Ireland with the Manly Fireplug

Jetlagged, on a bus from the Dublin Airport to Belfast, in Northern Irleand City Hall, with the Belfast Eye in the background Belfast Eye, just opened, modeled after the London Eye View of City Hall from the Eye Mike in the Eye My handsome Fireplug, who was scared in the Eye Touring the murals of Belfast, home to many of the "Troubles" Unionist (Protestant) mural At the wall separating the Protestant and Catholic neighborhoods in Belfast Fencing protecting the homes of Catholics from rocks, petrol bombs, etc Our Black Taxi tour guide, showing off British Ammo used in the Troubles Nationalist (Catholic) mural To the left, to the left Ugly Americans let loose Near the Giant's Causeway Giant's Causeway, on the northern coast Hexagonical rocks formed by volcanic activity and cooling patterns Looking off towards Scotland The walled inner city of Derry, in Northern Ireland The inner city is small; you can walk the top of the walls in less than an hour On the wall, above one of the gates A church and graveyard along the wall The walled city was occupied by the British, and is still heavily Protestant Walking the walls We dug the colored doors of Ireland Inside the walls View from our hotel within the walls Looking down at the traditionally Catholic Bogside neighborhood Bogside, site of The Bloody Sunday massacre in 1972 Murals created by the three-man Bogside Artists' Collective A Catholic girl killed by British troops The People's Gallery consists of eleven murals to date W.B. Yeats' grave, Drumcliffe, County Sligo The house in Bohola, County Mayo, where the Fireplug's grandmother was raised The Fireplug was finally average height, in Ireland Bohola, County Mayo The ruins of a monastery in County Mayo I loved all of the old cemeteries in Ireland Pontoon, County Mayo The Burren, County Clare, near the western coast The Cliffs of Moher on the western coast, rising to 700 feet O'Brien's Tower, at the midpoint of the cliffs Near the town of Doolin, County Clare The Hill of Tara, outside Dublin On a clear day (rare in November) you can see 26 counties Newgrange, a tomb built before the ancient pyramids, near Dublin View from Newgrange Entrance to Newgrange The entrance allows in a ray of sun only during the winter solstice sunrise The stones were carried, in the years before the wheel, several miles 'Nuff said Outside Newgrange Our bus stop in Dublin, where we spent several hours shivering in the rain Trinity College, Dublin Dublin