County Galway, #22 On Forrest's Journey

Castle In Portumna, Ireland...8 Miles Today; Forrest finished his walk at 11:30am. I must say, with the heat and humidity, sweating was not hard to do. As I write in my blog the TV says the "Heat Index" is pushing 100 degrees. This morning Forrest entered County Galway, the 22nd of Ireland's 32 counties. County Galway is located in the Province of Connaught the smallest of the four provinces, and is second in size to County Cork. County Galway is a very popular tourist destination, it is situated in the western part of Ireland, an area renowned for its music, culture and crafts. County Galway, is also known for keeping Ireland's traditional culture preserved. This is evident by the number of music and culture festivals hosted each year in Galway City and nearby communities. Common surnames (here surnames are referred to as "Septs") Common septs in County Galway include Clark, Connolly, Coyne, Curley, Egan, Ford, Hession, Joyce, Kelly, Lohan, Lydon, Madden, Nee, O'Flaherty, O'Shaughnessy, and Tierney. The first village Forrest visited in County Galway goes by the name Portumna, the name Portumna derives from the Irish Port Omna, meaning the landing place of the oak tree. Portumna is one of Galway's most attractive towns and is ideally situated by the River Shannon and Lough Derg (Lough means Lake). Anyone who visits here must visit Portumna Forest Park a marvelous world of trails, flowers and exotic trees...Bottom line is that the town of Portumna is a "Cool" place to visit. As Forrest makes his way closer and closer to Galway I bid you farewell until tomorrow, God Bless Walk Forrest Walk