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14th July - County Limerick to Counties Clare & Galway

We had an interesting chat with Kathleen, our host, during breakfast. We'd noticed that many of the towns through which we'd passed had been playing host to teams from all over the world for the Special Olympics and saw that there were some drawings commemorating the event in the dining room. Kathleen had in fact had a team staying with her, from a small country I'd never heard of - Tajikistan (adjacent to China and Afghanistan) - they had won 3 gold medals between them. Teams stayed with hosts during the week prior to the games, which were held in Dublin. It sounded a wonderful experience for everyone and a lesson in the true spirit of international co-operation. 

We only had one day here so left in good time for the ferry at Tarbert which took us efficiently across into Clare avoiding Limerick. The weather was dull but improved slightly and was dry enough for us to visit the Vandeleur walled garden at Kilrush. The garden had fallen into disrepair but was restored and replanted in 2000. It was very pretty and peaceful and made a change to see a newly-planted rather than long-established garden. We then drove in to the town of Milltown Malbay where we bought a couple of essentials and a drink at a really old & scruffy bar. 

Our next stop was at the popular attraction of the Cliffs of Moher - a bit too popular really, it was swarming with people and roadside stalls. Also musicians, of varying abilities!  The weather was really misty so my photos not very good - click on the link above to see the cliffs in a better light! The building on the right is O'Brien's Tower and looks out over the cliffs. We didn't climb up, there was a charge and the mist so thick we'd have seen very little. Much of the area isn't fenced off although there are warnings and it's supposedly forbidden to walk along the cliffs. However, we were horrified to see people sitting on the very edge.

We then drove through the are known as The Burren. It's a fascinating limestone area, resulting in a seemingly barren landscape which does in fact play host to numerous plants and flowers that grow up through the cracks. We came across a fairly new visitor attraction, Caherconnell Stone Fort, which was probably constructed between 1500 and 1000 years ago. First we saw a film that explained the area's geology and the presence of the many forts and burial grounds in the area, and then visited the fort which was very interesting. Had the place to ourselves too. 

We ventured through some lovely countryside on quite hairy roads until we came to our next destination, Kinvara, a pretty fishing village just inside County Galway. Our farmhouse B&B, Clareview House, was just out of town and is an attractive building combining B&B with a dairy farm. On arrival we were given tea and scones in the conservatory where we met a Canadian couple - hello Brenda & Reg if you're reading this - who were house-swapping with a family in Dublin. We had a long chat before going out for dinner, which we ate at a pub for a change - Keogh's - which was very good. Then a short walk around before another early night. 

15th July - County Galway

We had breakfast with Brenda and Reg and our host, another Brenda, booked tickets for us to attend the evening's medieval banquet at Dungua which is just down the road. After breakfast we visited the castle which is more of a tower house than a defensive castle. It's quite small but has a nice feel about it and Martyn was quite smitten, having always wanted to live in a castle! There were several rooms, one of which houses the banquets. Whilst we were there, they were installing a new stainless steel cabinet which seemed rather incongruous. We were given back our entrance fee when we mentioned we'd be at the banquet. There's a nice craft shop upstairs where I bought a 'glass on metal' brooch made on site.   

We then drove to Coole Park, not far away, where we visited the nature reserve. Coole was home to Lady Gregory who had many literary people to stay, including WB Yeats who wrote a number of poems about the area, including The Wild Swans at Coole. We had a lovely walk through the woods, about 3 or 4 miles through dense woodland, accompanied by a booklet that helped explain the various features. We had tea and brownies and then went to Gort, the nearby town. After that we just had time for a brief rest before getting ready for the banquet which started at 5.30pm. Several people had trouble with their bookings and had been booked into Bunratty castle, in the south of Clare. It was full though, 55 people is the maximum. We were thus first in and were served mead which was delicious and then were treated some lovely music by a harpist. We had an excellent meal and were superbly entertained between courses by two young ladies and a man, along with the harpist. They regaled us with stories, songs and poems as well as serving us our food. It was a great evening, closed with tea and coffee before we left at 8pm. It was pouring with rain so quite refreshing after the heat of the banqueting hall. 

16th July - County Galway to County Kilkenny

Brenda recommended Birr Castle Demesne to us for a visit on the way to Kilkenny, our final destination, and it was an excellent choice.  It's been the home of the Parsons family for centuries, pioneers in the fields of astronomy, photography, engineering and horticulture. The family still lives in the castle which isn't open to the public, but the gardens are, and they're fabulous. We spent about 2½ hours walking around and were lucky enough to be in the right place at the right time for the falconry display which was very good. 

We saw the very first suspension bridge and what was once the largest telescope. There is also a display of the scientific achievements of the family but we were flagging by then and gave it only the briefest of attention.  After coffee and cake, we left for the final leg of the journey, arriving in Kilkenny at 4pm which seemed to be the rush hour. This time we had a hotel, Zuni, and it was good to see a bath for a change and really big, thick towels. It also had the most powerful shower we've ever come across. The hotel's modern and comfortable although with the seemingly inevitable noise from the air-conditioning unit. We weren't to need the car for the next day or so - there was free parking which saved a fair bit of money. Kilkenny is a beautiful medieval city full of good shops, bars, restaurants and old buildings. We ate in the hotel restaurant and weren't disappointed. It was wonderful -and you can watch the chef cooking too. 

17th July - Kilkenny

We awoke to rain but after a good breakfast, braved the elements and wandered around town before our 10.30 guided town walk, led by historian Pat Tynan. The tour was really interesting but the rain didn't let up and we were soaked - hence not too many photos. After the tour we did some shopping and then went to the castle, where admittance is by tour only. The castle has had a number of changes over the years and is now being refurbished in early Victorian style. Our guide, an Australian called Alison, was excellent and despite the large group, spoke clearly enough for everyone to hear. The tour took an hour and then we popped into the 'modern art' exhibition called 'Pipe Dreams'. I'm afraid it did nothing for either of us. It was raining far too hard to walk in the castle grounds so we did some shopping in the craft and design centres next to the castle. After dropping off our purchases, we went to the local cinema to see Veronica Guerin. It was quite harrowing and we came out feeling rather shaken - seeing the film in the murdered journalist's native country made it especially poignant. We went for dinner straight away, choosing Pordylo's Restaurant, which seemed a fitting place for our last night in Ireland. It was the most expensive of our meals here but it was worth it.  When we left it had stopped raining so at least we had a dry walk back to the hotel.

18th July - back home

We awoke to brilliant sunshine for our journey back home - typical, we could have done with the sun the day before. We had an uneventful journey via Wexford but the traffic there was bad and it didn't look to be worth stopping so we arrived in Rosslare in plenty of time. By freaky coincidence, once again we had the worst spot on the vessel, meaning we were almost last off. We had no delays and on arriving back in Fishguard, drove home in brilliant sunshine, the only thing that had been lacking during most of the holiday.

Conclusions

Ireland is a lovely country and I'd like to see more of it. The weather could have been better but I guess it was at least as good as I was expecting. There seems to have been a lot of EEC money pouring in and tourism has benefited greatly. We were surprised at the amount of building going on and wonder if nearly everyone is thinking of going into B&B, judging by the size of the properties. People always mention the friendliness of the Irish and they're right to do so, everyone was very kind and helpful. We drove a total of 1146 miles,  about 800 of which was in Ireland. Petrol and diesel is much cheaper there, contrary to what we were told in advance, so don't fill up till you get there! Driving was easy although often slow - visitors from North America were horrified at the narrowness of many of the roads - but that's something we're used to where we live.