Ireland - May 2014

This post is "A BIT LATE". I wasn't going to write anything first, but decided to at least put a little blurb of what we did and some pictures up if nothing else.

We, as in my hubby, his brother and sister-in-law and me, left NYC on Friday, May 9th. We flew a red-eye to Dublin.

Saturday, 5/10/2014 - We rented a car at the airport and headed to the city and our hotel. We stopped at the Kilmainham Gaol first, since it was on the way. And also for a quick lunch. Our hotel was just outside the downtown area, which nice since we didn't get all the noise from the streets. We stayed at the Pembroke Townhouse Hotel. It is an old Georgian style house converted to a hotel. For dinner we went to one of the local pubs,  Searsons of Baggot Street

Kilmainham Gaol

Kilmainham Gaol

One of the cells at Kilmainham Gaol

Kilmainham Gaol

Outside exercise yard at Kilmainham Gaol

Pembroke Townhouse Hotel

Didn't really want to carry this key around

One of the lovely doors along Pembroke Street

Dinner 

Sunday 5/11/2014 - Next morning we had a huge Irish breakfast and then walked to the downtown area. Dublin had Giro d'Italia bike race ending on Merrion Square that day. We stopped at the square in morning on our way and did some shopping on some of the tents. Well Jeff did, the rest of us just looked around. From there we headed towards the Book of Kells at the Trinity College. We were not allowed to take pictures at the Book of Kells. There were lots of information about it and other illuminated books. The Book itself was quite amazing with all the details on it. We were also able to go to the Old Library.

Giro D'Italia sponsor tents 

Giro D'Italia sponsor tents 

Giro D'Italia sponsor tents 

Giro D'Italia Finish Line

Old Library at Trinity College

Old Library at Trinity College

Oldest harp in Ireland circa 15th century.
Model for the emblem of Ireland

After seeing the Book and the Library we started walking towards the Guinness Storehouse. We passed the Dublin Castle and the Christ Church Cathedral. It had been drizzling on and off but soon it started pouring and we found shelter under couple of trees. But still we got soaked. Finally it stopped enough and we were able to go to the Guinness factory. We had a self-guided tour of the place and the tickets included a pint of Guinness or some other drink. We also had lunch there.

Guinness Storehouse

View of Dublin from the Gravity Bar at the Guinness Storehouse

View of Dublin from the Gravity Bar at the Guinness Storehouse

lunch with a Guinness

Jeff and Stephen headed out to see if they could see some of those Giro d'Italia riders come to finish line at the Merrion Square. Catherine and I took our time walking along the River Liffey toward the Temple Bar area. We had some time to look around there and do lots of window shopping before we got a text message from the guys asking where we were. We finally found each other and decided to have a drink in one of the very overcrowded pubs. From there we walked back towards the hotel and ended up having dinner at the same pub as the night before. Their food was good, so why not.

close to finish line at Giro d'Italia race

River Liffey and the Four Courts

interesting detail on a building along the River Liffey

this is what might happen if you park in a place you shouldn't,
like in front of a do not park sign

Temple Bar area

Temple Bar area

St. Stephen's Green

The Grand Canal

Monday, 5/12 /2014 - After breakfast we headed out off Dublin. We took N11 down the coast. Stopped at Arklow to use the facilities and kept going. Our lunch spot was Nude Food at Dungarvan. It was a bit rainy so we didn't stay too long. But long enough to get a ticket because our rental was missing a piece of paper on the windshield. From there we went straight to Cork and our hotel, Ambassador Hotel, on a hillside with very narrow winding roads. We checked in and the hotel was beautiful and rooms very spacious. The old Cork is actually on an island on the river Lee. We walked downtown and went to the English Market. From there we continued, crossed the other side of the river and went to see Elizabeth Fort and St Finn Barre's Cathedral. We crossed the river again and found a pub that was recommended to us by someone at the English Market. We had our dinner at the Oliver Plunkett Pub and listened to some Irish music. Most pubs seem to one or two or three musicians playing there.

