IRELAND SUMMER 2018

We moved to Florida in 2015 to avoid the harsh winters in Kentucky. Now we have to figure out how to avoid the hot and humid summers here, and travel is always the answer. The summer of 2018 was one of our more ambitious vacations, due to the fact that we're only allowed to be in (European) Schengen countries for no longer than 90 out of 180 days. We'd never been to Ireland before, and because it's not part of the Schengen agreement, time there wouldn't shorten our stay in Italy.

For our stay in Ireland, we limited our vacation to the Republic of Ireland, and didn't venture into Northern Ireland (a part of Great Britain) at all. I started by using Rick Steves' recommendations, adjusting and generally adding days to his way-too-fast itinerary. I added an extra day onto our first stay, in Dublin, just to allow us to recover from jet lag.

Wanting to see a good chunk of Ireland in a limited amount of time does not lend itself to slow travel. This trip was definitely NOT slow travel, but because we thought this would be our one and only trip to Ireland, we decided to do it. It's much more tiring, and much more expensive than basing yourself in an apartment for a week, or two, or more. In Ireland, small as it is, things always take longer to get to than you'd think. Roads can be quite narrow, and no one was in a hurry to get anywhere. Our itinerary broke down to 4 nights in Dublin, 3 nights in Kilkenny, 2 nights each in Kinsale, Kenmare and Dingle, 4 nights in Galway and one final night at the Dublin Airport Holiday Inn.

We rented an apartment in Dublin, where accommodations are expensive. This was a relatively budget stay, and allowed us to eat breakfast at 'home', as well as keep cold water and ice in the frig– which turned out to be a real blessing. The location was perfect – one block off the main drag, just around the corner from the airport shuttle bus stop, and within easy walking distance of sights, shops and restaurants. The apartment was secure and quiet, but certainly nothing special. The rental agents were slow to respond to our calls/texts – we arrived during a heatwave and wanted a fan, but luckily we had no major issues. It was clean, and as long as you're not expecting something grand, I'd recommend it.

As you might imagine, most of our time in Dublin was spent walking, wandering and enjoying. We did take an organized tour to visit the Newgrange passage tomb and Hill of Tara, just north of Dublin, and a walking tour given by Trinity College. We saw the Book of Kells –  the page is turned every day, so it's just luck what you'll see.

On our last morning in Dublin we took the airport shuttle bus back to the airport where we picked up our rental car and headed south. We visited Glendalough, enjoying wandering through the ruins, learning about the round stone towers that are unique to Ireland, and taking the first of many, many pictures of Celtic cross headstones. We spent the first of three nights in Kilkenny, at Butler Court, probably our favorite town, and favorite accommodation. The owners, John and Yvonne, had truly thought of everything – after he unloaded our luggage, John even offered to park the car for us – an offer we were happy to accept.

One of the reasons I extended our stays in each of our five locations was because we used our drive time from place to place to stop and see sights along the way, so we usually didn't arrive where we'd spend the night until later in the afternoon. We didn't want to feel as if we were simply spending the night in a town, and in addition to seeing the 'must-see' sights, we also wanted time to wander and explore and to get a feel for each of the places. Kilkenny was large enough to have lots to see and do, yet was small enough to be walkable. It was someplace I think I could live, which is always the standard I use.

While staying in Kilkenny we took an organized walking tour, visited the castle, and drove to The Rock of Cashel. We'd been told to arrive at The Rock early, not just to beat the crowds, but also to avoid the high winds that are common. Because Ireland was experiencing a heatwave, arriving earlier rather than later was also a good idea for us, but certainly not the norm. We also visited Jerpoint Abbey from our base in Kilkenny.

On our way to our next stop in Kinsale we stopped by the Jameson Distillery, and were both surprised to discover that Irish whiskey is much more like bourbon than scotch, meaning that we both enjoyed the visit – and the tastings – much more than we expected. We did not visit the town of Waterford, but if you're interested in the town – or it's wares – this would be a nice day trip.

