Entries from 'Ireland'
Day 15 – Oldcastle to Dublin Airport (Flight to London)
Well last night was uneventful with no ghosts at Ross Castle B&B. We spent a good bit of time this morning redistributing our luggage so that none of them were overweight for our flight this evening. We had anticipated stopping at a few places, but we only ended up with time for one stop, at…
Day 14 – Cushendall to Oldcastle
Today we left Culentra House and drove around one of the Glens of Antrim before heading down the coast to Belfast. Along the way we saw a group of 6-8 dolphin just off the coast. We stopped at Titanic Belfast, the new 100 million dollar exhibit dedicated to the Titanic, located at the site where…
Day 13 – Donegal to Cushendall
Today we traveled through County Donegal, stopping at Glenveagh National Park with a castle of the same name situated on a mountain lake. We crossed over into Northern Ireland (part of the United Kingdom), where the currency is pounds instead of euro and the speed limits are in miles per hour instead of kilometers per…
Day 12 – Connemara to Donegal
This morning the clouds were replaced by blue skies and warmer than normal temperatures (highs in mid 70′s). As we were leaving Connemara we saw the same older man harvesting turf that we saw the day before. After we left Connemara, our way was fairly uneventful except for passing a couple of mountains: Croagh Patrick,…
Day 11 – Connemara (Ireland School of Falconry)
Today we visited the Ireland School of Falconry for a 1-1/2 hour “Hawk Walk”. The school is on the grounds of Ashford Castle, a castle hotel. After we were shown around the facility and given a crash course on birds of prey, we were fitted with leather gloves and given two Harris Hawks, Aztec and…
Day 10 – Connemara (Wedding Vow Renewal on Inishmor, Aran Islands)
Today was wedding vow renewal day. We took a ferry from Rossaveal out to Inishmor, the largest of the three Aran Islands where we were picked up by Dara Molloy, the celtic priest performing our ceremony. We were welcomed into his home with some tea and delicious cookies baked by one of his teenage daughters….
Day 9 – Doolin to Connemara
After our second morning tour of Ballinalacken Castle, we headed right next door to Doolin Cave. The cave is home to the largest (by weight) free-hanging stalactite in the world and the longest in the northern hemisphere at 23 feet long. After descending over 80 feet down into the cave, our 17-year-old guide took us…
Day 8 – Dingle to Doolin
After a morning of shopping in Dingle, we got a late start out for our next destination – Doolin. Our route included taking our car across the River Shannon on a ferry. On the ferry ride we saw several dolphins (the river crossing is near the ocean). Our only stop of the day was the…
Day 7 – Dingle
This morning when we opened our patio door, we were greeted by the three chickens of the yard who decided to hang out at our room. We also had a visit from Rue the very intelligent resident dog, who brought rocks into our room for us to throw for him to fetch. After a great…
Day 6 – Kenmare to Dingle
On Wednesday we said goodbye to Janie and Sallyport House. Before we left Janie took a moment to take Michelle on a search for nettles, a plant with small needles that sting like a jelly fish so we knew what to look for. Before we hit the road we headed into Kenmare for some shopping….