Northern Ireland - Mussenden Temple & Downhill Demesne

July 18, 2012

Today we went on a little hiking adventure right around the area where we are staying. We started in Castlerock, at Julie Anne's place, and headed off through the fields towards the ocean and Mussenden Temple/Downhill Demesne. We walked along the most beautiful barley field (the key ingredient for whiskey) as we left the house, we could almost hear the bagpipes playing a whiskey drinking song as we went along the path.

Here is a video of the beautiful barley field waving in the wind.

We continued along the path and came upon this hilarious sign hanging on a fence. I think I will have to make some of these for the park by our own house when we get home. :o)

And, of course, the litter bins around the area are made from old whiskey barrels. I guess when there is a surplus of them, they are used for literally everything.

The barley fields suddenly changed to the most beautiful Lord of the Rings, Hobbit type mystical rain forest. As we entered the forest, the entire forest floor was covered in ferns and sorrel.
 I swear there were gnomes watching us as we walked along the path.

 

All at once, we came out of the trees and there was the ocean with beautiful fields of green grass all around. Julie Anne's dog, Charlie, an adorable Brittany Spaniel, was sooooo excited to run through the grass and fetch anything, even the imaginary ball we kept throwing him. Just look how happy this dog is in the video. That tail is about to wag off of his body, and he really is smiling! :o)

We walked along the sea cliffs and came upon this beautiful sight --Mussenden Temple, perched precariously on the edge of the cliff..

Mussenden Temple is located in the beautiful surroundings of Downhill Demesne near Castlerock in County Londonderry. It perches dramatically on a 120 ft cliff top, high above the Atlantic Ocean on the north-western coast of Northern Ireland. The view you see here offers spectacular views westwards over Downhill Strand towards Magilligan Point and County Donegal.

History of Mussenden Temple

The temple was built in 1785 and forms part of the estate of Frederick Augustus Hervey, Bishop of Derry and Earl of Bristol. The temple was built as a summer library and its architecture was inspired by the Temple of Vesta in Tivoli, near Rome. It is dedicated to the memory of Hervey's cousin Frideswide Mussenden. The inscription around the dome by Lucretius, 'Tis pleasant, safely to behold from shore - the rolling ship, and hear the tempest roar' presents something of a challenge of nature. Perched on the cliffs overlooking Downhill Strand it was once possible to drive a horse and carriage around the temple. The forces of nature have over the years brought it closer and closer to the edge.

Both the Temple and the surrounding views are among the most photographed scenes in Ireland. In 1997 the National Trust carried out cliff stabilization work to prevent the loss of this lovely building.

The brick lined interior of the temple. As a library, the walls were once lined with bookcases. A fire was kept constantly burning in the basement and an enclosed flue meant that even in this very exposed location the books never got damp.

The view from the west window.

Here is the view looking to the east of the temple toward Castlerock beach, Portstewart, Portrush and Fair Head.

As we made an about face from the temple, there was the outer wall of Downhill Demesne, http://www.abandonedireland.com/Downhill.html
Downhill House was a mansion built in the 18th century for Frederick Hervey, 4th Earl of Bristol at Downhill, Northern Ireland. Much of the building was destroyed by fire in 1851 before being rebuilt in the 1870's. The house was lived in by the Bruce family until 1922. It fell into disrepair after the Second World War. Downhill House is now part of the National Trust property of Downhill Demesne and Mussenden Temple.

A photo of the original house 

The view from Downhill of Castlerock, just behind Rowan, Charlie and Julie Anne.

I have this thing for stone paths. I found this one to be really fabulous.

Back to civilization, a photo of the beautiful flower plantings we found in every town, all over this part of Northern Ireland.

 Portstewart: a small town in County Londonderry, just a short drive from Castlerock, with a population of roughly 10,000. It is a seaside resort right next to Portrush and is probably best known for it's large sandy beach, popular with surfers.

I just had to stick my hand in the cool, clear waters of the Atlantic here on this side of the pond.

We went to Portstewart especially to have dinner at this FANTASTIC seafood restaurant 55 degrees North (yes, that is it's latitude). We met Julie Anne's work mates here for a night out with the girls.

Here we all are cackling away inside the restaurant :o)

My dinner brought tears of joy to my eyes. The BEST (hands down) salmon I have ever eaten. Right out of the Atlantic, poached to perfection, served on top of new potatoes in a pool of butter and white wine. YUMM! YUM! YUMMMMM!

Here is a crusted halibut on top of peas & mashed potatoes in a seafood cream sauce.

I can't even explain the crazy delicious desserts we had, but here are the pictures......

Here is the pavlova..............YUM!

We eventually rolled out of the restaurant and back to our B&B to start packing up. We will fly back to the States tomorrow will full hearts and bellies. The places we have been and friends (old and new) and family we have spent time with have made this trip one to remember. We are definitely coming back across the pond for more fun in the future.  Tally Ho!

Northen Ireland - Bushmills and Giant's Causeway

July 17, 2012

It would certainly be a crime to come to Ireland and not go for some whiskey tasting, so today we will make our way over to the town of Bushmills and the Old Bushmills Distillery to do just that.
We left Castlerock and went through some charming small villages all dressed up in their Protestant red, white and blue............

