Cowboynboo

We (my husband 52 and myself 39) will be traveling to Ireland from the US in 2016.

May27(Friday) till June 11(Saturday)

This allows for 14 Days in Ireland.
We are wanting to use Public transportation (Bus) as well as Cabs and Day Tours.

We have come up with a basic Idea but are in the planning stages.

May 28 Dublin
May 29 Waterford
May 30-31 Cork (including a day tour of Ring of Kerry)
June 1-2 Dingle (Jaunt via Horse-Seahorse Carriages)
June 3 Tralee
June 4-5 Galway (Galway Tour Co. TO Cliffs of Moher and Aran Islands)
June 6-8 Donegal
June 9-10 Dublin (hop On Hop Off Tour)

Can anyone pitch in with ideas or problems. We know that some days there will be longer bus rides thus the double days in areas. My family came from Donegal in the 1700's therefore the longer days there. Any help and ideas would be appreciated!
Thanks in Advance!!
Cowboynboo

Padraig

Two questions and 2 comments:
Q1: Why Waterford?
Q2: Why Tralee?
Comment 1: Cork tends to divide people: some people like the city greatly (I'm one of those) while others think that there are much more appealing bases not too far away (and yes, I like Cobh and Kinsale as well). But Cork is not an obvious base from which to do the Ring of Kerry.
Comment 2: I'm not sure what sort of service Seahorse carriages offers: they have been relatively inactive for a while and are, apparently, picking up the reins again. I wouldn't build a programme in Dingle around that one activity.

Tony2phones

No point taking a Ring of Kerry tour from Cork you can do the Ring and Dingle tours from Killarney which is the best base for Kerry when using public transport.

I am guessing that Waterford is for Waterford Crystal rather than all else on offer. If that is the case then miss Waterford out and add a day to Galway so that you can get out to Moycullen (short bus ride) for Celtic Crystal, Connemara Marble and a couple of other points in the town.

Missing Waterford also means you can get the express bus to Cork as soon as you land in Dublin and save the Dublin time to the end rather than having two go's at the capital.

I will assume that Tralee is for Ballyseede as it isn't really a tourist town, not that there is anything wrong with that.

Using Public transport I would be inclined to go
Land Dublin ~ Bus to Cork
Cork ~ Killarney, bus or train and take tours from there of the Ring of Kerry, Dingle peninsula, Jaunting cart for the National park or gap of Dunloe or other options.
Bus from Killarney ~ Tralee
Bus from Tralee to Galway (change in Limerick)
Tours from Galway of The Cliffs and Burren, Inis Mor, independent bus ride to Moycullen or a Tour of the Connemara and Kylemore Abbey.
Bus from Galway to Donegal (not sure where you are aiming in Donegal?)
Bus from Donegal to Dublin (4 hours dropping through Cavan)

Personally I might go from Donegal to Belfast take a Causeway tour from there before dropping down to Dublin.

This might be handy for working out public transport. http://www.journeyplanner.transportf..._TRIP_REQUEST2
and for Donegal rural transport http://sitt.ie/

Cowboynboo

Thanks so much for your help. We will give another look at our schedule and see how we can revamp.

Does anyone have any ideas about Donegal?

Padraig

Do you have any idea what part of Donegal might ring ancestral chimes for you?

Cowboynboo

Padaraig from Ballybofey....My maternal line is Caldwell. My paternal line is Orr which I believe are from the Derry area.

Cowboynboo

Thanks for all your help!! Below is our updated itinerary. Please feel free to comment and give pointers.Any help is appreciated!!

Thur May 26 - Flight into Dublin (arrive on the 27th at 5:25am)

Fri May 27 -Airlink/Hop on Hop off Combo ticket(local sites)
-overnight in Dublin (Marian Guesthouse)

Sat May 28 - Check out Marian Guesthouse/Dublin
-Train to Cork (Kent) Station
-Overnight in Cork (Creedon's B&B)
- Walking /viewing Cork Local Sites

Sun May 29 - Train to Cobh
- View local sites in Cobh incl, Heritage Site
-Train Back to Cork
- Bus to Killarney for the night (17:30 or 19:00)
- overnight in Killarney (Windway House)

Mon May 30 - Killarney-Paddywagon Ring of Kerry Tour
- overnight in Killarney (Windway House)

Tue May 31 - Bus from Killarney to Dingle
- Horse Jaunt(Seahorse Carriage possibly)
- Murphy's Ice Cream
- Doyle's Seafood
- overnight in Dingle (The Old Smokehouse)

