Category: Ireland

Day 1 (23^rd June) Leaving Dublin for Galway felt a bit like home with rural scenes that would not be out of place on the Southern motorway to Hamilton. Very green and pastoral. Then some very narrow country lanes – vegetation 1-2m high right alongside the road- wild roses, ivy and other stuff, to find Clonmacnoise – relics of monastery founded in 6^th century by St. Ciaran on the banks of the Shannon River. Beautiful yet stark ruins which tell the story of a successful community plundered many times by invaders over the centuries. Fine stone High Crosses still survive. It was absolutely freezing cold here with biting wind blowing up from the river. A very yummy lunch in Ballinasloe before heading to Galway. The rural villages are characterised by narrowish streets with 2 story buildings either side of the road – each often painted a variety of bold and/or pastel colours and with bright window boxes – pink petunais are a favourite! Galway, originally a walled medieval city, was bustling and showing signs of lots of development and growth. Picturesque drive along the seafront and round Galway Bay. Lots of ruins along the way everywhere – old castles, monuments and stone buildings and pretty little fishing villages like Kinvarra. Weather had improved greatly by now as we headed over the Burren – stunning and expansive rock and hill country – to Doolin and a B&B for the night.

Day2 (24^th June) Doolin is a little coastal town that looks out to the 3 Arran Islands between 30 mins and 1 hour away by ferry. Again interesting rock formations and these lead on to the Cliffs of Moher – impressive coastal cliffs (facing Atlantic Ocean) and seabird nesting colonies www.cliffsofmoher.ie  Great sunny weather here!! Then to Bunratty Castle (circa 1425) and Folk Park. Interesting but somewhat disappointing for 14 euros each and the weather packed it in again. Got caught in a major traffic jam in Limerick- some BIG football game – but did see King John’s castle as we passed. The Dingle Peninsula is rugged and scenic, windswept and pretty, littered with celtic ruins and also the westernmost point in Europe. Dingle town, gaily painted has more pubs/person than the rest of Ireland they say, and it was hard to find a coffeeshop! Fortunately the weather was sunny all along this part of the trip until we got back to the top of the peninsula and then it poured again. The rain did dull the views around the top of Killarney National Park and restrict the photo calls however the scenery was still beautiful with glimpses of lake, waterfalls, dripping evergreens and moss covered rocks and undergrowth. Stopped at a great little B&B in Kenmare.

Day 3 (June 25^th) The big outing around the Ring of Kerry (or the Ivergah Peninsula) – misty rain turned to fine weather so we could see the beautiful blue-grey rocky hills and vistas and seascapes with the Skellig Islands in the background. Roads were pretty good and we didn’t meet the tour buses until later in the morning! Waterview at the bottom of the peninsula was a surprise with several golfcourses and lots of US flags flying (specially noted for Jim!). Fairly long afternoon drive through more country lanes, pretty villages and towns, many with developments funded by the EU. I continue to enjoy seeing the old castle ruins like Macroom where the town has grown around the old castle. Kinsale, a fishing village with some flash looking motor launches, and again with lots of narrow streets, brightly painted buildings and plenty of pubs and eateries provided Kat and I with a couple of hours of window shopping pleasure and we all ate well at the “White House”. Our B&B for the night a farmhouse at Ballinskittle just outside Kinsale.

Day 4 (June 26^th) Another big Irish breakfast for Matt, Kat and I – including black and white pudding which the young ones have yet to sample! I quite like it and have had it twice now. Mark has been very good and only ate continental! Today was a big drive back to Dublin but great fine weather. Spent the morning in Cork – visited the English market and wandered the streets which are wide and open. Cork is the second biggest city in Ireland. Next stop was Waterford and yes – we all went to the Crystal factory and showroom and enjoyed the sparkles – some stunning stuff and some not to our taste or our budgets! Had a super cafe lunch in New Ross at the Chestnut- great coffee and smoothies too. A long drive then almost to Dublin to try and visit Powerscourt House and Gardens – we were 5 minutes late for the last ticket sales of the day – enjoyed the scenic drive in though – a bit disappointing but meant we got home a bit earlier! Scenery as we got closer to Dublin again more like NZ – have seen great contrasts from the rugged windswept coastal area to lush green pastoral areas with lots of old celtic ruins along the way. Haven’t covered it all by any means and yet to go north – another trip??

