Rosebud's Ireland Trip Report & Photos!

[Rosebud]

Okay, I have taken my sweet time about finishing this up... but it's finally done (and very, very long). I hope that it'll be helpful for anyone who is planning a trip to Ireland, and interesting reading for everyone else.

Ireland Trip Review- General Info

We spent two weeks in Ireland and Northern Ireland in April/ May 2007. This was a trip that I’d been planning and dreaming about for a long time. I’m of Irish descent and it was really important to me to see where my family came from and experience the culture of the country. In two weeks we were able to see quite a lot. We also had enough time to really get used to the rhythm of life in many of the places we went and to get totally invested in some of the current political events in Ireland (thank you, RTE radio). Here are a few general notes about our planning:

Air/Car: We booked our airfare through Expedia.com on Aer Lingus. They are the only airline with direct flights to Ireland from Los Angeles. We booked our rental car through Avis.com and then added extra CDW insurance at the Avis counter when we arrived in Shannon. It is really recommended that you get extra insurance in Ireland because your car is way more likely to get dinged up here. Note that American credit cards will not provide insurance on car rentals in Ireland.

Accommodations: We found our B&Bs/ hotels by reading tripadvisor.com and the Fodors.com message boards. Both are a wealth of information! We contacted each B&B/ hotel directly to book. In Ireland, most B&Bs are priced per person, per night—so keep that in mind when looking at prices online. Different B&Bs offer different kinds of breakfast options. Some had just a standard Irish Breakfast (meats, toast, eggs, tea); some had a menu of choices.

Itinerary- We agonized about our itinerary. Since this was our first time in Ireland, we decided to see a lot of the “must see” sights (Cliffs of Moher) while adding in some areas of family interest (Clifden) and places that are somewhat off the beaten path (Derry). We also specifically avoided some places known to be highly touristy (Waterford). It’s a personal choice. It’s important to think about driving times between the places you want to see. Ireland is a small county, but most roads are little, winding, two lane affairs and you will not get anywhere quickly. We used the route planner at www.aaroadwatch.ie for approximate drive times (and usually got between places a little faster than they said we would). I really would recommend seeing Ireland on your own and not with a tour group. You’re going to have a much better experience of the sights and likelihood of interacting with locals if you’re on your own.

Heritage Card- You’re going to save a lot of money if you get a Heritage Card. These cards give you a discount on a huge number of tourist sights in Ireland, and the savings really, really add up. When you get to Ireland, you can buy the card at any sight that is a member. Just ask before you pay for admission anywhere. I believe it was 20 euro per person. You can order it online in advance as well, but then you’ll have to pay a shipping fee. Your best bet is to get the Heritage Card and also the Heritage Island Touring Guide, another discount program. Heritage Island is only 6 euro total and we saved a bunch of money with this, as well. Heritage Island should be ordered online in advance of your trip.

Heritage Card: website (http://www.heritageireland.ie/en/HeritageCard/)
Heritage Island: website (http://www.heritageisland.com/Touring%20Guide.asp)

[Rosebud]

Days 1-3: Clifden and Connemara

We flew to Dublin on Aer Lingus and then from Dublin to Shannon. We picked up our rental car from Avis and were shortly on our way. My husband got used to driving on the left pretty quickly and we were lucky that for the first hour the roads were really wide and easy to navigate. We drove through Co. Clare, through all the roundabouts outside Galway City (oh Lord, SO many roundabouts!) and then into Co. Galway. This is when the roads started to get more interesting (and by that I mean really narrow and winding). It took about two hours total to get to Clifden, our base for the first portion of our trip.

Clifden is the largest city (not very large) in a region called Connemara. We LOVED the Connemara area. It was probably our favorite landscape of the entire trip. Hills, lakes, misty fields with sheep and horses, wildflowers and stone bridges crossing peaceful streams… Connemara is picture postcard Ireland. Clifden is a really lovely town that we thoroughly enjoyed. It was a great base for exploring the area and I’d definitely like to return here in the future. I especially enjoyed the fact that the ratio of tourists to locals wasn’t as high as in some other places we visited—not a giant tour bus in sight. This really gave us the opportunity to experience some Irish culture and interact with locals.

SIGHTS/ACTIVITIES

Cleggan Peninsula- Most people who come to Clifden do the Sky Drive, a scenic drive around a peninsula just south of the town. Instead, we drove out on the Cleggan peninsula, just north of Clifden. Not a tourist in sight out there! The real reason we made that choice, though, is because this is where my family is from. My great-grandfather came from a tiny place called Rossadilisk, which isn’t so much a town as a collection of about 10 houses off a dirt road that dead ends into the ocean. We drove counter-clockwise on the peninsula, stopping first in Claddaghduff. Directly across from Claddaghduff is a tiny island called Omey Island, which is only accessible for a few hours a day, when the tide is out. Then, you can drive across the sandbar to the island. There’s really nothing there other than a few little houses and a graveyard. It’s in this graveyard that my great-great grandfather and his family are buried. We spent quite a while here, as it was a place that was really special for me to visit. Afterward, we drove around to Rossadilisk and out to the house where my great-grandfather lived before emigrating to America. A relative still lives in the house and I was able to meet him and talk with him for a short while before we continued on to Cleggan. Cleggan is the largest town on the peninsula. It’s a fishing port and there are boats coming in and out of the harbor all day. A bit of history: In 1927, a freak storm blew up in the ocean off Cleggan and killed 25 fisherman who were at sea in their boats. Among the dead were my great-grandfather’s three brothers. This tragedy devastated the area and the community was all but abandoned for a time. The disaster still permeates the culture here. We saw three separate memorials (on Omey Island, in Rossadilisk and in Cleggan) and the news clippings are framed in every pub in town. Other than things that were of personal interest to me, there’s not much to see out here. We just enjoyed the pretty coastline, the quiet roads and little fishing communities. We also loved being the only tourists here and getting to mix with locals who were just going about their day.

Kylemore Abbey- This was one of our favorite places from our entire trip and I can’t even begin to explain how beautiful it is. It is absolutely worth coming to Connemara to see this, alone. It was built between 1863 and 1868 as a private home for the family of Mitchell Henry, a wealthy politician from Manchester, England. He later sold the property and it is currently a Benedictine nunnery and girls’ school. It’s set on a misty lake and the property also contains a chapel and gardens. The inside of the abbey is nothing special, but the walk along the lakeside is so beautiful and we were absolutely captivated by the scenery.

Connemara National Park- This is a really beautiful area for a hike, or even just a quick stroll. At the Park, you can see all the mountains, bogs, heaths, grasslands and forests that are typical of Connemara scenery. We saw goats and Connemara ponies wandering in the fields. There is also a 19th century graveyard and 4,000 year old megalithic tombs.

Cong- This town is actually in Co. Mayo, but close enough to Clifden that you can do it as a day trip. There are several reasons people come to Cong: (1) It is where much of “The Quiet Man” was filmed and you can see a bunch of movie locations. (2) Cong Abbey is one of the prettiest ruined abbeys in Ireland. It’s surrounded by a lovely river and forested area and is the perfect place for a picnic or an afternoon stroll. (3) Ashford Castle, one of the finest hotels in Europe, is located here. It’s famous for being the place that Pierce Brosnan was married. The castle was built in the 13th century by an Anglo-Norman family and was rebuilt and extended from in 1850s by a Guinness family member. If you’re not staying at the hotel, you can’t go inside, but you can wander the exceptional grounds. I highly recommend it. We wandered through walled gardens, sat by the lake, and watched a falconer training a bird along a quiet, wooded path.

Connemara Loop- This driving route is a wonderful way to get a feel for the area and see some of its more scenic towns. Kylemore Abbey and Connemara National Park are both on the loop, so it’s easy to do all of this in a day. We really enjoyed the scenery here and the towns are just lovely. We also stopped at a small waterfall outside the picturesque town of Leenane, Aasleagh Falls. You can climb over a little fence and go right up to the falls. We came across a horse drinking from the river and petted him for a while, enjoying the magnificent scenery. I will say that some of the roads here scared the crap out of me—extremely narrow roads with blind corners, sheep in the road, locals whizzing by. But I’d definitely do it again.

ACCOMMODATIONS

Buttermilk Lodge- We stayed 3 nights at Buttermilk Lodge and were so impressed with this wonderful B&B. We loved the location. It’s just outside the center of Clifden and a quick walk to all the restaurants, pubs and shops in town. The B&B itself is quiet, lovely and well appointed, with a cozy front room where you can have a cup of tea and enjoy the peat fire. The breakfast here is top notch—the best B&B breakfast we had on our entire trip, no question. Every morning there was a menu with several options to choose from and every dish we tried was delicious. This was perhaps our favorite B&B of the trip and we can’t recommend it enough.

DINING

The best restaurant for fine dining in Clifden is Mitchell’s. Other nice options are Fogerty’s and Off the Square. For excellent pub food and live music, look no further than EJ King’s, right on the square.

