Cliffs of Moher
I decide to make the most of my flying visit to Ireland with a day trip to Galway and the Cliffs of Moher on the west coast. The Cliffs of Moher are a spectacular part of the Irish landscape and have been used in many films including Ryan’s Daughter and Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince.
It’s an early start to the day as it’s a good 2 ½ hours’ drive to get there. Our driver unfortunately does not seem to be a morning person – of all the happy, chirpy people in Dublin I wonder how they managed to find this guy, who greets us with how unfortunate a day it is – ok, it’s raining, but hey this is Ireland, you expect a little rain*. Following his weak attempt at optimism but failing miserably (he tells us that the forecast has announced clearing showers but this may or may not happen), I decide to call him Mr Grumpy. He then proceeds to put the entire bus to sleep as he drones on interminably about the things some of us are going to see later in the day. Only half the bus is going to the cliffs, the other half are booked on a different tour. Sure, you don’t expect all bus drivers to be Billy Connolly but a smile would be nice.
At a service station in Athlone, we stop off for a “wee” break, or so the brochure says – too witty for Mr Grumpy who calls it a “rest stop”. I’m beginning to doubt if this guy is even Irish!
Everyone makes a mad dash for the loos but I head for the coffee and croissants - 12 months of French life have left their mark after all. The croissant is surprisingly good.
Back on the bus we are treated to another monologue on the river Shannon – this guy is better than valium. I read in the brochure that we change to a local driver/guide in Galway so that “they will be fresh as a daisy, safe and lively”. Does that mean Mr Grumpy isn’t?
Our Galway guide is a gorgeous young Irish redhead called Laura. Fortunately for us, she does seem to be “fresh as a daisy and lively” and keeps us entertained on our hour long walk around the city of Galway. She briefly explains Ireland’s long and tortuous history - according to her the Irish seem resigned to their bad luck – prosperity and good fortune are naturally followed by periods of hardship and problems. So much for the “luck of the Irish!”
She tells us about the various invaders, the potato famine of the 1840s also called the Irish Holocaust, where 1 million Irish people were left to starve without the British so much as lifting a finger to help –called Laissez-faire. Apparently Tony Blair apologized a few years ago for this woeful treatment* (reminiscent in a way of our treatment of aborigines).
Back on the bus and we seem to have a new coach driver who cracks jokes and makes us laugh, at least those of us on the bus who understand English with an Irish accent (probably about 3 of us).
We arrive at the Cliffs of Moher sometime around 2.00pm. The cliffs are indeed spectacular but in a funny way remind me a lot of the The Knobbies at Phillip Island, right t down to the dozens of tourist buses, the Visitor’s Centre, the walking tracks, etc. The only thing missing are the Fairy Penguins. I am very glad it isn’t tourist season yet as our driver tells us that in summer there aren’t just a dozen coaches arriving daily but hundreds!!!
On the way back to Dublin I finish my book by Edna O’Brien, a hugely successful Irish writer who was shunned by her family and her country - a fitting end to my trip to Ireland. I feel refreshed, inspired and ready to face the next chapter of my own life.
*It rains about 225 days a year according to Wikipedia
*1997 https://www.independent.co.uk/news/blair-issues-apology-for-irish-potato-famine-1253790.html