The next day we got up early, as we wanted to visit the southwest of Donegal, a long drive from Kilmacrennan. So at 8:15 AM we were heading for Ardara, the weaving centre of Donegal. After about an hour we arrived in Ardara where we wanted to visit the Heritage Centre. But that didn't open until 10:30 AM and we didn't get up that early to wait for one and a half hour in Ardara. So we walked to the 'Donegal Tweed Visitors Centre' which already opened. There we saw a weaver at work and we bought some sweaters. From Ardara we went to Glencolmcille to visit the 'Folk Village Museum'. This is an open air museum about rural life in Donegal in former times.

Old cottage in the open air museum in Glencolmcille

The museum was founded in 1967 by Father James Mc Dyer who arrived in Glencolmcille in 1951 and he was very sympathetic with the poor people and he encouraged them to start small industrial art companies. The museum has a number of cottages from several periods so one can see how the interior of the cottages changed through the ages. In the surroundings of Glencolmcille we also searched for Turas (Standing Stones). These stones were, according to tradition, erected and decorated with crosses by St. Columba and so turned into religious symbols. Up until the present day there are still pilgrimages to these Turas. From Glencolmcille it is only a short drive to Slieve League, with almost 600 metres the highest cliffs in Europe. Via a narrow, steep and winding road we ended at a parking lot from where we were supposed to see the cliffs. Unfortunately they were all covered in clouds, so we could not see them in full glory. We waited for a while and made a walk up the cliffs, hoping the clouds would fade away, but the didn't. So we decided to return and we went to Carrick to have lunch. We also had the idea to take a boat ride on the sea to sea the cliffs from there, but after lunch the summits of the mountains were still covered in clouds so we didn't do the boat ride. Via Killybegs we went to Donegal to visit the local railway museum (Donegal Railway Heritage Centre). We arrived there at 4:30 PM and the museum closed at 5, so the lady at the desk let us in for free. In retrospect that wasn't so bad, as the museum is not that interesting and every cent spend for the entrance fee is one too much. Inside there are a few model trains and outside there is only one locomotive and one carriage on display. Outside there is also a model train running around a tree. Ciska liked this as she could run with the train around the tree. From the railway museum we went back to our cottage.

Irish dancing on the festival in Kilmacrennan

Also this day is the first of four days of the festival in Kilmacrennan and tonight there is Irish dancing. Hilleke wanted to show Ciska what Irish dancing looks like, so after the 9 o'clock news with the new London attacks and the funeral of the Irish girl that was killed in the Kusadasi bomb attack, we went back to the village. The Irish dancing was in the 'New Hall' in Kilmacrennan. When we arrived there was not much to do. The band was on stage, but not playing and there were only a few guests. As we didn't want to stay long we were allowed to enter the hall for free. At around 1o PM more people entered the hall and the band started to play. The public was mainly older people, younger people are losing interest in traditional Irish dancing. After an hour having seen several dances, Hilleke even participated, we returned to our cottage as it was time for Ciska to go to bed.

Saturday, July 23. We got up early to pack our last things. At around a quarter to ten we were ready to go and we had to wait for Kevin en Winnie. They arrived shortly after and we talked about what we did in the past week and how much we liked the cottage. As we are expected to arrive at 3 PM at our next cottage we have to fill the gap in between as it is only about an hour and a half drive. In the meantime we visited the Newmills Corn & Flax Mills in Letterkenny. These are a restored corn- and flax mill, powered by water. The corn mill is still being used a number of times per year.

The outside of the Newmills Corn & Flax Mills

After seeing a video about the history of the complex we did a tour through the corn mill. The large waterwheel, the largest in Ireland (7.63 metre diameter, 3 rpm, 8 hp), still powers the mill and during the tour some of the water powered machines are demonstrated. The flax mill can also be visited, but not with a guided tour, that can be done individually, but the flax mill is no longer operational. Only a few of the machines are still present and therefore we found the flax mill less interesting than the corn mill. After the visit to this fascinating complex we went to an internet café in Letterkenny to check the mail and to have lunch. After lunch we continued to Northern-Ireland. You passed the border without noticing it, there is no notice of being in Northern-Ireland, the only thing is that speed limits and distances are in miles and no longer in kilometres. In the town of Claudy we phoned Valerie, the owner of the new cottage to inform her about our estimated time of arrival. From Claudy we took the motorway towards Belfast, which we left at Randalstown. It was easy finding the cottage, Ballealy Cottage, although the last 800 meters was over a small path trough pastures with cows and fences. Valerie was already waiting for us at the cottage and showed us around the huge house. Ballealy Cottage was built in 1865 as the lodge of the deer-keeper on the Shane's Castle estate.