PHOTOS

Driving towards Clifden
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The town of Clifden
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Clifden, seen from a nearby hilltop
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In Claddaghduff, looking out at the sandbar you cross to get to Omey Island
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My DH in the cemetery on Omey Island
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The beach behind my family's house in Rossadilisk
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[Rosebud]

Boats in Cleggan Harbor
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Kylemore Abbey
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Ashford Castle
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Driving the Connemara Loop
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A horse at Aasleagh Falls, near Leenane
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There are lambs EVERYWHERE in Spring
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[Rosebud]

Days 4-5: Galway and Doolin

On our fourth day in Ireland, we drove from Clifden to Galway City. We spent an hour or two exploring the city before continuing on to our next stop. Galway is a college town. Most of the people on the streets are young, and there’s a definite energy about it. The smell of pot was wafting through the street in certain places, a student film was being shot on a crowded street, teenagers were playing soccer on the green. There’s a ton of shopping and restaurants, plus occasional musical performances on the waterfront. There’s a little sightseeing to be done (the Spanish Arch, various churches), but the best thing to do here is just people watch and walk around.

From Galway we continued towards Doolin in Co. Clare. We stopped at a couple of places on the way: Thoor Ballylee, which was Yeats’ summer home (and closed, unfortunately) and Kilmacduagh Monastery (really cool).

We decided to stay in Doolin because of its proximity to the Cliffs of Moher and the fact that it is known for its traditional music sessions. However, since Doolin started being touted by tour books as the place to go for music, it has become absolutely overrun with tourists. Unlike in Clifden, in Doolin we felt like there were way more tourists than locals hanging around town. We were also surprised to see how small Doolin is. It’s SMALL. The nearest ATM machine is a 30 minute drive away. There is not much to do there other than go to the pubs. The three best pubs are O’Connell’s, McDermott’s and McGann’s. The nightly traditional music sessions are free and absolutely wonderful. Each pub's music seems to have a slightly different vibe, but we totally enjoyed them all. The downside is that it’s you and 75 other tourists crammed into the pub, with everyone jockeying for space for their camera and/or videocamera. It doesn’t feel all that authentic, if you know what I mean. If we had to do it again, we might stay in nearby Lisdoonvarna*, which has a little more going on, and just drive to the Doolin pubs at night. Doolin was the only town on our trip that we didn't feel we would have liked to stay in longer. However, we really did enjoy the local music and our trips to the Cliffs of Moher and The Burren.

* Trivia: Lisdoonvarna is famous for hosting a matchmaking festival every summer. There was a movie about it called “The Matchmaker” starring Jeanane Garofolo.

SIGHTS/ACTIVITIES

The Cliffs of Moher- This is why people come to this quiet area of Co. Clare. The Cliffs are indeed magnificent. They just opened a fancy new visitor center and finished putting up walls so that fewer dummies get blown off the edge of the cliffs when they get too close. We actually went to the cliffs at night, which was bad in that the visitor center was closed, but really good in that there were WAY fewer people there, admission and parking were free, and we had a killer view of the sunset beyond the cliffs. If was just breathtaking. We sat out on the edge of the cliffs and watched the sun go down over the ocean. It was such a perfect Irish night.

The Burren- The Burren is a large area of rocky landscape in Co. Clare. I really, really didn’t think I was going to be remotely interested in the Burren. Rocks are rocks, right? However, I really ended up liking many parts of it and having a great time exploring the area. We started at Aillwee Cave, a touristy but cool place where you can take a tour inside an old limestone cave. If you’ve seen a lot of caves, like I have, this one isn’t that spectacular. But the tour is interesting and the area surrounding the caves is just gorgeous. We hiked up the rock mountain behind the caves’ visitor center and were treated to a panoramic view of the valleys around us. It was simply stunning, quiet, peaceful and very memorable. From there, we continued on down the tiny, winding roads through The Burren to Poulnabrone Dolmen, an ancient burial site. Dolmens aren’t all that interesting in and of themselves, but this one has a bunch of good information about it on nearby signs that really gave some insight into what the region was like in years past.

ACCOMODATIONS

Cullinan’s Guesthouse- We didn’t care much for our B&B, despite the fact that it got great reviews on tripadvisor.com. Cullinan’s is located in between the upper and lower parts of Doolin. It is across from a new and modern hotel/shopping development, a ways down the street from the older, more charming parts of Doolin. The entryway and restaurant spaces at Cullinan’s are lovely and light, but our room was generic: high traffic carpets, bland bedding, nothing really special about it. It just lacked personality and was not as nice as the photos on the website. Our big disappointment at Cullinan’s was the absence of the owners and the terrible service in the restaurant. Between the plain accommodation and the lack of staff warmth, we just didn’t get a good vibe here.

PHOTOS

The city of Galway
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Kilmacduagh Monastery
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Doolin
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The Cliffs of Moher
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On the edge of The Burren in Co. Clare
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[Rosebud]

Poulnabrone Dolmen in The Burren
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This is why Lisdoonvarna is famous
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"craic" = good conversation, fun
It's pronounced like CRACK, though. Americans tend to find that really, really funny. I know we did! There are just so many great ways to use it in a sentence...

[Rosebud]

Days 6-8: Killarney and Dingle

On the morning of day six, we left Doolin and drove south to the town of Killimer, where we took a ferry across the River Shannon into Co. Kerry. We loved Kerry almost instantly. Whereas the Co. Clare landscape was mainly long, flat pastures, Co. Kerry was different-- it had hills, mountains and forested areas which were just beautiful. We passed through Tralee (LOTS of roundabouts) and arrived in Killarney, our base for the next several days.

Killarney is a big tourist town. It’s where all the tour buses in Ireland go to die. Rick Steves hates Killarney so much he devotes like a paragraph to it in his Ireland guide book before moving on. Here’s the thing about Killarney: the town itself isn’t exciting, but the lake region surrounding the town is magnificently beautiful and not to be missed. We stayed outside the town center and out of the path of most of the big tour groups. We were able to explore the serenely lovely lakes and castles at our leisure and thoroughly enjoyed them. This, like Connemara, was a place where we fell in love with the landscape and hated to leave. We could easily have spent more time in the area.

However… little did we know that the weekend we were in Killarney was also the Rally of the Lakes, a car race that comes to Killarney the first weekend in May. It was ridiculous. Every meathead in Ireland (and England!) rolled into town in their souped up Mazda, showing off tattoos, falling down drunk in the street, and walking around with some seriously, seriously skanky babes. On one hand, it was hilarious. On the other, it was obnoxious and even a little frightening. Oh and noisy. Lots of car engines revving at all hours of the day and night. If we had been staying in town we would have been miserable. Fortunately, we were away from the heart of the madness.

SIGHTS/ACTIVITIES

Dingle Peninsula- During our time in Killarney, we took one full day to drive the Dingle Peninsula. I really regret that we couldn’t spend more time in this area, as it was one of the most jaw-droppingly beautiful places that we saw in Ireland. We just couldn’t fit extra days into the itinerary… but we’ve promised to come back because we loved it so much. We loved the sandy shores of Inch Beach, quaint and pretty Dingle town, the unreal and splendid scenery of Slea Head, the wonderful Blasket Center museum, the Riasc Monastery—and everything about this exceptional part of Ireland. While we were in Dingle town, we took a boat trip out into the harbor to see Fungie, a dolphin that has been living in these waters for twenty years. Tours leave every hour or so and have a tourist-friendly policy: if you don’t see Fungie, you don’t pay. Fortunately for us, that Fungie is an attention whore. He swam alongside our boat and jumped and showed off in the water. We’ve seen a lot of dolphins in Hawaii, but Fungie was something special. We loved him!

Muckross House- Muckross House was built in 1843 for Henry Arthur Herbert and his wife, the watercolourist Mary Balfour Herbert. It has sixty-five rooms, many with a commanding lake view, and is surrounded by a stunning garden area. Queen Victoria stayed here in 1861 when she visited Ireland. We really enjoyed the informative tour of the house, which really gave us a sense of the history of the house and the Killarney region. The tour guide knew all about the wonderful antique furniture and told stories about the families that lived in the house. We also loved walking through the gardens and soaking up the sunshine on the lawn of the mansion. This is a place that locals come for picnics on weekends, so we saw lots of parents playing with children, people reading books on the grass, couples sitting by the lake… it was lovely. Adjacent to Muckross House are the Muckross Traditional Farms, which is a village showing what life in pre-electricity rural Ireland would have been like. (Think Colonial Williamsburg.) It was closed during our visit, but I hear it’s great.

Killarney Lakes- The main attraction in this region is the splendid natural beauty of the Killarney Lakes. There are a bunch of walking trails around the lakes so you can enjoy the water from any number of vantage points. We hiked to a place called The Meeting of the Waters, a quiet spot where three bodies of water converge. There’s a nice tea house there and benches for admiring the view. We also went to see Torc Waterfall, set back in a woodsy area with hiking trails adjacent. We especially liked hiking into the Gap of Dunloe, which is a good walk but absolutely worth it for the amazing views. Carved by the miltwater of a huge glacier thousands of years ago, the Gap is about seven miles in length (we only went about a mile in) and features clear lakes surrounded by mountains. Alternately, you can pay to take a jaunting cart (horse and buggy) into the Gap.

Ross Castle- Ross Castle is the ancestral home of the O'Donoghue clan. It is located on the edge of Lough Leane and is a typical example of the stronghold of an Irish Chieftain during the Middle Ages. The Castle was walking distance from our B&B, so we walked down there on our first night in Killarney, climbed up a castle wall, and watched the sun set over the lake. It was so amazing and peaceful. Two days later, we went back and took the official tour. It was really interesting and informative; it definitely gives you a sense of what it would have been like to live there.

