Blogs from County Clare, Ireland, Europe - page 5

Day 20 - Pre Pre History We started off with a really nice breakfast at our Bed and Breakfast (Greengates in Blackrock, Ireland). The hosts were very friendly, and they had a girl about Michelle's age who sat and had breakfast with us. Another American family was staying there tonight as well, and it turns out that they lived in Arroyo Grande until 2 years ago. Small World! Michelle got to spend an hour playing with the host's daughter, including some fancy free time in an Irish rain shower. After saying goodbye and exchanging emails and pen-pal promises, we headed towards a neolithic site nearby. Bru na Boinne is a collection of passage tombs (3 big ones) built thousands of years before Stonehenge and the Pyramids. We were very impressed with the engineering work that went ... read more

County Donegal Exiting Derry (or Londonderry depending on your point of view) meant the time had come to really get out into the Irish countryside. We suspect that not many Americans venture into the northwest part of Ireland, mainly because it’s a bit off the beaten tourist path created by the many travel companies that bring Yankees here by the planeload. The locals we have encountered are extremely friendly and always willing to chat it up and provide useful information. But back to the point….. Dave is an excellent driver even on the wrong side of the road (that’s what all Americans say) and as we ventured out of Derry for the countryside we were filled with excitement and expectations. We’d booked “The Best Irish Cottage” through airbnb in County Donegal near the town of Croaghacullion. ... read more

Day 1. After a long flight with weather delays we arrived in Shannon, Ireland at 4:40am our time and 9:40 local time. Our driver Eric, was waiting patiently for us. We boarded our huge Mercedes van and off we went to dromoland castle for an Irish coffee (Ernie and I walked the grounds and took pictures. Next we went to the burrens and saw some old churches and castles and a lot of barren ground. We then stopped for lunch at Monks seafood and had our first meal and Guinness in Ireland! Cheers! We hopped back in the van and drove to the cliffs of Moher. Very beautiful! Back to the hotel we went as we were running out of time. We made the 7 o'clock mass and were out by 7:30! (That's seveven turdy in ... read more

Our first full day in Ireland started with a bang, a cold one. Judy was the only one who got a warm shower, Chester got the second shower and it went cold about 4 minutes in. Gene and Kirsten had nothing and did not like it. This was not good start for the driver of the trip. We got over the cold showers and headed for the day’s activities. Kirsten did a great job yesterday driving from the airport to our lodging and this is quite a feat since the roads are crazy narrow and sometimes they are not even wide enough for two cars to pass each other. It gets a little scary coming around blind turns. Gene rode shot gun and as everyone knows, if you are shot gun, you are the navigator and ... read more

Today I took a bus tour trip to the Cliffs of Moher and the Burren. The Burren is located in County Clare and is composed of limestone countryside. It was shaped my glaciers. All throughout the countryside there are fences surrounding the properties that are made of the limestone that is everywhere on the ground. they look so cool. The first stop was the Lemanagh Castle. This casstle was orginally owned by the O'Briens of Thomond. The ruin was orginally constructed by Conor O'Brien and his wife, Maire ni Mahon. Conor fought in the battle against the Cromwellians and died in battle. His wife knew that due to her last husbands allegiance, she would lose the castle and property. So she married an Englishman and it is said that the very next day she pushed him ... read more