youngtom2910

We have just returned from a wonderful trip to Ireland.

We were glad to discover that Aer Lingus had a non-stop flight from SFO to dublin, so we were able to get there without a connection. The flight was fine-on time no problems-11 hours later we're in Dublin. Customs was a breeze- no waiting at all. Took a taxi into dublin, which cost about 35 Euros.

We stayed at the Dylan Hotel in Dublin. It was OK-I think if I did it again I would try to stay closer top Trinity College/St. Stephen's Green, where much of the tourist sights are located.

After a knap, our first stop was trinity college and the Book of Kells. My partner was more taken with this than I was. I enjoyed the long room in the library where you go after the book of Kells exhibit. (You need tickets to see the Book of Kells and you need to specify a time.). The long room is a LONG ROOM with very high ceiling and lots of old books. A beautiful room. My partner has a sore knee, so we didn't take the Trinity College walking tour, which sounded interesting. We then walked to the Archeology Museum, which was free and had some interesting exhibits. The museum is right next to St. Stephen's green, so we stopped at the bar at the Shelbourne Hotel (a famous historic hotel), which was large and quite festive on a late saturday afternoon. We had soup-which we learned in Ireland frequently comes with very tasty dark bread.

The next day we went to see the EPIC museum, which deals with, among other things, the surprising number of Irish who have over the centuries chosen to emigrate. This emigration appears to have been caused by (i) economic stagnation/collapse and (ii) english oppression. (By the way, if you want to read a good summary of recent Irish history, I would recommend "We don't Know Ourselves: by Fintan O'Toole.) Ireland is a country that has had great income inequality. This is partly due to historic low levels of education. Free public secondary schools did not exist in Ireland until about 1970. This change, coupled with EU membership, has been a great help.

The Catholic Church appears to have been a pretty oppressive force historically. the power of the church appears to be diminishing, as shown by (i) a vote authorizing gay marriage, (ii) the availability fo abortion, and (iii) the acceptance of divorce.

We also went to Christ Church Cathedral-which I did not find too interesting. We then went to the Guinness tour-again not too interesting to me. I did get my first taste of guinness!

We decided to tour around Ireland with a small group tour. I am not comfortable driving on the left, and there are many narrow roads around Ireland with lots of buses. Anyway, we joined our group with "My Ireland tours," On our first day, we stopped at Trim Castle, a castle ruin. We learned in our travels around Ireland that in medieval times it was useful for defensive purposes to build either a tall rectangular "keep" or a tall round tower. Trim Castle is the remnants of a keep. We toured the castle on a mild day, and it was surprising how cold it was in the castle. We then made our way west to the Belleek pottery factory, where they showed a bit about how the items were made and had lots of specimens for sale.

We stayed for 2 nights at each hotel. Our first stop was the Lough Eske Castle Hotel. This is s lovely hotel-we were given a gigantic room. Our favorite spot was the library =where there was a wood-burning fireplace. we had a number of delightful conversations with other guests in that room.

The next day we went to Derry and had a tour of the wall. Apparently in the late 17th century the forces supporting James II clashed with forces loyal to William of Orange. William's army prevailed. Now, more than 300 years later, those supporting a continuing relationship with the UK parade around Derry in July of each year wearing Orange and celebrating everything English. This does not make the Catholics happy. Apparently in the past there was significant discrimination against the Catholics in terms of housing and employment. It seems unlikely that this is continuing, in light of the recent electoral changes where sinn fein is now the majority party in Northern Ireland. But I guess Brexit is complicating the truce that has continued relating to the Good Friday agreement in 1998.

The next day we drove down to Galway. I was disappointed I didn't get to see Ashford Castle, a castle hotel that I had read a lot about. that would be a good stop for lunch or tea (or for an overnight splurge). We then were dropped off for an afternoon in the Galway tourist area. I ddi not particularly enjoy this- would have preferred being there in early evening and hearing music. Oh well.

