The Grianan of Aileach is a stone fort on hills above Derry. Although it sits in the Republic, just outside Northern Ireland, visiting it on the way into the North leaves one feeling already across the border, especially since there is no longer any impediment to the crossing. It is popular because of its size and wide views.
A short steep road dropped us into the Bogside of Londonderry where we located our rather sub-standard accommodations. After sadly determining that the shared bathroom was one floor below our bedroom—the only time this occurred on our trip—we set out to walk the City Walls and visit the Museum of Free Derry.
The Museum of Free Derry is probably the strongest sign that Londonderry is not moving on from the emotions and historical grievances which motivated The Troubles. The area around the museum is dotted with IRA memorials to slain and incarcerated fighters while the buildings carry imposing political murals and Union Jacks. I did not take many pictures here; it seemed depressingly locked in political doldrums while the rest of Northern Ireland moves on into prosperity.
Probably that is why I took the picture above: a Union Jack at half-mast over the traditionally catholic Bogside. After leaving behind our rather gloomy opinions of Londonderry, we drove up to Bushmills where we visited the distillery and sampled some of the excellent product.
We avoided tour-bus crowds at the Giant's Causeway but did stop when the brilliant sun lit up the coast and ocean.
We continued around the headlands and into the Glens of Antrim. In Cushendun we had a pleasant meeting with Angela, a friend from my Queens University days, and stopped to take pictures of some caves on the sea cliffs outside town where filming happened for The Game of Thrones (and more importantly where I was introduced to fresh seaweed—dulse—as a snack.) We also located the tiny house where my grandparents, father, and uncle stayed on their Irish trip in 1929.
From Cushendun it is a fairly short drive into Belfast where both Michael and I have spent time. I had lived in the city both before and during the Troubles, when it was essentially a war zone with bombs, ruined buildings, and fully-armed soldiers. But on this day, a wholly new world appeared. Crowds of well-dressed people ambled through downtown shopping streets, no traffic barriers denied passage to cars and trucks, and no more security forces. Maybe most noticeable to me were the new store-fronts and hotels with glass windows on the street level, something that basically disappeared in the 1970s and 80s.
Our last day in the North consisted of a drive past the Giant's Ring near Belfast and on to visit the Royal County Down Golf Club in Newcastle. The dolmen in the center of the Giant's Ring is squat and ugly, maybe a little truculent. The practice range at Royal County Down is much more relaxed and inviting.
The impeccable hedges of this famous golf club graced our last stop before we drove south on our way to drop the VW at Dublin Airport. After driving an extra two hours on country roads to avoid paying a $2 motorway toll, we had an afternoon and day in Dublin to wander about and go on a fascinating tour to Newgrange. These excursions are described at the end of the Leinster 2022 page, since they take place in that province from whence we began this trip.