First trip to Ireland--won't be the last!
 

Although I didn't post any questions to the Fodor's Ireland board while planning our recent trip, I did find some helpful information by searching the board. So I thought I'd post a report about our trip in case it helps others with their own trip planning.

We are a middle-aged couple who have been traveling more and more over the past few years, and planning increasingly long (for us) trips. We both have some flexibility in our job schedules, so we now aim for 2-week trips instead of 1-week trips. We already have a 2-week trip to Greece planned for this September, but we realized in March that we wanted to plan something for earlier in the summer. I've always wanted to go to Ireland, but my partner has been resistant out of concern that the weather would be too cold and rainy. I finally convinced him to give it a try; the relatively cheap direct flights from DC to Dublin didn't hurt! Because of the upcoming Greece trip, we kept this one relatively short, at 9 nights.

Our itinerary was as follows: arrive Dublin on a Friday morning (June 12), pick up a car and then a SIM card for our MiFi device, and drive to Cashel for the night. (We wanted to see the Rock of Cashel, and we figured that would be enough driving after an overnight flight.) Then spend the next three nights in Bantry, followed by two nights in Lismore. End with three nights in Dublin, flying home on June 21.

This is more moving around than we normally do when we travel--our usual style is to rent an apartment in one or two areas and explore locally. But we couldn't settle on a part of Ireland to base in, at least not for a first trip. So we mainly went the B&B route, which we enjoyed very much.

I'll provide more details in subsequent posts! This is my first trip report, so please bear with me. ;)

Oh, and one important thing I forgot to say in my intro post: we had an AMAZING time. We absolutely loved Ireland!

Ireland remains one of our favorite places so I will be interested on your insights.

We enjoyed it so much (West Coast) that we returned 8 mo. later to drive the middle (north to south.) We will return to see the East some time.

Our biggest surprise was the food. We expected to eat fish & chips for 2 weeks and found the gourmet quality restaurants a huge surprise. Along with the excellent B&B's and stunning scenery, Ireland is a place not to miss.

I'll be watching for your details.

Thanks, TPAYT! I remember reading and really enjoying your report of your own trip to Ireland! I agree about the food...I'm really into eating good food when I travel, and I was so pleased at the quality of our meals.

So, here goes. We arrived in Dublin at about 11 AM on June 12, right on time, after an easy flight from Dulles. (We got Global Entry earlier this year, so we could use the TSA Pre-check line, which was nice.) Immigration in Dublin was pretty quick and we had no checked luggage to worry about, so we were soon headed to pick up our car. DP had reserved at Dollar; the rate was pretty good, especially given that we were declining insurance (we'd gotten a letter from Chase confirming that our Sapphire card would provide coverage). The line at the car rental office moved really slowly--why do car rental transactions always take so long?!--but by about 12:30 we had our car and were off to the Carphone Warehouse to buy a SIM card for our new MiFi. (We have rented MiFis in Japan and Spain and love having them--he needs to be able to call in to his office daily, and we like to be able to check things out on the web, find restaurant info, etc. So it just made sense to buy our own device, but of course that means buying a SIM card when we get to town.) It was a bit of an ordeal to find the store, but, thanks to our pre-downloaded offline maps (CityMaps2Go, which are great) we finally made it. The card ended up being 20 euros for 7.5 GB of data, which was just enough for our time there.

After getting the card, we grabbed lunch and finally hit the road for real. We got to Cashel, where we were spending our first night, at about 4:30. We checked into Aulber House B&B, had a bit of a nap, then wandered into town for a long stroll to clear our heads of travel fog. We walked by the Rock of Cashel, which looked stark and dramatic in the late afternoon light, but it was too late to go in. Probably just as well, I'm not sure how much I could have taken in at that point! The town seemed very quiet, almost a little deserted, and we were sad to see that the Cashel Palace Hotel, which seemed to anchor the town, had closed. We had a wonderful dinner at a pub called Brian Boru that our host at the B&B had recommended, then wandered back and slept solidly.

June 13: We indulged in a nice big breakfast and then checked out. We enjoyed Aulber House--it was a little more like a hotel than a B&B but was very comfortable (great bed and very well appointed room), reasonably priced, and well located, and the owner was lovely. The breakfast buffet was great, and on top of that we could (and did) have a cooked breakfast. Not typical for us, but when in Rome... Then, off we went to the Rock of Cashel. We arrived just in time to join a guided tour that was very worthwhile--but, wow, it was chilly up there! No rain, but the Rock is exposed and the wind was whipping. Fascinating place, and we were glad to have seen it before all the tour busses arrived.

