This was our 9th trip to Ireland. I planned this trip with the intention of taking things much easier than we normally do. I always say, if I want to relax, I’ll stay home. After this many trips, going to Ireland *is* going home, and I know I will return again. With that in mind, I abandoned our usual circuit that takes us all around the country, and focused on a smaller area – beginning in West Cork and ending up in Connemara. We chose 4 hotels as bases, and branched out from there. We took a couple of boat trips, but nothing like last year, when we went to Arranmore Island, off Donegal, or Clare Island, off Mayo, and Garinish, off West Cork. Still, in staying “close to home” we managed to put 2,329 miles on the Beemer. Petrol, by the way, was about €1.10 per litre, or about $5 a gallon.
A few general details first. April is considered the rainy season in Ireland. (We’ve been told July is the dry season – when it only rains 4 days a week!) We must have been lucky, because the weather was delightful throughout. We had a few misty moments, and some “showery spells” but we had only one rainy day, and it was near the end of the trip. The temps were in the 40s, with the hot day being 50*.
We arrived a couple of hours later than expected due to our flight leaving Boston late, on the St Padraig. Added to a long layover in Boston, we landed at Shannon about 26 hours after we’d left home. I really miss that direct flight out of Baltimore!
We picked up our car, a silver BMW 118D, a little hatchback diesel sort of thing with a plastic key that looked like it belonged to a child’s toy car, and a push button starter. But it had an auxiliary jack in it that allowed me to plug in my iPOD without all the attachments required last year. We had about 1,000 Celtic songs at our fingertips with no muss no fuss.
We headed south to County Cork, to a lovely little village called Clonakilty. On the way, we drove past the Limerick club where we had tickets a few days later. It was good to see it wasn’t in the industrial section of Limerick City, in spite of being called Dolan’s Warehouse and was on Dock Road. We checked into our hotel about 3 in the afternoon, and just hung around until dinner. I have never been as tired as I was after that flight, and remembering the plan to take it easy, we did.
Those were the 1st two pretty uneventful days of our trip – Thursday and Friday, 30 March and 31 March. The adventures started the next day.
Saturday, 1 April – We’ve never paid a lot of attention to most of Cork, aside from Cobh, the Beara Peninsula, and Mizen Head. It’s just been a place to pass through on the way to somewhere. We decided to spend some time exploring, and started off just south of Clonakilty to Galley Head, where there is a lighthouse. The entire area is coastal, and it was so windy that day! I have tangles in my hair that will be there until June.
Next we went to Timoleague, very nearby to the east, where there is an old Franciscan abbey, built in 1240, on the OLD monastic site (6th century). There’s a pretty garden, and the town is colorful and charming. On the way there, we tried to find a way to get in to Castlefreke Castle, in Rosscarbery. It was sealed off, and we don’t usually break and enter historic sites until much later in our trips. But who wouldn’t at least try to go to a place called Castlefreke?
On several trips before, we have gone right through Kinsale, further east still, and every time we have said, This looks nice…but we never made time to stop. So, we went to Kinsale. It’s a pretty
little coastal town, but doesn’t stand out more than many others. I think if you are a big seafood fan, they specialize. We did tour Charles Fort, a well preserved star shaped fort from the 1600s, and a heritage site. On the drive back, we passed Inchydoney Beach, a long, beautiful stretch that causes the entire town of Clonakilty to beam with pride. There were guys with surfboards on the water, a couple of them attached to big colorful kite type things. Gale force winds AND the sun was out! We went walking on this beach a couple of evenings, collecting seashells.Sunday, 2 April – It was mostly sunny, very windy, and with “showery spells”. These come out of nowhere and wash everything down for 3 or 5 minutes, maybe less, and are followed by wonderful fresh weather, often sunny, until the next showery spell. We went east again Sunday morning, to Cobh.
Cobh is further east than Kinsale, so we back tracked the route of the previous day, but we wanted to get there early and see if the harbor cruise was running. As it happened, it was not. The sign said they’d be back in June. The harbor was so choppy, I doubt they’ve have been going out anyway. We walked around a while, but the town was literally closed. Of course, it was 10 or 11 on Sunday. We hadn’t thought about the fact that they were probably all up in St Colman’s at Mass…and the stores don’t open there on Sunday!
