I guess the answer to that question is because we had to. It was an amazing trip, and we were sad to leave Ireland, but we did miss the kiddies and the pups. We woke up shortly after 5am to…
Our last day in Dublin
After visiting the Hard Rock, we continued walking through Temple Bar and retraced some of the route we took on the hop on hop off bus tour. We revisited Christ Church, St. Patrick’s, Kevin Street, and then walked to Dublin…
Hard Rock Cafe
On our last full day in Dublin, we decided to revisit places we’d been as well as see some that we’d missed. One of the places we had yet to visit was the Hard Rock Cafe. It is less than a…
LDS > MAN > DUB
After breakfast in the club room at the Marriott, we went back to our room, got our stuff together and walked over to the train station. We could have flown back to Dublin from Leeds, but there were only two flights…
Shannon…
We purposely stayed in Ennis on our last night in Ireland due to its close proximity to Shannon airport, from where we were flying to London the next day. Here is a quick recap of where we’ve traveled thus far.…
Hurling…
After spending close to two hours at the Cliffs, we got back into the car to make the 45 minute drive to Ennis, where we were staying that evening. The drive was uneventful, though we did get stuck behind a…
The Cliffs of Moher
Once we had decided that we were definitely visiting Ireland, we knew that the Cliffs of Moher was on our must-see list. After a gorgeous, yet very long drive, we finally made our way to Liscannor, where the Cliffs are…
Off to County Clare…
After another fabulous breakfast thanks to Brian, we reluctantly packed up the car, sad to leave Dingle, but excited for our journey to see the Cliffs of Moher in County Clare. Kevin chose to wear one of his Soundgarden t-shirts,…
Dingle miscellany
After we returned from the Blasket Center, the sun was out in full force. We spent the afternoon walking around town, picking up our laundry, shopping and enjoying pubs in the village. Here are a few photos taken that afternoon.…
Slea Head Drive
After breakfast, we decided to visit The Great Blasket Center in Dunquin, the western most point in Ireland. To get there, we traveled along the Slea Head Drive, a circular route that begins and ends in Dingle. We made multiple stops…
Castlewood House
We’d read the reviews in travel books and online forums and simply could not wait to stay at this here. The reception area is very welcoming, there is beautiful art throughout the house. (Miro prints in our bedroom, along with…
Dingle in the rain…
We pulled in to Castlewood House shortly after 1p.m., and as suspected, our room was not quite ready. Brian, our host, informed us that it should be done in about 10-15 minutes and we could wait if we’d like. Instead,…
A confession…
I admit it, we planned a good deal of our trip to Ireland around available dates at Castlewood House in Dingle. In all honesty, I cannot recall exactly where I first came across this guesthouse. My best guess is that I…
The drive to Dingle…
After a very leisurely and delicious breakfast at Brook Lane, as well as a nice conversation with Una, we packed up the car and were ready to leave Kenmare at about 11a.m. The drive to Dingle takes just under 2 hours,…
Kenmare
Kenmare was the next stop on our tour of the south west, and we had a reservation for the Brook Lane Hotel, located at the very beginning of the Ring of Kerry. Once again we programmed our destination into our…
Killarney National Park
Before leaving Kinsale, we walked around the village one last time and stopped at the Post Office to mail the few postcards we’d written in Dalton’s the day before. Then it was back into the car for the 2 hour drive…
Kinsale
After crossing the river, we proceeded to Kinsale, a drive that took approximately 40 minutes. We were staying at Acton’s of Kinsale, a hotel located on Pier Road in a location known as World’s End, named as such because way…
We’re moving?
After spending the day in Cobh, we got back in the car to make our way to Kinsale, another harbortown on the southern coast, and the place where we were staying for the next two nights. But, before detailing our…
Titanic
When we first decided that we were going to Ireland, one of the places we decided we must see is the seaport town of Cobh (pronounced cove) for a couple of reasons: firstly, we love the water and any village…
Why should I Cahir…
After breakfast at Aulber House, we packed our bags into the car, and hit the road. This time, our first journey of the day was very short, a drive of only about 11 miles. We were on our way to…
One day, two castles…
We made it safely to Kilkenny where we visited Kilkenny Castle, a castle built in the late 1190’s. The Office of Public Works is an organization that has taken control of and maintains / preserves historic sites throughout the country. These…
Driving to Kilkenny
We picked up our rental car on Sunday morning, excited to start traveling around the country, but also quite nervous about driving on Irish roads that are notoriously narrow and treacherous. We decided that our first excursion wouldn’t be that…
Saturday afternoon at Kehoe’s
After seeing all that great memorabilia at The Little Museum, we decided to go for a pint in the Grafton Street area. We wandered around for a short while, deciding to sit down at a pub just off of Grafton…
The second U2 post…
Did you really think I’d stop at one? After visiting the Book of Kells, we walked from Trinity College over to the north side of St. Stephen’s Green, where there is a fairly new museum called The Little Museum of…
Trinity College & The Book of Kells
Our hotel was close to Trinity College, but we saved visiting the Book of Kells for Saturday morning. We arrived there early, well before it opened for the day, but there was still quite a crowd ahead of us in…
The U2 post…
As a die hard fan of the band since the early 80’s, this post is obligatory. One cannot visit Dublin and not see some of the historic sites around the city that pertain to U2. First lesson, Bono, née Paul Hewson,…
Kilmainham Gaol
After we sampled a pint at the Guinness Storehouse, we made our way out to the bus stop to hop on for our next stop; the Kilmainham Gaol. This is a very popular tourist spot and it is recommended to…
Guinness Storehouse
Our first hop off stop of the Dublin bus tour was The Guinness Storehouse. Yes, it was still fairly early in the morning, but we were ready to learn how Guinness is made. Fortunately, as we were one of the…
Hop on, hop off….
When researching places to visit in Dublin, we realized that although the city is quite compact, walking to some sites would take quite some time. We looked into the different options for public transit and learned about the Dublin Hop On,…
Temple Bar
After lunch, we made our way over to the Liffey River, crossing over the Ha’penny Bridge. We walked along the river, keeping our eyes peeled for a particular hotel, The Clarence, which is owned by Bono and The Edge of U2,…
Grafton Street and our first pints…
We made our way through Fusilier’s Arch and walked onto famed Grafton Street, a pedestrian plaza filled with restaurants, shopping, pubs and local street performers. Two of the performers who got their starts busking along Grafton Street are also two of…
Lightning Bolts….
We made it to Newark Airport quickly, fortunately there was very little traffic on a Wednesday afternoon. After saying our goodbyes to Courtney & Ashley, we got in line to make our way through security. The line was not terribly…