A Virtual Tour of Ireland: Part Two

It’s time for Part 2 of our Virtual Tour of Ireland. If you missed the first post, focused on scenes of Galway and the Aran Islands, you can find it here. For this virtual tour, we pair my paintings with Petunia’s trip photos.

Part Two: Doolin

Petunia and Tim departed the Aran Islands by ferry and headed for Doolin. They took a chance to plan their trip this way because the Aran Islands to Doolin ferry cancels more frequently that the route between Galway, only because of the exposure to the Atlantic Ocean. Thankfully, they had great weather, and the trip went off without a hitch. One of the benefits of traveling to Doolin by ferry is that you get to experience the nearby Cliffs of Moher from the water.

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Cliffs
Watercolor on Canvas

Doolin is famous for its traditional music scene. An Upper Village and Lower Village loosely divide the town. The dividing mark is the bridge at Fisher Street, pictured below.

Doolin Bridge

Petunia’s version.

Here are some more tips for a stay in Doolin.

For lodging, we had a great experience at Moloney House.

The town is another departure point for the Aran Islands, and you can make a day trip from Doolin, weather permitting. We had a great experience on the Happy Hooker run by Doolin Ferries. We would not recommend going out on rough seas but go for it if it’s a calm day.

Make sure you spend some time in one of the pubs. Our two favorites were Gus O’Connor’s and Fitzpatrick’s.

Even if you don’t make a trip to the Aran Islands, you can take a Cliff tour by boat through the Doolin Ferries as well. Check out the picture below from a close-up at the bottom of the Cliffs.

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Click here for more of the virtual tour.

A Tour of Ireland

In the early 2000s, the Queen Bee and I took a couple of trips to Ireland. Both trips involved biking, music, and art. Petunia took a more recent trip last summer. Since I had created a series of art around my trips, she thought it was pretty cool to finally get to see some of the places that I painted for herself.

It’s March! What better time to take a virtual tour of Ireland?

We thought it would be fun to take you on a virtual tour of our collective trips using my paintings along with some of her photos.

Her trip started in Galway, so we’ll start there.

If you’ve never been to Galway, it is a lively university town. While it’s lighter on attractions compared to some other cities, its charm is its ambiance. Walking the medieval streets of Galway is an experience unto itself. There is music everywhere, the streets, the pubs, the churches, you name it. My impression of Galway is captured here with Galway Band.

Galway Band

Below are some photos from Petunia’s 2019 trip to Galway.

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  Flights arrive early! Walking the quiet streets around 7 am.

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  Tourist Information offices are a wealth of information. This one is on Forster Street, close to Eyre Square.

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  A little bit later, the streets are filled.

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  If you’ve been to McDonagh’s Fish and Chips you’ll recognize this mural representing the Claddagh.

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  If you make it to Galway, don’t miss a trip out to the Aran Islands.

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  Inishmore

Don’t try this!

Spend the night and you’ll have the place almost to yourself.

Here are some more tips from Petunia…

In Galway, stay at Petra House. It’s close enough to walk to the Galway city center, but far enough away from the pubs to avoid the late-night noise. Frank and Joan are great hosts.

Take a walking tour with Liam Silke. You can sign up at the Galway Tourist Information Centre on Forster Street.

If you can walk, do as much of it as you can. This town is full of interesting sights.

Up Next…Doolin

The Tourney

A few years ago, I was lucky enough to get invited to The Masters. The scenery at Augusta National left an impression with me, to say the least. I continue to paint work that was inspired by this outing. Below is the latest.

The Tourney
Original Watercolor on Canvas
48″x 48″

Win Five Artist Greeting Cards

In case you missed it, I sent out an email newsletter last week. In it, there is a trivia question. The first person to send me an email at rhyonke@gmail.com with the accurate answer wins these cards.

I’m still waiting for a winner!

Here’s the link to the newsletter if you want to give it a shot.

There’s no catch. Be the first one to answer the question, and we send you these cards, hand signed by me, at no cost to you!

Working Boats and Waterways

The subject matter in my Working Boats and Waterways collection of art ranges from commercial fishing vessels to boats that ferry supplies along the seaboard and inland waterways.  I recently organized much of this work in a new gallery, which you can view here. Included here are a few examples that illustrate the scope of vessels I like to paint.

Towboats

Cold River

Sternwheelers

Banks of the Ohio

Fishing Vessels

Following Sea

View the entire gallery here.