It was no hardship driving along the coast road back through Clonakilty and past it, west to the always fun-to-say village of Skibbereen. Skibberreen is one of the little peninsulas that juts out along the coast of West Cork. Boats to Sherkin Island and Cape Clear leave from there, and it is a very sweet, colorful little town. Its next door neighbor, just west, is Baltimore. Another lovely little coastal town, a little touristy, pretty, and with boats going out. They revel in their history of being attacked by pirates way back when. There is a huge space ship looking thing on top of a cliff at the harbor’s entrance. It is called The Beacon, and is also known as Lot’s Wife. The picture of Chuck next to it puts its enormity into perspective. The hill was very slippery and marshy and I came down part of it on my butt, requiring laundry be done sooner rather than later.Monday, 3 April – We left Clonakilty and headed northwest to Killarney. This is usually the last stop on our itinerary, so it was nice to enjoy it without the usual dread of knowing the trip is coming to its end. We stopped in Bantry on the way, and toured Bantry House.
I would recommend this tour when the gardens are in bloom. It was all green when we were there, but I imagine the flowers will be spectacular. There are 100 steps up a terraced hill behind the house that allow a view of the house, gardens, and Bantry Bay that’s worth the stop. This isn’t a Heritage Site, unfortunately. There was no one else there when we went, and we were welcomed to roam freely, in and out. It’s a beautiful setting, and full of wonderful ancient Irish things and some good Rebel history.Next, we drove out to Mizen Head, and had lunch overlooking the cliffs there. Wouldn’t you know – just after we pulled in, a tour bus full of older folks pulled in, all wanting their tea.
The last stop we made before Killarney was Glengarriff. We first visited Glengarriff last year when we took a boat trip out of there to Garinish Island, also spelled Garnish Island, and also called Ilnacullin! This is a good time to point out that it’s a fun game to see how many ways the Irish change the spellings of their placenames within a 2 block radius! Anyway, Glengarriff is a wee village, with a gorgeous, stunning bay and really adorable main street. They were building a big ugly hotel there this year, so we aren’t the only ones to have discovered it. Last year I bought a sweater made from black sheep wool, a tweed purse, and an Irish cap for myself. I bought another this year, and added an Irish brooch to it. We had a lovely chat with the saleslady in one of the shops, and she invited us to stay and have a cup of tea with her.
In Killarney, we checked into The Gleneagle, and headed for the city center. Mac’s was closed, and stayed closed the whole time we were there, so we went to Robertino’s. Margaret was still working there.
Tuesday, 4 April – It was a fine day for the Ring of Kerry, including stops at Staigue Fort, and Sneem, which is such a picturesque little village. We had lunch at the Scariff Inn, which has a strange hybrid US/Irish flag flying out front. I found that oddly disturbing, though many Irish establishments fly a US flag. It was the first combination flag I’d ever seen, and I hope the last!
The café and shop also accept US dollars, which I’ve never seen anywhere in the country. One entire wall of the café is window, overlooking a postcard view of Kerry and the Atlantic. The little old man who ran the gift shop was as corny as Kansas in June, and full of information. He told us about the Killarney Bog Village, among 100 other things. I would estimate we have driven by it no fewer than 50 times over 9 visits, and never saw it. It is situated between Glenbeigh and Killorglin, behind the Red Fox Inn. Again, we were all alone there. It wasn’t actually open, but you pay the entry fee at the Red Fox Inn, and they don’t mind if you wander at leisure. You can even come back in for an Irish Coffee, at a discount, afterward! I took many pictures. You can see how the bog men lived, and there are sweet bog ponies. 
On the way back to town, we took note that the Kissanes’ sheep farm, near Kenmare, was still closed for the season. If you want to see them do sheep herding and shearing demos, which we enjoyed last year, you will be able to in summer. And, you’ll have a chance to adopt a sheep ;-)
Some of those very alarming armed guards in camouflage had taken over Kenmare, as a deposit was being made to the bank from an armored truck. While we were there (in Ireland, not in Kenmare!) several armored trucks were highjacked and robbed. We went into Killarney town again for dinner, and in search of a book I wanted that won’t be available in the US for months. (We got The DaVinci Code in Ireland in paperback 2 years ago! It was just released in paperback here a week ago.)
Wednesday, 5 April – Dingle town. Our mobile phone charger failed, and we discovered an entire new section of Dingle town when one phone store there directed us to another. Make sure when you get to Dingle that you explore the streets BEHIND the main street! Great stuff back there, including a stone church at the top of a hill. We did the Dingle drive, Slea Head, across the Conor Pass, and back to Dingle for lunch. We didn’t go on the Fungi boat tour, because we had another dolphin watch tour planned for Clare.
