Three Ladies in Eire -- Ireland 2006 Quick and Dirty Version
 

Here are the highlights from my VERY long trip report on this thread:

http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34833963

Trip dates: June 23, 2006-July 9th, 2006

Places traveled:
Ennis, County Clare (The Burren, Aran Islands, Cliffs of Moher, Bunratty Folk Park)

Caherbarnagh, County Cork (Dingle Peninsula, Ring of Kerry, Killarney National Park)

Cahir Castle, Swiss Cottage, Rock of Cashel

Kilkenny (Kells Priory, Jerpoint Abbey, Inistioge, Kilkenny)

Glendalough Abbey, Powerscourt Gardens

Dublin (Dublin, Tara, Newgrange, Malahide, Knowth, National Stud, Japanese Gardens)


Places stayed:

B&B in Ennis: Stone Haven, hostess Marie. http://www.stonehavenclare.com/page1.htm
Nice B&B, hostess was very nice though seemed a bit shy. Room was great, as was breakfast. Some traffic noise at night, but it slowed down considerably. Small bathroom, but adequate with sunroof.

Kerry: rented farmhouse self-catering "Molly's", hostess Mrs. Nagle.
http://www.imagineireland.com/site/p...p?fldProp=4160
Great place, though bathroom is on the first floor and the bedrooms on the second floor. Roomy, quaint, FAR from anywhere, up on the side of a mountain on a sheep track road. About 15-20 minutes drive to Rathmore. Hostess very helpful, though can't give directions to save her life.

Kilkenny: Alcantra B&B, hostess Brigit Holohan.
http://homepage.eircom.net/~alcantra/
The best stay of our vacation -- Brigit is a delight, definitely a MOM and a great cook. The room was a bit crowded (triple) but the bathroom was rather large. Only a couple big blocks from downtown, has own parking, not much traffic noise at night at all. She truly made us feel at home. Fabulous water pressure in shower! (got the recommendation from www.irelandyes.com)

Dublin: O'Neill's Victorian Pub B&B, host Gerry, Hughie.
http://www.oneillsdublin.com/
The hosts were nice, usually working in the pub downstairs. Pub food ok, nothing spectacular. Room had nice high ceilings (victorian) but room was 46 steps up. Nice big room, good sized bathroom. Shower head fell off while we were there, but then the water pressure was better. LOTS of traffic noise, it never stopped on Pearse road. Across from mostly empty or not-often-used buildings owned by Trinity College. One way streets all around, no parking (can park at night for free on Morse Street, but must pay as of 7am).

Rental car: Fiat Punto from AutoEurope (EuropCar) at SNN airport. Manual Trans, original contract through Travelocity for the full 15 days was $220, but I was stupid and left my Plat MC at home, so add $320 to that for CDW. Car was fine (barely) for three fat girls and our luggage, which was one carry-on and one checked piece each.

Best places:

Dingle Peninsula, especially when the sun came out near the 'middle' and Slea Head -- stunning!

Aran Islands, Dun Aengosa - long climb up slippery, uneven rocks, but oh, so worth it to look down that 300 cliff!

Killarney National Park - Gap of Dunloe on pony cart with Tim and his horse Harry, Ladies' View, Muckross House -- definitely a great day!

St. Mary's Cathedral in Kilkenny - the most reverent spot we saw this trip, truly serene and beautiful.


Worst parts:
Travel mishaps there and back, and forgetting my credit cards.

Driving in Dublin - only did it a little, but hated the one-way streets and traffic.

Conor's Pass - coming down from the north side, through mist and fog, only to be able to see nothing of the 'payoff' vista when we get to the top due to aforementioned mist and fog. Would love to try it again in the sun, though!

Coming home!

Pictures will be up after I wade through the 3000+ pics...

GreenDragon, I'm posting here to tell you how much I enjoyed your long report. This short one is great also. You made the trip come alive for me and wish I was back in Ireland. Thanks! Joan

I figured few people would want to slog through the big one to get the good stuff, so I made the easy version, with a link to the longer one. I'm halfway through my photos! Woohoo!

I find I am reliving the trip while I do so, it's great :)

C-
Just checking in. Have been / am up to my ears at the moment, but wanted to say that I'm glad that the trip went more than less, well.

Glad you liked the Pancakes at Strawberry Fields, sorry (but not terribly suprised)that An Shrone also eluded you, as it did me..

Suspected that your schedule would allow little or no time for Millstreet, but how did you like the AREA?

People always ask me what keeps bringing me back ...

Bob

Great short and long reports. I liked both. My thanks for sharing. I stayed at Alcantra too and will go back again. Very nice place and I love Kilkenny. Unfortunately my all time favorite B&B in the area recently sold. Maybe it will reopen under new management. Things are changing rapidly around Ireland.

Green Dragon--

Thanks for the trip reports. As you may remember, our trip is similar to yours but in reverse order.

Was there no other option for laundry in Kilkenny? I don't think I paid 15E for all our laundry last year in England. We'll now be in Kilkenny for 3 nights to allow time to visit with friends who are joining us. I figure with 3 days, it's a good place to get some laundry done, but thought there'd be several options?

There may be other laundry options, but by the time we had found the place, found parking, and lugged our laundry in, we were ill-disposed to pack it all up and go back to someplace else to find it. We bit the bullet and dropped it, and went off for some sightseeing.

Glad my info is helping everyone! :)

OK, for those of you aching for photos, I've posted the whole trip report - including photos throughout - on my homepage, here:

http://www.greendragonartist.com/BItripreports2006.htm

I would love any comments and critiques! I've got thick skin, I promise :)

GreenDragon -
I LOVE your website (I am trying to convince DH that we should create one like this since we regularly travel). Your pictures of the Cliffs of Moher are absolutely stunning -- I wish we had a pretty day when we were there but unfortunately it was so foggy that our pictures didn't turn out that great. Oh well, next time!

Thank you for the wonderful trip report. I loved the long one. It brought back so many memories of our June 2005 ladies only adventure.

akila, let me know if you do, I'd love to browse it :)

I got the idea of setting up my own travel website after seeing Michele's at www.irelandyes.com :)