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June 17th : I left Prescott, Arizona to travel to Ireland. There seemed to be so many sections to the travel: by car to the shuttle, by shuttle to the airport in Phoenix, a flight to Philly to meet Denise, and then an flight to Shannon. We would then pick up our rental car and drive to Bunratty. And, amazingly, it went just like that! Denise was waiting for me in Philly, having flown from Detroit. The flight to Shannon was long, and the movie was really stupid. We arrived in the morning on the 18th.
June 18th: began without any real sleep between days one and two. We arrived to rainy Shannon Airport, and got to our car rental place. We picked up our little car, and Denise took on the task of driving on the wrong side of the road, and did quite well. We went to the Bunratty Castle Hotel to check in a bit early. Raining!! We checked in around 11:00 - nice place. Big bathtub - turns out it was to be our only bathtub on the whole trip. We then went to the little cafe above Blarney Woolen Mills store to have some lunch.
We ate some potato leek soup, and dessert and a diet Coke (not much diet Pepsi in Ireland it turns out....) Then to Bunratty Castle, and on that tour. We both enjoyed Bunratty Folk Park. It is like Greenfield Village for Ireland. Or, as the guy at our local museum likes to say, a pettying zoo for buildings. We liked it there. I liked looking at the cottages as they used to be. After that we went to Durty Nellies for our first pub dinner. I had fish, mushy peas and mashed taters. And of course, I was able to taste my first Guinness in Ireland. Guinness is SO GOOD there. The fish, peas and taters were great too. We went to the hotel then, and slept for 11 hours!! I saw a few new birds on this day - the best being a Mistle Thrush and a Snone Chat.
June 19th: We left out of Bunratty to head for Kilkenny. On the way we stopped at the Rock of Cashel. This is an ancient place where pre Christian kings sat. Many battles were fought to control this hill. Later, St Patrick was here, and there is a cross
and a cathedral in ruins at the top that was for him. We ate at a cafe there, and drove on. We had a bit of trouble finding our B&B in Kilkenny, but at last we did. The Carriag Rua. We had a first floor room (good thing we travel with ear plugs - noise from overhead). In the afternoon we visited Kilkenny Castle and walked about the town a bit. Found a pub for dinner - good fish and Guinness.
Today is June 20. We got up and had a nice big breakfast at the Carriag Rua. She served in a sunny breakfast room, and even had rhubarb sauce!! We walked in to town for a short time to check our e mail at an internet cafe. (I forgot my journal there, and we had to make a drive back later.) We will leave Kilkenny and head for Kells. We stopped at Trim to have some cheesecake for lunch, and to tour the castle there. This is a castle that was used in the filming of Braveheart. By 1730 we had arrived in Kells and found our next B&B - the Teach Cuailge. It is ouside of
the town a bit, and we are on the ground floor. We went to town to have some dinner. Had a bit of a difficult time finding a place, but at last found a pub with fish and Guinness. What else does one need? We went back to the B&B and sat in the sitting room a while before bed.
June 21: Happy Summer Solstice. Longest day of the year.
Early this morning I got up for a bit of bird watching. It is Saturday, so the road outside of the B&B is not too busy. I saw a magpie, collared dove, swallow, rook, wren, coal tit, blackbird, and wood pigeon. It started to rain, so I went in. We ate breakfast of porridge, which was good. We then went on to our adventure at Newgrange. Well, the little rain that began earlier stayed on all day and we had a very wet day.
Newgrange and Knwoth were wonderful. Very old passage graves - 5000 years old. Older than the great pyramids of Egypt. A bus driver there pushed me and said "you are on the other bus!". I was so shocked, then amused. We had some wonderful
tour guides there. Alan, at Newgrange mentioned the wet weather, and said that if we choose to follow him on the tour , he didn't want to hear about it. After, we ate some nice hot soup and bread, and dessert too, after our very wet day. We also tried to dry off a bit in the rest room with the air blow dryer. We shopped a bit at the gift shop. Then, we drove to Monasterboice. This is the site of a monastery with a round tower and 2 of the larges high crosses in Ireland. The Cross of Murdock (A.D. 928) is 18 feet tall.
After this visit, we went in search of the Hill of Tara. It was here that pre Christian Ireland had the seat of religious and political power. Aerial views show mysterious circles and lines. The high king of Tara ruled Ireland. It was here that St Patrick challenged the authority of the high king. He bent down here to pluck a shamrock to explain the trinity to the king, and so won the right to travel Ireland and preach Christianity, When we arrived, there were protestors here, as the county wants to
At Durty Nellie's
Our first Guinness pint in Ireland!!
YUM!!!build a highway thru Tara. I gave them some money. Hope they don't do that, as it is a powerful place. Great energy here. A very special and spiritual place.
Then, back to Kells. But first a stop in Navan to eat at a pub. The usual for me - fish, taters, Guinness. YUM.
June 22: Today is a driving day. It is a good way for a tourist to spend Sunday in Ireland, as so much of what we might want to do (shop, etc.) is not open on Sunday. After a nice breakfast at Peggy's B&B, we were off. It was a long dive on skinny roads with hedgerows. The highlight of the trip was a stop at the Wicklow Gap, a very windy summit in the Wicklow Mountians. Then, to Glendalough. I really liked it here. We actually stopped just to find a rest room, but we were quickly ushered to a tour. "You are just in time... I will take you... it is only 45 minutes.. Mick is your guide.." etc. So, off we went. It was great, though. Glendalough is an old monastic site where St Kevin ( a follower of St Patrick)
went. There is an excellent round tower, and ruined churches. Really good energy here. Great beauty.