We went to the Gap of Dunloe to see if the pony traps were running for the season yet, and met Jim, who was one of only 2 drivers out. He and Tom took us on a nice ride up to the old British jail. He offered to take us farther, but last summer we took the buggy to the top, and the boat ride down
through the lakes, and I realized that to the British jail was far enough in a trap. We met the parish priest on the way, and Jim stopped to show us Echo Lake. We called out, and a perfect echo returned! No one ever showed us that before, probably because of the summer crowds. The funniest thing – as we approached mid point on the return trip, Tom started neighing furiously. In the distance, another horse answered. Jim said, “He’s calling to his friends that he will be back soon.” This went on all the way back, growing more and more frenzied, until Tom met up with his friends.Thursday, 6 April – We drove the Beara Peninsula this day, which is the least developed of the 3 peninsulas, and is mostly, but not all, in County Cork. There is a little island off of Beara called Dursey Island, and they have a cable car that goes from Beara to Dursey. You can see both sides clearly, and the entire structure looks to be made up of 2 of the metal things they string electrical wires from, and a cable car that runs back and forth.
There was a signpost on the Beara side that pointed to Dursey Island, and also announced, curiously, that it was 3310 km to Moscow!We had tickets to see The Saw Doctors in Limerick later that night and about a 90 minute drive to get there, but after the Beara, we had a little time to spare before that. We toured Muckross House.
After dinner we left for Limerick. The Ticket Master thing said 9 p.m. So, I figured since it was general admission, in America, you'd need to be there at 4, at the latest. But I remembered even when going to see Jackson Browne in Ireland, at a general admission concert, we walked up to the door 15 minutes before showtime, and got 2nd row seats. And we could have had 1st, if my friend hadn't been taping!!!
So, remembering that things there are just so much easier, we went to the venue at about 8 30. It was a place called Dolan's Warehouse, with a capacity of 350. One section was a pub, one a really intimate room for lesser known acts, and the Warehouse. As we walked to the pub to find out what to do, we could hear the sound check. There was no line, nothing...I asked in the pub where I should go to get my tickets. The barman said, at the door when it opens. He also said, It'll be more like 9 30 - they never open on time. So we ordered a pint, decided to relax. I didn't really care about being up close, like for a Jackson show. The pub was packed, but in the middle of all the activity, the barman came up to us and said, The Warehouse doors are open now, if you want to go get seats. I thought that was really sweet, that he thought to do that.Well, at the door, I told the girl I didn't have my tickets, but I had my little TM sheet printed out. She said, That's fine...marked off my name, which was on her little list, and we went in. The place had a tiny stage, and a floor with a few tables at the back, and a bar to the side. Then there was a sort of U shaped balcony that had a rail and bar stools. We went up, sat overlooking stage left, at the upper left point of the "U". It was amazing. Nearly the best seats I've had for a concert, and we walked in 10 minutes after the doors opened. It was so much fun. The band loves its job.
There were only about 50 of us in the U, as it was just a rail with one bar stool deep. No one in front or you, no one behind. Oh - and when I went to the bathroom, there wasn't a line. It's all simpler there! We saw these guys play the Birchmere, and Wolf Trap, which is big. It was so cool to see them in a tiny room! They played until midnight, and we got back to Killarney about 1 30. There was a guy named Curtis Magee playing in the hotel lobby, and 100 old people with him, drinking and singing along! We said, Aha!!! We knew they waited until we went to bed to have parties!
