Are there more sheep than people in Ireland?

Today we drove from Galway to Belmullet. When we told the clerk at the desk where we were headed, she gave a wry look and commented that someone must have family there. As a matter of fact, Henry has traced much family back to the Belmullet area, and that was the attraction. Belmullet is in the northwest of Ireland, on a peninsula that could almost be an island. We stopped in Westport at a manor house turned weird Disney-like park.






It rained a bit while we were there (huge surprise, I know) so we didn't get to enjoy the gardens and grounds that surround the house. We did get this photo op, which I had been waiting for for days



The leaves on this mystery plant were huge and would have made excellent umbrellas had they not been exceedingly prickly.

We also saw sheep. We see sheep almost everywhere. I could not find a definitive answer as to whether there are more sheep or people, but if there aren't more sheep, it's close.






We were never enveloped in sheep, but they are everywhere. And they are not all that bright. But they sure taste good. The paint marks are distinct to each farmer, as many use common grazing areas for their sheep and also because sheep just roam around, and you need to be able to tell whose are whose.
Oh, there are cows too- can't forget the cows



If you get an ordnance map for the area you are driving through, it will give you great details of the countryside. There are literally thousands of old to ancient things to see, if you know where to look. Here's an old tomb, just on the side of the road, in someone's side yard






Oh and we finally remembered to use my tiny tripod to take a picture of all of us together.