Leaving Dublin, Wicklow Mountains ahead

Arklow

Dungarvan 

Missing a paper from the right hand pocket, hence the ticket

Tight roads to the hotel in Cork

Ambassador Hotel, Cork

Flowers growing in weird places

Flowers growing in weird places

Downtown Cork

Elizabeth Fort

Elizabeth Fort

Leprechaun toilet??? 

St Finn Barre's Cathedral

an old cemetery at St Finn Barre's Cathedral

at Oliver Plunkett Pub

Tuesday, 5/13/2014 - We headed out early since we had a long drive ahead of us with many stops. Our first stop was at Kinsale. It is a lovely small town along the ocean. I wouldn't mind going back there and spending some time in the little shops. At Timoleaguewe stopped to see the ruins of an old abbey. Our next stop was the Drombeg Stone Circle. It was in the middle of nowhere, but we did find it. The circle was there and they also had partial ruins of 2 dwellings and a lovely view of the coast. Then it was time for lunch, but that was easier said than done. We finally arrived at Leap and found a place to eat. After lunch we headed towards Killarney and our next hotel, the Ross Hotel. We did couple quick stops along the way and drove through Killarney National Park and tried to take pictures of the hundreds of sheep along the way. We did find our hotel, it was right in the middle of town, but no parking anywhere. Luckily it is owned by the same people as the Killarney Park Hotel and we were able to park at their parking lot and it was just a short walk to ours. Ross Hotel is a very nice boutique hotel, we really liked it. It was hard to find a dinner place since there were so many pubs and restaurants all over the place and they all looked good. We ended up at the Failte, went there the next night too.

Low tide at Kinsale harbor

Kinsale

Along R600

Timoleague Abbey

Timoleague Abbey

Timoleague Abbey

Timoleague Abbey

Drombeg Stone Circle

Dwelling at the Drombeg Stone Circle

Drombeg Stone Circle

On the way Killarney 

On the way Killarney

On the way Killarney

a stop at Molly Gallivan's Store on our way Killarney

Sheep, sheep . . . 

. . . and more sheep

Killarney National Park

getting close to Killarney

Wednesday, 5/14/2014 - Today we did the Ring of Kerry. They recommend driving it counterclockwise since the buses go that way. This way you don't have to pass too many buses on the narrow winding roads. We drove through Killorglin and saw the King Puck statue, it's a goat. Our next stop was at Cahersiveen and the Ballycarbery Castle ruins. It used to be owned by Browne's and Catherine is a Browne so we really had to see it. It was really neat, all covered with vines. The local farmers seem to use it as a barn for their cows. From there we went to Portmagee to see the  Skellig Experience Visitor's Center. Skellig is an island several miles off the coast and the monks used to live at the Skellig Michael from the 6th to the 12th centuries. There is not much on the island so life must have been very hard. We drove along the Skellig Ring and stopped at a sightseeing place to look over the cliffs and see some reproductions of the Beehive buildings the monks used long time ago. There was also a small cafe/restaurant and we decided to have lunch there. Catherine got a big surprise when she walked in. One of her quilting guild women was there with her husband, they didn't know each other were going to even be in Ireland at the same time. Now, she lives in a very small town along the Ottawa River and this place was in the middle of nowhere, what are the odds. They had a nice chat and then we continued. We stopped at the Skellig Chocolate factory, they had free tasting and since we are talking about chocolate we had to buy some. We also stopped at the Derrynane House, home of Daniel O'Connell an Irish politician, "the Liberator" and "the Emancipator". The house itself was not the prettiest, but boy did they ever have a big wagon in there. The museum was not actually open for the public yet, but they still gave us a tour which was very nice of them. It was starting to get late so we headed back towards Killarney. On the way we stopped at the Torc Waterfall and the Muckross House. The house was already closed for the day but we were able to walk around it and parts of the gardens. Killarney is really beautiful and there are lots of things to do around it. I would not have minded staying couple more days in that area.

