cambe

Hi Melissa,

Firstly, Belfast is NOT a big city, however it is an industrial one but did't your ancestors work in the Ship Yard?

From what I rememember from your previous posts the townland in Lurgan where your grandmother came from is now demolished and it and others are now replaced by a rather ugly city called Craigavon.

NI is different to the Republic both in scenery and the people but that does not mean it is an unpleasant place to visit or that the people are unfriendly - just different.

I live approx 3 miles south of the centre of Belfast in a village called Edenderry. It is an old mill village on the banks of the Lagan and the area has been taken over by the National Trust. There are cows in the fields around me and squirrals in my back garden (well, until my dog sees them and chases them off). The Lagan tow path runs through the village and stretches from Belfast to Lisburn about 6 miles away, You would honestly think you were in the middle of the countryside yet Belfast town centre is a mere 10 mins away by car.

8 miles South of Belfast is Hillsborough which is a beautiful village, Hillsborough Castle (really a large country mansion) is the home of the Secretary of State and also the Queens official residence. The church is lovely, there is a small museum in the old county courthouse, a large county park with ducks on the pond and an old fort. 20 mins. drive from there will take you to Lurgan. It is not a very atractive town but Armagh is (I gave you information on it in another post) Bessbrook is an old Quaker mill village and the houses and layout of 'The Model Village' is still there and you would see the type of house your grandmother may have lived in. Travelling back to Belfast you could go through the Mountains of Mourne (this is where C S Lewis got the inspiration to write his Chronicles of Narnia).

A few miles east of Belfast is the Co. Down coast. This is where you will find the Ulster Folk and Transport Museum. However head a little further on to Crawfordsburn and walk along the cliff path to Bangor (countryside all the way and beautiful). Bangor is just a big commuting town for Belfast but 2 miles outside of it and you have the coast villages of Groomsport, Donaghdee, Greyabbey, Killyleagh and Portaferry (Mt Stewart is along this coast). Cross the lough by ferry (5mins) to Strangford and see a different side to Co Down. Downpatrick is where St Patrick lived and the church at Saul is still there.

Head north about 1 hour by car from Belfast to the Giants Causeway (your husband would love this) and stop by some of the Glens of Antrim towns. Visit the Bushmills Distillary and Glenarriff.

As you can see NI Countryside is on Belfast's doorstep.

There are lots of Hotels but I know of a rather nice guest house Malone Guest House. It is on the Malone Road south of the city and next door is Methodist College (my old school and a rather nice one I might add), opposite it is Queens university, The Ulster Museum and Botanic Gardens for a lovely walk and some old plants in the big greenhouse. It is also close to the Lisburn road which has lots of trendy restruants and posh shops.

OK, NI will not give you lots of fiddly-dee music and Irish dancing (although there is a fair bit of the latter at times) but it is where your grandmother came from and as such you might find the people and culture here more like your memory of her - she was an Ulster woman after all!

Helen

Timlin

No matter where you go in Ireland I suggest you order Ordnance Maps offered in the Discovery Series. They are so complete you find all the back roads and every hill marked on them.

http://www.irishmaps.ie/productlistingM.cfm?SeriesID=11

So worth what you will pay to have a few of them with you.

Have a grand trip.

Melissa5

Cambe: Helen, you have a wealth of information about the Belfast area and I really must pick your brain some more, as you are so generous in the sharing of details. This will greatly enrich our visit to the area. I will have more questions for you if you don't mind, I have just finished with thanksgving, a major holiday here, and got reservations for Dingle and Ballyvaughan. Now I'm working my way up towards Westport and Belfast in my itinerary and reservations. (While at the same time second-guessing myself about trying to include Donegal or Rock of Cashel, at the expense of less time in Dublin at end of the trip!) Anyway that guesthouse you mentioned sounds well-located. We will defintely want to visit the Botanic gardens especially the old Palm House, and the Ulster folk and transport Museum near Bangor.

