We were self-touring this trip so many of our stops came from seeing a sign or finding something curious or just evading the rain. We tended to stop frequently and found many things that most tour groups wouldn't stop to see. Curiosity was our leading guide.

I was not aware that Halloween and trick or treating originated in Ireland. My thoughts are that other countries make this claim as well but now I know that Ireland does too.

We also found a substantial number of Halloween decorations scattered about Ireland.

We made a stop in the small village of Newmills. Vicky couldn't get an internet connection and we were lost. As I pulled over to wait for her to determine which way we should go, we saw a sign for Newmills Corn and Flax Mills. I pulled into the parking lot which was a large parking lot with zero vehicles in it. We decided to visit the mills as we could see the large waterwheel on one of the buildings.

As the only tourists there, we were treated to great attention by the museum hosts. The oldest building in the mills is 400 years old. Everything looked in great shape and all looked freshly painted. It was an interesting visit. These mills milled flax, corn, barley, and wheat.

I found a couple of things particularly fascinating. First, flax was made into linen. The two largest periods of demand for their linen were the American Civil War when their linen was used for the soldier's uniforms and during World War II when linen was used in airplanes for its light weight and strength. I had never associated linen with war before our visit here. These mills operated until 1982 which was another surprise.

We saw tremendous numbers of farms with lots of sheep, cows, horses, and other animals. We saw lots of hay being grown and since our family also grows hay, I wondered how it worked out with all the rain that they get in Ireland. Here's how they handle the hay for storage, though I'm not sure how they dry it with all the rain.

We were driving on a narrow local road in or near Sligo, a small coastal town, when we saw a sign that said, "Sligo Riding Centre." We pulled into the parking lot and gave ourselves a tour of their facilities and talked to several of the employees. All of the horses were boarded in barns, and most of the horse activities were done indoors. They did have several outdoor jumping courses and an outdoor arena. Below is their main indoor arena. It was between classes.

Ireland, like many European countries, is known for its castles. In the case of Ireland, we passed many of them but didn't stop too often. We saw many castles on our trip such as this one, just off the coast road, as we drove past Sligo.

This stop was at a coffee shop. It started raining heavily so we just took a break and waited for the weather to clear.