Dublin , Ireland (Last day)

Overall impressions of our bus tour of Ireland


Ireland as a travel destination.


We were astounded at how busy this country is. Here we are in the supposed offseason (coastal holidayers are absent, kids are back in school, weather is deteriorating, etc.). But the motorways and streets are jammed. Even very rural areas seem to have traffic and something going on. Given that the country only has a population of 4.9 million (as opposed to neighboring England which is 60 million), what is going on?


I suppose the explanation may partially have something to do with the fact that we were on the tourist route. But that would not explain the near gridlock we were seeing on the streets and roads in many towns and cities. This probably has something to do with the road systems being unable to accommodate modern traffic. We travelled many 2 lane roads which are narrower than a typical one lane road in North America. There are no shoulders. Stone walls and utility poles in some areas are literally inches from the travel lane. In the country a road building crew could easily fix a lot of it at the expense of some stone walls and strips of farmland. Would this detract from the Ireland travel experience – perhaps a bit we think – but it could make it more relaxing as the worry of whether the bus is actually “going to fit” is alleviated. In the cities, private vehicular traffic needs to be limited (and it is in some areas of Dublin). We did see two accidents which happened just before the tour ended – one involving a service van and another a motorcycle, which looked serious.

Roadside mishap

We saw some unusual objects including some newspaper sticks at a restaurant (we don’t think the handheld devices used by most Irish will fit in them very well). Also check out the pattern on the surface of Norma’s cappuccino – obviously prepared by an artistic barista.

Newspaper sticks

Artistic Capuccino

Ireland has fascinating history, beautiful verdant scenery and good tourist facilities. The down sides are the rainy, cool weather and in Northern Ireland, an unsettling recent history. The fact that the Peace Walls are closed at night says there appear to be individuals roaming areas of Belfast and Derry that are criminals. Maybe murals depicting violent activities should now be removed. 

Belfast Mural

The New IRA has admitted carrying out the murder of journalist Lyra McKee.  Ms McKee, 29, was shot in the head on April 12, 2019 while observing rioting in Londonderry's Creggan estate - more than 50 petrol bombs were thrown at police and two vehicles were set on fire. The police were carrying out a search for illegal weapons. One reporter who was at the scene said a masked gunman "came round the corner and fired shots indiscriminately towards police vehicles". Taken from the Irish Times.


Bus touring as a mode of vacation travel.


Our group was for the most part veteran bus tourers (Brian, the British fellow has been on “too many to count”). They were punctual (with a couple of exceptions) which made the schedule run smoothly.  Overall we were pleased with the whole operation and definitely would consider taking another one in certain travel situations. It certainly is a good way to travel if you have any type of disability. On our tour we did have people with mobility issues who were able to manage fine. When we are on our own in the future and arrive at a destination after a tour bus we will have a better appreciation of their mode of transport. We now realize that a lot of the tourist infrastructure is supported by the tour bus trade. It is a great way to see lots in a short time while not worrying about driving and securing accommodation. It is a good value for your travel dollar as well.

Harpist at a popular scenic stop

Not too far from the hotel is the Grange Castle Golf Club which has an 18 hole course and a 7 hole course (no typo: seven holes). We decided to walk and golf the 7 hole course due to concerns about the weather. It was a very enjoyable way to spend a couple of hours, Doug even managed to get one birdie. Now we can say we have golfed in 4 different countries.

Dublin, Ireland

Under mostly sunny weather today. We have been  lucky having 6 out of our 8 days without rain.


Our first stop was in the town of Avoca where we toured Ireland’s oldest weaving mill. The mill was originally set up as a co-operative in 1723. Here, local farmers could grind their corn, and spin and weave their wool for clothing for the local miners. Back then only uncoloured yarn was used in tweed for clothing and blankets for beds. It went through some ups and downs over the centuries and ended up being closed for extended periods but is now thriving. Both hand looms and mechanized looms are used today.

Hand loom

Mechanical loom

We then proceeded back to Dublin and were dropped off at Trinity College to have lunch and explore. Located in a beautiful campus in the heart of Dublin’s city centre, Trinity is Ireland’s highest ranked university founded in 1592.  It is home to 17,000 undergraduate and postgraduate students across all the major disciplines. It is also the home of the “book of Kells”, the world’s oldest and perhaps most famous book. We wandered around, sat and watched the activities including the orientation for the undergrads who were being taken around by people in robes like days of old. We shopped at the bookstore as well. Outside the campus there are many downtown shops to explore. It is an extremely busy city with tourists and locals jamming the streets. To add to all the chaos there was a demonstration by taxi drivers on behalf of disabled children. 