Just an item of interest – Van Morrison will be playing a concert at The Gleneagle in May. While we were staying there, it was country music week. Colette and Jive Beat one night, singing Stand by Your Man~~~~
Friday, 7 April – We left Killarney and drove to Tarbert, got right on the ferry, and went across to Killimer, just minutes from Kilrush. It was very efficient, and €15 one way. We were across in no time. We spent the day on Loop Head, West Clare. There used to be a pub here with a sign that
said, Last pint until America, or Boston, or something like – but I didn’t see it this time. Loop Head is rugged, and isolated and very much off the beaten path. There is a lighthouse at the tip. People live there, but it hasn’t been really settled. St Senan’s Well is there. If you read Ireland, by Frank Delaney, about the storyteller, there is a story in it about a St Senan - maybe the same one. There sits the well, in the middle of a fort nearly as tall as the little chapel they’ve built over it, in the middle of nowhere. Inside are many offerings left by people who come to the site to pray. We ended the day in Ennistymon, at the Falls Hotel, with a walk down by the falls. In April, the sun was still up after 8.Saturday, 8 April – We planned to take the Carrigaholt Dolphin Cruise, but it was “too fresh”. The best definition I have heard for “fresh” is anything from a cool breeze to gale force winds. We learned to trust the judgment of the people who run the boats after our near death Skellig adventure a few years back, and found things to do on land. I braced for a visit to the Cliffs of Moher, which used to be a highlight of every trip, in any weather. They are “upgrading”, which is usually a bad idea and more so in this case. At this time, they have replaced the building with the outdoor toilets, the little gift shop, and the dirt car park with a much more tour bus friendly set up. The treacherous walk to the cliffs, a worthy test of Darwin’s theory, is now a tidy and safe walkway with a fence. The thrill is gone for me. They are building a whole new visitor center that will be hidden under a grassy hill, so as not to detract from the grand Cliffs. The current mess will be removed. I will reserve judgment on that.
We had lunch in the tiny village of Mountshannon, and toured Castle Birr Demesne in County Offaly . If you are interested in photography or astronomy, this is a good tour.
Sunday, 9 April – Finally, the dolphin tour! We bought lunch from a deli and ate on the beach at Kilkee, watching a girls’ football team practice in the 45* temps, and people in wetsuits learning to dive.
The dolphin boat went at 2, and was about a 2 hour trip. Including the couple who ran the thing, we
had 18 people on the boat. The couple visited and talked with everyone who wanted to talk. They gave us names for several ruins we passed by, and lighthouses, and recommended things to see. We saw dozens and dozens of dolphins! Big ones, little ones, groups and loners. I gave up trying to get good pictures and just enjoyed watching them play around the boat. This was a very cool trip.Monday, 10 April – The last leg of the trip and this is when I always start to get sad. We left Clare for Galway, where we stayed in Connemara, in Oughterard. We stopped in Galway City Center to buy me a couple of football jerseys. I already had Kerry, but wanted Galway and Clare. I decided to forego Cork, which is RED and white. I don’t do RED ;-) As we passed by Rossaveal, we stopped in and got tickets for the next day to go to the Arans. You are probably saying, you don’t pass by Rossaveal going from Clare to Oughterard. We do. Now you can see how we put 2,329 miles on the car in 2 weeks.
I loved the hotel in Oughterard. It had the best feeling from the minute we checked in, until we left and they wished us Safe home, with a God bless you, and hope we’ll see you next year! The other places were nice, but you know how you can feel immediately at home.
Very near the hotel was a castle built in 1500, Aughnanure Castle, which has been nicely restored and is a heritage site. We went there in the late afternoon, and then on to the Glengowla Silver Mines, also very near. The sign offered a tour, and we thought, Why not? It had the look of a ghost town – not a soul in sight. As we walked toward the little office/shop, an older man appeared and went in with us. He said they were still giving tours, and the guide would be right along. We put on our hard hats, and followed our 18 year old rockhound guide John, who told us everyone calls him Johnnay. So we did, too. We learned all you could want to know about the galena, from which you can extract silver if you heat it to melting. (It became a
joke with us that most food in Ireland, soup especially, is served hot enough to melt the galena!) The tour was amusing, but when we got back to the office, we got into a conversation with the older man, Paddy. He had a cousin who left Ireland when they were young, joined the US Army, and was killed in a battle somewhere. He keeps a photo of his cousin, in US Army uniform, in a place of honor on the wall there, and wonders if he married and had kids here. He tried to use the internet to find out, but was confounded by it. Of course, over the course of this, I took a photo of the photo and offered to see what I could find. I told him I’d email him if I found anything. He said to Johnnay, Do I have email? I have his snail address, just in case.Tuesday, 11 April – We booked the 1 o’clock ferry to Inis Mór, on this very cool, sunny, windy day. We spent the morning driving around Connemara, to Leenane, which is such a breathtaking place. They have built a café adjacent to the ticket office at Rossaveal. You can eat there, or get food to take away if you wanted to eat on the ferry. A lot of people on our ferry were sorry they had eaten before. This was our 7th trip over to the islands, and by far the roughest seas! Our first trip over was on a little boat that felt like it was going to capsize any minute. This was one of the BIG ferries, and the waves were having their way with it. Lots of plastic bags were handed out, and many were used.
