ireland during holy week
 

Help! I'm planning a trip to Ireland during holy week, as im reading up i see that many theatres and restaurants will be closed. Is this going to be a terrible time to go? We'll be arrivng in Shannon on Wednesday morning. Any suggestions? What should we do on Easter Sunday?

Sue - it wouldn't be the best time! Having said that, I spent 5 days there over Easter Weekend two years ago and saw a lot of beautiful things. Far as I can remember, everything was pretty much closed on Friday - including most of the pubs. Monday is a bank holiday and loads of things are closed then. <BR><BR>I wish I could offer you more helpful advice, I'm sure someone else can do that - just trying to tell you that you'll probably want to do a good bit of extra research before you leave. <BR><BR>On Sunday - we had dinner at Man Friday's in Kinsale. Fantastic meal. There were a lot of us though, so we called ahead to book. Again - no real words of advice, just a prior experience.

Sam<BR>Did you stay in Kinsale? Do you know how long it takes to drive from Kinsale to Cashel?<BR>Thanks!

Dottie:<BR><BR>It takes about 1:45 minutes from Kinsale to Cashel....72 miles. For a good tool for finding driving times in Ireland go to http://www.viamichelin.com/viamichel...oller/HomePage .<BR><BR>Choose driving directions and the towns you want to go to (make sure you change to the country to Ireland) and follow it from there. You can go so far as to get the actual directions if you want. It seems to be a pretty useful website.<BR><BR>Bill

Bill<BR>Thanks, that's good information, I will look up the web site you recommended. Do you know off hand how long it takes to drive from Blarney Castle to Kinsale? We are trying to figure out if we want to drive to Kinsale for lunch and a little tour before driving to Cashel. Thanks

I was in Ireland last year during Holy Week. The worst day is Good Friday as everything is closed and you can't even get a pint (no alcohol served in the whole country). We spent the day in Dublin and most shops were open until 3:00 p.m. Most everything is closed Easter Monday as well as it is a bank holiday. Good luck.

If you need a drink on Good Friday, just run across the border into the north. Some pubs are open there on Good Friday.

Last year we were in Ireland during Holy Week. We were in church on Good Friday and overheard one of the locals asking the pub owner if he would be open after church was over. He kind of hemmed and hawed about it, not wanting to come right out and say yes. Later that evening we walked by the pub, and while the drapes were drawn we could hear that there was at least a few people in there.

Yikes! I just found this thread, and am panicking now that I realize that Good Friday will be an issue! ( shame on me for not realizing that! ). We will be flying into Shannon on 3/27, renting a car, and had planned to go to Dingle for 1 night, and then to Killarney / Kenmare for 1 night, and then up to Dublin on the afternoon of 3/29. Given that 3/29 is Good Friday -would that be a good day to see the Killarney National Park or will those attractions be closed as well? And do you think the shops, restaurants, etc will be closed in Kenmare or Killarney?Also - once we arrive in Dublin ( around 5p or so ), we had thought to do a walking tour or something that evening, and think that maybe those things won't be happening as well?<BR><BR>Thanks for any help you can provide. This is the first time I have used this website and the info and tips are just wonderful!

Killarney National Park will be open at Easter and so will most of the shops in Killarney and Kenmare.