Emerald Isle - The Journey Continues

This excursion leads me to Ireland or as the English like to refer to it, the Republic of Ireland. Okay…whatever, the south bit.  This story picks up on the twelve day tour from Cork to Killarney to Galway and back to Dublin with many others stops along the way.

Drombeg stones are found at the most southern tip of Ireland. In fact you can see the sea from these stone circles. Drombeg is the largest stone circle on the island of Eire (*ahem, that means Ireland) and quite possibly the tallest as well, even though it’s no Stonehenge…

During the winter solstice many druids attend the festivals to perform ancient dances at the stones. Just for fun I tried my own dance and pushed on a boulder to see if I might have luck traveling through time on the Autumn Equinox (Outlander fans will understand this). I’m still here...

Drombeg Stone Circle

 To the other side of the country now! Killarney National Park is roughly three times the size of Wicklow so give yourself plenty of time to explore. Torc falls is a nice hike in the park and only about a five minute walk from the car park, easily accessible and a great photo opportunity.

Torc Falls

 Do the day trip through the Gap of Dunloe viewing majestic mountains and valleys with lakes and streams on horseback. For those less adventurous try the horse drawn carriage ride. This trip leaves daily and runs from 10 -4pm. If horseback riding be prepared to do it English style. Cheeky buggers. 

Gap of Dunloe

Holly the horse takes us through the mountains

The carriage ride ends at the lake and drops you by a cottage which is a great little spot to have a cuppa or lunch before boarding the boat to Ross Castle.

Ross Castle

 As luck would have it, (mentioned in previous Ireland post -PS.I Love You) we set out across the five miles of lakes until the boat motored no more and we were literally dead in the water, bobbing along and awaiting a rescue boat. Unlike the film, we had atleast one oar. To which some Yankee in the boat hollered, “This MUST be an Irish boat. It only has one oar. If we paddled, we’d be going in circles!”

But alas, we were rescued and continued on our journey. After visiting Ross Castle (for a small fee), we caught the bus back to the car park in which we started the Gap of Dunloe tour and went home to laugh about our excursion over a cup of tea. 

A trip to Killarney wouldn’t be complete without seeing the Ring of Kerry which is about 200 mile loop at the most westward sticky-outie bit of Ireland. Said to be the most beautiful scenic drive in all of Ireland and the closest you will get to New York without being on a ship. We started anti-clockwise to reach the beaches near Rossbeigh. Nice sandy beach near a very small village and great place for walking the pooch.

Rossbeigh Beach

There is a lot to see and do on the Ring of Kerry, so give plenty of time (days) to explore. We drove it in one day but were still able to see quite a bit. Hop the ferry to Valentia Island (this is a five minute ferry and by all rights you could probably swim across but you want to take your car/ bike to drive around the island) to see the Grotto and the lighthouse. Note there is a fee to see the lighthouse, but you can take plenty of photos from the narrow, windy, steep, you-get-the picture,  dirt road up above. 

Valentia Island Lighthouse

Travel the island loop and take the bridge back to the mainland to continue on the Ring of Kerry (this avoids paying the ferry fee and also I think I broke the car trying to get on my first ferry- there was lots of noise from under the bonnet and a horrid burning smell- I think I drove off with the hand brake still on. Not to worry, we just parked the car for a wee bit and had lunch til the smell went away and all was well).  

Head next to Sneem via the N70. This is a good place to stop for ice cream and admire the art in the park (don’t forget the gift shops) then onwards to Kenmare and finally to where you began in Killarney. 

Now running the West coast of the Emerald Isle; we were off to Galway which I found very different than in the pictures. Imagine my surprise when I expected sleepy, green, rolling hills with lines of stone walls and came to a lively seaside town.

County Galway

Town of Galway

Since it’s a long way to Galway we broke up the drive with a quick stop at Kinvara. Find the free car park across the road and walk less than ten minutes to the entrance of the Dunguaire Castle. Better viewed when the tide is in. Pay a small fee to see the feudal castle in all its glory and learn of the bitter history inside. They still have medieval banquets that visitors can book and dress to play the part. No corsets for me thank you! 

Dunguaire Castle low tide

And what’s a trip to Ireland with stopping at the Cliffs of Moher? No entrance fee but you must pay to park in the vast car park/parking lot. Pardon me, I can’t remember if the Cliffs are wheelchair accessible, I just remember lots of stairs! A large tourist building houses cafés, restaurants, a museum and gift shops for all your COM memorabilia. On a side note, if you walk the dirt path along the cliffs avoid contact with the wire fence. My sidekick learned the hard way that the fence has an electric current running through it to keep the wandering cows at bay. 

Cliffs of Moher

Back to Dublin to finish this tour with proper Irish ending…a pint of Guinness and shot of Jameson. Whilst driving in the city of Dublin is not advisable (horrible traffic), driving with any alcohol in your system is not tolerated at all! Take the bus around the city or walk as the Jameson distillery and Guinness Storehouse are only a short distance apart. Learn how to pour your own pint of Guinness and then take it to the sky bar to enjoy whilst overlooking the city of Dubs in 360 degrees like the rich and famous have (Tom Cruise was there among others).

  Learn about the process of brewing and about early day hazing as a cooper (they stuffed them in their new casks filled with wood shavings and stout and rolled them through the city til they thought the newbies were initiated!)

Mr. Guinness and his wife had 21 children! Twenty-one! *shakes head* No way José! Ten children survived and carried on the legacy. Interesting fact: Guinness bought the rights to Wicklow National Park water supply for his stout as he said the water was a very important ingredient in the brew. Remember that if you also visit Wicklow.

Jameson distillery is much less commercial and quieter than the Guinness plant, but just as enlightening and if you’re lucky you can get invited to take a whiskey taste test and become a Certified Whiskey Taster at the end of the tour!