Blogs from Limerick, County Limerick, Ireland, Europe

Our morning excursion was to the extraordinary Cliffs of Moher, (view map) a natural step-like exposure of escarpments overlooking the sea. In bright sunshine, the grass was emerald green, and the skies were sapphire blue, and the sea was a slosh of turquoise waves. Along with hundreds of other tourists, I carefully climbed up the worn path to the top prominence. The views at each step were much the same, but each one was fresh in the changing light. The similarities to cliffs along the coast of Newfoundland were striking – same turf, same friable edge, same crashing Atlantic Ocean. Back in the historic part of Limerick, we had a bit of time for lunch. A fair number of us went to Dolan’s, a pub where some of our group had ... read more

we leave the farmhouse and head to the castle! we drive north, heading to the Shannon airport through the town of Limerick for a walking tour & tea and ending at a 15 Century castle for the King's Feast at Bunratty Castle with rich chamber furnishing & artwork, along with our full-costumed talented singing wait-staff. We had front-row seats at the King's table/benches, with no eating utensils (but our very own daggers). First meal, soup (slurped from the bowl), next course/appetisers Short-ribs that tenderly fell off the bone, and then the main course amazing roasted chicken with roasted vegetables. Wow. Dessert was for shared only with your true love! the Wines flowed easily from pitchers. The servers/musicians were amazing, singing all of our Irish favorites (Danny Boy) and so many more. our chariots to the castle ... read more

We are not sure what we might discover about the ‘mysterious ‘Maria Dillon, my great grandmother who married Daniel Mahoney in Timaru in 1881 but we have not been able to trace her place of birth in County Clare or when she actually arrived in New Zealand. We are going to take a drive to Limerick which is on the Clare/Kerry county border and see what the city library might have in its resources that we haven’t been able to find so far online. So far we have been able to find an entry in Griffiths Valuation from 1851 that may relate to her father as a tenant farmer at a location in Clare and we hope that we may be able to expand on that information. Needless to say it is a typical Irish morning ... read more

I didn't sleep at all on the plane. By the time I thought it was 1:00 am it was actually 7:00 am so I had jet lag for 2 days. The first day in Ireland we did little but drive to the hotel, get settled in and go for supper. Because I was so wiped out we stayed at Limerick for 2 nights so I could catch up on my sleep. The next day we went to King John's castle (King John of Robin Hood fame). It was pretty amazing. There were games to play and characters that talked about the war and battle's that raged on. An exhibit on the Vikings that settled there showed the pre-Medieval lifestyle, I loved it! Later for supper we went to the oldest pub in Limerick. the food was ... read more

So it was Student Race Day! As we were putting on our makeup and putting on our dressy clothes, everyone walking outside was in suits and dresses. I loved it! Everyone looked so nice. I had even bought a big, flowery hat for the occasion. We all went over to Reed's house before we got on the bus to go to the Races. Everyone looked so nice! On the bus, I met one of Brittany's friends from London, Kristy. She was a lot of fun to talk to. After the 30 minute bus ride to the track, the sun was out and it was actually warm. Of course, you can never expect this to last a long time in Ireland, especially Limerick which is the wettest county in Ireland. Right by the entrance was the warm ... read more