Yes 2 of my grandmother's brothers worked in the ship-yard helping build the Titanic but apparently they would have lost their jobs if they had admitted to being Catholic! By the way my grandmother's sister was born in Tannaghmore West, County Armagh, but unfortunately that isn't on the modern maps that I have, I think it was part of Lurgan. Then they moved later to Belfast. Have contact with Dad's cousin who has Grandmother's sister's birth certificate, half in Gaelic and half in English, but I don't actually have my own grandmother's birth certificate, but they were close in age.

Helen, if C.S. Lewis got his inspiration for the Chronicles of Narnia from the Mountains of Mourne, you are creating a great temptation for me therre, as that was my absolute #1 favorite book, especially the Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, when I was in second grade...never read another book that was as well-loved by me until I read Tolkien's Lord of the Rings (before they started making the movies).

Thanks Helen! Helen, what do you think of my idea of staying in Newtownards and day-tripping by car to see Belfast and Ulster folk and transport museum, etc.

Also, will we notice tensions in Belfast in the second half of July? (We won't actually be there on July 12 when they have the parade.) Any advice on avoiding trouble in Belfast in July?

Melissa5

irishexpert and timlin, thanks for your replies and the advice.

luckykat

Hi, I doubt you need more thrown into the mix but I figured I could add a couple of answer to questions which I haven't seen so far in this thread.

- Traditional music in Galway can often be found at the Roisin Duhb pub. Especially if you go during the arts festival. Great atmosphere. They feature several Irish musicians.
http://www.roisindubh.net

- Please don't miss the Connemara. You can stay in leenane, a quiet Connemara town. We stayed at the Leenane Hotel which was well priced and had lovely views over Killarney Harbour (apparently Ireland only fjord?!). Eat at the Blackberry Cafe and go up the road to the pub after.

- If you can make it, do go up to the Carrowkeel Passage Tombs. I don't think you could ask for any more magic than visiting this wonderful spiritual mysterious place.

- Clonmacnoise is also wonderful but gets a lot more tourists than Carrowkeel given it is more accessible.

You can find lots more infomation about these and pictures on my site at:

www.mcdougalladventures.com/category/ireland

cambe

Hi Melissa,

A very good friend of my mothers has lived all her life in Newtownards. Her husband died a few years ago and she decided to sell up and move to an apartment in Belfast. She lives in a rather grand and very nice old house on the Belfast road in N'ards however, it has been on the market now for 2 years and no one wants to buy it, why? because N'ards is a place where no one wants to live!! It was an old market town but in recent years it has become quite rundown with lots of new 'first time buyers houses' (somewhere a young person buys in order to get on the properety ladder and then sells on and moves to a better area).

I really do think you would be better staying in Belfast. Everywhere you want to see is a short drive away and the Ulster Folk & Transport museum is midway between Belfast and Bangor (a commuter town btw).

I have lived in NI/Belfast all my life and I have never once - not once, seen a riot, bomb or any violence. Been held up in traffic jams many times but I have never seen or witnessed any trouble. Stick with me and I will make sure you are in a very safe place where you will wonder if there was ever any trouble here at all.

Forgot to mention going West from Belfast to the Ulster American folk Park in Co Tyrone. There you can climb aboard the boat and experience your G'mother's journey from Ireland to America. Worth a visit if you have time.

Sorry, I have just added somewhere else to your overcrowded itinerary!!

Helen

PS I know an elderly lady who was born in one of the townlands around Lurgan which has since been demolished. She is recovering from a hip replacement at the moment but when she is a little better I will pick her brains and see if I can find out anything from her about Tannaghmore West.

Melissa5

Cambe: I am grateful for your advice in planning my Belfast/Northern Ireland visit. How fortunate I am to have a local to advise me. I am going to post a separate question about Belfast, and hope that you will join me there. (It will be a greater help to other folks visiting Belfast as well, I think, that way.)

