IRELAND

	Some people might recognize this place from the movies: "In the Name of the Father" and "Michael Collins." This is a real prison called Killmainham jail and built by the British to house Irish prisoners before the Irish revolution. The Irish now use it as a monument to British tyranny.
	Here is the oldest Irish harp dating from the 15th Century. It's now a symbol like our Liberty Bell. For those who've had a Harp ale, now you know where it gets its name.
	In the small town of Galway, we stopped in a bar for some of the local brew, Guinness, and to hear one of the local bands play.
	I just couldn't help myself; I had to take this picture! (I then also had to place it out on our web site for everyone to see.)
	Just south of Galway there is an area called The Burren. After only 5 minutes of driving you feel like you're on another planet. We have never seen terrain like this before.
	To sum up Ireland: cows, sheep, rock fences, and Guinness.
	The Cliffs of Moher is a place where you can jump the safety fence, belly up to the edge, and look straight down 700 feet to the ocean. Here we have photographic proof of Tricia at the edge. I also looked over the edge eventually, but it took me 20 minutes to build up the courage.
	These cliffs go on for 5 miles. It's a sight I definitely won't forget for a long time to come.
	Some of our more favorite Guinness slogans: "Guinness for strength," "My goodness, my Guinness," and "Guinness is good for you."
	Here is Blarney Castle where the famous Blarney Stone is located. Near the top of the castle you can see a small patch of sky through the wall. Just above that small patch of sky is where the Blarney Stone is located.
	Kissing the stone requires you to lay on your back and arch down about a foot and a half. It's the bottom stone in this segment of wall and of course there is a line so you know you're kissing the right stone. Legend says if you kiss the stone, you will be blessed with the gift of gab.
	For anyone who has enjoyed the quality of Waterford Crystal you'll recognize this symbol. We stopped in Waterford, Ireland for a tour of the factory. We wanted to pick up some crystal but it was too expensive even at their factory shop.
	Now we skip north over the boarder to Northern Ireland. Here is the Sinn Fein headquarters right on Falls Road. The large boulders in front are for protection from any ramming vehicles.
	Most of downtown Belfast is clear of armored police and is now just filled with shoppers. Out in the Catholic and Protestant neighborhoods, though, it's a different story. Here we are following an armored truck with 4 officers carrying large weapons. As far as we could tell, they were just doing standard patrols of the area.
	Pro-IRA and Pro-Sinn Fein slogans and murals were painted everywhere. Things like "The people arose in '69' they will rise again any time" and "Let the fight go on" and "Free Irish POWs in British prisons"
	We only went to Northern Ireland for one day. We figured that since there had been no IRA activity for months, and that they had just gotten everyone to the table for peace talks that we would be safe. We were safe, but the people of Markethill were not! While we were in Belfast, some faction of the IRA set off a 200-pound car bomb outside the local cattle auction house. Luckily, no one was killed.
	The only thing that the terrorist accomplished was to make every party in the peace talks affirm that they would not let violence like this derail the talks.