Ireland Trip Report
 

We returned last Wednesday from our trip to Ireland. It was even more beautiful than I had imagined. We rented a car and explored the West coast, beginning in Shannon, through Kinsale, Ring of Kerry, Killarney and the Cliffs of Moher.

The day we arrived (and the only day it did not rain), we visited Bunratty Castle and had dinner there. It was a lot of fun, we drank mead & ate with our hands (a knife was the only utensil we were given).

During the next 8 days, we saw Blarney Castle (and kissed the Blarney Stone!); saw countless old churches and cathedrals; drove the Beara and Dingle Peninsulas, Ring of Kerry and saw the Cliffs of Moher. The food was wonderful and the people were very friendly and helpful. We stayed at various B&B's, most were very nice (with one exception). And we spent one night in a lovely hotel in Adare, the Dunraven Arms. After all those B&B's, it was most luxurious!

We drove more than 800 miles, went into 1 ditch & saw more cows, sheep and goats than we thought existed! It was a truly wonderful trip.

More details, please.

Gald that you enjoyed it so much Leona!

Bill

Great! Now you can start planning for your next trip. ((b))

What is your favorite memory? What was the one B&B that stands out, good or bad? Was there any restaurant that made you rave, good or bad? Would you say that there was something that made your trip unique to you? Can you tell I love trip reports and always want more details? :)

Diane

Leona, more! I am taking a similar loop in October, so would love to hear about your b&b choices, where you feasted, what you didn't like etc etc!

Thanks, all, for your interest. I'm afraid of boring people with details, kind of like vacation slides!

A travel agent booked our B&B's, & all rooms were en suite, through Town & Country Association. First night we stayed at Riverside in Shannon. It was a working farm, very nice and clean, with a TV in the room. Small bathroom, though, like most. Our room had a view of the River Shannon and we watched them milk the cows in the morning. Breakfast was very good. For the next 2 nights, we stayed in Kinsale, at Four Winds. Also a nice room, good breakfast, but the proprietress left every night with her two small children, to stay at her mother's, so "the children would not disturb the guests". The following 3 nights were a disaster - Brookfield House in Killarney. Room had two double beds, no TV, NO drawers, only a small closet; and a sliding door on the (tiny) bathroom that didn't fully close. First morning, I had asked for cold breakfast, yogurt & fruit. The second morning, I got the same thing, & when I requested a hot breakfast, I was told that the kitchen was "closed".
On the third night, they moved us to a more comfortable room, but all the mattresses were old & very hard. We had one lovely night at Bord de la Mer in Lahinch, a lovely B&B operated by a French lady & her Irish husband. GREAT breakfast of crepes.

Memorable meals? - many! Irish stew at O'Connor's Pub in Dingle. Wonderful 3 course prix fixed at Hoby's in Kinsale (far better than the highly recommended Blue Haven). Roast lamb at a little pub in Kenmare. Fish chowder just about anywhere! Salmon & potato cakes at a lovely hotel in Ennis.

Loved, loved, loved everything - can't stop looking at the pictures and reliving the whole thing.

Allisonm, I can't wait to read your trip report when you return. Bon voyage!

Correction - O'Connors is in Doolin!

Thanks Leona! I have booked our first two nights in Kinsale already, so I feel very comfortable. (My college roommate's former nanny now has a B&B!)
We most likely will stay in Kenmare for a couple of nights, so luckily won't be at your Killarney B&B! Then we are off toward Dingle, where we don't have reservations but a lengthy list of recommended places. My husband doesn't want to prebook this trip too much. That makes me a little nervous on one hand, but on the other hand we will be free to stay longer in one place or leave sooner if we choose.

I have heard people complain that the food is bland in Ireland, but I have to disagree. We have had phenomenal lamb and salmon, not to mention mussels and stew!

I hope you'll try Hobys when you're in Kinsale. We had the mussels in the Blue Haven, and they were very good!

We saw vacancy signs all over. I don't think you'll have a problem getting accommodations on the way. Please don't forget to post a trip report!

Thanks, Leona, for the additional details. We leave Sept. 10th and I wanted to know if I should change any reservations for our B&Bs. Luckily, nope! :)

I hear you about vacation pictures- I have 16 rolls from our trip last September and have only shown them to about 4 people, mostly family. I just hate to bore them with pictures of what amazed me but never seem to translate well into pics... like, here's another picture of rock walls :)

Diane

That's why I scrapbook my photos of Ireland - makes it more interesting. Plus folks can skip the explainations if they want. I find they usually enjoy them and I get to relive my trips.

(Plus I love putting the books together. I don't do fancy stuff but keep it simple and there's so much stuff out there for Ireland now! When I first started I had to draw my own castle die-cuts! oy!)

Think about making a scrapbook out of your photos, that way it makes it more like a story that others can enjoy and you can tell as much or as little as you want along with them. (I find most will ask about one or two photos at least...)

Cheers,

Wendy

Since we got on the topic of photos, I have a program that allows you to make a cd/dvd viewable montage/slide show of photos, and you can put background music to it. So I put a bunch of my digital pictures of Ireland's northwest to some Enya music. Not too original, but a first try, what the heck! My husband and kids are the only ones who have ever seen it, though!

sorry to hijack the thread but Wendy, where did you find all this awesome Ireland scrapbooking stuff? I would love to know!

Allisonm, your montage sounds great! I should make (I mean ask) my DD to do that for me!

Diane

edhodge,

We have a couple of scrapbooking stores here in San Diego. Otherwise you can look online on Ebay. Just go to the scrapbooking section and type in Search bar "Ireland", or "Irish" or "Celtic" or "Shamrock" or anything else Irish related you can think of.

You should find lot of stickers more than anything but you can also find diecuts and such items of castles, shamrocks or other items that work with Ireland (a good few of the Scotland stuff will work with Ireland, especially if you included a trip to Northern Ireland in your Irish trip.)

Feel free to email me and I'm happy to help or discuss further.

Wendy

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