Ballealy Cottage in Randalstown

Downstairs there are 2 bedrooms and a guestroom with a sofa bed, a living room, a dining room, a kitchen and a shower/toilet. Upstairs there is the master bedroom and a giant bathroom with toilet. This all is build around a small courtyard. A nice detail in the guestroom is the presence of an old-fashioned washing machine build in one of the corners. To use it in former times one had to walk for half a mile to get water from a well and put that in the large bowl. Below the bowl one has to light a fire to heat the water and then wash by hand. Nowadays that is not needed anymore, the house is equipped with an electric washing machine in the kitchen where one can also find an electric cooker. So there is no need to use the old-fashioned Stanley range in the dining room. The guestroom was used by Ciska as her dedicated playing room. This special house have we reserved through The Irish Landmark Trust, an organisation that buys and restores prominent, mostly old, buildings and rents them. One may think of old lighthouses, castles, schools and special houses like the Ballealy Cottage where we are staying.

The Old Bushmills whiskey distillery in Bushmill

The next day we got up early again, we wanted to drive a part of the Causeway Coast. At least we wanted to visit the Bushmills Distillery and the Giants Causeway. The weather forecast on the radio (the cottage has no television) predicted the same weather as Sunday, only a bit cooler. But when we got up we only saw an overcast grey sky. No trace of a sunny blue sky. After breakfast we went to the town of Bushmill to visit the whiskey distillery with the same name. On the way there we had some showers, the weather had no resemblance with yesterdays weather, the temperature today was only about 12°, this in contrast with the 20° of Sunday. After about an hour we arrived at the distillery, right on time for the guided tour. First we saw a short film about the history of the distillery and then we had the tour. Unfortunately we didn't see the distillery at work as they were busy with the yearly maintenance update. We also weren't allowed film or take pictures because of possible explosions due to alcohol vapours.

The rough Causeway coast as seen from Dunluce castle

The tour ended in the bar, the part everybody was waiting for, to drink a glass of whiskey (soft drinks or water for children). There was also the possibility for a few volunteers, including Hilleke, to taste 8 different whiskeys: Bushmills 6 years, John Power & Son, Jameson, Johnnie Walker, Jim Bean Bourbon, Black Bush, Bushmills 10 years and a Scottish Glenfiddich. At the end of the tasting all volunteers got a certificate that they are now a fully-qualified Irish Whiskey Taster. In the shop we bought us some Bushmills memorabilia, among which our third bottle of whiskey this trip, a 16 year old Bushmills Malt. From the distillery we had planned to take the train to the Giants Causeway, but it had just left when we arrived at the station and the next one would leave 2 hours later. So we decided to first visit the ruins of Dunluce Castle. These are at the edge of a cliff. In 1639, during a storm, a part of the cliff plunged into the sea together with the castle's kitchen. Seven servants and the diner for that evening also disappeared in the waves. It's an interesting ruin which is partly being restored.

Sheer rising giant basalt pillars at the Giant's Causeway

From the castle we went to the Giant's Causeway by car and left the train the train. According the legend the giant Fion MacCool had made the Giant's Causeway. He had fallen in love with a female giant from Staffa, a small Hebrides island, and build the Giant's Causeway so she could come over to Ulster to live with him. When you don't believe this legend, than this wonder of nature was formed about 60 million years ago during large volcanic eruptions. When the lava cooled, the basalt shrinked and cracked which formed the polygonal blocks that are interconnected at the bottom. After we had clambered some time over the blocks, Arjan and Ciska walked to the Organ, a number of high basalt columns that looks like a set of organ pipes. Hilleke didn't want to walk there so she waited at a bench near the Giant's Foot. The weather, by the way, had cleared in the meantime. The clouds were partly gone and had made place for a blue and sunny sky. From the Giant's Causeway we went to the nearby Carrick-a-rede rope bridge.

Arjan and Ciska on the Carrick-a-rede rope bridge

This is a 20 metre long, 1 metre wide rope bridge hanging about 25 metres above the water and it is the connection between the mainland and the island Carrick-a-rede. From the parking place you have to walk for about a kilometre to the bridge. On the bridge there is 1-way traffic, on both ends there is someone directing the 'traffic' on the bridge. Once we crossed the shaky bridge we walked around the small island and looked over the high cliffs. They are quite high and you probably won't survive when you fall off. After crossing the bridge again we went to Ballycastle to inform about the schedule for the ferry to Rathlin Island. That is where we want to go tomorrow to see the puffins. We made reservations for the 10 o'clock ferry and the return ferry of 3:30 PM. Then we had a nice dinner in a restaurant in Ballycastle before returning home.