In 2010, I visited Ireland for the first time, and it was a trip to remember! Out of all the beautiful sites Ireland has to offer, the Cliffs of Moher were by far my favorite.
The Cliffs of Moher tower over the west Clare coast, the Atlantic Ocean and the Aran Islands. O’Brien’s Tower stands on a headland at the Cliffs of Moher offering magnificent views and on a clear day you can see across to the Aran Islands: Inis Oírr, Inis Méain and Inis Mór. The Tower was built in 1835 by Cornelius O’Brien, a descendant of Brian Boru, the first High King of Ireland.
The visitor center has a lot to offer to its visitors such as; gift shops, restaurants, bird watching and much more.
Corma's Chapel
Ireland is known for their beautiful castles and this was my favorite out of all that I visited. When I visited Cormac's Chapel, it was a gloomy, rainy day but it was still absolutely breath taking.
Cormac’s Chapel is the finest, most complete and probably one of the earliest Romanesque churches in Ireland. Cormac Mac Cárthaigh, king of Desmond began the building in 1127 and the completed structure was consecrated in 1134. It was built in the Romanesque style which arrived in Ireland in the early 12th century and Cormac's Chapel, one of the very earliest in this new style, is one of the most ornate.
In my grand adventure to Ireland back in 2010 I had the opportunity to visit the Blarney Castle and Gardens. This famous castle is known for the Blarney Stone that people travel far and wide to kiss and gain the gift of eloquence.
Way back when, visitors had to be held by the ankles and lowered head first over the battlements. The Stone itself is still set in the wall below the battlements. To kiss it, one has to lean backwards (holding on to an iron railing) from the parapet walk.
Some say it was Jacob’s Pillow, brought to Ireland by the prophet Jeremiah. Here it became the Lia Fail or ‘Fatal Stone’, used as an oracular throne of Irish kings – a kind of Harry Potter-like ‘sorting hat’ for kings. It was also said to be the deathbed pillow of St Columba on the island of Iona. Legend says it was then removed to mainland Scotland, where it served as the prophetic power of royal succession, the Stone of Destiny.
When Cormac MacCarthy, King of Munster, sent five thousand men to support Robert the Bruce in his defeat of the English at Bannockburn in 1314, a portion of the historic Stone was given by the Scots in gratitude – and returned to Ireland.
Dublin
