Baroness
Lynnette Lakey Taff Joined: June 21st 2006
Logged in: May 6th 2011
Logged in: May 6th 2011
My husband and I recently made our second vacation trip to Ireland, and it's that experience that prompted us to start this journal. We wanted to share our photos and experiences with friends and family, and this seemed like a good way. So to all of you we know and love, and to any of you folks out there who don't know us personally - Welcome! We hope you enjoy this virtual trip, and welcome your comments.
By the way, the photo you see here is from one of my favorite vacations of all time - a nice long week in Hawaii. My travel companion (this was during my single days) took this photo, in which you could get the mistaken impression that I'm practically nekkid. We were taking a helicopter tour of.... Maui, I think it was. I was busy taking a photo of the waterfall, which I think was supposed to be the focal point of my friend's photo, too.
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Travel Blog Posts
Belfast City Hall
After having breakfast at the Europa's generous buffet, we went with Rev. Bill Shaw to see the facilities of the 174 Trust. The 174 Trust was established in 1982 by a group of concerned Christians interested in tackling some of the many problems confronting the local community (unemployment, low education, and crime among them). As though the neighborhood problems were not challenge enough, they selected a physical location in an area that might reasonably be called ground zero for the historic "troubles" in Northern Ireland. A demographic map shows that the 174 offices sit right in the middle of a neighborhood where there are Catholics on one side and Protestants on the other. It's difficult for people like us who don't live in Ireland to comprehend how deep the schism has been, and how long it ... read more
A View From Our Room
We hated to leave the wonderful Rossahilly House in Enniskillen this morning - it was certainly a beautiful B & B with a lovely couple as hosts - Eric & Monica Bell. No doubt the view from our bedroom was better here than at any other place we've been on this trip (see photo). And to top it off, the Bells probably made the best brown bread we've eaten, too - delicious, and served warm, straight from the oven. After a stroll through their gardens, we were back in the car, headed for the Antrim Coast. Old Bushmills Bushmills Website I'm not much of a drinker myself, though I have been known to partake of a variety of adult libations. But the Baron is quite serious in his appreciation of spirits, so a tour through the ... read more
Lough Talt
This morning started out in a much more relaxed fashion than yesterday. Tim and I had a cuppa tea and some brown bread while we chatted with Kitty. Alfie had already headed off to work since he was planning to take off early in the afternoon to meet us in County Sligo and point us to an old cemetery where some Taaffes are buried. After a nice shower (the Deehans have better water pressure than we found in many B & Bs), we loaded the car and left Athenry for points north. We stopped first to snap a few photos of the lovely Lough Talt, then found our way to a wide spot in the road called Mount Taaffe. We’re told that Mount Taaffe was once a thriving community, but now it mostly consists of a ... read more
Lovely Lough Erne
We were unsure what to expect as we drove from County Sligo to Enniskillen, which is in Northern Ireland, not the Republic. Our Frommer's guide had promised there are usually no border crossings, and that proved to be our experience. We saw a Presbyterian church and a Quaker meeting house, but really didn't think much about it until we saw a building marked Police Service of Northern Ireland. Once we realized that we were in the U.K. part of the island, it made sense that we had started seeing churches other than Catholic or Church of Ireland. Thankfully, it was an uneventful drive, and we were tickled to find that we had to cross two airport runways in order to reach our B & B, Rossahilly House, which sits on a gentle hill next to Lough ... read more
The Baron and Baroness at Galway Bay
Today is my birthday, but it seems that my husband is not going to do anything to acknowledge that until we reach our destination for today. :-( I think I irritated him by starting off late this morning - I stayed up late last night writing in my travel journal (the kind made of paper, bound in leather - remember those?), so I slept later than usual. By the time I got showered and dressed and we went downstairs, we had missed breakfast. Meanwhile, we did have a tea tray in the room, so Tim had at least had a nice cuppa, which is more than I had. Do I sound whiny and spoiled yet? Well what do you expect from someone who calls herself Baroness? So we hit the road on an empty stomach. God ... read more
At Muckross House
Today we headed to Killarney and spent several hours at Killarney National Park, including Muckross House, Gardens, and Traditional Farms. The park encompasses more than 25,000 acres and was Ireland’s first National Park. When we toured the Manor House, we missed the English-speaking tour, and rather than wait for the next one, we tagged along with the French-speaking group. My French is a bit rusty, but I was able to understand much - maybe even most - of what the guide said. One of the things that stood out in my recollection of her tale was that the estate was purchased by a wealthy American as a wedding gift for his wife. When she died an untimely death, he was too grief-stricken to stay at Muckross, so he donated the entire estate to Ireland for the ... read more
We slept late this morning, which is amazing since the sun rises at about 4:30 AM here at this time of the year. Apparently, the monks (or their decorator?) took that into consideration when selecting the shades for the Guest House windows, as no hint of the bright early morning sunshine disturbed us. We enjoyed tea and brown bread for breakfast again, then wandered around the beautiful campus. There were quite a few families here today, and when we asked about it, we were told that these were people who were considering Glenstal Abbey School for their sons, come to check the place out in advance of the next school year. I suspect the young Irish boys don't have the same kind of appreciation for the beauty of this place as Tim and I have, though ... read more
Adare Town Park
Our Irish friends and the tour guides all seem to agree that Adare is one of the prettiest, most picturesque villages in Ireland, so we made a point of stopping here for dinner and a little sight-seeing as we drove from Glenstal to our next destination - the Brandon Hotel in Tralee. Adare is a lovely town, though I thought the same of many Irish towns. Perhaps it’s the number of thatched roofs in Adare that makes it stand out. I read somewhere that while other towns were busy “upgrading” to slate roofs back in the early 1800s, the local landlord in Adare (the Earl of Dunraven, I believe) preferred to stick to the traditional thatch, which is apparently a lot more work to maintain properly. Here in Adare, I bought a Kodak disposable camera, so ... read more
The Family Taff
We left our home in Lancaster, TX on Saturday morning, 3rd June, and arrived Shannon Airport Sunday morning, 4th June. Even taking the time difference into consideration, our journey was still long - about 12 hours actual flying time. We arrived tired and hungry, so our first goal after collecting our rental car was to find something to eat. We drove in to Limerick City, thinking there would be plenty of choices, but found the town closed up - apparently the Catholics in Ireland take their Sabbath more seriously than their counterparts in America! Even McDonald's and Burger King were closed! So..... onward Christian soldiers, to our first destination. Glenstal Abbey Glenstal Abbey Website This was the perfect place to rest after our long journey. Glenstal is a Benedictine monastery located just about an hour's drive ... read more
