Wind, Rain, and the Cliffs of Moher, Ireland

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Today was day two in a row of non-stop Irish rain. After a lovely breakfast at the castle (definitely the nicest place we’ve stayed at this whole trip) and a bit of playing with the resident castle dog,( who liked to fetch rocks!!), we drove up the N69 to the N67 (and crossed the Shannon Ferry) to ward the Cliffs of Moher. To say that it was wet outside is a bit of an understatement. I’d guess that It’s generally quite windy at the cliffs anyway, but during a downpour..…well, I’ll let you use your imagination. My umbrella was twisting in about 30 different directions (most of them inside out) and many people were ducking for cover in the visitor center because it was so bad inside. We walked up to where the two hiking paths divide and as he wind picked up even more at this point, we stopped lust long enough to take a few pictures and then rushed back to the visitor center for shelter from the blustery wet mess outside.

We wandered around the visitor center for a bit (mostly to avoid the inevitable fate of having to walk back outside again) and then staggered back to the car. At least we can say we were there…on a nice day it looks to be a wonderful place to hike and take in the view. Today…not so much, but at least we made it as far as we did.

We drove on toward Ennis to our B&B. If you go to Ireland, take my advice and DON’T use Google maps to chart your course. The directions took us into the Ennis town center but nowhere near our B&B (which was actually located in the town of Clarecastle instead). We ended up on a residential street and s saint of a woman called the B&B for us to get proper directions. The people we’ve encountered in Ireland have really been wonderful. I’d like to take some of them back to the states with us for a nice contrast!

Soggy and a bit tired of the small windy roads, we made it our B&B (the Glen Cove) and were welcomed with some tea and biscuits, a perfect way to warm up away from the nasty weather. The couple who run the B&B are lovely and the house is on a quiet road away from the main busy streets.

There is a match tonight in Ennis so to avoid the massive crowds (and lack of parking), we instead headed to the nearby town of Quin (about 6km away and recommended by the B&B owners) for dinner. It was definitely a good choice. I had a basil and pesto pasta with mushrooms and two (!!) baked potatoes with a pint of Smithwicks and it was REALLY good. Too much food but I gave away a potato and managed to finish the rest.

It was still raining (even harder than when we first got there) when we left so we took some quick photos of the Quin Abbey across the street and then drove to a nearby market in search of some beer. Little did we know, the stores here do not have a license to sell beer…. You can only get it at the pubs. (I’m not sure if all of Ireland is like this, but the last two towns we’ve been to have had the same policy). So, we instead headed back to the B&B because there really isn’t much to do around where we are and the weather is still dreadful.

Tomorrow we drive back to Dublin, drop off the rental car, and have one last day in Ireland before taking the ferry to Wales. Fingers crossed for some sunshine tomorrow!!

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Photos

Cutie resident castle dog
We didn't know his name so we called him "Rcky" (because he fetched rocks!)