Anyway Helen, Malone Guesthouse sounds like a possibility. Thank you for recommending it. I see it does have on good review on Tripadvisor.com and also is recommended in the Rick Steves guidebook for Ireland. Oops, forgot to check and see if they have a web-site. Anyway, Helen, did you stay at Malone Guesthouse? Do you know if they have any quiet rooms, off the street? (I'm a light sleeper and get very sensitive to noise just as I am trying to drift off to sleep). From what you have said, do I understand correctly that from the Malone Guestouse one could walk to the Palm House and Botanic Gardens of Belfast?

I hope that your elderly friend with the hip replacement recovers well from her surgery.

Your village of Edenderry sounds quite nice. Just the sort of place my grandmother would have liked. She liked squirels and being able to walk a bit in the countryside of in a garden. Her stories often included a duck--pond, so I thought of my grandmother when you mentioned the county park with the duck-pond near Hillsborough!

Well Helen by the time we get to Belfast we will have had lots of fiddly-dee music, and will be ready to explore what Ulster has to offer!

I didn't realize the Giant's Causeway could really be a day-trip from Belfast. It is really an hour's drive? Perhaps I will reduce our Dublin visit to only 2 nights so that I can have a 3-night stay in Belfast and thereby have more time for day-trips in Northern Ireland.

Okay, I'm going to switch over my Belfast discussion to a separate thread, and post a question about Belfast. Hope you will join me there, Helen! My usual style is to welcome a variety of responses and opinions, the more the merrier. I enjoy all the things that I learn. Thanks very much, Helen!

mexicobeachbum

I'm looking at your 3 nights in Lisdoonvarna. I don't know what days of the week you'll be there, but try to make it to Vauhans in Kilfenora, just down the road, for the ceili on Wednesday night. Kilfenora is known as the home of ceili music, and the dancing and music are great. Get there early, have dinner, and head over next door to the dance. Vauhan's is right next door to the Burren Centre. Also, Kitty's across the street has music sometimes, and very good pub food. I think Clare's a great place to stay and hear music, from Milltown Malbay to Doolin to Kilfenora, there's plenty to see and do. Also charming is the coastal town of Lahinch, just a few miles down the road. Have fun!

Melissa5

Mexicobeachbum: thanks for the tip about the ceili on Wednesday nights at Vaughan's in Kilfenora. We're staying in Ballyvaughan, and I want to do something different each night in County Clare, to keep young adult daughters and hubby and myself entertained.

We have 3 nights: maybe one night for Kinvara & Dunguaire Castle medieval banquet; one night for Kilfeora/Vaughan's; and one night for...somewhere else! Monk's pub in Ballyvaughan? Doolin pubs? (Not sure if I can face the July crowds in Doolin though.) Corofin? Thought about spending the night on one of the Aran Islands, but I don't want to break up our lovely itinerary which has several nice relaxed 3-night stays. (Our favorite pace.)

How early would we need to get into Vaughan's to be able to wedge ourselves in close enough to hear the music? Do people stand or sit (when they aren't dancing). Have never been to a ceili and I'd love to experience our first ceili as a family!

mexicobeachbum

I would agree about not venturing into Doolin for the pubs in July. We've stayed there then, and it's a madhouse. All the more reason to look to the smaller, less traveled towns for your evenings. As to Vaughan's, I'd get there early enough for dinner, say 6 or 7, and head on over to the ceili next door when people start making their move. You can dance, if you're pretty fit, or have a penchant for line or square dancing, or you can sit to the side, have a pint (or a soft drink), and just watch. We spent a week in a self-accommodating place in Doolin, and our landlady was from Kilfenora, so we joined her and she showed us the ropes. She even introduced us to the actual "matchmaker" from the festival in Lisdoonvarna. It was a very fun evening, and quite multi-generational to boot. Some of the older dancers position themselves near the stage, so they can sit on it when it's not their turn to dance.
When we were there, a group of young (and very good) musicians played at Ketty's pub across the street on Thursday night. It was great to see teenagers carrying on the muscial tradition. Have a great trip!

