September 8 - Cong to Westport

Another delicious full Irish breakfast, the headed into the little town of Cong.  Walked through the ruins of the12th century Cong Abbey which was built on the grounds of a 7th century church.   The grounds around the abbey were lush, beautiful, and peaceful - a perfect place for meditation and reflection.

Monks' Fishing House - they would pull up the fish from a hole in the floor.

Interesting tree roots

Next stop - Westport.  Found Hillcrest B&B right in town, which is perfect because it is within walking distance of Matt Molloy's Pub (where we're headed tonight to hear traditional Irish music).   Dropped off our things and checked out the shops downtown.  The smell of scones drew us into a bakery where we enjoyed mochas with a ginormous blueberry scone. As we started walking back to the B&B Jim decided that since those scones were so awesome and moist we needed 2 more for our hike on Achill Island (hereafter always to be known as the "Scone Hike")

Achill Island is appr 45 min west of Westport (is that possible?) in the Atlantic Ocean. The last couple of miles up the were treacherous --- we ascended the hill along with a multitude of sheep who apparently were not afraid of the car. After driving as far as we could go, we hiked about 30 minutes on the rough, rocky terrain to the summit where a statue of Our Lady of the Seas stood amidst a fantastic 360 degree view and a chilling wind.

Lots of sheep everywhere

Each farmer marks his/her sheep with a specific color or color combination.

Saw lots of this

Lots of pretty wildflowers

I couldn't help but think of the delicious scones that awaited us back at the car!

We rested up in our room for a couple of hours to ensure that we would be able to stay out after our bedtime of 9:30 and hear some trad music at Matt Malloys pub. Matt Molloy is a member of the band, The Chieftains who helped traditional musical return to popularity in the 1970s.

We arrived at Matt Malloys  before 8:30 to find a place to sit for the trad session starting at 9:30 and found a table - rubbing elbows with the performers. The music was AMAZING and I found myself tapping my feet and clapping my hands --  I think I could have started dancing (and almost did after 3 glasses of wine which they fill to the rim :-).  After 3 hours of craic, we walked the short distance up a steep hill to our B&B.