ACCOMODATIONS

Ross Castle Lodge- Our B&B in Killarney was simply wonderful. This one and the B&B in Clifden were definitely our favorites of the trip. We talked about both places often after we’d moved on to other cities. In Killarney we stayed at Ross Castle Lodge, just outside the city. You definitely don’t want to stay in the city itself—it’s loud and touristy. Our room at Ross Castle Lodge was large and comfortable, and we really liked the B&B’s location. I think the best thing about our experience here, however, was the owner. The woman who runs this place is so warm, welcoming and lovely. She met us at the door and immediately made us feel welcome. She asked where we were from, where we’d been on our travels thus far, how she could help us explore Killarney, and offered up maps and suggestions. She was one of the friendliest and most endearing people we met in Ireland and her attentiveness and sweet nature were very memorable. I would absolutely recommend this B&B to anyone going to Killarney!

DINING

We had a really nice dinner at Bricin (pronounced brick-EEN) in Killarney. It’s not inexpensive, but it was one of the tastiest meals of our whole trip, served in a very attractive restaurant. The service was excellent. The other place you shouldn’t miss in Killarney is the Murphy’s Ice Cream store. It was closed when we went by, but supposedly this ice cream (which is made in nearby Dingle) is to die for. I wouldn’t doubt it—I’ve never had dairy products better than the ones we tried in Ireland.

PHOTOS

At the ferry crossing
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Muckross House
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In the gardens at Muckross House
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One of the lakes in Killarney
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Ross Castle
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The sunset, seen from Ross Castle
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[Rosebud]

Boats near Ross Castle
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Jaunting Cart in the Gap of Dunloe
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Gap of Dunloe
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Real shamrocks!! They were growing on the forest trails around the lakes.
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Near The Meeting of the Waters
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[Rosebud]

Inch Beach, Dingle Peninsula
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Sailing out of Dingle Harbor
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Fungie the dolphin swimming next to our boat
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Dingle Town
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Views on the Dingle Peninsula
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Donkeys on the Dingle Peninsula
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[Rosebud]

Out at the end of the Dingle Peninsula, with the Blasket Islands in the distance
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We stumbled across this amazing little beach out in Slea Head. It was so gorgeous-- rivaled any tropical beach I've been to
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[kugrrly]

Beautiful pictures. I have been wanting to go to Ireland for a very long time. Your photos make me want to go NOW!

[Rosebud]

Days 9-10: From Killarney to Dublin, via Glendalough

We left Killarney early on day 9 for a long drive to eastern Ireland. We made a couple of stops along the way. The first one was at Blarney Castle. I specifically did not want to go to Blarney Castle and I dragged my feet the entire way. I have no idea why Kevin wanted to kiss that darn stone so much. I'm a total germophobe and would not get up close and personal with that thing if you paid me! I also just found it way too touristy there.

From Blarney we drove to Cashel to see the Rock of Cashel. It was super cool (more on that below). We continued on toward the Wicklow Mountains, passing through the town of Hollywood. Yes... Hollywood, Ireland. And of course, it was tiny and green and filled with sheep. We loved that we'd gone all the way across the world just to end up back in Hollywood.

We continued on towards Glendalough and encountered our first real rain of the trip. Yes, we were extraordinarily lucky to have had such good weather all this time. And then there was the deluge. We couldn't see a whole lot as we arrived in Glendalough, but when the rain cleared up a while later we were able to step out and admire the gorgeous scenery. Glendalough is located in the Wicklow Mountains. It's just an hour south of Dublin but it feels like a completely different world. It's all mountains, streams, waterfalls and wildflowers. The mountains here are steeper than in either Connemara or Killarney. You definitely feel that you are isolated from other places while you are here. In fact, during the many years that the Irish fought for independence, rebels often took refuge in the Wicklow Mountains. It's sort of the perfect hiding place. We had come specifically to see St. Kevin's Monastery. I'd seen photos of it and fallen in love with the old cemetery surrounded by mountains. It did not disappoint. From our B&B you crossed a little river and then walked 20 minutes along a quiet mountain path to get to the monastery. We did that our first evening, and then went back the next morning to see even more of the surrounding area.

After leaving Glendalough, we went to Powerscourt Gardens, about 20 minutes north. We had another downpour here, and it's hard to enjoy pretty gardens in the driving rain, but we tried. And then it was on to Dublin!

SIGHTS/ACTIVITIES

Blarney Castle- Blarney is like the home of gigantic tour buses. I was not a happy camper here. The grounds of the castle are pretty-- it definitely looks nice in photos. However, there’s nothing to do here other than to go up and kiss the stone. The castle is a ruin that has not been restored. There's no tour, no visitors' center explaining the history of the castle, no pamphlet pointing out what rooms would have been where. It's just an empty building. You go up, you kiss the stone, you come down. That's it. I was amused by the old man who sits next to the stone and helps people lean over backward to kiss it. He kept reciting the same monologue over and over without stopping: "Nothing in your pockets, turn around and sit, lean backwards, now kiss." I’ll just say that there are many other fine castles in Ireland where you can actually learn something about the history of the building and the people who lived in it, and I preferred those places.

Rock of Cashel- The Rock of Cashel is located in Co. Tipperary and served as the traditional seat of the Kings of Munster for several hundred years prior to the arrival of the Normans in Ireland. It's now a ruin, but a really lovely hilltop ruin with great views of the surrounding countryside. There's a large graveyard with a number of high crosses. There's also a museum inside housing some of the items that are too old and important to be exposed to the elements anymore, including St. Patrick's Cross. St. Patrick was said to have visited Cashel in 450AD and the cross was erected in his honor. The east side of the cross has the image of St Patrick carved into its surface. We didn’t end up spending more than an hour or so here, but I'm glad we stopped. It was a really cool sight.

St. Kevin's Monastery- I really wanted to see this site and am so glad we worked it into our itinerary. Glendalough is a monastic site that was founded by St. Kevin in the sixth century. Two lovely gateway arches lead you into a graveyard which surrounds a really picturesque round tower, and the remains of several churches and cathedrals. Shortly after arriving in Glendalough, we came here and watched the sun going down from the graveyard. This place is definitely on the tourist beat and it was crowded, but there is still something so still and lovely about the place. It feels holy, that’s the only way I can really explain it. The next morning, we returned here and hiked along a path through the adjoining woods to the place where St. Kevin actually lived. There's nothing there now, just an empty space on the side of a hill, overlooking a beautiful lake, but again it felt quiet and serene.

Powerscourt Gardens- We drove from Glendalough towards Dublin, stopping at Powerscourt Gardens along the way. There used to be a magnificent mansion on this site, one of the finest and most opulent in Ireland, but it was destroyed by fire in 1974. The house has been rebuilt enough to house an upscale indoor shopping area, but no effort has been made to restore it to its former glory. That's a shame. However, the gardens are really lovely. They were begun in the 1740s and now stretch out over 47 acres. There are formal gardens, terraces, lakes and walled gardens, all situated along a nice walking path. Of course, midway through our walk in the garden, we got caught in a torrential downpour. When it rains like that, you're just going to get wet, even with a raincoat and umbrella. It was unpleasant. Still, the gardens were very pretty and we enjoyed them. All the tulips in Ireland were blooming while we were there, and it was just magnificent. I have so many photos of tulips from this trip!

ACCOMMODATIONS

We stayed at Riversdale House, a lovely B&B in Glendalough. It is located down a hill and alongside a pretty river, about 20 minutes walking along a forest path to St. Kevin’s Monastery. It's a very attractive building and nicely decorated throughout. The breakfast room & sitting area is really cozy and filled with light. All the rooms seem to have wonderful views of the surrounding mountains and the river.

PHOTOS

Blarney Castle-- you can see that stone being kissed
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High cross in the cemetery at the Rock of Cashel
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The Rock of Cashel
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Our B&B in Glendalough, and the little path across the river which leads to the Monastery
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Glendalough
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St. Kevin's Monastery, the cemetery and round tower in Glendalough
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[Rosebud]

The cemetery in Glendalough
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Powerscourt Gardens
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The Japanese Garden at Powerscourt
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Tulips at Powerscourt
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[sublime311]

Incredible! Thank you for sharing that little slice of heaven! I want to visit even more than before!

[Rosebud]

Days 10-12: Dublin

We drove into Dublin in the afternoon and promptly got horribly, horribly lost. But we were really excited when we found our hotel, forty-five minutes later. We had splurged big time to stay at the Westin Dublin, and it did not disappoint. It’s right in the center of town, walking distance to nearly everything we wanted to see, and really elegant inside. We got settled in our room and headed out to explore the city.

Dublin wasn’t what I expected. For some reason, I was thinking it would be very Irish, or a little rough around the edges, maybe. It was neither. Dublin is a very cosmopolitan city. It reminded me of London. There are tons of people on the street, they’re all in a hurry and they’re all very nicely dressed. It’s definitely a professional town, and it seems to be booming. We heard many, many foreign languages on the street, just another sign that there’s a growing immigrant population in Ireland. After being in the countryside so long, it took us a while to adjust to the fast pace of Dublin, but once we did we really enjoyed it. We missed the beauty and charm of the country, but were so thrilled to see a Starbucks that it made us miss the country a little less. ;-)

We toured a lot of guide book “must sees” in Dublin, but we also spent a lot of time just wandering around the streets, checking out local bookstores and standing along the Liffey watching people rush by. It’s a cool and energetic city.

