We started the day with a short bus tour of Limerick. Limerick is referred to as the city of the 'Broken Treaty'. The 'Treaty Stone' in Limerick is the actual stone that was signed or engraved on 3rd October 1691. It was after a war between the Williamites and the Jacobites, whoever they were! The treaty really consisted of two treaties and the irregular block of limestone once served as a mounting block for horses. This stone is now displayed on a pedestal in Limerick, beside the Shannon River, placed there in 1990 as it was felt this was a more prominent place for tourist's to visit. There were good views from here across to St John's Castle, which was built on the island in the Shannon River.

Limerick is one of the larger cities in Ireland. It is on the estuary of the river Shannan. The estuary is 60 miles long and the river is a wide, powerful river. Vikings came, pilfered the area and set up, before the Normans conquered and built an enormous Castle. King John was in power then. He has been referred to throughout history as 'Mad, Bad King John' as he continued his conquest of Ireland. Wherever we drive in Ireland there is another piece of history and the further we journey around Ireland, the more pieces of the jigsaw, Patrick puts together for us. Hopefully some on the tour remember! As Patrick said "All these pieces of Irish history are inter-related"!

The rest of the day was going to be all about the 'Cliffs of Moher' and 'Galway Bay', as we continued our journey on the 'Wild Atlantic Way'. There is a Visitor Centre at the 700 foot Cliffs of Moher, which has been built into the hillside. On a clear day the views of the Clare County coastline would be magnificent. Once again we were pretty lucky with the weather. It could have been a lot worse!

We walked up to Hags Head and paid 2 euros to climb O'Brien's Tower, which was built in 1835. The climb provided a higher view of the wild coastline. The 'Cliffs of Moher' are Ireland's top tourist attraction and by the time we left there were tourists and tour buses everywhere. It rained before we walked the rise to view the cliffs and again after, but we did manage to stay dry. But as for the wind! We didn't need it to be blowing anymore and it was freezing! Patrick said "We have had a good day. Sometimes the cliffs are covered in low cloud and you can't see a thing".

Hag's Head is the name given to the most southerly point of the Cliffs of Moher, where the cliffs form an unusual rock formation that resembles a woman's head looking out to sea.

In the 1990s, Clare County Council initiated development plans to enable visitors to experience the cliffs without significant intrusive man-made amenities. In keeping with this approach, the 'Cliffs of Moher Visitor Experience' was built into a hillside, approaching the cliffs. The centre is also intended to be environmentally sensitive in its use of renewable energy systems, including geothermal heating and cooling, solar panels, and grey water recycling. The €32 million facility was planned and built over a 17 year period and was officially opened in February 2007.

We purchased an early lunch and were back on the bus at noon. My chicken and leek pie was delicious and Pete's quiche was okay.

We drove through to Galway, via a scenic route with a few switchbacks to test Eugene. We went through the village of Lisdoonvarna which celebrates 'Matchmaking' during the month of September every year. Any other time of the year this town is dead. But it was sure alive today.

Matchmaking began in Lisdoonvarna when the visiting gentry, who were here to take the waters, wanted their accompanying children to be matched to their fellow 'upper classes'. 'Take the waters' dates back to the time of the Romans, when people came to the hot springs regions of the country to sit around steamy waters. Traditionally in Lisdoonvarna, they came in September after the harvest was gathered, for a holiday…but the more serious business of arranging suitable marriages for their sons and daughters was high on the agenda. The potential match was done by the parents placing them together at social gatherings, sporting events and musical evenings. If the match was pleasing to all parties, their courtship was encouraged to blossom. It is said "Lots of 'matching' still happens today, during the weeks of dancing and partying"!

The region we were travelling through was called the 'Burren'. It is a region of karst landscape of bedrock incorporating a vast cracked pavement of glacial-era limestone, with cliffs and caves, fossils, rock formations and archaeological sites. We were treated with some lovely scenery on the drive. No rain either! We had a short stop on 'Corkscrew Hill' to photograph the limestone hills. The sun was shining on the limestone and Patrick couldn't believe how good the light was! So I think we must be having a pretty good day weather wise!

Once in Galway we said "Hello to Jenny's Caddy relations", whilst enjoying our optional walking tour with our witty tour guide Connor. Galway is a university city, with 30 percent of the population said to be students. Galway and Limerick are bidding to be the cultural city of Ireland and in fact the bid is on to be the 'Cultural City' of Europe in 2020. Connor believes Galway is really the 'Cultural City'. One significant reason is that it has 35 festivals between April and October each year. Tourism is the top industry and the city has over a million visitors each year. It has become a very desirable location for the Irish to live. 

Connor first took us to 'Eyre Square' and told us the history. This was the area of the city where the executions took place in medieval times. It was a very gruesome story of how the heads were cut off and put in a brine to preserve them, so they could then be picketed, warning people not to break the law. Recently, during some excavation work in the area, skeletons were found and they had all been beheaded.

'Eyre Square' is also known as John F Kennedy Square, as the US President visited Galway in June 1963, just five months before he was assassinated. He spoke to the people of Galway in this square. The Irish have always had a great deal of respect for this US President and a mosaic depicting him, has been placed in the Catholic Cathedral.

Next attraction in the town was to see the remains of the medieval wall which has been preserved by building a shopping complex around it. In achieving this it was not without dealing with a lot of controversy, as one would imagine. But as Connor said "This section of the wall has been preserved for ever" 

Connor took us down through the pedestrian area of the city, past the medieval 'Lynch Castle' to the 'Church of St Nicholas' where Christopher Colombus reputedly prayed before his discovery of America. We were also told that 'Robert O'Hara Burke', the famous ill-fated Australian explorer, was baptised in the font in the church. The significance of the Celtic Christianity Cross was also pointed out to us again. 

This from the web explains it well: The Celtic cross is a symbol used today in many contexts, both religious and secular. The Celtic cross is like a traditional cross, but with a ring around the intersection of the stem and arms. The whole cross is often decorated with ornate Gaelic patterns. Sometimes the Celtic cross is set on a tall base to resemble more closely the traditional Christian cross, and at other times the symbol stands alone. The Celtic cross is sometimes nothing more than a simple 'stick' drawing on a gravestone or at a religious site; other times it is sculpted and quite ornate. The Celtic cross is also called the 'sun cross' by some who interpret the ring to represent the sun. 
 
Finally we walked down through 'High Street' to the river and the wharf area. The clouds were looking ominous again and the wind was freezing. From here we could see more of the old city wall and the section that is referred to as 'The Spanish Arch', plus the stone commemorating Christopher Colombus sailing to discover America in 1477.
 
Once back on the bus Patrick took us via the Catholic Cathedral. There was a short time for us to view the mosaic in the Cathedral of US President John F Kennedy and the huge amount of green marble that has been used throughout the Cathedral. It was extremely effective and quite beautiful.