Ireland!
One of our long-awaited bucket list trips was to visit Ireland together. Last month we finally did it! As promised, we wanted to give you an overview and review of what we did in case you are thinking of making this trip yourself!
Jen and I flew into Dublin and on the first day we took a train to Killarney (SW part of the island and the primary area we explored.) We then settled into our flat and picked up our rental car. A very generous friend offered his apartment to us in Killarney so we had a convenient place to stay our first two nights! The first night we relaxed, took a walk through town, and had a nice dinner. We highly recommend Kitty O'Se's for dinner if you get to Killarney!
The next day, we visited Killarney National park, which is walkable from town. We hiked on well-paved trails through scenic countryside where we saw Red Deer and visited Ross Castle, a tower house from the 15th century. It is estimated that about 2,000 of these tower home castles were built in Ireland during this time. The homes were built for defense as there was a lot of violence and looting among chieftains. Although not the biggest or most well known, Ross Castle was nicely restored and provided a great tour (we were lucky they still had tickets). After our long walk, we again walked through town, grabbed a drink in a speakeasy pub, and had dinner.
On Day 3 we departed Killarney to drive to Cork City and pick up our friends (Chris and Jocelyn) at the airport. We have known C&J since we were neighbors in Greenville, SC almost 30 years ago and have been good friends since then. We only see them about once a year so we were looking forward to 5 days of friendship. C&J have not been to Ireland before, so it was fun to share in their excitement!
After their long, overnight flight, they also wanted to stretch and take in some sights, so we headed to Blarney Castle to take a tour and "Kiss the Blarney Stone".
Blarney Castle is another tower home like Ross Castle, but much bigger and more famous. It is also surrounded by impressive gardens. Although worth seeing, the crowds were much bigger here and it took about 30 minutes in line to reach the top of the castle to kiss the Blarney Stone.
After the castle, we checked into our Airbnb for our time in Cork. It was just outside the city center (about 20 minute walk or a short taxi ride).
Day 4 we got up early and did an all-day drive around the "Ring of Kerry". The Ring of Kerry is a drive around the Kerry peninsula which juts out into the North Atlantic ocean. It's popular with tourists for historic sites, quaint Irish seaside towns, and spectacular ocean views. But first, a quick note about driving and transportation in Ireland.
If you visit Ireland, you have some options. There is excellent train service between all the major cities, and most cities are small enough that they are very walkable. So you can most definitely get by without a car, and use trains, taxis and/or tour groups to get around and see the sites. If, on the other hand, you are more adventurous and want to avoid crowds and see the sites at your own pace, you can get a rental car. No international license is needed. However, driving is on the LEFT side of the road (steering wheel on the right). Although the roads are well marked and maintained, some of the rural roads and bridges are very narrow and require some tight maneuvering. If you are not confident driving in those conditions, I recommend not getting a car. The cars are also more expensive, especially getting all the necessary insurance. Most US insurance carriers and credit cards do not cover Ireland. This was my 3rd time driving in Ireland/UK so I'm finally getting used to it!
On our Ring of Kerry drive, our first stop was Cahergall Stone Fort. Built around 1,000 years ago, it was another example of a defensive home in Ireland. It was off the beaten path so almost no one was there as it's not a tour bus stop. As were returned to our car, an entrepreneurial gentleman offered us a lamb to hold (and was then aggressive for his "tip"). It was all good fun to hold the lamb and take some pictures, but on a few occasions this trip, we came upon friendly folks offering to help us with the hidden intentions of expecting a tip or charging us for their help. It didn't happen often, but it can catch you off guard because overall, most of the Irish are very friendly and helpful so it can be hard to spot those with ulterior motives.
Next we took a car ferry to Valentia Island and drove to Geokaun Mountain and Cliffs, providing our first spectacular scenery of the North Atlantic Irish coast.
From there we left the island and stopped for lunch in Portmagee. We enjoyed our first traditional Irish meal at The Moorings where we enjoyed lamb shank and Guinness Stew. One of the best meals we ate in Ireland and we highly recommend it.