Our next stop was Cork, where we had decided to stop for lunch at the English Market. It was smaller than we'd expected, but we got a great salad and sandwich to eat in a nearby park. Then we strolled around, stopping in the Crawford Gallery to poke around a bit. We would have liked to spend more time there, but we still had to get to Bantry, so we made ourselves leave. (We were a little delayed getting out of the parking garage because a group of naked--though fully body-painted--bike riders were passing by. A quick Google search courtesy of the handy MiFi revealed that this was the Cork leg of the World Naked Bike Ride. Who knew?!)

The drive to Bantry was beautiful, especially the latter part, as the roads got smaller and smaller. This was a little hair raising (the side mirror often hit hedges along the roadside), but we made it to our home for the next three nights, Bantry House, by about 5:30. The house was just stunning, and the location incredible! We checked into our truly lovely room, wandered around the beautiful gardens and enjoyed the view of Bantry Bay, then napped for a bit before walking into town for dinner at Fish Kitchen. (I had reserved by email a few days earlier.) It was a lovely, tiny spot, with perfectly fresh fish (I had Bantry Bay mussels, DP had John Dory) and very warm and kind service. We then wandered around town looking for music--the band at one pub was playing good trad music but the sound was way too loud, so we went to another pub, where we listened to a good guitarist/singer. We walked back to Bantry House, where we again slept incredibly well.

To be continued!

Bantry House and Gardens look stunning. A good reason to return as we missed it.
More, please!

Could you please add links to the B&B's you stayed in. I'm trying to find Bantry House but can't seem to get the accomodation part.

Hi CONTARBECKY,

I am really enjoying your report. I was in Dublin from June 10-17 and the weather was perfect, a bit cool at times.

I hope you had the same...

Hi TPAYT, sure! Info about staying at Bantry House is available at http://www.bantryhouse.com/bantryhou...bed-breakfast/. Aulber House is at http://aulberhouse.com.

latedaytraveler, looks like we overlapped! Yes, the weather was great, wasn't it? It was cool but never chilly (well, maybe except for when we were at the Rock of Cashel). Even when it was cloudy there was a lovely balminess to the air. It was so fresh. And we had essentially no rain.

So, to continue the saga (I'm sorry, I'd sketched out some notes and didn't realize until now just how wordy I'd been!):

June 14: The day started off with a really nice breakfast at Bantry House. Lovely scones, yogurt, fruit, muesli--and a full Irish for him, scrambled eggs and smoked salmon for me. The breakfast room at Bantry House is serene and lovely, and the food is top quality. What a treat! We poked around the main house a little, joining an impromptu tour that one of the staff was giving for some other guests. This is a really special house with a very interesting history!

But we didn't hang around the house too long today, because we had planned to spend the day exploring the Beara Peninsula. Really, coming to Beara was what drew us to Bantry in the first place, and our desire to come to Beara was stoked in part by Tony2Phones' comments about what a beautiful and relatively untouristed area it is. And it did not disappoint! We spent the day driving around the peninsula, taking full advantage of the very long day length in mid-June. We stopped for a short hike along Bantry Bay before we even reached the town of Adrigole, where we stopped at a lovely gallery/craft shop/cafe (Adrigole Arts) and did a wee bit of shopping.

We then continued to Castletownbere, intending to have lunch. Most places were closed, since it was Sunday. One restaurant, the Old Bakery Cafe was open--but both Google maps and Yelp had the location wrong and we couldn't find it! So instead we got salads, bread, and cheese (Milleens--a local cheese, from Eyeries) from the supermarket. We then drove to the ruins of Dunboy Castle and went for a beautiful walk and picnic along Bullig Bay, across from Bere Island. Back in the car we continued to Dzogchen Beara (a Buddhist retreat center). We wandered around the grounds, which are located high above the bay, and then continued on to Allihies, where we went to O’Neill’s pub for a Sunday trad session. The joint was jumping! We had some very good fish chowder (and beer/cider), then kept on driving. We continued past Eyeries to Lauragh, then took the Healy Pass back down to Adrigole. The road is extremely twisty, and although we had to dodge sheep we didn't see any other cars, maybe because it was so late in the day. We reached Glengariff after 9:30, surprisingly hungry. Almost everything was closed, but we managed to find a place that would make us salads.

