Trip to Ireland for the 2012 Notre Dame - Navy Game

Killary Fjord in Connemara is the only fjord in Ireland. It is approximately 15 km long, 0.7 km wide and 15 m in depth. The water and mountains make for beautiful scenery.

Aquaculture in Killary Fjord includes raising mussels on ropes that are attached to floats and anchors. Killary produces up to 2,000 tons of mussels annually.

Kylemore Abbey castle was built in the late 1860s as the home of Mitchell and Margeret Henry. It was then owned by the Duke and Dutchess of Manchester and later by a group of Iris Benedictine nuns who were bombed out of their abbey in Belgium in WW I.

Kylmore Abbey had running water and a hydro-electric generator in the 1890s. In addition to the castle, there were greenhouses used to grow non-native foods. There were also large outdoor gardens, such as the one above.

The Aran Islands are a group of three islands in Galway Bay. The largest of the three, Inishmore,is home to about 800 people. Dun Aengus is the name of a large stone fort at one end of Inishmore.

Dun Aengus is thought to date to the Iron Age, although the people who constructed it and the reason for its construction are lost to history. The fort now overlooks the Atlantic on one side

The view from Dun Aengus includes spectacular cliffs, dropping into the Atlantic Ocean.

Susan thanks Rosie for being the engine on our cart tour of the island.

The Cliffs of Moher are across the bay from Galway.

The cliffs offer a spectacular backdrop.

View of the curved roof of Aviva Stadium as seen from the Gravity Bar at the top of the Guinness Storehouse.

View of the dome of Rathmines Parish Church as seen from the Gravity Bar at the top of the Guinness Storehouse.

Businesses in Dublin's Temple Bar area gave a warm welcome to fans in for the game.

The Guinness Storehouse seemed full of fans of Notre Dame and of Navy.

The Notre Dame Marching Band at halftime.

Notre Dame scoring an early rushing touchdown.

The small uninhabited island named Ireland's Eye, accessible by ferry, located in Howth harbor, as seen from the patio at Martin and Nolene's house.

Unusual architecture of the Titanic museum in Belfast; the Titanic was built in Belfast. The museum is well worth the visit.