We then went to the Glenlo Abbey Hotal for the evening. They have a number of old Orient express train dining cars in which you can have dinner. We had dinner there the first night. Quite special.

The next day we went ot Kylemore Abbey. This is a country estate in a spectacular setting. It made me wonder how in the world mansions like this can be built in the middle of nowhere. It is known as an abbey because, after being owned by a few rich families, it was then acquired by a group of nuns. We were dropped of to tour the house on our own. I did tag along with a tour with a guide, and this was informative. I don't know how to arrange for a guide like this. It was foggy when we arrived and the cleared up as we were leaving. It was interesting seeing is the fog and in the sunlight.

The next day we visited the Cliffs of Moher on the way to Killarney. The cliffs are obviously striking. It was foggy/rainy however, so not very clear. In addition, since I live close to Big sur california, seeing ocean cliffs is not too new. One thing to be aware of-this is a very crowded area. In addition to see the cliffs you need to climb a pretty substantial hill. There was one small golf cart available for people who needed a ride up the hill. this was totally inadequate for the number of people who needed a ride.

We then. went to Killarney, where we stayed in the Cahernane House Hotel, a very nice small hotel.

The next day was devoted to the ring of Kerry. We were fortunate that the day was clear. The views in the ring of Kerry were often stunning.

When we returned to the hotel, we had planned to take a taxi into town and go to a pub to listen to music. However, we learned that there had been a football match late that (Saturday) afternoon and the pubs would be quite crowded, and that it might be hard to get a taxi back to the hotel. Plus it was raining. Anyway, we decided not to go to town.

The next day-off to Blarney Castle. Blarney castle is another ruined keep. Anyway, I was not too interested in waiting in line to climb all the stairs and kiss the stone. However, I was pleased to discover that there are beautiful gardens at blarney castle, which I enjoyed exploring.

Next stop-Rock of Cashel. Again, another ruined castle and cathedral, set on a hill with a view of the surrounding area. It was the seat of kings for many centuries.

Last stop was the K Club (hotel), where we stayed the last evening. This was a lovely hotel, surrounded by 2 Arnold Palmer golf courses, where the ryder cup will be played in the near future.

Next day-to the airport!

KarenWoo

Very interesting report. What was the weather like? What was your favorite? You seem to be a bit disappointed in some of the stops. Would you do a tour again? We plan on visiting Ireland at a future date. We are leaving for Scotland next week and will be renting a car so it will be our first time driving on the left. I prefer independent travel instead of group tours so I hope we don't find it too stressful driving on the left.

youngtom2910

We were quite lucky-the weather was very nice almost every day when we were there-perhaps 60 degrees during the day, cooler at night and early morning.

We were very happy with the small group tour. i thought it was a good way to get introduced to Ireland. The driver/tour guide was very informative about the sights we were going to see as well providing general information about Irish culture and politics. The trip was extremely well organized and the hotels were quite good. The members of the group were also interesting. Every day we left the hotel at 9 and returned at about 5. there was a lot of time on the bus-but if you are going to see a lot of Ireland in a week, that does require a lot of driving, which I was glad someone else was doing.

In terms of what were the highlights-the tour guide was very informative and help[ful. In terms of sights- I think the ring of Kerry, Kylemore Abbey some of the old keeps like Trim Castle and the gardens at Blarney Castle were the best for me. The hotels chosen were very nice, particularly Lough Eske Castle.

TDudette

Thanks for sharing your trip, youngtom2910.

coral22

What a lovely trip report! Thank you! We were there in May 2022 and thought it was a great time to go for the weather and to beat the crowds. It is always hard to know how to best manage the travel. We were thinking maybe next time, we would combine the train/bus, rent a car and go on group tours, maybe single day, maybe multi day. How many people were in your group, and how did you feel about that many days on a schedule? I did look up some of your hotels, they looked very nice.

youngtom2910

there were 24 people in our group, which seemed a good size.

The tour was nine nights. We spent 2 nights in dublin before the trip began.