This was a fun but exhausting day, and one on which we came to regret our original decision to have my DP be the sole driver. Still, we came away from Beara wanting to spend more time there. I can easily imagine a quiet, relaxing week spent near one of the small villages we passed through. The scenery is just beautiful, the terrain rugged but not forbidding. It was fun to see the different sides of the peninsula, and it would be great to have the opportunity to explore it in a more leisurely way.

In 2004, we took our daughter and her new husband to Ireland for their first visit, which included a tour of Dublin on the Hop-On/Hop-Off Bus. When the Live Commentator overheard me pointing out the occasional obscure site that he failed to mention (Croppies Acre, I think) -- He asked me pointedly if I had been to Ireland before.
When my daughter quickly responded in the affirmative, he said:
"If you visit Ireland once, you will WANT to return. If you DO return a second time, then you WILL make a third visit. And how many times have you visited?"
"This trip is our sixth", I told him.

He maybe missed ONE beat, but then smiled and asked if we had received our Citizenship papers yet.

Eleven years -- and 14 visits -- later, we still don't have Irish Citizenship -- but, I wish that we did! :-)

Enjoying your report. We took our first trip to Ireland last year and will go back. We enjoyed a very nice meal at the Fish House too. Looking forward to more.

Thanks, Paqngo--I read your report of your time in Ireland when we were planning our trip and found it really helpful and fun to read!

Italian_Chauffeur, that's a great story. It seems as if most people who go to Ireland don't stop at one trip. But, 14 visits in 11 years--wow!

I am having a crazy busy week and haven't had the time I'd hoped to continue with the report, but I will get back to it in the next day or two.

Actually -- Our current total is at 20 visits over 16 years!

When I retired in October of 2010, we spent 28 days there
http://ireland.activeboard.com/t5151...tirement-tour/
-- on TOP of a 2 1/2 week visit in April, to attend a family wedding: http://ireland.activeboard.com/t4903...ng-april-2012/

Now --- MOST people don't get the 'Ireland Bug' THAT severe . . .
But I've heard of very FEW who aren't 'Bitten' to SOME degree! ;-)

I like the English market and love to see the buttered eggs. Cork has a lot to see and bet it was hard to leave. I want to go to Bantry. I love that area. I have been to Ireland 6 times and still want to go back. Enjoying your trip report.

I am so glad you've enjoyed Beara! I fell in love with it in 2011. So delightful. I've only been to Ireland 5 times. I keep trying for those citizenship papers, too!

Well, picking up on my trip report at last!

We had a bit of a lazy morning after our long day yesterday, but it was a gorgeous day and so we decided to go out and explore the area again--this time to the Sheep's Head Peninsula. This peninsula is smaller than Beara, and Bantry House is right at the top of it, so we knew it would be an easier drive.

We drove along the north side of the peninsula, along the so-called Goat's Path. Just a beautiful road--narrow, little-trafficked, and with lovely views across Bantry Bay to Beara. Signs indicated several cycling routes, and I was thinking it might have been fun to be on a bike--but as we continued the terrain became more hilly and I reconsidered!

Soon enough this main road (the term is relative) turns south, and we followed it down into the pretty village of Kilcrohane. From there the road leads west, toward the tip of the peninsula. We were thinking of taking the road to the end and then hiking out to the lighthouse, but we decided to first stop in Kilcrohane for a bite at the Bayview Inn. We ordered a sandwich of homemade roast chicken to share, a pint, and a cider and wandered out back to the patio. There we fell into conversation with a couple from the UK who have been vacationing in this area for 30 years (in earlier days they rented a house, but they now travel in a caravan and get around on electric bikes), and we sat and chatted for a long time while we ate our simple but incredibly tasty sandwich.

By the end of lunch we were a little sleepy and had lost some of our enthusiasm for the lighthouse hike, so we decided to head east along the southern side of the peninsula and stop for a short hike along the way. The Sheep's Head Peninsula has a wonderful walking trail, the Sheep's Head Way, and we ended up walking a short but absolutely gorgeous stretch just east of Kilcrohane, starting at the Farranamanagh Lough and following the path up and over the headlands through the ruins of the Bardic School. This was one of the many places in Ireland where the landscape felt both oddly familiar--like a combination of Vermont and Northern California--but at the same time completely new. I think that's part of what felt so compelling about the country.

Back in the car, we continued east through Akahista to our next stop, the Heron Gallery Cafe and Gardens. These are owned by an artist, Annabel Langrish, who makes lovely wildlife prints (in fact we had picked up some cards with these prints in Adrigole) as well as paintings and sculptures. The sunny and cheerful cafe was just closing, unfortunately, but we wandered around the garden paths for a while, enjoying the creative and colorful plantings, the pond, the garden sculptures, the pigs, and the view to the bay. What an incredible spot!