SIGHTS/ ACTIVITIES

Kilmainham Gaol- This was our favorite tour/site in Dublin and we highly recommend it to anyone who’s going there. Even Kevin, who doesn’t care about Irish history the way I do, was totally fascinated by this place. If you’ve seen the movie In the Name of the Father (and if you haven’t, you should!), this is where the prison scenes were shot. Built in 1792, it is Ireland's most famous prison. It held throughout the years many famous Nationalists and Republicans. The leaders of the 1916 Easter Rising were executed here, in a graveled spot in the yard marked by a cross. The prison was closed in 1924, its last prisoner being Eamonn DeValera, later the president of Ireland. This tour offers a lot of insight into the history of the Irish/English conflict and was thoroughly fascinating. There’s also a very comprehensive museum at the site that has items of major Irish historical importance.

Trinity College & the Book of Kells- The Book of Kells is an ornately illustrated manuscript produced by Celtic monks around AD 800. It is one of the more lavishly illuminated manuscripts to survive from the Middle Ages. Adjacent to the Book of Kells exhibition is the Old Library, which I just loved (even though all the dust from those old, old books set off my allergies immediately). It was also fun just walking around the college. So many famous writers were educated here, including Oscar Wilde, Bram Stoker and Jonathan Swift. But it’s very much a college campus, filled with young students hanging out on the lawns.

St. Stephen’s Green- Dublin's central park is a great area to walk through when it’s sunny. It’s not really that big, but it’s nice and green and a good spot for a picnic. We just strolled through on our first day there.

Grafton Street- Dublin has so much great shopping! Grafton Street is just one of the more famous shopping promenades. There are stores galore, but this is also a great spot for people watching and just hanging out. If you see the new movie Once (which is wonderful!), a large portion of the film takes place on Grafton Street.

The General Post Office- I’m really interested in Irish history, so this is a place that was special for me. I got all choked up seeing the bullet holes in the exterior columns, scars from the 1916 Easter Rising (which was one of the first major steps towards Irish independence). The inside is still a functional post office, so not much to see there, but I appreciated it. It’s located on O’Connell Street, which is the major street north of the Liffey (where you catch buses and such).

29 Lower Fitzwilliam Street (Georgian House)- There are Georgian-style houses all over Dublin. Most were built between 1714 and 1830 and are identifiable by their brightly colored front doors. We took a tour at the restored house that is open to the public on Lower Fitzwilliam and thought it was pretty interesting.

Christ Church Cathedral- It was Catholic, then it was Protestant, then it was Catholic again briefly, now it is Protestant. Irish history in a nutshell, perhaps? It is the elder of the city's two medieval cathedrals, the other being St. Patrick's (which was like 5 euro each to tour, so we didn’t). Christ Church Cathedral has been the seat of the archbishop of Dublin since medieval times and was built in 1038 by the Viking king of Dublin. There’s a huge crypt underneath will all sorts of interesting stuff in it, plus a video that talks about the history of the church. We dug it.

Dublin Castle- This was the seat of Dublin's government for eons. We took an interesting tour here. The interior reminded us a bit of the White House. There’s a throne room where various English Kings and Queens held court when they came to Dublin. We also got strangely excited when we saw them setting up the dining hall for the World Bank meeting (to happen the following day).

Temple Bar- This famous part of Dublin is filled with bars and restaurants. We wandered through here to check it out and had dinner at a little Italian place on the street. However, I ended up being too sick for drinking, and Kevin doesn’t drink… so we were purely sightseers here and didn’t really get the full experience.

Literary Pub Crawl- You gotta do a pub crawl when you come to Dublin, right? We heard from many people that this was the best one. It starts at the Duke Pub (on Duke St., right off Grafton St.) and takes you to four historic bars over 2.5 hours. I enjoyed the little history lessons and dramatic performances on the tour. It was totally entertaining.

Guinness Brewery- I’m c&p-ing something that Kevin wrote our families about the Guinness Brewery: I’m a huge fan of Guinness. What wouldn't be to like? Well, for starters, it's totally overpriced. The tour itself is pretty basic, as they explain how beer is made. But the bad thing about it is, every ten feet or so, you have pro-Guinness propaganda that would've fit in better back in Stalinist Russia. "THERE IS NO FINER BEVERAGE THAN GUINNESS." "GUINNESS ONLY USES THE FINEST INGREDIENTS... YOU WILL NEVER FIND ANYTHING BETTER." "DRINKING GUINNESS WILL CURE CANCER." Okay, we made that last one up. But the scary thing is, we almost don't have to. We get it -- Guinness beer is good. We don't need a hundred reminders of that. Anyway, more interesting than the making of Guinness is the former advertising campaigns they've used. Here's a cool marketing fact we never knew before: do you know the Guinness Book of World Records? Of course you do. Well, it was originally created as an advertising tool. One of the execs back in the 50s wanted to settle a barroom bet he made with someone, and didn't have a way of finding an answer... so he came up with the idea to publish a book containing every record imaginable. That way, they could sell them for use in bars around the world, so that the Guinness name would always be there to settle bets. Who knew? The tour culminates in a trip to the "Gravity Bar," which is the highest bar in Dublin. Of course, since no building in Dublin is taller than, like, five stories... it's not the greatest view in the world. And not only are you not that high, but the Dublin skyline is, uh... let's just say it's not that compelling. But at least they give you a free pint of Guinness, directly from the source. (Does it taste any different than the Guinness you've had in any other bar? Ern, not so much. But it's good.

ACCOMMODATIONS

Westin Dublin- We loved the Westin Dublin! The hotel is perfectly located in Dublin. It is extremely convenient to sights, restaurants, shopping and bus service. The interior of the Westin is lovely. The lobby is elegant and we really enjoyed the light-filled and spacious Atrium one level above the lobby. It’s a great place to have a drink and read the newspapers which are provided. We also liked our room, which looked just like other Westins we have stayed in and was quite comfortable. The huge bathroom with separate tub and shower is a big plus. Our first floor room had a nice view of Trinity College and the busy city streets, but our room was completely quiet thanks to double window panes. From the valet to the bellhop to the staff at the front desk, everyone we encountered at the Westin was warm and welcoming. We couldn’t have asked for better customer service. The price tag at the Westin is steep, but this hotel is a class act through and through.

[Rosebud]

DINING

Queen of Tarts- This was probably my favorite restaurant of the whole trip. It’s a little cafe on Dame Street, right across from City Hall. The interior is small and packed, but we gladly waited for a table after seeing all the amazing, amazing pastries in the display case. I had a potato and onion tart that was to die for, and the first really good salad I’d had in Ireland. The interior here is cozy and adorable. I’d say this is absolutely a restaurant you shouldn’t miss in Dublin.

Tea at The Clarence- We were going to have the formal tea at The Clarence (posh hotel owned by U2), but were so full from Queen of Tarts that we decided against it at the last minute and just had a pot of tea in their bar. Honestly, it wasn’t exciting at all. The interior space is pretty boring and the place was deserted. But the formal tea menu did look nice.

Gruel- Also on Dame Street (there are some seriously good restaurants in this area), Gruel is a casual cafe that doesn’t look like much but serves up some very good food. You can take food to go, or sit at tables in the back like we did. They have daily specials featured on a chalkboard along with a regular menu. Everything we had was great!

Davy Brynes Pub- This pub is on Duke St., right across from The Duke Pub and just off Grafton St. It’s a famous spot, mainly because it’s been frequented by writers for ages. James Joyce even set a whole scene there in Ulysses (and I believe he lived above the bar for a while). It’s a good spot for a drink. We had dinner there one night and the pub food wasn’t all that great, though.

Lemon Crepe Co.- This place is on Dawson St., parallel to Grafton St. They have an extensive breakfast menu (obviously, lots of crepes, but also eggs and such). The decor is very hip/modern and you sit at long family-style tables. It was mainly locals in there, which we liked, and the crepes were pretty darn good.

PHOTOS

Dublin and the River Liffey
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Grafton Street
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In Temple Bar
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The General Post Office, bullet holes and all
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Dublin-- lotsa people!
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[Rosebud]

Inside Kilmainhaim Gaol
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The spot where the 1916 rebels were executed at the gaol. Outrage over these executions united the Irish people behind the freedom fighters
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Looking down O'Connell Street
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The view from the gravity bar at the Guinness Brewery
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[Rosebud]

Days 13-14: Northern Ireland

From Dublin, we drove north towards Belfast. The trip only took about 2 hours thanks to the nice, wide highways. (Northern Ireland really does have better roads than the Republic!)

A note before I continue: We arrived in Belfast two days after Northern Ireland had instituted a new, power-sharing government—one meant to unite the two sides of the longstanding conflict there and truly usher in an era of peace. The first meeting of the new government occurred while we were in Belfast. It was an interesting time to experience Northern Ireland. We truly sensed optimism and hope in the air, but at the same time encountered quite a bit of the old resentment and suspicion that has been a part of life here for so long.

