July 24, 2024

July 24, 2024

From Crossmolina in County Mayo, Ireland, Aimee’s cousin Mary drove us south to Cong, on the shore of Lough Corrib. It is nice having a break from the stress of driving Irish roads. In Cong, the guard opened the gate allowing us to enter the grounds of Ashford Castle, an exclusive luxury resort. Last time we visited, we hiked onto the grounds through the forest into the backyard. This time we are driving up through the front gate past a beautiful golf course. We park opposite the bridge to the castle. We grab a coffee to-go and have a nice morning walk through the park-like setting of the castle grounds. I can’t believe how expansive it is.

We have access to this exclusive property because we signed up for a Hawk Walk with their Falconry School. This zoo has 37 raptors, most of which are Harris Hawks. We have encountered them before at the Desert Museum in Tucson. Harris Hawks are one of the very few social raptors. They hunt in packs and are more amenable to interaction with strangers. We are given leather gloves and instructed how to release the hawks and how to signal them to return.

We take the hawks out into the forest surrounding Ashford Castle. For the next hour, we release the hawks to fly up into the trees. Dozens of times during the next hour, our handler places a mouse piece onto our glove and our two new friends instantly fly back to us dodging branches on the way to land on our outstretched fist. We have a great time. This is such a unique experience. Intimate animal encounters are always our most memorable vacation highlight.

Unbeknownst to me Falconry was a common skill in Medieval times. It was far easier to have your hawk buddy catch your rabbit lunch than trying to do the same with a bow and arrow.

Leaving Ashford Castle, we parked in the adjoining town of Cong. It is famous for being the main filming location for The Quiet Man. We had lunch and then walked around the little village. Besides The Quiet Man statue, we also visited the ruins of Cong Abbey and saw some more Harry Clarke Stained glass in St Mary’s Church.

On the way back to Crossmolina, we drove through the town of Ballinrobe. In 1880 an English estate manager drew the anger of the local peasantry. They reacted uniquely, refusing to harvest his crops or sell him anything. Charles Boycott's name is now infamous around the world.

Farther north we visited Ballintubber Abbey. This 800-year-old "Church that refused to die" was used roofless for 236 years during the Penal Law Era. We also stopped at the Addergoole Memorial. This little park is dedicated to 14 Titanic passengers from the local area. Sadly only three of them survived.

For dinner, we drove into the big city of Ballina and had dinner with three of Aimee’s Irish cousins at a former Salmon processing plant turned restaurant.

On the return to Crossmolina, we stopped at the cemetery to see Aimee’s departed relatives. While they did that, I amused myself with the elaborateness of some grave sites.