Sunday September 11th

Ten years ago we were in Southampton England getting Jennifer settle in at Uni. We remember being in a store when Jennifer said "we had to come and watch the TV". Our trip was changed. TV covered the 9/11 event for days. Air travel had changed. We wanted to make changes in our travel plans as I had an infection in my leg. It is hard to believe 10 years has passed.

 

We did not have far to travel today. Charles had researched a number of sites for us to see. So we set off to find the Belcarra Eviction Cottage. After driving around rural roads we finally decided to consult the GPS. At one T intersection, if we had turned right we would have found the town of Belcarra. The GPS helped us find our way.

 

When we found the cottage it said "to see call Jacquie". Without a cell phone or a phone handy we could not contact Jacquie. We just looked in the windows and around the cottage. We found something interesting - a battering ram to knock cottages down so families could not return. Also there was a much smaller cottage close by that the community had built to house the family evicted.

 

Off we set to find the Mayo Abbey and then the Ballintubber Abbey. We did not really find the Mayo Abbey. The Ballintubber Abbey is still in use today. People were arriving for Mass at 11:30. So although we did not see much, we had loads of fun following the GPS through all the rural roads.

 

We arrived in Cong by 1pm. After eating lunch in our room we headed into Cong. When we were here a few years ago, it was a bustling little village full of tourists. Today it was quiet. I wonder if young people are no longer interested in a village where the movie "The Quiet Man" starring John Wayne was made. It was a little disappointing.

 

With the weather windy and rainy walking around is not very pleasant. There is beautiful place called Ashford Castle close by. It is now a very upscale hotel. You can view the gardens and the grounds but not inside. After checking out the prices, I figure we will never see in the castle.

 

We returned to Cong from the B&B for another walk around as it had stopped raining. We also had supper. Now settled in for the night.