Wed Jun 1 - Dingle-Dingle Historic Walk
- Visit local sites
- overnight in Dingle (The Old Smokehouse)

Thur Jun 2 - Bus to Limerick
- Viking Red River Tour- King John's Castle, etc.
- Greyhound Stadium & Dinner (7pm)
- Overnight in Limerick (The Pery Hotel)

Fri Jun 3 - Bus to Galway
- Galway City Open Top Bus
- overnight in Galway (Ashgrove House B&B)

Sat Jun 4 - Galway Tour Co.(Aran Islands, Cliffs of Moher, Cliff Cruise)

Cowboynboo

Sat Jun 4 - Galway Tour Co (Aran Island, Cliffs of Moher, Cliff Cruise)
- overnight in Galway (Ashgrove House)

Sun June 5 - Bus to Donegal
- Donegal Town Local Sites
- overnight Donegal (Abbey Hotel)

Mon June 6 -Bus to Adara/neighboring cities
- overnight in Donegal (Abbey Hotel)

Tue June 7 -Donegal Bay Waterbus Tour
- overnight in Donegal (Abbey Hotel)

Wed June 8 - Bus to Dublin
- Hop On Hop Off Freedom Ticket (72hr)
- Overnight in Dublin (Marian Guesthouse)

Thur June 9- Around Ireland Day Tour (Giants Causeway, Belfast Black Cab, Carrick Rede Rope Bridge)
= Overnight Dublin (Marian Guesthouse)

Fri June 10- Hop On HOp Off Freedom Ticket- Dublin
- Breakfast
- Airlink to Airport Catch 11:30 Flight

flpab

Your 11:30 flight from Dublin, be at the airport three hours before flight, very important. If you have no delays you might get a few min to duty free shop before they call you to your gate.

I would take a bus from Donegal to Londonderry then bus to Portstewart, beautiful seaside village, train staion there, quick train into Belfast from there. Next day take McCombs coastal tour. You will be back by 6 if you want to take bus or train into Dublin or spend another evening in Belfast.
It would be a long day doing the coastal trip and the black cab tour plus coming and going to Dublin.

http://www.rome2rio.com/s/Donegal/Londonderry/Belfast

flpab

Ballymoney is the home of the great Joey Dunlop, his bar is right there at the train station if you are your husband or motorcycle fans. The bus from Londonderry to Portstewart would give you some great views of the coast.

Padraig

On Donegal in general: it offers magnificent scenery, both coastal and mountain. Personally, I don't find any of the towns very appealing (some of the villages are attractive, but might be short on facilities for visitors - especially visitors who are reliant on public transport).

I am interested in family history, and like to walk where my forebears walked. I have managed to identify ancestral locations back to about 200 years ago, including some houses that still stand. Have you got a location in Ballybofey, or enough information to make the search feasible? [Given emigration patterns, it might be they lived near Ballybofey rather than in the town.] There is a bus service between Donegal Town and Ballybofey that passes through the picturesque Barnesmore Gap. It might be worth considering it for your programme.

Don't miss Donegal Castle.

I note that you have not mentioned Slea Head in your Dingle programme. That circuit is a candidate for "most scenic drive in Ireland".

My preferred seafood restaurant in Dingle is Out of the Blue - but there are a number of good dining options in Dingle.

Cowboynboo

Padraig

The family information that I have shows my John Caldwell coming from Lifford Parish of Ballycogan, County Donegal. Of course this is on an old document in which there are miss spellings. I have not gotten to Ireland to check or verify this location as of yet.

Does this area ring a bell for you? Any help would be appreciated!

Padraig

A quick check suggest to me that most, if not all, Caldwells in Co. Donegal were to be found in the area known as "The Laggan" [See http://www.monreaghulsterscotscentre.com/laggan/]. It seems also that they were Ulster-Scots. Does this accord with your family tradition? Many Ulster-Scots were adherents of Presbyterianism, a detail that can be good news for genealogists, as the chances of good church records being maintained are fairly good.

I can't find a place called Ballycogan, but there is a Ballybogan near the town of Lifford (Parish of Clonleigh). It might be worth further investigation. Location: https://www.google.com/maps/place/Ba...e81c120a95ef86

If you become persuaded that your roots lie in Ballybogan (and I don't think my suggestion is sufficient evidence) the encouraging thing is that it is a very small rural place (124 acres) and so you could very close to where your ancestors were.

The problem might be that they could have migrated so long ago that the evidence of their occupation no longer exists.