went to Craggaunowen, an outdoor living history museum. It was so nice to walk through the mossy forests and see the exhibits. We only spent about an hour and half there and we went slowly. Still, we had lots to see. There was a castle from the 1500s and reconstructions of a ring fort, an Iron Age road, a crannog, and a hunter’s cooking site. There were other exhibits, too. They have the Brendan Boat on display in a glass house. The Brendan Boat is a boat built according to descriptions of the boat St. Brendan used to visit North America in the 500s. It was actually sailed from Ireland to Newfoundland in the 1970s. It was so small, I couldn’t have imagined making that trip! 

We went to the Quin Friary after that. It was much larger and better preserved than the Ennis Friary. It was so impressive! The kids got some amazing drone footage.

By this time we were exhausted. We came home and made a hot dinner and did the dishes. We had planned to go back into Ennis to try and hear music at the pubs, but decided instead to all get to bed early. It is hard because of the how light it is, though. It is 10:30pm now and still dusky outside. The power randomly went out about an hour ago, so not sure when this will get posted.