Alabama_Me

my husband and i are spending one month in co clare.. we are staying at the quilty cottages.. can anyone give me a little insight about the area, cottages, places to have fun meet friends, eat.. relax nothing fancy!!! or crazy.. just friends, drink and music.. we are going from March 20 to April 23 (or close too)

thanks for your help..

Alabama_Me

oh i forgot to ask about the driving is it bad there? we will be going from the shannon airport to the cottages.. then around the local area for the rest of the month.. is driving busy or ok for beginner left drivers? lol

NEDSIRELAND

There's a nice 9-hole links Golf Course there at Spanish Point; not much else except the Armada Hotel which may be pretty well shut down the dates you are there. Miltown Malby is just up the road (2km) and there are shops & Pubs. You may have to go to Lahinch (about 8km further) for a decent restaurant. After Lahinch you have the Cliffs of Moher and then Doolin.
Down the Coast from the Cottages on the way to the Killimer-Tarbet ferry is Dromoland Castle (Hotel). You may want to go there for a full Irish breakfast. On the Coast in the same area is Greg Norman's Doonberg Golf Course

I stay in cities or towns; I can't recommend a place to meet people, especially in the 'off season.'
I do like Ennis! It's one of my favorite cities/towns on God's green earth.

GreenDragon

Ennis is a fun city, and has a great little chocolate shop hidden near the main street - we found it by accident. We only stayed 4 nights in Clare (in Ennis proper) but we could have spent a lot more time.

Take some time to explore the Burren - I envy you the chance. There are all sorts of neat historical sites and beautiful, surreal spaces to see. Poulnabrone Dolmen, Kilnaboy, Cahirconnel, Ailwee caves, etc. Up on the north end, Ballyvaughn has a great pub (the Monk?) and the drive along the coast is sublime. There is also a perfumery in the Burren, all the scents are made with local flowers.

The main streets of Clare are fine - through the Burren they get more interesting, but still shouldn't be a problem. My friend Kim navigated them a couple years ago, and she'd never driven out of the US.

Do at least one night on the Aran Islands, since you have so much time available. The daytrippers have gone and I understand it's quite an experience. I would also have loved to explore more than the big island while we were there.

The Cliffs of Moher are a must, and it's good that you have time - sometimes you get there and the weather keeps you from seeing much!

Doolin is a nice place for music and food.

Lisdoonvarna has a great smokehouse, filled with yummy treats and local stuff.

You will have no end of stuff to keep you busy, I'm sure!

Alabama_Me

Thank you so much Ned & green dragon.. so let me get this right.. co clare is really ennis? and if i'm also not mistaken your telling me that the cottages are pretty far from everything so quiet time is not going to be a problem..?? that is great.. my husband and i have raised 14 children not all ours.. but 14 non the less.. and quiet time is what we are looking for.. however we still want to get some play time in.. without chucky cheese or the mall being involved. lol.. we love golf, pottery, music, eating and talking to adults.. but most of all we love IRELAND.. my family is from there but i've never had the chance to go.. i want to look up a pub that my great grandfather used to own.. (don't know the name) but i know what it looks like on the inside.. lol.. so i guess we will have to hit them all.

thanks again.. have either of you seen the cottages? are they as nice as they look on the net.. and do they really sit right on the ocean?

GreenDragon

Ennis is just a city in County Clare, and the one I happened to stay in. It is a fairly good central base to the county, and has lots of options, but there are other places to stay.
It is also an easy drive from Shannon Airport. It looks like Quilty Cottages are due west of Ennis, on the coast - which as I recall is about a 45 minute drive, not too bad. We did that several times, visiting Doolin, Cliffs of Moher, etc., while we were there. You will actually be a lot closer to Lisdoonvarna and Doolin. Ennis is just much bigger than them both

If you look at the map on the Quilty Cottage website, you see that Ennis is the only city other than Shannon marked in that area

Another side trip might be Bunratty Castle and Folk Park. Their medieval dinners are cheesy tourist stuff, but still fun - I prefer the Ceilidh in the Corn Barn

Alabama_Me

GD, i'm sure with a month on our hands we can hit everyone of them.. we really don't want to do the tourist thing.. other then going to see the sights.. so give me the "Corn Barn" we are really just looking for some peace and quiet!!! sounds like to me that is what we will get.. !!

oh.. i think i get it.. County Clare is just like a County in the states.. you have different cities in each county.. got it.. i thought co clare was the city. duh..

is there stores like the ones in the states.. you know eggs, bread, milk.. ect.