Melissa5

mexicobeachbum, Kilfenora sounds like just the sort of place I am looking for. Thanks for explaining things and sharing your experiences. Sounds like you had a memorable time! I wonder if Kilfenora has a web-site? I'll look for one.

Wonder if the drive from Kilfenora at night back to the Drumcreehy b&b in Ballyvaughan (on the main road, I think it's called N67) will be okay and safe. Don't want to get lost. Drumcreehy is actually 1 mile from the main village of Ballyvaughan. It's on the coast, I thought it would be picturesque and a quiet setting. Although I was also tempted to just stay right near one of the fun pubs, that could mean sleepless nights for me (light sleeper if there's noisy people walking by.)

Melissa5

mexicobeachbum, I hope I was clear in my comment above. I meant that I think Drumcreehy b&b is on the main coastal road, N67. I'm not sure what road Kilfenora is on! don't have my books handy right now.

chatham

Melissa, you can see the water from Drumcreehy, it isn't right on the water. When we stayed at Sheedy's in Lisdoonvarna one of my boys would take his daily run to Kilfenora, I'd say it is around 6 or 7 miles from Lisdoonvara. Ballyvaughan is another maybe 10 to 15 miles on roads that would be pretty dark at night. I don't know if there is anyplace to stay in Kilfenora. It is a lovely little village.

CU

Hi Melissa,
Well I see that you have settled for Ballyvaughan.
Look at www.Ballyvaughanireland.com
I see that you have been told about Kilfenora;
www.kilfenoraceiliband.com if you want to hear music follow the links and also if you want to see a dance session in Lisdoonvarna.

mexicobeachbum

Melissa: As you have observed, both Kilfenora and Ballyvaughan are on the same road, N67. We didn't take this road at night, but did drive back to Doolin several times after dark, and it was fine. Sometimes, it's almost easier to drive at night, because you can see the headlights from around the corner. If you get a local driving behind you, pull over (to the left, of course) and let them go, because they'll be driving much faster than you, and you don't want them to pass you in a dangerous place. Also, and this goes for most places in the rural areas of Ireland, keep your eyes out for tractors on the road. Lots of folks don't have a car, and they drive to the pub on a tractor. Usually they have headlights, but not always. We were told that in Ireland you need a license and insurance to drive a car, but not so on a tractor, so it's the conveyance of choice for lots of young drivers. We saw them "cruising" the square in Donegal in their tractors. Very entertaining, especially for our two teenage daughters, who seemed to appreciate the attention.

fiberalchemy

Though I was travelling alone to Ireland many years ago, the magically part of my journey included a stay in a country hotel then called The Cashel House. It had horseback riding for those interested and I remember a walk into a nearby town overlooking the sea with a cute little pub I made a stop in to enjoy the locals. As I recall it wasn't far from Galway in Connamara but definately miles away from the bustle of a city. Hope you can find it, I have always longed for a return.

Melissa5

chatham, you rascal, you are tempting me to question my Ballyvaughan reservations in favor of reservations in Lisdoonvarna, because it is closer to Kilfenora and the Cliffs of Moher. (However, Ballyvaughan is closer to Kinvara and Galway!)

Melissa5

CU: Does Ballyvaughan meet with your approval? (It was hard to choose between Ballyvaughan and Lisdoonvarna.) Thanks for all your help!

Melissa5

mexicobeachbum, gotcha, look out for the local boys on tractors heading to/from the pubs...will do! (An unexpected bit of local flavor!)

Melissa5

fiberalchemy, your experience of coming across such a memorable place in the countryside of Connemara sounds wonderful. I hope we have experiences like that. That's why I keep trying to resist the urge to add more stops to our itinerary. I'm trying to keep the pace leisurely enough so that we can have time for day-trips into the countryside. Though July will be busy, surely we will find someplace in County clare and County Mayo which is less-travelled, for a pleasant morning or afternoon.