After leaving Derry in Northern Ireland, we were soon in the Republic of Ireland. This sign was farther down in Ireland, but it illustrates that here the signs are in two languages: Irish (Gaelic) and English. In Northern Ireland, the signs were only in English. Other differences between the two countries: In Ireland, distances are in kilometers; in Northern Ireland, they are in miles. The euro is the currency of Ireland; the British pound (pound sterling) is the currency in Northern Ireland. ("Mayo," seen in the photo, is a county in Ireland.)

There is no border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. You just travel from one country to the other as both countries are presently in the European Union. With Brexit, a question is if there will then be borders between the two countries. We drove through much countryside.

Driving through Ireland in the rain.

A colorful building.

A church.

Colorful houses.

And another.

Colorful buildings.

Very large houses.

Driving through a village.

More of the village.

More countryside.

Now we crossed back into Northern Ireland to visit the Belleck Pottery Visitor Centre.

Bill Clinton visiting Belleck.

Ronald Reagan visiting Belleck.

Prince Charles visiting Belleck.

The Belleck Archive Collection. Belleck has been producing fine china since 1857 and is world famous.

Pottery out of molds awaiting firing and decoration.

Molds.

Vase taken out of a mold.

Using molds to make baskets.

A worker making roses to put on the baskets.

Finished products.

A vase awaiting decoration.

Decorated vase.

Belleek 2016 trademark.

Older trademarks.

Back on the road along Ireland's west coast. We stopped at a bank to get euros and also to trade in our Northern Ireland currency.

Along the coast--Irish palm trees.

The wild coast.

More of the coast.

Classiebawn Castle in the distance.

Classiebown Castle was owned by Lord Mountbatten, an uncle of England's Prince Philip. Mountbatten was killed in 1979 by an IRA bomb that was placed in his fishing boat.

Gate house of Classiebawn Castle.

Going through another small town.

We made a stop at St. Columbra's Drumcliff Church, 1809, in County Sligo.

Inside the church.

Close-up.

More of the church.

One of a number of plaques on the wall: to the memory of Thomasina.

Plaque dedicated to the men of the parish who volunterred to fight in the Great War.

The pulpit.

The main reason for stopping at the Drumcliff Church is to visit its cemetery where the famous Irish Noble Prize-winning poet William Butler Yeats is buried.

Close-up of his gravestone. His epitaph: "Cast a cold Eye On Life and Death Horseman pass by" is the last stanza of his poem "Under Ben Bulbern."

His wife, named George, is also buried with him.

Celtic crosses in the cemetery. A Celtic cross is a Christian cross with a nimbus or ring. Celtic crosses became common in the early Middle Ages in Ireland and Britain.

More celtic crosses.

And more.

Across the street from the church is the Drumcliffe Irish round tower which dates back to the 10th/11th centuries. It served as a bell tower and probably a place of refuge. Round towers are usually close to churches.

Driving through Sligo.

A 1916 commemorative mural on the front of a building in Sligo.

Out in the countryside, what you would probably call a croft house of a crofter--one who have tenure and use of land such as a tenant farmer.

Going through another village.

Farther along.

A cemetery around a church in ruins. Ruins of buildings and churches are usually left as is in Ireland.

We made it to Galway, where we would stay the next four nights.