Finally, we headed back to Bantry House, driving through more lovely landscapes and the town of Durrus. Once back we spent an hour or two exploring the property--which, we now realized, is crossed by part of the Sheep's Head Way walking path. Eventually we decided to think about getting dinner--and were shocked to realize that it was nearly 9! These long days can really play tricks on my sense of time. We high-tailed it down to Bantry and had dinner at O'Connors. The setting was comfortable and the people just lovely, and we had a good meal with the usual impeccably fresh fish.

We are eager to get back to Sheep's Head Peninsula. I've never done a multi-day walking tour, but if I ever do one I think it will be here. The scenery is so beautiful and serene, with the views of Beara to one side and of Mizen Head to the other, and even though the area feels quiet and remote it is actually pretty accessible, with Kilcrohane less than 30 minutes from Bantry.

Loving your report!
We spent a week in a rental cottage in Kilcrohane, back in April of 2001 (our 30th Anniversary)and loved it.
Report is here, with a link to photos: http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...newal-tour.cfm

OOOPS!!! My bad -- It was April of 2006 -- and our 35th Anniversary! The 2001 Visit covered entire different areas -- Cahir, Cork and Dingle.
It's tough, this getting old thing -- NOT for the faint of heart or the young. ;-)

Great report. Keep it coming!

Our first overseas trip was to Ireland, so loving your review. We got a 7 night trip with bed and breakfast selections, as well as a car for the duration for something like $399. Times have changed, right?

Well, I am very embarrassed at how long it has taken me to get back to this trip report! Life intervened, and it just got away from me—but I wanted to finish before we head off to Greece, um, tomorrow! ;)

So, on June 16, we left Bantry and headed east to Lismore, our home for the next two nights (at a B&B called Kilcannon House). We stopped briefly at the bustling little town of Skibbereen and then turned off the main road and drove through the lovely coastal villages of Unionhall and Glandore. The Glandore Inn looked very inviting, so there we stopped for lunch, which was as tasty as we’d hoped. We then made our way to Drombeg Stone Circle (also known as the “Druid’s Altar”). This group of stones marks the gravesite of an adolescent boy who died about 2000 years ago. The site also contains the ruins of two prehistoric huts and a cooking place. It was a fascinating place and well worth a stop. Back on the road, we headed to the Michael Collins birthplace at Woodfield. We also saw the Four Alls pub and the spot where Collins was gunned down. We finally reached Kilcannon House late in the afternoon, where we were met by the very hospitable Gertie, who gave us some wonderful tea and homemade rhubarb pie. We had also prearranged to have dinner there that night and were very happy we did—the food (hake, asparagus, potatoes, and mushy peas) was excellent, and it was nice not to have to drive anymore that day.

June 17—we had an amazing breakfast that started with pannacotta and porridge with whiskey and brown sugar and cream (!), which were followed by a choice of entrees. And of course there were scones and bread and wonderful homemade jams/sauces. Although it was a bit chilly and gray, we drove over to Lismore with plans to explore the area around the castle. We first went to Lismore Heritage Center to watch a video that Gertie had recommended that gives historical context on the area. By then the sky had cleared a bit so we went for a walk along the Blackwater River. We then walked through town and stopped at the Lismore Craft Studio, an artist's cooperative, and chatted with some of the artists there. Very sweet people, warm and welcoming. Next we went to the gardens at Lismore Castle, which were large and very pretty, with modern sculptures interspersed around the plantings. At the cafe in the garden, we had wonderful apple juice produced from the castle's own apple trees. We then drove a few kilometers out of town to do the Tower walk, a walk through a folly built by a wealthy man for his new wife at the height of the patio famine. He ran out of money, so all that was built was the bridge and gatehouse. It was a pretty spot though maybe not quite as magical as advertised. That evening we headed to Dungarvan to have dinner at the Tannery restaurant. It was a great choice, light and airy inside, quiet but still buzzy. The food was wonderful, and the set menu was a great deal. After dinner we walked around Dungarvan for a while. It was a pretty town on the water, bigger than I'd expected—this is another town I’d be interested in visiting again!

June 18: After another wonderful breakfast, we were off to Dublin! Before leaving, we chatted a bit with Gertie and Pat. They are so nice, and such genuine people, open and truly interested in their guests. Their dog, Mack, is very cute, and the chickens are beautiful and friendly. We'd love to stay here again and maybe take a cooking class with Gertie.

