Friday, May 27, 2011

Brandon and the wee Stefan, Hank's cousin's son, are real buds.

The wee Caitlin is adorable and we loved her sense of humor and her joy in making fun of our American accent.



Our trip to Ireland was incredible. The country is just mile after mile of beautiful rolling hills, hedges and sheep.











Hank's cousin, Pauline, and her husband, Martin - our wonderful hosts in Ireland.






Aunt Kathleen welcomes Hank to Ireland.











The wee Caitlin - Hank's cousin Pauline's daughter gives Hank a big welcome hug.







Caitlin is so happy to see Brandon and Liz who visited them a year ago.







As Aunt Kathleen goes to Brandon she sees her nephew Hank.






Castle ruins near Port Liaoise.





King of the castle - Brandon.




Cool castle ruins.









View from the castle ruins at the beautiful countryside.




The road that leads to "the glen" in Garvagh.




The dining room in Hank's cousin Pauline's house. She loves color!




The front room in the house.




Hank's cousin Pauline's house - Tamneymore lodge - where we stayed. They were such gracious hosts and made us feel so at home.




The lane that leads down to the barn, boiler room and site of the thatch roof house where Hank's mom grew up.




Hank's mom's friend, Lizzie Harry Row's thatch roof house in the glen is still standing.







Hank's Quigg cousins and aunts.




The church in Garvagh where Hank's mom was baptised and attended as a girl.




The sign leading to "the glen" where Hank's mom grew up.





The amazing basalt stone rock formations at "Giant's Causeway" N. Ireland. There are 40,000 stone columns (I wonder who counted them) formed by volcanic erruptions millions of years ago.




The legend of the giant Finn MacCool tells of him building a stone bridge to Scotland, but stopped when he heard another giant coming after him.




Brandon inspecting the rock formations.













The coastline by Larrybane bay, N. Ireland.








The Carrick-a-Rede rope bridge on the north Ireland coast. For over 350 years, fisherman have strung a rope bridge above the sea to allow them access to the best places to catch salmon.



It's scarrier than it looks! But the views are beautiful.












We went on a bus tour of Derry. Derry is the heart of the "troubles" in N. Ireland. The tour guide referred to it as "Derry/Londonderry to stay neutral. Many of the buildings have big murals depicting the history of the clashes.




We American's got very strange looks from the Irish. I didn't think we stood out, but something about us gave us away. (Maybe it's Brandon's Salt Lake City Real jersey.




One of the beautiful churches in Derry.





Derry is known as the "walled city". In the early 1600's a 6' wall was built around the city.





One of the more modern casltes built for a family in the 1700's.