Coming into Belfast, we hit a ton of traffic due to construction and ended up accidentally turning off in the wrong direction. Rather than repeat our Dublin experience, I hopped out of the car to ask directions at a convenience store. As I got out I noticed some political murals on the nearby walls, and glancing at a street sign, realized we were on Falls Road, which is a Republican (Catholic) neighborhood and was one of the flashpoints of “The Troubles.” It was pretty crazy to realize that I was standing in the heart of a place I’d read about so often. I went into the store and asked directions and the young man who worked there was very helpful, but he did tell me that he was sending me around a Protestant neighborhood, saying, “You don’t want to go through there… they won’t help you.” I was kind of amazed to have that be my first conversation in Northern Ireland.

We found our B&B and got settled. Then we went downtown to check out Belfast. We drove to the University district and wandered around Queens University and the Botanical Gardens. It’s a really cute area—very vibrant, lots of cafes. Then we went over and checked out City Hall. Afterward, we headed out to our Black Taxi Tour of the political murals, which was the most memorable thing we did in Belfast, for sure. I’ll elaborate below.

The next day, we woke up early and headed out to see the Antrim Coast. When we went through the Antrim glens and came out onto the coast, I was absolutely awed by the view. The coastline there is SO beautiful! Big, green, Hawaii-like mountains rising up over an aqua blue sea. It’s magnificent. We went to Carrick-a-Rede Rope Bridge and Giant’s Causeway, both of which were beautiful (even when it POURED on us, monsoon-style). We drove out into the town of Portrush and had a casual lunch there. There was some big motorcycle rally going on along the coast, so it was us and like 500 big bikers in Portrush, a little town that reminded me of something you’d see on the Jersey Shore.

We’d meant to head home after Portrush, but it was still early afternoon and we decided to just keep going. We headed out to Mussenden Temple, which is this really cool abandoned library sitting on the edge of an ocean cliff. After wandering around the surrounding fields for a while, we continued on and decided to go see Derry (aka Londonderry). I was really excited that there was time to fit this in. Derry is very important in the political history of Northern Ireland. This is where Bloody Sunday happened (another movie recommendation- Bloody Sunday is really worth seeing). Derry has been a major point of conflict over the last 30+ years. It’s also a walled city, which is very unique. I ended up liking Derry even more than Belfast. The walls are so interesting and the murals are very thought provoking.

SIGHTS/ ACTIVITIES

Black Taxi Tour- This is a very popular tour in Belfast. It’s a tour (sometimes in a black taxi, sometimes in a minivan) of the political murals located all over Belfast. I was really looking forward to this, as I know a bit about local history and was very curious to hear a local’s unbiased perspective on the murals. Well, we didn’t exactly get unbiased…. We got Martin, a crazy, little, red-faced man who talked a mile a minute. He had a slew of stock phrases that he'd repeat often: "'Dya get it? 'Dya get it?" and "This isn't like those other tours -- you're learning something, see, you're learning something. You're learning something!!" and "ARSEHOLE!" (screamed whenever someone cut him off in traffic). As far as observing the murals, it was very easy to see what side Martin was on. During our tour, Martin stopped to scream at a group of kids who got too close to his van. It was also great when Martin noticed a friend driving a truck next to him in traffic and rolled down the window to yell at him, "Hey, I got two Americans in the back!!" It wasn’t quite the intellectual tour I had hoped for, but Kevin was so deeply entertained by the whole thing that I think it was worth it.

Belfast Castle- This castle sits on a hill above Belfast and provides lovely views of the harbor. There’s a pretty garden outside, and you can wander around some of the ground floors of the castle as well. It’s mainly used for weddings and such these days, and there’s a nice restaurant on the lower level. The original castle was built in the 12th century by the Normans. It later burned down and was rebuilt in the 1800s.

Carrick-a-Rede Rope Bridge- This is a really cool attraction on the Antrim Coast. Fishermen originally erected the bridge to Carrick-a-Rede island over a chasm to check their salmon nets. Today it’s all tourists out here, but the view of the coastline is so lovely, it’s not hard to see why everyone tromps out here. Thankfully, we had a good 10 minutes of clear weather out there before the skies opened up and we had to sludge through the mud and driving rain all the way back.

Giant’s Causeway- This is a UNESCO World Heritage Site (the only one in Northern Ireland) and definitely the reason why people come all the way out to this remote location on the coast. Giant's Causeway is an area of about 40,000 interlocking basalt columns resulting from a volcanic eruption. The tops of the columns form stepping stones that lead from the cliff foot and disappear under the sea. Legend has it that Finn McCool built the causeway to walk to Scotland to fight a giant. Similar stepping stones can be found on the Scottish coast. Too bad it’s so expensive to see it. It costs 5 pounds to park (that’s $10 with the conversion rate) and 2 pounds per person each way to take the shuttle down the hill to the Causeway ($8). You can walk—but anyone sick or handicapped who can’t manage the long walk has to pay up. Oh, and there’s no ATM out here, so you’d better have brought enough cash. But the Causeway is really beautiful and worth the trouble.

Mussenden Temple/ Downhill- It would be easy to drive right by this place and miss it, but we’re so glad we stopped to check it out. In the 1700s, the Bishop of Derry built an elegant mansion at Downhill, which now lies in ruins here. On the nearby clifftop he also built the circular Mussenden Temple as his library, modeled on the Temple of Vesta at Tivoli. The temple and castle ruins are set out along a long, grassy meadow that falls off into the sea. It is beautiful and quiet out here, just lovely. We spent ages just wandering around the meadow and taking pictures of the coast and the empty shell of the castle. Wonderful!

ACCOMODATIONS

Somerton House B&B- The B&B is located in a quiet residential area just north of Belfast, an easy drive into the city. The public spaces in the B&B are pleasant. The owners provide a computer with free (but very slow) internet in the common room, which is a nice perk. There are also newspapers and books provided for reading. Our room was fairly large, with a comfortable bed, small television and a writing desk. It was quiet at night- no noise from the street or other rooms. However, we really didn’t care for the very tiny bathroom. Not only was it too small to be terribly functional, but everything in it seemed a little old and not in the best of shape.

DINING

Rain City Cafe- Located on Malone Road, near the University, this is a great little spot for a cozy lunch or dinner. It’s owned by Chef Paul Rankin, who also runs the popular Cafe Paul Rankin in town and is widely credited with modernizing Belfast’s cuisine. The menu has a wide range of selections and there’s a nice wine list as well. I had a great salad, which was especially nice after two weeks of fried fish and potatoes. The desserts looked fabulous

PHOTOS

Queen's University, Belfast
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City Hall, Belfast
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Murals in Belfast:
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[Rosebud]

Belfast Castle:
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The Antrim coast
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Looking out towards the Carrick-a-Rede Rope Bridge
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My DH on the rope bridge
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Beautiful, clear water under the bridge
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[Rosebud]

Giant's Causeway
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Mussenden Temple & the abandoned castle:
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[Rosebud]

In the Bogside, a Catholic neighborhood in Derry:
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The Bloody Sunday Memorial
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[Rosebud]

Day 15: Our Last Day- Back to Dublin

On our last day in Ireland, we drove from Belfast back into the Republic of Ireland. We stopped at Newgrange and Trim Castle in Co. Meath before checking into our hotel at the Dublin Airport.

We had some pretty terrible rain this day. At Newgrange, standing in an open field with no shelter, it poured on us for a good 20 minutes, so hard and loud that we couldn’t hear our tour guide and the combination of raincoats and umbrullas didn’t prevent us from getting soaked. While driving to Trim Castle, the rain was so bad that we had almost no visibility at times. But then, in Dublin that night we had no rain at all.

After checking into our hotel at the Dublin Airport and returning our rental car (sniff!), we hopped on a bus into Dublin and spent a last night there. We spent our last night in Ireland in the city, enjoying a pub crawl and a last walk along the Liffey.

I can’t even tell you how much we loved Ireland and how deeply grateful we are that we were able to take this trip. While this country is extra special to me because of my family’s background, it is just a beautiful and welcoming place that anyone would enjoy. We were blown away by the gorgeous natural scenery and enjoyed meeting so many interesting people. I really hope to return someday to explore more of the country!

SIGHTS/ ACTIVITIES

Newgrange- Newgrange is a passage tomb and the most famous of all the Irish prehistoric sites. Originally built between 3300-2900 BC, it is more than 500 years older than the Great Pyramid of Giza in Egypt, and predates Stonehenge by about 1,000 years. It was used primarily as a tomb by the ancient Irish. You enter into a narrow stone passageway in the front of the mound and walk along for a while until you come to a central, circular chamber. There are ancient carvings inside this chamber, plus burial and sacrificial stones. The coolest thing is that the mound was apparently built with a precise knowledge of the sun’s movement in mind. Each year, the interior of the tomb is completely dark 364 days of the year. However, on December 21 (the winter solstice), the rising sun sends a shaft of light running down the passageway, which gradually lights up the interior chamber. Pretty amazing stuff.

Trim Castle- I was really excited to make it here, as this is my family’s ancestral castle from waaaaay back in the day! Trim Castle is the largest Anglo-Norman castle in Ireland, built circa 1172. Today, the castle is a dark, foreboding ruin. Combined with the storm clouds on the day we were there, it didn’t exactly look like a place you’d want to move right into. It was really neat to see it, though. Trivia: Quite a bit of the movie “Braveheart” was shot here.

