This trip was on Lynn’s bucket list for a long time. We learned so much about Ireland from our guides. I really didn’t understand how brutal Britain was during the 1800’s. Then the blight destroyed the crops in 1845. Fifty percent of the population either died or emmigrated in five years. The population has still not fully recovered.
Then in the early 1900’s, Michael Collins led the fight to make Ireland a free state again. What he did for the country is amazing. He’s the only layman that has a church named after him. I think this is why the Irish are so nice. They’ve been through so much and today is a great time for Ireland.
This is the itinerary for the trip:
Day 1
As usual when traveling to Europe, it was a very long day. We were fortunate enough to fly Delta One (First Class). When we arrived at the Davenport hotel at 9:30AM, our room wasn’t ready so we toured the city for a while. We rode the Hop-on / Hop-off bus. We love those.
The little statues are actual sound “experiences”. We could talk to each other across the park using them. It’s the same for why I had my head stuck in a rock; when you hum, it vibrates your whole body.
After some lunch, we went back to the hotel to get our room. This trip, Lynn was able to adjust to the time change much quicker than I did. I fell asleep early and slept until morning.
Day 2
Today was another day of touring Dublin. Today’s big event was the Guiness Storehouse. It was founded in 1759. The orginal owner signed a 9000 year lease for the land. If you like Guiness, you’d love this tour. Lynn’s not a beer drinker but she enjoyed the tour.
At the end of the tour, you get a free pint at the top of the Storehouse. It has a great panoramic view of Dublin.
After the tour, we had dinner at “The Banks”. It’s an old bank converted to a restaurant.
Day 3
We had a “free day” on the schule but Lynn found us some interesting tours to take. The first was a tour of the “Jeanie Johnston“. It was a ship the took hundreds of Irish to Canada and America. It’s the only ship with zero fatalities. It was shocking to see how many people fit into those tiny ships. To get to the ship, the people took a 100 mile trek from central Ireland to Dublin. It was called the “Famine Walk”.
We also visited the EPIC Museum. Another great way to learn more about Ireland and it’s history.
At the end of the day, we went to an “Irish House Party“. Lots of singing and dancing. Lots of fun.
Day 4
Our driver for the first few days was Francis Sullivan. He took us from Dublin to Galway. Rather than speed across the country on the Motorway, we asked him to take the old road through the samll cities. The city I enjoyed the most was Athlone. We stopped at “Sean’s Pub” and actually got to speak to the owner. He told us the pub’s story that started 900 years ago. He said Netflix is going to produce a documentary about it.
We also drove through Ballinasloe. It’s famous for it’s horse events like riding, showing and trading. There was also a Irish hurling match going on that day.
That night we stayed at the Glenlo Abbey Hotel. It was my favorite hotel of the entire trip. The Abbey was built for a man’s wife who died just before it was complete. The Abbey was spectalar. Lynn and I spent the evenings in the Abbey with cocktails.
Day 5
Francis took us north through the Cannemara region. It was a full day of driving through Fjords, Mountains and Coastline. Lynn’s highlight was the “Painted Sheep”. They spray paint them with blue, red, and green spots as a way of branding the sheep to a specific farmer.
After the long-drive, we did some walking and shoppping in Galway. For Dinner, we had italian in the Latin Quarter. Galway is a great little city.
Day 6
We switched drivers today. Our new driver is Tim Foley. He’s about 75 and was a milk farmer. He still lives in the house where he was born.
Tim took us to the Cliffs of Moher. This was my favorite stop on the trip. They are 350 million years old, At 700 feet tall, they are spectacular to see.
We then drove to Killarney for the night at the Great Southern Hotel. It was very nice too. While at dinner in Killarney, we met people from Columbus Ohio and Louisville Kentucky.
Day 7
The famous Irish weather didn’t dissapoint us. While the weather was nice most of our trip, today was different! We were supposed to drive the “Ring of Kerry” but there was a big storm off the coast with gale force winds over 60mph. We had to wait until late in the day to leave.
The first half the trip was very difficult to see anything due to the low clouds and heavy wind and rain. The second half was much better. We stopped about half-way in Waterville for lunch at Dooley’s. It was right on the coast. The sea was raging. This was Lynn’s favorite part of our trip. She loves the small sea-side villiages.
We met some americans on a golf trip. They actually played golf in the storm. I imagine even if you could hit the green, the wind would blow the ball off again. They said is was “Bananas!”
Day 8
Today was our last tour; to Cork. Along the way, we stopped in Blarney to see the Blarney Castle and “Kiss the Blarney Stone”. I kissed it, Lynn chose to pass on that. The castle was very impressive.
That evening, we toured Cork and had a nice dinner. We stayed at the Hayfield Manor Hotel.
Day 9
Our final drive was to Dublin. It took almost three hours. We did a lot of walking and shopping. Dinner was at our favorite pub, Kennedy’s. We stayed at the Davenport Hotel again. No pics today.
Day 10
Leave for long trip home at 7:00am.