Dublin to Galway, Cliffs of Moher and Limerick: Saturday 23 July

We had an 8am departure from Dublin with a temporary new driver, Noel, while Kevin was on a couple of rest days. We soon left County Dublin and passed through County Kildare. Kildare is horse-breeding territory, and Michelle told us about the mysterious disappearance in 1981 of top race horse, Shergar. Next we travelled through County Meath, and then County Galway.

After a two hour drive to a very busy service centre for coffees and restrooms, there was a further 45 minutes to Galway. Michelle took us on a walking tour using our Vox headsets (these had been a great way of hearing our guides during several of our tours). Galway had a big horse-racing festival on and so was particularly crowded.We saw Lynch's Castle, the Collegiate Church of St Nicholas, and the Spanish Arch (the latter not being particularly interesting, but dating back to the old days of trade with Spain). Michelle also pointed out the shop where the original Claddach Ring was made, and explained its meaning and how to wear it (according to whether or not you were 'taken', or 'available'). Being a Saturday, we were able to walk past some street-side market stalls; the most interesting being the fishmonger. We didn't have much time, and it being so crowded, we were happy to sit and have some lunch in the Food 4 Thought Cafe, where I enjoyed some vegan shepherd's pie. I took photos of the signs on the doors to the women's and men's toilets - because Michelle had warned us that these might be confusing in Gaelic...

 

 

 

Not far out of Galway, on the road to the Cliffs of Moher, we struck a massive 20 minute traffic jam - a road accident, we thought, leading into the town of Clarinbridge. We also passed a couple of bridesmaids on their way to a wedding along the road - it looked like their car had broken down.

The landscapes of County Galway and County Clare changed back to farms with stone walls, as we'd seen in Scotland and the Lake District. We went through several villages, threaded along some very narrow lanes (several scary stops for our bus to squeeze past other buses and trucks). We passed through the village of Lisdoonvanna (site of the original annual 'Farmer Wants a Wife' festival (begun there hundreds of years ago). The landscape changed yet again to be more rocky (limestone) and barren - this area is called the Burren.

After a two hour drive, we finally reached the Cliffs of Moher, overlooking the Atlantic Ocean. We walked up the paths and many steps to take in the amazing views to the left and to the right along the coast. We walked further up to O'Brien's Tower, built in 1835, that marked the highest point of the cliffs. The views were spectacular and I was delighted to have been able to walk up all those steps to enjoy it! I certainly couldn't have done it a year ago, or nine weeks ago, either.

  

The interactive exhibits in the Visitor Centre displayed the geological aspects of the area, as well as the native bird and marine life. A 3D film took us with a digital/animated gannet, flying along the edges of the cliffs, and then over the side and into the ocean to see the sea life - seals, whales etc. Puffins also live along the cliffs. It was all very well done.
This area is also a popular one for surfing, and there were some beautiful sandy beach expanses beyond the cliffs. A golf course at Lahinch (apparently a favourite of Tiger Woods) might be incorporated in Mark T's next golf tour?! There were lots of holiday homes adjacent to these areas.

  

Another two hour drive and we finally reached the George Boutique Hotel in Limerick. Then, within only half an hour (because of being held up by the earlier traffic delays), we were straight out again for a medieval banquet at Knappogue Castle (near Shannon) a 30 minute drive away. The countryside was very picturesque, and we were soon driving up to a real (renovated) castle from the 15th century.

  

We were greeted by lords and ladies dressed in period costume, and handed cups of mead (a wine made from honey - though a quick Google by me found that it may sometimes also contain grain - so I had to pass) - I had cordial instead (sachet mix? and later suspected it had glutened me). There was plenty of low alcohol wine on the tables. Some people from each tour group were chosen to be a king and queen, and given crowns, and had to sit at the high table. There was pleasant background entertainment from musicians on violin and harp, with interludes as each dish was presented - four courses (in addition to bread, GF for me): Salmon with salad, tomato and basil soup (which we had to drink directly from the bowl, no spoons), roast chicken, mashed potato and veges, and then dessert (fruit salad again for me, but they had gone to some effort to make it more special). There was some dramatic entertainment enacting a bit of a medieval storyline involving some of the chosen kings and queens, and lots of hilarity. There was some singing and Irish jig dancing to finish, and the show was all over by 9pm. It was very well done and something completely different for us.

 

There was more banter and laughter and singing in the bus on the way home, especially between some of the Aussies and Americans. Over all, an excellent night out, and we didn't have to drive ourselves home!

Glendalough and Dublin: Friday 22 July

After last night's late night, we had a 'luxurious' start to the morning, able to go to breakfast at 7:45am and then onto the bus for an optional 9am tour departure to Glendalough, in the beautiful Wicklow Mountains about a one hour drive south of Dublin.

We drove with our private guide for the morning, passing gradually up into the hills, passing the Sugar Loaf mountain, seeing areas of bog and peat (no longer allowed to be cut), small villages (including Roundwood with its old coach inn, Annamoe and Laragh), and areas where many movies and TV series have been filmed - eg History Channel's Vikings.