ACCOMMODATIONS

Days Hotel Dublin Airport- This is just your basic airport hotel—not fancy, but clean, businesslike and convenient to the airport. It served our needs just fine. And it had cable TV with international news, which we were thrilled to discover.

PHOTOS

Newgrange
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Trim Castle
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A last walk along the Liffey
http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k284/rosebud03_2006/ireland/DSC04395.jpg

Heading home
http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k284/rosebud03_2006/ireland/IMG_0775.jpg

[Rosebud]

Beautiful pictures. I have been wanting to go to Ireland for a very long time. Your photos make me want to go NOW!

Incredible! Thank you for sharing that little slice of heaven! I want to visit even more than before!

Thank you! I'm really glad you liked the photos. Ireland was more beautiful than we could have even imagined. We just couldn't stop snapping pictures! :D

[basketcase]

That was one of the best trip recaps I've ever read! (I was just planning to lurk, but you compelled me to post! ;) ) You made it so easy to read, and your photos are amazing. I've been to Ireland twice (Dublin, Belfast, and Galway among some other cities) and you make me want to go back SO BAD!

Thanks for posting this!

[Belm]

Rosebud thanks for sharing your trip with us! You are not helping my travel bug! ;)

[apoppy]

Thanks Rosebud!

[BumbleB]

Loved it, Rosebud!

I'm sure this thread will be around for awhile, but I took some notes down real quick anyway.

My DH and I are going to Alaska next summer and Ireland is the next spot on our list after that - so sometime within the next 2-3 years we are going - can't wait, it looks gorgeous!

[yby1]

What an AMAZING trip. Thanks for sharing. :)

[conneals]

What a wonderful recap! We spent 7 days of our honeymoon there and it was the best 7 days of my life. My family is from Ireland as well, and I just felt at home there.

Your pictures are gorgeous.

[SusieQ]

Great pics!

[meatpie]

Thank you Rosebud...

I'm off to tell my sister that she should go to Ireland for her 40th birthday!!

[Rosebud]

Thank you all! :D

Ireland was so much more beautiful than we had imagined. We just loved our time there and would definitely recommend it to anyone who's ever thought about going there.

[diam124]

Thank you so much for posting this! We're planning a trip in September and we actually changed our itinerary after seeing your photos!

[cherry]

rosebud, what a fantastic trip report - thank you! your pictures are exquisite and your notes are really insightful. so glad you had such a good time!

i'll have to check out rain city cafe next time i'm home (i'm from belfast) ;)

[Reebs]

I didn't want your pictures to end! Seriously, I was sad to see the wing of the plane.

What an amazing trip you had. And can I tell you, I love every single one of your pictures.

Thanks!!

[Maxicat]

Wow! Those are beautiful. I feel like I have to see it for myself now.

Thank you.

[ejs]

This brings back such memories! DH and I went to Ireland a few years ago and loved it. We can't wait to go back.

We have pictures that are almost identical to your Cliffs of Moher photos. We stayed in Dingle for a few days and fell in love with that town.

Thanks for sharing your trip with us.

[Delta]

Absolutely amazing.

You've totally whetted my appetite and I want to go right now.

[diam124]

Rosebud - if you don't mind, I have a couple questions for you. In Killarney, did you look into staying at Friar's Glen at all? I can't decide between Friar's Glen or Ross Castle Lodge - they both get great reviews, so I was wondering if you chose Ross Castle Lodge over Friar's Glen for some reason.

Secondly, we're flying into Dublin and then will rent a car to drive south. We have Marriott points to stay at the Shelbourne in Dublin but there is also a Marriott resort in Wicklow County near Glendalough. So, on the second day we will visit Dublin in the morning and then leave to see Glendalough/Powerscourt. Would you recommend driving back up to Dublin for the second night or just staying in Wicklow County? I'm not sure what's better - being able to unpack a little in Dublin, or reducing drive time in Dublin.

[Rosebud]

In Killarney, did you look into staying at Friar's Glen at all? I can't decide between Friar's Glen or Ross Castle Lodge - they both get great reviews, so I was wondering if you chose Ross Castle Lodge over Friar's Glen for some reason.

I think that maybe Ross Castle Lodge was a little less expensive and that's why we chose it. That's what I'm recalling, anyway. Friar's Glen seems to get awesome reviews and is also out of the city center (important in Killarney), so I wouldn't hesistate to book it if you like the look of it better. I think Ross Castle Lodge is a little closer (driving) to the town center, but that doesn't really matter. Either way, I think you'll be happy.

Secondly, we're flying into Dublin and then will rent a car to drive south. We have Marriott points to stay at the Shelbourne in Dublin but there is also a Marriott resort in Wicklow County near Glendalough. So, on the second day we will visit Dublin in the morning and then leave to see Glendalough/Powerscourt. Would you recommend driving back up to Dublin for the second night or just staying in Wicklow County? I'm not sure what's better - being able to unpack a little in Dublin, or reducing drive time in Dublin.

That's a tough call. You can easily do Glendalough/ Powerscourt as a day trip. It's about an hour driving each way. You won't spend hours and hours at either Glendalough or Powerscourt, so you can see them both in the afternoon. The only downside to staying in Co. Wicklow is that there's not much (anything?) to do there at night. If you go back to Dublin you're going to have a lot more options on how to spend your time.

Where are you going after Glendalough? Are you going back to Dublin or continuing south/west? If you're contuining on, I'd probably stay in Glendalough. If you're just heading back to Dublin, I might just go back and stay at the Shelbourne.

[diam124]

Thanks Rosebud - we're continuing on to south/west Ireland (basically the opposite of what you did), so I think it's probably better to stay in Wicklow. We're not big night owls, so nothing to do at night doesn't bother me much.

[Rosebud]

Oh yeah, definitely stay in Wicklow, then. It'll just be easier since you're going that direction anyway.

How exciting that you're going in September! The weather should be nice and sunny then (well, sunny for Ireland...). I hope you have an AMAZING time!! :)

[Rose]

What a great trip. Thanks for sharing.

[diam124]

Thanks Rosebud - I'm sure I'll have more questions for you!

[Rosebud]

diam124- I'd be happy to answer any questions!

*~*

Thank you so much to everyone who has commented on this post. I'm so glad that you all enjoyed the report & photos. Ireland is a spectacular place and I hope you all get to go there someday, if you haven't already been. :)

[diam124]

Ahhh, ok, I am trying to plan our itinerary before booking B&Bs and I'm having some trouble because I can't seem to fit in the Cliffs of Moher. I'm considering cutting either Dingle or Ring of Kerry. If you had to do only 1, what would it be? My possible itinerary is below. Any advice/opinions would be greatly appreciated!

Day 1 Land Dublin - explore Dublin
Overnight Dublin

Day 2
Leftover Dublin
Powerscourt
Glendalough
Overnight back in Dublin

Day 3
Dublin to Kilkenny
Kilkenny to Cashel
Overnight in Cashel

Day 4
Cashel to Killarney
Overnight in Killarney

Day 5
Ring of Kerry
Overnight in Killarney

Day 6
Killarney to Dingle
Overnight in Tralee

Day 7
Tralee to Cliffs of Moher (possibly using Shannon ferry route)
Cliffs of Moher to Limerick (just for the night, not planning to spend a lot of time in Limerick)

Day 8
Leave early out of Shannon

[Rosebud]

I don't think you need to do both the Ring of Kerry and Dingle because it's very similar scenery. We agonized over which one we wanted to do on our trip and ended up choosing Dingle. We loved it, but I also think it might work well with your itinerary because it's a smaller area to cover and you wouldn't be so pressed for time there.

Did you definitely decide to spend the second night in Dublin instead of in Wicklow?

If I could change your itinerary, I might suggest something like what I wrote out below, just to give you a little more time in some of the more scenic places. For instance, you can easily get from Dublin to Kilkenny with stops at Powerscourt and Glendalough in one day. Also, the Kilkenny to Killarney drive isn't that bad since you can take major highways, and you'll have plenty of time to stop in Cashel on the way. That leaves you with more time Killarney and the Cliffs on Moher on the other end. I look out the Ring of Kerry in this example, but you could do that instead of Dingle if you prefer.

Day 1 Land Dublin - explore Dublin
Overnight Dublin

Day 2
Dublin
Overnight Dublin

Day 3
Dublin to Powerscourt, Glendalough
Continue to Kilkenny
Overnight in Kilkenny

Day 4
Kilkenny to Killarney (via Cashel)
Overnight in Killarney

Day 5
Dingle Peninsula
Overnight in Killarney

Day 6
Most of day in Killarney seeing Lakes, etc.
Afternoon: Killarney to Lisdoonvarna or Doolin
Overnight in Lisdoonvarna or Doolin

Day 7
AM: Cliffs of Moher
Afternoon: Drive to Limerick
Overnight Limerick

Day 8
Leave early out of Shannon

[diam124]

Thank you so much Rosebud! I don't know why, but I had it in my head that we absolutely needed to do both RoK and Dingle. It just occurred to me today that we could just do 1.

We did decide to stay in Dublin for 2 nights. My DH wanted to do that so that we could have more than 1 night in the same place. I also am terrible when it comes to jetlag, so he thinks we'll want more time in Dublin. The other reason was that the place in Wicklow was more towards the coast, so Dublin to Kilkenny is actually a shorter drive than Wicklow to Kilkenny.

