Blogs from Ireland, Europe - page 362

Greetings friends, I had hoped to write earlier, however we have traveled to some of the more remote areas where they have not yet invented internet:) Here is a summary of our trip so far: There are 11 people in our group. There is 1 from Scotland, 2-Boston, 2- Penn, 1 from Germany, 2 from Austria, and myself. Ages range from early 20's to 50's. Since leaving Dublin a few day ago we have visted Kildare, Portlaoise where we vistied Dunamase Caste, and did some hiking. We traveled through Durrow, to Cashel where we visited one of Ireland's most spactacular structures- The Rock of Cashel. We then traveled to Caher to see Cahir Castle. From there, we traveled to Cork, which is the second largest city in Ireland. There I was blessed with the "gift of ... read more

Well, I flew into Dublin VERY early and got a shuttle to my hotel. Which was close to the airport, but alas...nothing else. I was exhausted considering I got NO sleep and it was now around 0600 Dublin time. I wanted to see the city--of course--and atleast have a Guiness. But, I needed to sleep for a bit. Well, the desired 3 hour nap turned into a much needed 6 hour nap and so I took a quick shower and headed into the city via shuttle back to airport to catch the city bus which was 6 Euro round trip. So there I was in Dublin Ireland with no set agenda. I decided to walk around the shops and then see if I could catch any tours. First I walked through Trinity College and then to ... read more

Well so it starts...well kind of. First trip was the 8hour bus journey from Cork to Donegal. We encountered some wild countryside and sharing with farm animals was not easy but I managed to survive the trip and landed home around 6pm on Monday evening. The next few days will consist of chores around the house and a few friend visits to Belfast, Letterkenny, Sligo and Mayo. I fly out on Tuesday 25th September...Check out the route by clicking on the Map above... Till then........ ... read more

Thursday, 6 September: We departed Cork at around 10.30 am and began our tour of the Sliabh Luachra (pronounced SCHLEEVE LOO-kra, Gaelic for "Rushy Mountain") region, which straddles the border of Cork and Kerry Counties. We took a winding (no other is possible in Ireland, believe me!) route through Mallow, Rathmore, Knocknagree, Ballydesmond, Knocknaboul Cross, Newmarket Cross, Cordal, Castleisland, and Scartaglen to look at various places of interest regarding Sliabh Luachra musicians. My favourite of these was Newmarket Cross, the site of the home and school of Padraig O'Keeffe. A monument to him is there also. O'Keeffe was a schoolmaster-turned-traveling-fiddlemaster who taught an entire generation of children in the area to play during the beginning of the 20th century. He walked everywhere, usually traveling 15-20 miles a day. We went back to Castleisland for lunch, and ... read more

Greetings friends! I have successfully made it to Ireland. I arrived safely yesterday in Dublin after a cancelation in Grand Rapids, and a delay and missed connection in Chicago. Arrived at 9:00 am yesterday morning. From the airport, I was able to take the aircoach into the city center, which is about 30-40 minutes from the airport. I then made my way to the Tourist Information Centre where I bought a pass that allows one to "hop on, hop off" as much as you like for a full day. Briefly, I was able to see St. Patricks Cathedral, Guiness Brewery (where I was able to sample different types of Guiness and see how it is made), An old Irish jail, Trinity College, the River Liffy, and a few others. My thoughts in brief: Completely amazed at ... read more