Day 7, A Travelogue of Christmas in Ireland, December 2005

Christmas in Ireland Tour, 2005

Day 7 - Sometimes you get rained out, but you suit up for every game.

Wednesday, December 7, 2005

Itinerary: Visited Oideas Gael Irish-language college where we saw a facsimile of the Book of Kells and took the Turas Columcille (pilgrimage round of St. Colubma) via a photo exhibit, toured three centuries of Irish cottages at the Ulster Folk Village, since it was raining so hard we drove to Ballybofey to shop. Dinner: La Bella Donna, Donegal Town

The plan for today was a long hike to see pilgrimage sites. However it rained hard all day and we took a virtual tour with pictures adorning the walls of Oideas Gael, an Irish language college. Here we were able to see and touch a replica of the famous Book of Kells, an Irish illuminated manuscript of the Gospels.

At the Ulster Folk village, we toured three replicas of Irish cottages. They were set up to represent the each century from the eighteenth to twentieth. Each cottage gives an idea of how people lived during each era. We also visited an original schoolhouse from the early twentieth century.

Because Lisa just had a new baby daughter, we decided to drive northeast to the village of Ballybofey in hopes of finding an Irish christening gown. We spent a few hours shopping and checking email.

This was the only day we had to significantly modify our plans because of weather. In the evening, we visited with our host Sean who raises sheep. He was very interesting. The ground around Gleann Cholm Cille appeared to be marginal and much better for sheep than any thing else. He has a job in a woolen mill in a nearby village. He calls his personal stock operation a "hobby farm" of 350 sheep. His family has a full fledged sheep operation of 4,000 acres bordering the ocean. Some times sheep fall in the ocean and drown. Because it rains so much in that part of Donegal, the farmers do a sheep dip to waterproof the sheep. This prevents some type of skin rash on the animals.

Again, we learned that agriculture in Ireland is highly regulated. Inspectors visit the farms directly. Cattle are especially regulated. The barns with slurry pits, like the ones we saw at Wellfield Farmhouse in Oughterard, are only allowed to be emptied a few months of the year. This happens in the drier summer months.

They fertilize their grass but are limited in how much fertilizer they can use. Building of corrals is controlled by government mandate. Size and shape for these holding pens is standard. That is why we noticed that corrals were all the same.

While he was talking he got several calls on his cell phone. He had arranged for a truck load of sheep feed, some type of protein, mineral supplement, to be brought into the village, which is very remote. This shipment was to be split among several farmers. Since the feed was to arrive early the following morning, Sean needed to give the driver directions. What was interesting about this interchange was that directions were given in yards instead of meters. Later we learned that we were close to the border with Northern Ireland. The truck driver probably was from there and Northern Ireland uses the English system of feet and miles.

Sean said they have no predators in this part of Ireland. All through our trip we did not notice any deer or other large wildlife.

In addition to the language school, craft shops, and sheep operations, Gleann also is a fishing village. That is not surprising since the peninsula on which it sits juts out into the North Atlantic Ocean. All the boats were tied in the dock. Some were very nice, new appearing boats. On Inish Mhor Island that we visited in Galway Bay a few days earlier, some of the boats looked like they had seen better days.

Fishing, too, is highly regulated in Ireland. By December, the fishermen had used up their yearly quota of fish. This quota was established in 1972 when an international law regulating fisheries was passed. This law limited the number of fish caught each year to what had been reported as caught in previous years. The Irish under reported the size of their catches prior to 1972 and were assigned a low quota number. Scottish fisherman, on the other hand, reported closer to actual numbers and received a higher quota assignment. As a result, Scottish fishermen still were on the water in December. The end result of the fisheries deception ultimately had a negative effect on Gleann Cholm Cille and on other Irish fishing villages. The fish processing factories, which for years provided winter income for the rural areas, were shut down earlier. Shops in the village could only open during the summer tourism months. Even the restaurant that used to open year round was closed. As a result, off-season tourists must drive some distance out of the valley for meals.

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