Unfortunately DH does not have the time to read the travel books at the moment, so the itinerary is up to me!

[kwsu44]

I went to Ireland a few years ago and did a similar trip to yours, minus the visit to Northern Ireland.

I think we stayed at the same B&B in Glendalough!!

I loved Doolin, it was not at all touristy when I was there. My friends and I had a great time in the pubs. In fact, we met one of the matchmakers from Lisdooverna, who was interested in having us come back in September to meet Irish men!

By far, my favorite part was the Ring of Kerry, Lakes of Killarney and Gap of Dunloe. Just beautiful.

Also loved Kilmainhim Gaol. In fact, we got lost trying to find it and stopped to ask directions. The person we asked looked at us incredulously, "Really, you want to go to the jail?"

Seeing your photos brings back such wonderful memories! I can't wait to go back someday.

[Raven_Girl]

Great pics! Sounds like a lot of fun.

[diam124]

Rosebud, did you do any organized tours (other than the pub crawl) in Dublin or near the Burren?

I'm not a huge fan of group tours because I get impatient, but I'm thinking touring the Burren would be more interesting with someone to explain it.

[Rosebud]

No, we didn't do any organized tours around the Burren. When we went to Ailwee Cave they did a guided tour through the cave so you know what you're looking at. The Dolmen has a lot of helpful signage. Otherwise, we just sort of walked around and looked at the view. If you plan to spend a full day around the Burren and are particularly interested in flora and fauna, it might be useful to take a tour. Most of the ones we saw were on huge buses with like 50 people- I'd look for something a little smaller if you can find it.

In Dublin I think you'll be fine with a guide book. Kilmainham Gaol (a must see) is a guided visit and most other things (like Trinity and the churches) have signs everywhere explaining what you're seeing. The one way I think a tour would be helpful is simply to cover the distance between places (we got friendly with the bus system), but otherwise it's all pretty self explanatory.

However, the guided tour in Belfast was a great idea because of the local perspective/color it brought to the political aspects of the sights.

[justHB]

i'm trying to finagle a trip to Ireland in 5 weeks (!) and this is renewing my vigor. :)

[Rosebud]

Oh wow-- that's soon!! I really hope you get to go. Even though it's cold/rainy over there right now Ireland is just such a special place. Keeping my fingers crossed that it works out for you! :)

[tonic]

For those who rented a car in Ireland... a couple questions:

1) Did you get an automatic or manual? There is a huge price difference between the two on avis.com. I would rather go cheap but how weird is it to have the shifter on your left?

2) Did you get CDW? If so, did you add it on your reservation or at the counter? Does it matter?

3) How was driving in Dublin? I am thinking rent the car in Shannon and drop it off downtown Dublin, but is that a bad idea?

4) Where did you rent your car? Any tips on getting a good deal?

Thanks!

[Rosebud]

1) Did you get an automatic or manual? There is a huge price difference between the two on avis.com. I would rather go cheap but how weird is it to have the shifter on your left?

We got the manual because it's WAY cheaper. I didn't drive there because I don't drive stick very well. My DH did the driving. It took him like 5 minutes to get used to it and then he was fine. He said it was way easier than he thought it would be.

2) Did you get CDW? If so, did you add it on your reservation or at the counter? Does it matter?

We did because we heard horror stories about not having it. We added it at the Avis counter at the Shannon airport when we arrived. It was expensive-- it added a significant amount to our total. And then we didn't have any problems with the car so we kicked ourselves for spending the money. Better to have it than not have it, though.

3) How was driving in Dublin? I am thinking rent the car in Shannon and drop it off downtown Dublin, but is that a bad idea?

We got SO lost in Dublin. It's not that the driving is hard or the drivers are crazy at all-- it's just a city with the usual one way streets and crowded boulevards and we had no idea where we were going. Where is the rental place in Dublin? You could also rent in Shannon and then drop the car at the Dublin airport and get the bus or a taxi back into the city. We did this and it was easy. The road to the airport are wide and well marked- much easier than driving downtown.

4) Where did you rent your car? Any tips on getting a good deal?

We rented through Avis-- we've used them a couple times in Europe and have been very happy. We booked through Avis.com. If you read the Fodors.com boards they have lots of rental car recommendations. I think Dan Dooley is a company that gets mentioned a lot.

[diam124]

I'll add my answers too:

1) Did you get an automatic or manual? There is a huge price difference between the two on avis.com. I would rather go cheap but how weird is it to have the shifter on your left?
We rented a manual and DH drove because I don't drive stick. He's a lefty so it was actually a little easier for him. He did have some problems, but they weren't related to the transmission - he just had a hard time judging distances on the side and almost hit our mirrors several times.

2) Did you get CDW? If so, did you add it on your reservation or at the counter? Does it matter?

We did get it (the most expensive option - with a low deductible) - and I think we added it at the counter. We didn't need it though, but it was nice to know we had it because there were some nervewracking moments on the road.

3) How was driving in Dublin? I am thinking rent the car in Shannon and drop it off downtown Dublin, but is that a bad idea?

We did the reverse - we rented in downtown Dublin and dropped it off at the Shannon airport. We had a weird mix-up when it came to picking up the car. When DH made the reservation through Avis it said the pick-up place was close to our hotel (near St. Stephen's Green). We were going to pick it up on our last day on the way out of the city. The next to the last day we did the Guiness Brewery and Kilmainhaim jail.

We were walking to the jail (and we thought we were totally lost) when we saw an Avis office. We decided to pop in to ask for directions to the jail and to ask about exactly where the other pick-up place was. When we got there it turns out that is where we were supposed to pick up our car. I think the office had recently moved. So it's a good thing we stopped in there because it was significantly further away than we thought and we would have been dragging our luggage all over the place looking for it.

So we took a cab the next morning to the Avis office (and our cab driver got lost - even with a GPS unit). What I noticed is in Dublin if you make a wrong turn it's hard to get back on your route easily. Our cab driver took 1 wrong turn and ended up on a road that had no exits or turn-arounds. It was a mess.

One good thing about that Avis location is that it's kind of on the edge of the city, so it's not too bad getting out (or in) of the city. We did get a little confused and asked someone in the car next to us at a stoplight and they very nicely told us we were going the right way. Once we got on the highway we were good to go.

4) Where did you rent your car? Any tips on getting a good deal? We rented from Avis online. We pretty much accepted the fact that renting a car was going to be expensive (because of the insurance). The base rates weren't bad though. We had a Toyota Yaris and it was fine. We had 3 adults for part of the trip and it was pretty tight with the luggage.

[wildcat]

I'll add my short answers.

1) Did you get an automatic or manual? There is a huge price difference between the two on avis.com. I would rather go cheap but how weird is it to have the shifter on your left?

I'm cheap when it comes to stuff like that, so it was manual for us! It took DH a few mins to get used to...and since you shift towards yourself instead of away, it makes it "fun", there were many, many times we went from 1st to 4th gear bc he missed 2nd:) Totally easy though. And I think it was more fun.

2) Did you get CDW? If so, did you add it on your reservation or at the counter? Does it matter?

Please, I beg you, don't rent a car without CDW. The roads are so narrow w/o shoulders...the "shoudlers" are rock walls, gates, or dense trees/bushes and it's very easy to cause damage. We actually got in an accident on the ring of Kerry. We were passing these two old English ladies and our cars hit a big dip and bumped into each other. There was damage to our car and it was so worth it. When we were turning in our car, there was another couple (from our hometown, how weird!) checking in their car, and they hadn't gotten the extra insurance and had hit a gate causing a small scrape. They got quotes on the way to the airport for $200...Avis charged them $800 to fix it.

3) How was driving in Dublin? I am thinking rent the car in Shannon and drop it off downtown Dublin, but is that a bad idea?

Drop it off at the airport (or whatever location you want). No need to drive in Dublin.


4) Where did you rent your car? Any tips on getting a good deal?

We booked a "fly, stay, drive" b&b package online....but it ended up being Avis. We didn't have any problems. Even with the wreck. They did call us maybe 6 months after the wreck and left a msg on our answering machine but we never called back (couldn't understand it very well..calling from Ireland) and never heard from them again.

[tonic]

Did anyone rent a GPS? Do you think its worth it?

For 11 days, Dan Dooley is $365, while Thrifty is $290, Budget $250, Avis $319. Budget seems to be the cheapest so far. Any bad reviews you know of? Any other companies I should check or things to watch out for in the rate?

[diam124]

We rented from Avis and had no problems. I read a lot of bad things about Dan Dooley on TripAdvisor.

We did not get the gps unit (although we thought about it) because I heard that there are a lot of small roads in Ireland that aren't listed in the gps device so it's confusing. I think it would be helpful if you were driving in Dublin though.

Before we left for our trip I used an online map service (I think Google Maps) and printed out directions from each town to the next town/hotel. Then we had a detailed map that I used to look up directions. The directions I printed out came in handy if I wasn't sure of the fastest route and also to find the places we were staying (because the map I bought didn't have every single road in every town). The only place that we got a little lost was on our way from Dublin to Powerscourt. I didn't think the roads were marked well at all in the town near Powerscourt. We stopped at a gas station and the women gave me directions. Other than that we really didn't get lost.

