Day 15: Castle Ward, Inch of Abbey, and Belfast

We didn’t have to leave our cottages until 10:45am today, so we got the chance to sleep in. Personally, this was great because I needed to catch up on some sleep. We had a little bit more relaxed day in general. By relaxed, I mean that we still went several places, but we weren’t as rushed and it didn’t seem like we were on the go as much.

Our first stop for the day was Castle Ward. This is a castle that was owned by the Ward family. The unique thing about this castle is that the front and back of the exterior and interior have different themes. The front of the house is more traditional while the back of the house was more modern for the time. This was because Mr. Ward wanted a traditional home while Mrs. Ward was into the modern theme. It’s quite interesting to see the differing themes. While at the castle, we had a guided tour and we were able to learn about each of the rooms. It was really nice to see each of the rooms setup as if we were in the house during that time period. We also got to go outside and see the view of the sea and the grounds of the castle.


(Front and Back of Castle Ward)

After our stop at Castle Ward, we stopped at the Inch of Abbey. This was the site of an old church. There was actually a guide dressed as a monk that was able to tell a little history about the church and show us different portions. It was difficult to differentiate the different parts of the church because it has fallen apart so much. The view at Inch of Abbey was gorgeous because it looked on at the sea, so I can only imagine how it would look had the church been intact.


(Inch of Abbey)

Then we headed to the Saint Patrick Centre for a bite to eat and then we left for Belfast. We took a quick tour of the city again, but this time it was mainly to see the murals that are around the city. Most of the murals are in regards to the troubles and therefore relate to politics and religion. Other murals are about social issues. It was very interesting to see how Belfast is divided in an effort to keep Catholics and Protestants separate which was to try to discourage outbreaks of fighting. While in Belfast we also spent a little time shopping, but we didn’t have much time, so I didn’t get much of anything.

(Murals in Belfast)

Our last stop for the night was at a pub in Downpatrick called Denvir’s. We went there to have dinner and watch the USA vs. England World Cup game. Before we had left the Saint Patrick Centre after lunch, we had each drawn two teams for a tournament amongst ourselves. Ironically, I drew England and Honduras. Technically, I was supposed to be cheering for England, but how could I? It was a lot of fun at the pub because most of the Irish were cheering for the US because they don’t like England. Our group was pretty spirited throughout the whole thing because we sang the national anthem quite loud at the beginning and chanted “USA… USA… USA…” from time to time. The other people in the pub really thought we were funny. Most of us didn’t stay the whole time because we wanted to get home and start packing a bit, so here I sit. I suppose now that this blog is written I will go start packing. By the way, I will have internet for our last day because we got passwords for the internet again!

Goodnight!