After lunch we made our way to the end of the peninsula to see the Kerry Cliffs. Although not as famous as the Cliffs of Moher which are further north up the coast, these cliffs are just as spectacular and more rugged. The overlook was nearly 1,000 feet above the ocean! It was quite a challenge to get to the top of the overlook as we had to walk against headwinds of 30-50 mph off the water.
As we headed back off the peninsula, poor weather prevented us from enjoying a couple other scenic locations, but the weather cleared in time for two more stops at Owengarriff River and Torc Waterfall.
Our car tour finished back in Killarney where we showed Chris and Jocelyn the town and enjoyed dinner again at Kitty O'Se's before returning to Cork.
Day 5: We hopped in the car again for short drive to Kinsale, a scenic town on the southern coast. It was highly recommended by several people. There, we enjoyed a nice walk along the harbor and through the town, but didn't stay long because of crowds in for a huge regatta. From there we visited Charles Fort, built in the late 1600's. By now you can tell we enjoyed visiting historical sites! Later, we returned to Cork where we walked around the city and enjoyed dinner and a pub.
Day 6: Since our friends flew in and out of Cork, we dedicated this day to Dublin. It was a 2-hour train ride each way so it was not an efficient use of our time, but it was worth it to spend a day there together. Our first stop was the Guinness Storehouse where we learned of the history of the famous beer and enjoyed a fresh Guinness in their sky bar overlooking the city.
Later we took a walking tour of the city, learning more about Dublin's history and visiting Trinity College, the Book of Kells, and the Long Room. In short, the Long Room is a magnificent 2-story library room that looks like it was straight out of a Harry Potter movie. It's a breathtaking space. The Book of Kells is an intricately written and illustrated book containing the four gospels of the bible and dates back to around 800 AD. It is estimated that each page took about one month to create and the entire book would have taken two writers about 40 years to complete! NOTE: The Long Room is about to go through a 2-year renovation. We got there right before renovation started so if you plan to visit Dublin soon, you may not be able to see the Long Room.
To finish the day, we enjoyed dinner and stumbled upon some very good traditional Irish music! On the train ride bike, Mike and Jocelyn beat Chris and Jen in a game of Spades before arriving back in Cork near midnight.
Day 7: Mike's Birthday! Jen took care of the arrangements this day. Top of the list was a visit to the Midleton Distillery for a tour and whiskey tasting! We toured the older distillery and learned some of the history of whiskey making in Ireland. And the whiskey tasking was fantastic. And we booked a train so I didn't have to drive! 😄
Later we enjoyed an elegant dinner in Cork to wrap up our visit with our friends and to celebrate my birthday. A great way to finish our trip together!
Day 8 and 9: This morning we checked out of our Airbnb, brought our friends back to the airport, dropped off our car, and took the train back to Dublin where Jen and I enjoyed two more days before flying back home. In Dublin, we enjoyed some of the sights we hadn't already seen. Jen and I like to visit museums and learn about the history of the countries we visit, so we attended a couple museums. The first one was the GPO Museum, dedicated to the 1916 Easter Rising. The second was the National Museum of Archeology where we saw various artifacts throughout Irish history. We also enjoyed walking more through the city, doing some shopping, and enjoying one or two pubs!
On Day 10 we flew back home. Overall it was a great trip and we highly recommend visiting Ireland in your future travels. During our visit in September, it rained almost every day but we came prepared and carried a rain coat everywhere. Rarely did it rain hard (usually more of a light rain/mist) so it didn't really impact us at all.
Thanks again for following us and we hope you've learned a little about Ireland. If anyone has any questions about the country and what it's like to visit there, please let us know!
That's it for this year! Next year we have already made a few plans, including an RV trip to Key West this winter, another sailing trip with friends around the island of Antigua, an Alaska fishing trip for Mike, and hopefully a significant family trip with Samantha and Shane next fall somewhere in Europe. More to follow.
Love and Peace,
Mike and Jen