King Puck

Ballycarbery Castle

Ivy growing on Ballycarbery Castle

Beehive Village

Inside a beehive dwelling

Little Skellig and Skellig Michael Islands

Along the coastline on the Skellig Ring with the Skellig Islands in the distance

Coastline along the Skellig Ring

a lonely twisty road ahead

Skellig Chocolate Factory

Skellig Chocolate Factory

tight roads ahead

Derrynane House

Derrynane House

Derrynane House and Daniel O'Connell's wagon. They picked him
up from prison with this and he sat on the chair on top

Torc Waterfall

Muckross House

Muckross House

Thursday, 5/15/2014 - It was time to leave Killarney, but before we did we had to go and see the Ross Castle. It had also been owned by the Browne's along the way, we're just not sure if they are the same Browne's as Catherine, but we'd like to think so. Ross Castle is a 15th century tower house and keep. It was very interesting and I have to say that those stairs were scary. But the views of the Lough Leane were beautiful. From there we headed north towards Tarbert and the ferry. After a short wait the ferry came and crossing was only about half an hour. We took the back roads to the Cliffs of Moher stopping for lunch somewhere and at the Rock Shop at Liscannor. Cliffs of Moher were quite impressive, especially when we walked along a narrow trail going northwards, there were no rails. We could have done a short cut to Galway, but drove along the coast, stopping at couple of places, especially the Burren. It is a very rocky area where nothing really grows. Our hotel in Galway, Menlo Park Hotel, was not close to anything. The rooms were a bit outdated also. This was the only hotel that we were not too thrilled about. We had dinner at the hotel since there were no other pubs nor restaurants close by.

Ross Castle

Lough Leane from the Ross Castle

Ross Castle

Ross Castle

Talbert Ferry 

Talbert Ferry 

Cliffs of Moher

Cliffs of Moher

O'Brien Tower at the Cliffs of Moher

Cliffs of Moher going north

Cliffs of Moher going north

Cliffs of Moher

Cliffs of Moher going south, O'Brien Tower in the back ground

the Burren

the Burren

another tight squeeze

these guys kept an eye on us during one of our stops close to Galway

Friday 5/16/2014 - After breakfast we walked to downtown Galway. It was at least 2.5 mile walk if not more. We went first to the Eyre Square and found the Browne Doorway. Catherine is from the Galway Browne's so it might have belonged to some of her ancestors. We then went to the tourist office and got a walking sightseeing map. The old part of Galway is really not that big. There are lots of nice little shops and restaurants and pubs everywhere. We saw some old ruins, and the Spanish Gate. Did you know that Galway has a big Spanish heritage. We saw the City Museum and then walked along the River Corrib. Some people were filming some sort of movie there so we watched it for awhile since it looked really weird with this one girl acting alone. The guys didn't want to do any shopping so we sent them to find a place to eat dinner while Catherine and I did some shopping. We ended up having our dinner at small restaurant that served traditional Irish food. It was really good, but they sure like their potatoes. Catherine had shepherd's pie which comes topped with mashed potatoes, but this one also came with boiled potatoes and French fries. After dinner we took a taxi back to the hotel, at least I was tired of walking.

Catherine and the Browne window at the Eyre Square

Eyre Square and the flags of the 12 tribes of Galway

The Wilde brothers

St Nicholas Church. Christopher Columbus worshiped here
before he found North America

Stephen and Catherine at the Spanish Arch

the Galway hooker

River Corrib

Friars River

they were filming some weird movie in the park between the two rivers.

Pretty!

Saturday, 5/17/2014 - It's time to go home today. We left the hotel after breakfast since we had a flight around noon from Shannon to NYC. Little did we now that our flight was delayed almost 3 hours. So we had a long wait at the airport. One good thing about Shannon airport is that you do your US customs right there so when you land at JFK you just walk out off the airport as if it was a domestic flight.

Overall a very good trip. I would like to go back again some day and see some more of the beautiful country side.