We made our way to Coleraine, where the University of Ulster is located. Coleraine sits on the coast and is one of those typical university towns with lots of hustle and bustle around every corner.

We continued up the coast from Coleraine and passed the Royal Portrush Golf Links course just along the edge of the ocean.  A beautiful sight indeed.

The town of Bushmills and the Old Bushmills Distillery are our next stop. Some background on the town, distillery and region:
The village of Bushmills (population about 1500) was originally called Portcaman but as the water-powered industries developed from the 1600's so did the village name. At least seven mills (corn and flax) were powered by the River Bush and two remain largely intact today.
By 1775 there were five licensed distilleries and in 2008 the most famous, 'Old Bushmills' (founded in 1608), celebrated 400 years of distilling in the district. Old Busmills is the oldest licensed distillery in the world. The village prospered during the 19th century due to the River Bush and the unusual number and variety of watermills, the success of the Old Bushmills Distillery and the development of the Giant's Causeway as a major tourist destination. The village has over 80 historically listed buildings.

The center of the village

The Old Bushmills Distillery

The entryway into the distillery. This is where we had to stop taking photos. The way they make their whiskey is top secret.

A lineup of the whiskey they offer here at the distillery.

A photo from just outside the main distillery building

Of course we had a chance to taste some very excellent whiskey at the end of our tour. Now, how to figure out getting that liquid through security at the airport :o)

As we walked around the village of Bushmills, we noticed these banners hanging all around town giving bits of popular culture history about the town and Ireland. Here is a WACKY history thing I never knew about the Beverly Hillbillies, an American TV show I used to watch in the 1960's when I was just a kid. As the sign reads: Hillbilly, The Ballad of Jed Clampett - Term given to the Ulster-Scots immigrants dwelling in the frontier areas of the Appalachain Mountains. Deriving from 17th century Ireland when protestant supporters of King William were known as 'Hill-Billies' and 'Billy-Boys'. WHO KNEW???

Here are the words to the theme song from the TV series:

Come and listen to a story about a man named Jed
A poor mountaineer, barely kept his family fed,
Then one day he was shootin at some food,
And up through the ground came a bubblin crude.

Oil that is, black gold, Texas tea.

Well the first thing you know ol Jed's a millionaire,
Kinfolk said "Jed move away from there"
Said "Californy is the place you ought to be"
So they loaded up the truck and moved to Beverly.

Hills, that is. Swimmin pools, movie stars.

Well now its time to say goodby to Jed and all his kin.
And they would like to thank you folks fer kindly droppin in.
You're all invited back a gain to this locality
To have a heapin helpin of their hospitality

Hillybilly that is. Set a spell, Take your shoes off.

Y'all come back now, y'hear?.

and, here is a video of the song:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0_XAPku7SgE
BRILLIANT!

A local pub, Finn MacCool's. You will hear more about him in the Giant's Causeway part of this post.

As we walked through town I snapped some photos of posters the town folk put up in the doors and windows of vacant buildings. This helps to keep the town from looking 'unoccupied' and run down.
You would think this is a real chicken in a doorway. It is just a poster.

A vacant house that is for sale. I think it is a fabulous idea to dress up the place with the posters in the windows.

The Giant's Causeway

It is no surprise this place is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. A geological wonder with over 40,000 interlocking basalt columns, the Giant's Causeway is the result of intense volcanic and geological activity 50 to 60 million years ago. The Causeway provides a glimpse into the Earth's most ancient past. An epic legacy to the cooling and shrinking of successive lava flows.
There are stunning walking trails along the Causeway coast with breathtaking views of jagged cliffs and bays lashed by wind and waves. You will see examples of this in some of the photos below.
The legend -  The Giant's Causeway is steeped in myth and legend. Carved from the coast by the mighty giant, Finn MacCool, who left behind an ancient home full of folklore. Local people here believe that between the hexagons, the mythical features carved out in the rocks and the tumbling sea, there's real magic. You may not always see it straightaway, but if you come to this place, stand on the stones, uncover the legends, use your imagination and just wait, it won't be long until you feel it. Very mysterious indeed.
Go here for more fascinating information on the Giant's Causeway: http://www.northantrim.com/giantscauseway.htm

Here you can see the main walking path along the water. This photo was taken from the path along the upper ridge.

We started our walk on the ridge path. It was a perfectly wonderful "claggy" (drippy, foggy, rainy) Irish day.

We came upon some milk cows along the ridge and I couldn't resist taking a movie of the girls.

Here you can see the very narrow walking path going along the middle of the cliffs. A walk not for the faint hearted.

In this video, I tried to capture how high we were on the ridge trail. It was really exciting looking down over the edge to the surf.

After our walk along the ridge trail, we made our way down to the the middle trail, closer to the water. There were portions of the trail that had slid away, as you can see here. We had to be very careful along this portion of the trail. It made our hike extra exciting!

A view of the basalt columns from above. One of the most unusual rock formations we had ever seen.

This photo is taken from the bottom of the columns looking up.

Here are some photos of the wild flora along the trails.

Our little Irish Black Arion slug friend :o)

 

Next post we hike around Castlerock, Downhill Demesne and you get to meet Charlie...............