[wildcat]

I doubt the GPS is worth it. Seriously, all we used was the map that they gave you from Avis. While it's probably unnerving for US citizens, the roads weren't really numbered/named. Basically, you found a sign that said you were going "to Kinsale" and you just stayed on that road until you were in Kinsale or turned if another sign pointed towards Kinsale. It's not like there are really a thousand ways to get there, pretty much just the one road in and out, if I'm remembering right. Then once you get there, there are signs pointing towards all the various B&B's and we were able to find what we were looking for pretty easy from those...and signs also pointing towards the City Center....which is where you generally want to be anyway. Then if there's a big castle, well, you can pretty much see it. I found Ireland really easy to get around in.

ETA: And ditto on Avis. no problems, even though we got in a wreck:) For whatever reason, we usually end up renting from Avis when out of the country (rented from Avis in St. Martin last fall) and they've always been fine. My guess would be that any of your big chains are fine (even though I've heard that sometimes the little guys have better service).

[Rosebud]

I don't think you need a GPS. Honestly, the only time we got lost during our entire trip was in Dublin. Get yourself a good road map of Ireland and you'll be fine. Like Diam124, we printed up directions between our stops ahead of time and took them with us. Then we just double checked with the road map once we were on our way. We found the roads, even the small ones, to be well marked with plenty of signs telling us where we were headed.

I've always rented from Avis in Europe and think they're great. I've used Budget a lot domestically and never had a problem with them, either. I think any of the big companies are probably fine. Have heard mixed reviews on Dan Dooley.

[tonic]

Ok, no GPS it is ;)

I think I'll just book with Budget unless I find something cheaper.

Thanks everyone!

[tonic]

Ok, so all car rentals come with CDW & Theft protection. However, at the counter they push you to get excess or super cdw (so I have read). This is what makes the car rental much more expensive then the quote you get online. Did anyone purchase SuperCDW or Excess from another place? Such as http://insurance4carhire.com/?

[tonic]

Another question for you Ireland experts. I'm thinking about getting a Dublin Pass online (they offer a discount) and they also have the option of different transportation passes. One that gives me access to the hop-on-off tour buses, one that gives me access to city buses, and one that gives me access to it all.

How did you guys get around in Dublin? Should I get one of the transportation passes?

I'm guessing getting the Dublin Pass is a good idea, but correct me if I am wrong.

[tonic]

One more question. Anyone stay at The Kilronan Guesthouse? Its ~379 EURO for 3 nights which is an awesome deal for Dublin AND includes breakfast. Its supposed to be a 10-20 minutes walk (conflicting reviews) to temple bar. Do you think this is too far?

My other two choices: Arlington House (under construction, but 469EURO for 3 nights includes breakfast) or Jurys Inn Christchurch (557 EURO for 3 nights). These are much close to Temple bar area, but Arlington is under construction and Jurys Inn also has mixed reviews about noise (but constantly recommended it seems).

I'm thinking of just going for the Guest House.. its a great deal and walking is good for you right? I just don't want it to be TOO far away from the sights.

[diam124]

Tonic - we walked everywhere in Dublin. The only times we didn't walk were when we arrived (took a bus from the airport) and when we were leaving and needed to take our luggage to the Avis office (taxi). It's a fairly compact city I think. The longest walk was to Kilmainhaim jail and the Guiness Brewery. I wouldn't really recommend walking to the jail - it took quite a bit longer than we thought. We were sure we were lost but we weren't. On the way back we stopped at the brewery so it actually ended up being fine.

We stayed at the Shelbourne (Marriott) on points and we were right by St. Stephen's Green and not too far from Grafton St. I would say it was a 10-15 minute walk to Temple Bar - not a big deal at all.

[wildcat]

We also walked most everywhere. We dropped off our car at the airport and took the bus to a stop near our hotel (I can't remember where that was now...been 6 years and many trips ago!). We walked everywhere we went, including Temple Bar area and I'd say that was a 20 min walk....totally easy. We did do the "hop on, hop off" tour one day and really enjoyed that...the bus drivers provided an amusing commentary and we pretty much saw most everything in one day and it was nice to be able to take it to the Guiness brewery bc if I remember, that was further away, but probably still walkable. We attempted to take the bus once, but reading the schedule confused us (metros are so much easier!) so we just walked. ;)

[tonic]

We also walked most everywhere. We dropped off our car at the airport and took the bus to a stop near our hotel (I can't remember where that was now...been 6 years and many trips ago!). We walked everywhere we went, including Temple Bar area and I'd say that was a 20 min walk....totally easy. We did do the "hop on, hop off" tour one day and really enjoyed that...the bus drivers provided an amusing commentary and we pretty much saw most everything in one day and it was nice to be able to take it to the Guiness brewery bc if I remember, that was further away, but probably still walkable. We attempted to take the bus once, but reading the schedule confused us (metros are so much easier!) so we just walked. ;)

Thanks for the advice!

Tonic - we walked everywhere in Dublin. The only times we didn't walk were when we arrived (took a bus from the airport) and when we were leaving and needed to take our luggage to the Avis office (taxi). It's a fairly compact city I think. The longest walk was to Kilmainhaim jail and the Guiness Brewery. I wouldn't really recommend walking to the jail - it took quite a bit longer than we thought. We were sure we were lost but we weren't. On the way back we stopped at the brewery so it actually ended up being fine.

We stayed at the Shelbourne (Marriott) on points and we were right by St. Stephen's Green and not too far from Grafton St. I would say it was a 10-15 minute walk to Temple Bar - not a big deal at all.

Thanks for the info! I think I will book the Kilronan House since its right near Stephen's Green as well.

[justHB]

last year we ended up going to Paris instead of Ireland for our anniversary but in looking at airfare, SFO to Dublin is the cheapest European vacation we can possibly take in February. So, I'm back thinking about that. I'm just nervous about the rain. I don't mind cold weather - in fact, I prefer it - but am worried we'll never leave the car. Thoughts?

[diam124]

I could be wrong but I don't think Ireland gets very cold necessarily (I think it's unusual for them to get snow). I do think it can be quite rainy in the winter though. That said, there are some amazing hotel/airfare deals that time of year. I remember seeing a package through USAirways for this past Feb. that was airfare + hotel in a "townhouse" on the grounds of one of the big castle hotels for something around $100 a night.

[emmjay]

I have been to Ireland in February two different times, and there was a fair amount of rain but it didn't pour the whole time or anything. It was more like drizzle/mist with some rain showers here and there. We were able to walk around outside and go sightseeing and everything else.

[justHB]

I have been to Ireland in February two different times, and there was a fair amount of rain but it didn't pour the whole time or anything. It was more like drizzle/mist with some rain showers here and there. We were able to walk around outside and go sightseeing and everything else.Thank you! This is exactly the information I was looking for. Obviously you (general) can't predict exact weather, but it's always nice to hear from people who have been where you're going when you're going to get a reasonable expectation.

[justHB]

I could be wrong but I don't think Ireland gets very cold necessarily (I think it's unusual for them to get snow). I do think it can be quite rainy in the winter though. That said, there are some amazing hotel/airfare deals that time of year. I remember seeing a package through USAirways for this past Feb. that was airfare + hotel in a "townhouse" on the grounds of one of the big castle hotels for something around $100 a night.Yeah, the deals are pretty good right now. Direct to Dublin from SFO is under $800/person roundtrip. We just paid more than that to go to Kauai from Oakland with a layover, so it's a great deal. We're not finding the same sort of deal on lodgings, but I haven't dug deep yet.

[zayt]

I have been to Ireland in April: It was cold and there was pretty much a constant drizzle but not torrential downpours that would stop you walking outside at all. I guess it depends how much you mind the dampness, it never really stopped us from doing anything but we also had the opinion "we are here on holidays, we are going to do what we came to do". And I was never uncomfortably wet at all.

[tonic]

Hi! We just got back for Ireland last night and are adjusting to the time difference again (8 hours). The trip was wonderful except for a few issues with the rental car that I'll go into in my recap. We'll be exercising the insurance claim process lets just say. I think I had the worst luck with the car but good luck with weather. Apparently Ireland has been having very very strange weather. All of August was rainy and they are hoping that Sept would be better and its been mixed. Its been pretty cold too. So, I think global warming is effecting us all. You never know what you will get.

Ok, will post the recap once I get back to our home in the next few days (at inlaws right now).

[emmjay]

I have been to Ireland in April: It was cold and there was pretty much a constant drizzle but not torrential downpours that would stop you walking outside at all. I guess it depends how much you mind the dampness, it never really stopped us from doing anything but we also had the opinion "we are here on holidays, we are going to do what we came to do". And I was never uncomfortably wet at all.
That is funny - I have been there in April and May multiple times and it is always gorgeous! It really must be a crapshoot.

[Rosebud]

tonic-- Can't wait to read your review and see your photos!! I'm sorry the rental car situation sucked, but I hope the rest of your trip was amazing. :)

That is funny - I have been there in April and May multiple times and it is always gorgeous! It really must be a crapshoot.

When I was there last year in April/May, it was sunny and 80 degrees the first week, rainy and colder the second week. Total crapshoot.

Hey, everyone, don't forget there's also an Ireland thread (http://www.constantchatter.com/forum/showthread.php?t=5649) in this forum for general questions & Ireland info!