Malahide, Clough and driving to Belfast

This morning started out with a run around Limerick

Some of the sights I saw while on my run:

After we ate a leisurely breakfast at the hotel we set off on a drive

to Malahide Castle, then Clough in County Down and then Belfast.

Malahide Castle was cool...  lots of history.  We had a guided tour that explained lots of the significance.  Well worth the visit!

After lunching at Malahide, we drove to Clough, County Down in Northern Ireland.  Many of my ancestors on the Douglas side of the family came from that area.  Thomas Douglas (my great-great-great grandfather, was born there around 1800 and immigrated to Canada from there in 1832.  

We visited a couple cemeteries in Clough that were around then ... but found no markers with any of the family names.  

 Clough is tiny.  There are the ruins of a Norman-era tower on a hill behind the gas station

and there is an interesting monument in the village roundabout (there is just one...)

but really, that's about it.  We also drown through Seaforde on our way to Belfast.  It seems to have grown just a bit bigger, but not much.

We left County Down and drove into Belfast ... about a half-hour away.  After stoping at a supermarket, we settled into our apartment.  Our home for the next two nights before we make our last water crossing over to Scotland.