Quilty

Day 19 – Doolin to Quilty

35km    (812 km   504 miles)

We came down the coast today to the little seaside village of Quilty.  This is where the ancient Irish tradition of quilting originated.   Mothers would teach the secret art of quilting to their daughters, who in turn would pass the secret down the generations.  This until an English visitor to a local B&B happened to overhear a mother explain how to quilt a bed cover.  The secret was out.  He took the knowledge away and quilting spread across the world so that just about everyone today knows how to quilt a cushion.  Or so the story goes.

We didn’t come far today because it was another scorcher.  Yesterday it was 32C in Shannon, the hottest recorded since 1976.  (That, unlike some of the things you’ll read on this blog, is true.)

While it’s been fine to play the tourist in Galway and Doolin, we realise it’s not really our thing. We prefer quiet country roads and anonymous villages, rather than cities and towns with shops and pubs jammed with busfulls of visitors.