Saturday, November 22, 2014

A little cottage by the sea... and some sad history

 
After a couple of days in Dublin, we headed north. I had booked a "cottage by the sea" I had found on the internet. It looked to be only a couple hours drive at most. Of course, everything takes longer than you think as the roads always go right through every small town. And of course you have to stop for drink and bathroom breaks. But there's always intriguing sights on the way. These are just two of a "herd" of seven (!) kittens we spotted while parking our car.

My daughter had turn-by-turn directions to the cottage on her ipad, but despite that it took us almost an hour to find it, even when we got to Newcastle, where it was located. We drove by the cottage about a dozen times, not realizing that what looked like a pathway up the hillside was supposed to be a road. We finally asked at the visitor center, where the woman showed us on a map exactly where the cottage was located. Even then, we drove by it twice more. Finally, we figured out where we needed to go. The cottage owner, Margaret, (bless her heart) had waited for us, even though we were almost two hours late and she had to drive back to Armagh that night.
Our destination was more than worth the trouble. The Slieve Donan cottage is charming and beautiful. Plus, it had the best internet service of anywhere on our trip, over 60 satellite TV channels and a fully equipped kitchen with a washer and dryer. Pure heaven for travelers. 

Besides it's other perfections, the setting was magical. Not only the lovely gardens, including the back one I could see from my upstairs bedroom, but also the postcard-perfect harbor view from the front. That night, I walked the short ways down to the sea wall and stared in awe at a radiant full moon lighting up the Irish sea. 

 

But there always seems to be a dark side to even the most enchanting aspects of Ireland. The address for the cottage is "Widows Row" for a rather chilling reason. In 1846, boats from Newcastle and another nearby fishing village were caught in a gale. Seventy-six seaman perished, 48 from Newcastle. Those men left behind seven widows and 118 children (those Irish were fertile!) and so the town got together and built them a row of cottages, including Slieve Donard cottage.  
  

14 comments:

  1. Loved your post, Mary. When I return to Ireland, I'll have to remember this place. :)

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    1. Thanks for stopping by, Mary. I love sharing my travel experiences.

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  2. Sounds wonderful, Mary! All the photos were marvelous, and the view from you bedroom (and the bedroom) were just delightful. The story of the town and the cottage were so sad.

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    1. Thanks for commenting. It was just such an idyllic experience. I'd love to go back and take my husband.

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  3. This was so fascinating. I so want to visit there now. You did an outstanding job of taking me along. I felt like one of the family.

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    1. Thanks Lynda. For years I couldn't afford to travel. Now that I can, I'm really like to take other people along.

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  4. It gave me cold chills to read about all those men who were lost! If ever I get to Ireland, this is one place I'll want to visit. Thanks for sharing, Mary.

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    1. Yes, it was very sad. It seems like so much of Ireland is like that, a mixture of beauty and life and also tragedy and sadness.

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  5. What an idyllic place! My hubby and I want to go to Scotland next year, wish we could go to Ireland, too. Great travelogue!

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    1. When you go to Scotland, I would advise visiting Skye (see my previous post). It was just incredible. I'll have to go back and spend several days there, instead of barely one.

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  6. Hello Mary.
    Thanks for another wonderful post! Love your pictures of the two kittens, the cottage and the gardens and especially love the recollection of the story behind the name 'Widows row'. As for the Irish being fertile, they did not have '60 satellite TV channels', so I guess they had to... er... find other distractions. ;)
    Annie (aka Kelly Ann Scott)

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    1. Ha ha! Maybe that's it. Although my husband's family has managed to be pretty fertile despite the distractions of modern life. I know we just had to think about having a baby, or a second one, and get careless with birth control, and I got pregnant!

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  7. LOL. I hear you when it comes to the fertile Irish. I come from a large Irish family myself and have seventy-six first cousins from my father's side of the family.
    This was delightful. Thanks for sharing.

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  8. What a lovely cottage! I'm sure you had a wonderful time.

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