When we got off the boat, there were lots of vans about, but only one pony trap. We walked straight up to him, and Chuck said, “Oh good, you came for us. You must have got our text message.” The driver didn’t miss a beat. He said, “Sure I knew you were coming.” We had the best time with him.
His name was Mike, and when he heard we’d been to the island and done the standard route several times, he asked if we wanted to go to the other end, which looks across to Inis Meáin. Mike left us to walk where we would, and waited for us up over the hill. The scenery was beautiful, and there were remains of a church from around the year 500, and a great cemetery with old and new headstones, side by side, each telling stories of the island’s families.
The chip shop was closed, but there were several other new pubs, restaurants, and hotels sprung up since last year, and my photo of the harbor is very different than last year’s, once again.
The boat ride back was much calmer and quieter, I’m happy to say.
Wednesday, 12 April – This was the first real rainy day of our trip. We went to Kylemore Abbey, where it seems to be raining or overcast, always, no matter what it’s doing anywhere else. We didn’t tour the house, just looked in the gift shop and took pictures of the house.
After lunch in Leenane, where, guess what – they were doing major road widening – we decided to go up to Mayo to Achill Island. It was a nice drive, past bog after bog, but by the time we got to Mayo, the tops of the mountains were obscured by fog. We didn’t go up, since the roads there are still one winding narrow lane, and we couldn’t have seen a thing from the top. We went to the end of the island, instead, where there was an impressive beach. We had to wait out a funeral, one of 2 we saw with hundreds of cars in the procession.
Oh, I was really shocked to see that Peacocke’s was closed for the season! I thought Peacocke’s never closed.
Thursday, 13 April – The last full day in Ireland. I hate this day! I try to drag my feet to stop time, while cramming in everything. In the morning we drove around Connemara, and found Tully Cross, where thatch rules. Streets of thatch cottages, including one that resembles a wookie. It’s actually a lodge – Pine Lodge. After lunch in Clifden, which gets trendier by the day, we decided to head into Galway to the City Center. Over the last few years, they have been “improving” Eyre Square. It was supposed to reopen this day, after a € 9 million refurbishing, but when we got there, the construction fences were still up, and a full crew at work. There are supposed to be 120 new trees. I didn’t see nearly so many. We didn’t see much different, and the people of Galway are pretty annoyed by the whole thing. I didn’t take pictures because it was basically a construction site. However, in Galway, I did find the book, at last, that I’d been seeking all over Ireland.
We drove back to Oughterard by the longest possible way, through Cornamona, and Cong…I had already done all the VAT paperwork. It is too depressing to leave that until the last night. We had a nice dinner at the hotel, enjoyed the turf fire in the lobby, and tried not to think about the long Friday ahead.
Friday, 14 April – There was only one thing left to do. I needed to go to Adare to see my castle, and its restoration progress. It’s usually on the way to Shannon, as we are usually coming from Killarney, and are heading north through Adare. We had time to go past Shannon, to Adare, where I dodged traffic to get the shot, as I do annually, and ran back to the car.
Then on to Shannon, where we boarded St Keeva. I can find nothing about St Keeva. Next time, I will ask about her. Or him.
Other highlights: During the time we were there, we saw the rugby matches that led to the Heineken Cup final. This would be the equivalent to the NFL football playoffs. Regional or, in Ireland’s case, provincial teams from Ireland, England, Scotland, Wales, Italy, and France play. The country went mad when it turned out that the final would be All Ireland - played between Munster and Leinster, at Lansdowne Road in Dublin. The final was set for April 23, so we missed it. I am pulling for Munster, who are the underdogs.
We also missed two other things we couldn’t help being drawn into. The Irish Grand National, which was won by a horse who came in at 20-1, and the first Easter Parade in 40 years. A friend sent me pictures she took of this historic event.
Observations - The area around Moll’s Gap was being ripped up and widened. Many other roads as well. In some cases ancient stone walls have been torn down to widen them, and metal guard rails put up in their place. That said, we saw some of them being replaced with new stone walls, being built in the old way, with no mortar. Maybe over time, they will replace them all. And for every big ugly sprawling McMansion we have seen going up in the last years, this year we saw as many lovely little Irish cottages going up, with thatch roofs and window boxes. I am so happy Irish people are aware of the importance of preserving their heritage.
So, there you have my rather involved and shockingly long travel diary of our 2006 Ireland trip.
http://www.bebo.com/jxnfan
There are Irish pictures in the various Ireland volumes, as well as the Lighthouse and Cemetery sections of my other website.
All photos by Judi
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