Our final destination today was Tramore, a seaside vacation town. We stayed at Glendory by the Sea B&B. This was the most elegant and well appointed B&B we stayed at. The room was all starched white linens, and there was free internet in the hall. There was a sitting room that overlooked the ocean. We went to town to see the sea and the town a bit, and to eat at a pub there. The fish today.. not so good... it really was fish sticks. But the Guinness was good.
We then took the car back to the B&B and walked to another pub, on closer to the B&B, for one more pint. Then, at the B&B that evening, I sat with some other guests to watch a soccer match between Italy and Spain in the Euro cup. This was fun.
June 23rd. I got up early for a bird walk. Say a greenfinch, a rook, robin, song thrush, wood pigeon, chaf finch, wren, spotted flycatcher and a swallow. Nice walk.
Breakfast was good too. Now, off to Cobh.
Cobh was the place were about half of the 19th centure immigrants left Ireland. It is on a hill, and has a beautiful cathedral. We went down to the museum, but did not go thru. We walked to the River Cafe for lunch, and had dessert. I had rhubarb tart - really good.
Then to Blarney Castle. This was very interesting. We just wandered around in the castle. It was fun. No, did not kiss the stone. Yuck.
Our destination this evening was Killarney. We found our B&B - the Rossarney House. It is a nice clean room, but the smallest bathroom I have ever seen. William welcomed us in, and pretty much ordered us to drink some tea, and watch CNN on the tellie. Well, we wanted to walk to town, so we did. We ate at Flecks in town. Salmon and Guinness. Good. Shopped a bit, then back to bed.
June 24:
After a breakfast at Trionna's (I had my first rhubarb yogurt - YUM), we took our laundry to drop it off. One load. They guy just took it and threw it in a pile "what's your name? Ok then, pick, it up
at 5:00". "Do I need a ticket?" "No, just come back at 5". Ok. whatever.. hope we see our clothes again....
Then, after getting gas, to the Dingle Peninsula. We saw beehive huts along the way, and the Gallarus Oratroy. This is a church from 1300 years ago. It was pouring rain outside, and in this dry stack hut, it was indeed dry. Good construction.
We then went on to the ruined church of Kilmalkedar. This was a Norman center for worship, but the true attraction is the cross that sits in front, which was there 900 years already when the church was built. Even better was a ogham stone in front. This is a very ancient symbol with writing on it. No one knows what it means, but it is very old. These were used to mark pre Christian holy spots.
On to Dingle town. We had a great time here shopping and walking around. We ate at the Mariners Inn Pub. We had seafood chowder and Guinness. It was so good on this rainy day. Since it was so wet outside, the pub was full of very colorful characters, as only an Irish pub can
be.What a hoot. Then, back to Killarney for some shopping. We ate at a pub associated with a hotel downtown. When we got back, Denise found a funny show on the telie. It was a reality kind of thing - half PBS old time living, and half Supersize me. This guy and his sister were living and eating as a 18th century British Lord would have. It was so dang funny.
June 25:
Our last full day here. We left Killarney and drove to the Killarney National Park. We visited and toured Muckross house (Muckross means Pig Peninsula). The house was wonderful and beautiful. This family had invited and hosted Queen Elizabeth, and because of her visit, gone BANKRUPT! Dang - I would not have even invited her. They had special furninture and rooms made for her. I did really enjoy this tour.
We drove all the way then to the Cliffs of Moher. We had to go on a car ferry to get across the place where the River Shannon emptys into the Atlantic. I got SOAKED because I got out of the car to take a photo. We went to Kilmer, and then to Kilrush where
we went to Coffey's cafe for soup and tea. We stoppped at a cute town called Castleisland to go to the bank, and to shop at 2 Charity Shops.
The Cliffs of Moher were as good as the Grand Canyon. So big and so majestic. The birds on the thermals were amazing. The wind was HUGE.
Then, back to Bunratty for our last night. We found our B&B - the Briar Lodge. It was a very nice room, roomy and a nice big bathroom. We went to Durty Nellie's for dinner, and to Blarney Woolen Mills shop. Then, we came back and went for a walk on our last night. The lane we walked on was full of interesting energy - not quite sure what that was all about, but we enjoyed it.
June 26:
Our breakfast here was great - French Toast for a change. Really nice. We left the B&B around 10 to drive first to shop at Blarney Woolen Mills, then to the ariport. Raining. Again.
When we turned in the car, we noted the KMs driven - 665 kms. That is 412 miles. At Shannon we went thru one hoo -ha
after another to get through security. We ate cheese and bread while we waited for the plane. A tear on every face of those leaving Ireland.... Then, back on board for another long trip to leave Ireland.
I sure did enjoy this trip. I was kind of surprised that so much went right! It was a trip I have waited a lifetime for, and well worth the wait. I can now think back on those years, my sister and I as little girls, talking about our trip together to Ireland. Wow - it is really a childhood dream come true. God is good.
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Ellen O'Shanahan
non-member comment
WOW
Hi you Irish lassys. I didn't get through all the reading yet but cheated and looked at all the pictures. What a great trip. I love those castles! The pubs looks grand too!!! Such a memoriable trip for you both. Love, Ellen