Kinsale itself was a charming seaside town with colorful buildings, a nice farmer's market, and a large abandoned fort outside of town. Our hosts at the B&B recommended a place where we could drop off our laundry and pick it up the next day. On our way out to the fort we dropped off our dirty laundry, hiked out to the the other side of the bay and had great views of Kinsale from Fort Charles.

We stopped at Timoleague Friary and Drombeg Stone Circle and the Beara Peninsula on our way to Kenmare. I'd wanted to stop in Cobh to see the Titanic Museum, but the information I found online regarding parking seemed more discouraging than inviting, so we skipped it. Kenmare was the one town we really didn't see – we spent all day driving and sightseeing, and we arrived late in the afternoon. We did walk into town for dinner, but the entire next day was spent on our big splurge – a personal, guided tour of the Ring of Kerry. This allowed Art to take a break from driving and to just enjoy the scenery. We both enjoyed it immensely – especially the running commentary from our guide, Patrick.

After Kenmare we headed to Dingle, stopping at Inch Beach along the way. The scenery was stunning along our drive, and we stopped quite frequently. At first glance I thought I wouldn't like Dingle, but I found it quite charming after wandering around. We spent an entire day exploring Slea Head Drive. Even though the skies were overcast we were glad we missed the fog that rolled in the day after our drive – we saw NOTHING on our way out of town as we headed towards Galway.

We took the Shannon Ferry to cut our drive time from Dingle to Galway, knowing we wanted to drive through The Burren, and also make a stop at Aillwee Caves. I love caves, but was very disappointed in this one. I guess when you come from the land of Mammoth Cave, smaller caves have to be something really special to compete, and this one wasn't anything special at all. If you have kids, or have never been to a cave, this might be worth a stop, but otherwise, don't bother.

We booked four nights in Galway knowing that it would be our northernmost stop, but also knowing that we wanted ta full day to explore Connemara. In the end, I could've stayed here another day. The drive back through the Burren on our way to the Cliffs of Moher took all of one day, another day we simply wandered the town, stopping along the way for something to eat or drink and we took a river cruise – nothing special to see, really, but it was pleasant and relaxing, and nice to be off our feet for a while. The one full day we'd plan for our drive to Connemara was not enough time. We didn't get to see anything more of Kylemore Abbey than the outside. It looks more castle than convent to me, so I'd love to see the inside, and it seems from the website that you could spend the whole day here. We left Galway and drove to Cong Abbey – where we were surprised to see a statue of John Wayne and Maureen O'Hara! - then we drove to Westport, but only walked around for a short bit. It was crammed with tourists and lots of cute little shops, but it seemed more Disney than charming. We based this day on a suggested drive in the Rick Steves guidebook. The drive was beautiful, and I can't imagine spending less time at any of our stops, so one full day just wasn't enough.

It's not a long drive from Galway to Dublin's airport, but I didn't want to have to get up super early on the day of our flight to England, so we spent our last night at the Dublin Airport Holiday Inn. On the way we stopped at the Irish Nation Stud – that's what they call it – for some reason they don't add “farm” to the title! We had a tour of the farm, where in contrast to what we're used to in Kentucky, thoroughbreds there are bred and trained in a variety of styles – jumpers, cross-country and race course. The young man who led the tour had just returned from a visit to Keeneland Racetrack in Lexington Kentucky, and he knew all the Derby winners and horses of note within the United States. I certainly know nothing about thoroughbred horses in other countries!

After leaving the National Stud it was a short drive to the Holiday Inn. We dropped off our luggage the returned our rental car, taking the hotel's shuttle back to our room. Our 19 nights in Ireland weren't long enough – if I could I think I'd add another day onto every stop but Dublin, which would be 24 nights in all. It's still a lot of moving, but there could also be a day where you simply took the day off, which was something we didn't feel we could do – too much to see, especially considering the beautiful weather we had. We didn't use our umbrellas once in Ireland, and other than a light sweater for me in the early morning/evening, we never needed our jackets. We know how rare beautiful weather, at least for an extended amount of time, is for Ireland, and we felt pretty lucky!

As always, our photos are on Flickr - Click on the link in the right hand column.