GreenDragon

Yup, county is like a state, but they always say County first, ie., County Clare, County Kerry, County Meath.

They have grocery stores, though supermarkets like you are used to are only found in the biggest cities, such as Dublin or Cork. Markets are more common, and usually one in every village or so. Ask a local I am not sure Doolin has one, but Ennis definitely does.

Here's some info on Ennis, including shopping spots:

http://visitennis.ie/

And Doolin:

http://www.doolinireland.net/
(and yes, that first photo is pretty much the whole village, in terms of tourist stuff - more homes around, but not shops)

Quilty is little more than a fishing village, from what I can remember, and Spanish Point is a point - not a town

Alabama_Me

thank you so much for those web sites.. they are great... and has a lot of info.. i love the town of Doolin... and a fishing town is exactly what we want... yeah!!!!

thanks GD I'll fill you in on our trip in May.. thanks have a great New years..

SiofraB

There is a fancy new Supervalu in Ennistymon, its about 20kms away from the cottages but if you were in the area it would be worth it to do your shopping.

NEDSIRELAND

Ennis: on your left as you go down O'Connell St, after Brogan's Pub & Restaurant but before the Poet's Corner (Old Ground Hotel), there's a Mall-type entrance to Dunnes Supermarket. In the arcade, just before you enter the supermarket there's an Off-Licence type liquor store. Inside Dunnes. there's a small Café where you can get a full Irish breakfast reasonably priced.

I believe Dunnes goes through the building; there's a Parking area on the back side.

Alabama_Me: You write your family is from Ireland. You should try to look some of them up if you can. You never know what you will learn.

Alabama_Me

Siofra and Ned, thank you so much i'm printing all this out so i can remember everything.. you make it sound wonderful.. and we can't wait to try it all out.. thanks again for all your input.. let me know if anyones coming to Alabama.. maybe i can help..

tower

'Bama...you're in for a month of pure joy...I've been to over 70 countries, but whenever anyone asks me for the favorite..I proudly say..."me fav'rit is Oyr-land, of course!" I even have my dear wife agreeing with that especially since we were there on her first visit in '96. My first visit was '80, followed by '87, '96..than again in 2003..can never get enough of that unexplainable blissful feeling.

I hope that Gus O'Connors pub in Doolin is still open...for a great friendly musical/dance night.

As for your invitation to visit "Bama, afraid I still have lukewarm vibes, having trained in Fort McClellan (Anniston) about 63 years ago...red mud and I didn't get along too well!(I'm a spoiled Californian)

Safe and happy journey to you folks...and may the saints be on your shoulder throughout the month.

Stu T.

P.S. A nice day trip aside from Inishmore(Aran Islands) could be heading south and taking the Tarbert short ferry run and visiting Glin Castle...more "modern" than most castles in Ireland, but well situated on the River Shannon.

I'm not sure the Doolin-Inishmore ferry runs until May...so you may have to go to Galway for a trip to the Arans.

GreenDragon

Good luck, Alabama_me, and if you have more questions, we'll do our best!

And Ned, Gus O'Connors was at least still open in 2006 when we went, and it was VERY crowded in early June

Alabama_Me

tower and GD, you are great... thank you both so much.. and i will have to hit Gus' for some fun and let them know you sent me... as far as loving Ireland i would pack all my bags and move there if i could talk my husband into it.. i swear.. i think i lived another life there..i remember being seven and talking about going to ireland.. now that i have all 14 kids raised I'm going.. i told my husband if anything ever happens to him he should look me up in Ireland.. lol..

Cali... oh man.. do you know i paid less for my house @ 5,450 sq ft.. then you probebly pay in a month.. heheee... just kidding but probebly pretty darn close.. i only paid 300k for it.. plus 6 acres.. give me red dirt any day.. not that i don't LOVE Cali.. i have lots of family there.. but man it's toooo rich for my blood.. i like walking out my door and watching the tennessee river float by.. while i listen to the cows and donkeys sing to me from the back forty.. hehehe.. lmao.. thanks again.. guys.. i'll do it all.. i promise and write to ya and let you know how we faired..

GreenDragon

14 kids???????

Padraig

GreenDragon wrote: "14 kids???????"

Why not? She's spiritually Irish.

GreenDragon

Yikes! There's Irish and then there's insane. (JK)