Trip to The Burren, County Clare

So this past weekend was very busy. It started with our day trip to Howth and kept going with our program trip to the Western Coast. Our itinerary was something like this:
Saturday:
11am: Stop for coffee, tea and scones at Tyrellspass Castle

2pm: Tour of Gleninagh Castle, Blackhead, Cliffs of Moher, Poulnabron, Dolmen and Lemeagh Castle (now this is what it said we were going to do, but the actual itinerary involved the Cliffs, driving along the coast and Blackhead, if I saw the other things I didn't know it.)

7pm: Mass at St. Patrick's Church in Fanore - that's right, I went to mass, not that I had much choice in the matter, but I was there all the same. I've decided the reason I don't go to mass is because it makes me too uncomfortable, I actually felt anxious as we bused to the church. I think it's just because it's unfamiliar, I don't feel like I belong there and I feel like a giant poser for trying. To sum up, when I get near a mass service I radiate awkwardness... Anyway - the service was short and the priest spoke in Gaelic part of the time so no one (not just me) knew what he was saying. It was really cool to hear some of the songs in Gaelic and afterwards some even ventured to say that the priest's voice rivaled that of Morgan Freeman - that good.

8pm: was a three course meal at the our hotel. It was delicious. There was cheesecake. I was happy. That night was low-key, with only a few bars in the area (the area was actually known for it's matchmaking activity and when we went to mass the priest asked if were in the area so we could be matched) we went to a place called Monk's and had an early night. I was excited to see that the town had a fiddlers, although not a pub like at ND, it reminded me of ND all the same.
Sunday:
We started Sunday with a "full Irish breakfast" - read enormous amounts of meat. We then got on the bus to see more sites. The first stop was Corcomroe Abbey, a ruin church. Next up, a ruin castle: Then what-seemed-to-be a random farm house. I guess it was the filming location for a TV show called Father Ted's House, but it's still lived in by a family who fed us delicious scones and tea. We also got to watch their sheepdog heard some sheep through the fence, something I haven't witnessed outside of Babe.
Afterwards we walked around the Burren and visited a large turlough, which is a disappearing lake. It forms and disappears with the seasons and the amount of rain. It was pretty cool. And finally headed home. And that was my weekend in a nutshell. The bus ride home involved an hour plus of group sing-alongs and by far the best performed song was "A whole new world" from Aladdin.
P.S. Click the bottom picture for the full album from the weekend.