by Kay Hafner

Editor's note: Kay Hafner and her family recently went on a trip to Ireland. This is Part II of a two-part series on her visit.

After this trip, globalization now means a lot more to me. Irish history is fascinating, and traditional culture certainly has its place here, but it's not as isolated as I once imagined it was.

From Limerick we drove northwest, hoping to stay in a town called Ennis. It was then that the impact of our cultural drift hit us hardest. You see, we'd learned upon arrival that something called the Autumn Bank Holiday was happening the weekend before Halloween. Half the population of Dublin and the east coast was following us westward for their holiday, not just for the weekend but for the week in some cases, since schools are closed for that whole week. The idea that we didn't have reservations anywhere for that Saturday night was quite comical, since so many natives were being turned away. After being turned down at one of the places in our Frommer's guide, we found a B&B. They didn't have room but the hosts called at least six other B&Bs in the vicinity before finding one that had space. "You wouldn't mind coming to get them, would you?" the woman asked, glancing at me. "They're American and they'll never find you in the dark in this weather." I wanted to hug that woman! The host did come and get us and we never would have found his place without following him, closely, through the narrow, darkened lanes.

It turned out to be a small farmhouse and stables, with only one other Irish couple boarding there for the weekend. As we unloaded our bag in the parking lot, I looked up in the night to my left and saw, looming against distant, clouded moonlight the outline of a stone tower. We looked out our window in the morning and saw the American flag and an Irish flag waving at the top of Castlefergus to the left. The River Fergus followed a bit of distance away to the right on its way through Ennis.

Next we headed northeast toward the Atlantic Ocean to see the Cliffs of Moher. Even with limited visibility and cold, hard wind and spray battering us, it was an inspiring site. We headed north along the coast and stopped in Doolin on our way around Galway Bay and up to our final lodging north of Galway. Took a wrong turn and found ourselves in the middle of the barren, rock-strewn area known at The Burren, where we happily stumbled across a dolmen, or a druidic altar. As you can imagine, I found this 4,000 year old structure captivating. We were later than planned going through Galway and 9 miles or so north to Cregg Castle, for our final two nights' lodging.

Even thought today is the Bank Holiday, there are a lot of shops open here in Galway, so we're finishing up our shopping. We leave tomorrow, Halloween, but we hope to sample some of the traditional Irish music that Galway is reknowned for this evening, and perhaps experience a bonfire at our castle later tonight.

If you recall, this was my husband's secret trip to whisk the family away. He did a lot of research, with the help of the Internet, guide books and various people who have visited Ireland before, or wanted to. I didn't know for sure where we were going until three days before leaving and our daughter waited until her birthday, the day before our departure, to be told. We've had a wonderful time, and are now planning our next trip.

On the Bright Side appears every other Thursday in The Post-Star.