Our drive to Dublin took us through Inistioge, a town on the Nore River that is supposed to be tranquil and beautiful. That it was--the drive down the hill into town was stunning. We walked about a mile up the river, toward Thomastown. It would have been fun to walk all the way there--next time, maybe? Once back at the car we drove there, though, and had a nice lunch at the Blackberry Cafe.

We then drove over to Jerpoint Abbey, where we joined a guided tour around the ruins. Finally headed to Dublin, where we encountered a lot of rush hour traffic but soon were settled in to our apartment, Merrion Mews. This beautiful apartment is one of many historic vacation homes rented by the Irish Landmark Trust, and we absolutely loved it, and the location in Georgian Dublin.

June 19: Our first task of the day was to return the car! We had a really nice breakfast at a cute cafe (Food Game) near the car rental place then walked home, with part of the walk along the Grand Canal. It was nice to be free of the car! We didn't need it to get around Dublin, that’s for sure, although it was convenient to be able to park it at Merrion Mews.

We decided to visit Kilmainham Gaol, and to get there we took Uber. Handy! In this town the Uber drivers are exclusively cabbies, which is handy because, as our driver explained, cabs can use the bus lanes. So it was a relatively quick trip, and we got tickets for the next tour easily. The gaol is being spruced up for 2016 commemorative events (the 100th anniversary of the 1916 Easter Rising), so the entry fee is reduced, but it was a great experience. Our guide was fun and knowledgeable, and we learned a lot. The museum was great too. This place is really worth a visit.

We then grabbed another Uber and went to the Chester Beatty library for a light lunch and explored the museum. It was an amazing place, we definitely want to go back when we have more time. We were mesmerized by displays of sacred illuminated texts from many religious traditions, from Sufi to Jain to Muslim to Christian, not to mention a Papyrus with biblical text from 150 A.D.

After leaving the museum we walked to Drury Street, where we went to a nifty Irish design shop and stopped by Kaph, a hipster coffee shop across the street, for a cup of extremely good mocha. We then continued walking, on the way sticking our head into a church (Catholic University Church) across from St Stephens. A choral group was rehearsing for a concert later in the evening, as it turned out. They were wonderful, so we decided to come back for the 8 pm concert. Although the group, the Amici Singers, was local, the concert was titled Americana and included music written by Americans or with an American theme. Then we had a late dinner at Matt the Thresher, a nice restaurant not far from our apartment with a great atmosphere and delightful food.

June 20. Last day! It was warm and lovely out, so after breakfast we decided to see if we could get in to see the Book of Kells. The wait wasn’t that long, but it was very crowded inside. We saw some interesting info and exhibits before we got to view the actual pages, but there were only two pages on display, and I’m not sure it was worth the effort. We then wandered through Temple Bar and Meetinghouse Square and ended up on Fishamble Street. We continued to the Cathedral, where we wandered around the stalls of a garden fest. Then we walked a bit further, to St Audouen's Church, where we explored the medieval runs and touched a lucky grave, which is supposed to help us make it safely to Santiago de Compostela someday. We then stopped at Leo Burdock for an order of what turned out to be excellent fish and chips, which we ate in the sun at the Dub Linn (site of the ancient spring that gives Dublin its name). After some more wandering around and a bit of shopping we ended up having our last dinner at Dada, a Moroccan restaurant near Temple Bar.

All in all, our trip to Ireland was fabulous. The countryside was beautiful, the food was wonderful, and the people were friendly and kind. I would love to go back to West Cork and settle in for a week or two, and perhaps that’s what we’ll do next time. But it would also be great to spend more time in Dublin. We could easily have spent more time wandering and exploring, and visiting museums.

I forgot to embed URLs for the various places we stayed in these much-delayed chapters of my trip report--so please let me know if you'd like to know more about any of the places we stayed! I especially recommend looking at the Irish Landmark Trust places. Many of these would be wonderful (and more cost effective!) for a larger group, but there are some that look perfect for a couple.

Anyway, thank you all for reading and commenting. It's so fun to hear about everyone else's experience Ireland, and I'm glad that others love Bantry, Beara, and Kilchrohane.

Italian_Chauffeur, your Kilchrohane cottage looks lovely, and I'm looking forward to perusing your trip report. You said in it that there is something about Ireland that resonates in your soul, and I can see how that would be.

rncheryl, yes, times have definitely changed! We felt that the prices were surprisingly good, but they sure aren't as good as what you experienced. ;)