Ireland Photos

We’ve been a bit quiet on the internet over the last few days as Matt & Kat and Gill and I have hired a car and headed out for a quick explore of the West and South of Ireland. The first day took us to Galway and overnight in Doolin, then to the cliffs of Moher and on via Dingle Peninsula, through Killarney to overnight in Ken Mare. Today we have driven around the Ring of Kerry and now down to Kinsale, on the coast a bit south of Cork. Have seen every sort of weather rain, sun, hail, howling gales and a lot reasonable in between, some great scenery, and roads varying from great motorways to little rutted lanes. Getting this uploaded from a pub in Kinsale before we have dinner. More details and photos in due course.

Right now it is pouring with rain but we are safely back at Matt and Kat’s and about to cook dinner with the help of Mark’s and Spencer’s fancy pre-prepared meals – very impressive and easy. Matt and Kat are out partying tonight – a Google function.

Kat’s learning-through-experience and sage advice “always take an umbrella” proved wise and timely for us today as we wandered about and managed to keep dry!

We have been to Trinity College (university with history from 1592!) where the main event was viewing the Book of Kells – a lavishly decorated illuminated manuscript of the 4 gospels probably from the 9th century – it was great to have a fairly detailed self guided tour which explained some of the finer intricate points! I especially enjoyed this visit from the calligraphy p.o.v. Also walked through the 65m arched long room – a huge library with medieval texts (about 200,000) stacked literally 2 stories high. The long room also contains Ireland’s oldest harp – the “Brian Boru Harp” made of oak and willow with 29 strings – quite a beautiful instrument. The Trinity College Library is a copyright library and has the right, since 1851, to a free copy of every British and Irish publication – now nearly 3 million volumes are housed in 8 buildings.

Matt organised a visit to Google for us – we had lunch with him in their very impressive and free cafeteria! There is no way he will starve at lunchtime – the greater challenge will be continued restraint! It was good to also have a tour of the buildings and to see that he does have a desk at which he can do some work despite all the “toys” that are provided to keep employees happy. He has a great view from his desk of the mountains in the distance – on a nice day of course, and just to the left he can look down on Lansdowne Road Stadium! (currently closed and under going major renovation/reconstruction).

This afternoon we had a quick visit to the National Gallery of Ireland (Irish Art) and then took the DART train south along the coast as far as Greystones. Quite a pretty piece of coastline. We got off at Dun Laoghaire – one of the ports where the ferries leave for England – and enjoyed coffee and a short walk on the breakwater.

We made it even if our bags were 9 1/2 hours behind!

It’s great to catch up with Matt and Kat and to be staying at their new place right in the heart of Dublin’s financial district. Kat showed me round some of the important area (shopping precinct) yesterday afternoon and then we all had a lovely dinner out at a nearby restaurant

Today we enjoyed a Hop on – Hop off tour of Dublin and sheltered from the rain at the Guinness Storehouse! Interesting tour of the old St James Brewery, an internal steel structure, which has now become a museum as technology has marched on and the old building was no longer suitable or able to keep up with production required – 400 million litres per day – half of which is drunk here! The top of the building provides a great 360 degree view of the city – noticeably no skyscapers! Also provided is a pint of the best! We enjoyed lunch here also and some very nice dark Guinness bread.

A bit of trivia – the Guinness Book of Records came about to solve the problems of Guinness bartenders continually having to referee between patrons and their bets as to who was the best at what!

The River Liffey effectively divides Dublin into north and south, both rich in history especially rebellions! and there are several monuments and Kilmainham Goal that stand testament to this. Also interesting are the different links from the different countries perspectives to people of European history and the roles they have played – eg. Napolean. There are of course beautiful old cathedrals and buildings about the city (1 1/4 million people.) Most of the buildings are Georgian style and characteristically all have different coloured doors- very pretty and distinctive- the story goes that when the Irishmen come home seeing double they are reminded to think single!