We arrived after 10am at the beautiful monastic site of Glendalough (Valley of the Two Lakes), established by St Kevin in 550 AD. He chose the site because of the placement near twin lakes and rivers, the shelter of the hills and the fertile soil. St Patrick visited here too.

We saw the original monastic gateway, the ruined churches and larger ruins of the cathedral. The big, separate tower had never been breeched, even through Viking raids, because the site was further inland. The monastery itself was eventually destroyed by the English in 1398 (though the tower remained). A few monks remained until the Dissolution of the Monasteries in 1539 by Henry VIII.

 

The weather in the morning was sunny and fine, with a very pleasant 22C. We got back to the hotel by 1pm and had a free afternoon and evening.

We headed back to our room to offload some gear, then went out for a very late lunch at the same place as yesterday (KC Peaches Cafe and Delicatessen), with another enormous GF sandwich that David had to help me eat.

We looked at our timing and decided to go to the National Museum of Archeology next, semi-following Rick Steve's recommended highlights. These included a fascinating look at the Hill of Tara and the stone tombs, a Vikings section, ancient gold and jewellery, and most interesting of all - the exhibits showing the bodies of people dug up from various bogs - some very well-preserved.

Next we headed over to visit The Book of Kells and the Old Library at Trinity College. Unfortunately we were confronted by an enormous queue (we should have pre-booked online), and as my feet and knee were all ready killing me, we decided to give it a miss. I decided that it would have been similar to the very old libraries we'd seen on our 2011 River cruise, and also the ancient hand-written and illustrated bibles and manuscripts Jan and I had seen in Prague. Disappointing, but we were beyond it. Instead we headed to a recommended pub, The Duke, and had some much-needed liquid refreshment. Then, we struggled through the incredible crowds of people and many road works to walk back to our hotel.

We booked an early-bird dinner deal in the hotel restaurant, very wise as later we saw people being turned away. We enjoyed a lovely meal on a special deal.

Belfast to Dublin: Thursday 21 July

David and I had a shocking night's sleep due to a group of seagulls making a racket all night, roughly every 45 minutes, on the roof just outside our window. You wouldn't have experienced anything like it, but several people on the tour have commented on how much bigger and more vicious the seagulls in the UK seem to be. Others on our tour have had similar issues with seagull noise at other hotels during our stay.

We left Belfast and Northern Ireland for a relatively short drive through to Dublin in the Republic of Ireland. As I've noticed everywhere in the UK, the countryside was very green and picturesque. On the way, Michelle gave us a brief outline of the make-up of Ireland, and the history of Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.

We saw a few sights on the way into Dublin, and then were dropped off for an hour and a half in the central city to find some lunch. We found a good place for sandwiches (including GF for me) at KC Peaches Cafe and Delicatessen. We had a short look around the very crowded footpaths, and bought a book for Michelle K at a local bookshop. Then it was back to the bus for a more extensive tour of the city.

We saw Oscar Wilde's family home, and his 'laid back' statue in Merrion Square. There were a lot of Georgian homes and other buildings in the area, many with different coloured doors to make them stand out. We were shown the liberties area, outside the old city walls; and heard that there is a south side (more wealthy) and a north side of the city, with the Liffey River (75 miles long) as a divider.

We drove past St Patrick's Cathedral (Jonathan Swift is buried there) and Christ Church Cathedral (the gothic oldest cathedral). We were driven through the expansive Phoenix Park, the largest enclosed park in Europe, and once used for hunting, especially for deer. We saw an obelisk made from melted French canons from the Battle of Trafalgar and saw where the Irish American Ambassador lives. We stopped at the Pope's Cross (where Pope John Paul II had visited). Other places we passed included the Irish President's home, Dublin Zoo, Police headquarters and a polo ground - all very diverse places!

Finally, we were taken to the Guinness Brewery for a guided tour. It was a very impressive place and even I enjoyed the visit! I got a photo and video of David pouring a pint of Guinness, and he got to enjoy my free drink as well. He really enjoyed the fresh Guinness, way more than what he's tried at home in the past, but it has to be served at just the right temperature and poured correctly. There were great views over Dublin from the top of the building, but it was awfully crowded. We were interested to hear that the founder, Arthur Guinness had originally signed a 9000 year lease on the property, at a cost of 45 pounds per year! He and his wife also had 21 children!

Next stop was our hotel, the Trinity City Hotel across the road from Trinity College, (the College being founded in 1592 by Elizabeth I and originally only for Protestant males). Women were admitted in 1903, and Catholics were only formally allowed in by the Catholic Church in the 1970s.

We had one hour to settle into our hotel (having showers and doing laundry by hand) before heading out for the optional evening, an Irish Cabaret and dinner up in the hills overlooking Dublin, at Taylor's Three Rock - a huge pub venue with a thatched roof. We enjoyed an evening of traditional Irish song, dance and humour, and a nice dinner (good overall GF for me, including absolutely lovely GF bread with my soup, but back to the same old fruit salad for dessert - and my promised and anticipated Irish Coffee without the Whiskey never arrived...). I particularly enjoyed the female singer and her beautiful voice - just glorious. The show ended at 10pm and our group made the fastest getaway of all the bus groups there - all of us keen to get to our hotel for a good night's sleep.