Trinity College

Tonight we went out for some craic (Irish Fun) at Taylor’s Irish Cabaret. It involved dinner, Irish singers and dancers. Even a comedian. The program was very well done. This was the end of our enjoyable organized tour to Ireland.

Uilleann Pipes

Cast of show with audience volunteers

We will stay one more night in Dublin before flying to Bermuda via New York City. 

Tramore, Ireland

We woke up to heavy rain which stayed with us well into the afternoon.

Our walk from the bus to Blarney Castle was quite wet. The Blarney Stone is built into Blarney Castle (about 12 km from Cork, Ireland). Apparently kissing the stone endows one with the gift of the gab. Neither one of us need any help in this area so we opted not to climb the 100+ stairs in the spiral staircase and instead viewed the operation from below. 

Blarney Castle

The Blarney Stone is way up there!

The 15^th century castle is a popular tourist site in Ireland, attracting visitors from all over the world to kiss the stone and tour the castle and its gardens. Luckily the rain may have kept some of the crowds at bay. By the time we had walked a bit around the Castle and the gardens the first of our group got down from kissing the stone to find there was a lineup to the 60 minute wait post. Bob, our tour director had us up and at it early to beat the crowds from the two cruise ships that are in nearby and it was well worth the early start. We visited the poison garden (yep – you read that right – poisonous plants from around the world) and the owner’s mansion.

Owner's "house"

Near the castle there is one of the largest woolen mill shops where we did a bit of shopping and stayed out of the rain.

It was then by bus in the driving rain to Waterford, a seaport in southeast Ireland, the country’s oldest city. It was founded by Vikings in 914 A.D. and parts of its ancient walled core remain. Within Reginald’s Tower, a 1003 fortification, the Waterford Museum of Treasures displays local archaeological finds. 

Reginald's Tower

Famed glass manufacturer Waterford Crystal began here in 1783. Today the company’s facility near the historic district offers factory tours and we took one. We saw the whole process and viewed some of the spectacular results including the Solheim Cup. 

The Solheim Cup

Tonight we are in Tramore and tomorrow is our last travel day as we return to Dublin. The weather forecast is apparently for better weather.

Killarney Ireland (second day)

The Hen Partiers did have their fun, but we have earplugs which helped immensely. Bob, our tour director was on another floor otherwise he said he would have awoken them at 0630 to wish them well. We did see them all coming in from somewhere in their PJs as we headed for the bus. Photo of Bob is included in today’s post. He has a very understandable accent as opposed to Tony our driver who is somewhat less intelligible through his Irish brogue. We are in good hands with them both.

Tour guide Bob

Luckily the sun was mostly shining today, a nice break from yesterday’s rain. Today’s trip was a scenic drive around the Ring of Kerry, basically a loop composed of VERY narrow, winding roads around the Iveragh Peninsula in southwestern Ireland beginning and ending in Killarney. There is an unwritten agreement amongst the tour bus companies that they travel clockwise so there are no coach meeting coach encounters on these roads, as there is a similar agreement for the Dingle peninsula in a counterclockwise direction. We can’t even begin to imagine what it would be like if two of these huge coaches met. It is even a challenge passing the small cars in some of the places. 

We stopped at the Kerry Bog Village which depicts Ireland’s rural history, heritage and lifestyle during and after the famine years of the mid-19th century. The village has period thatched cottages, fully furnished with authentic antiques, complete with sound effects and figures. Outdoors, an array of rural farm equipment used by turf cutters and farmers of the time period is on display. Peat, of course, is the fuel used – we even warmed our hands over a fragrant peat fire. We also saw two of the world’s tallest dog breed: the Irish wolfhound, which belong to the owner of the village.

Pile of peat fuel

Irish Wolfhounds

As we passed through the Town of Killorglin we saw a statue of King Puck which represents the “Puck Fair”, one of Ireland's oldest fairs. Every year a group of people go up into the mountains and catch a wild goat. The goat is brought back to the town and the "Queen of Puck", traditionally a young school girl from one of the local primary schools, crowns the goat "King Puck".

King Puck

At the lunch stop we had traditional Irish stew along with a great view of the ocean.

We eventually arrived back in Killarney and had a jaunting car ride. This is a local phrase for a horse and buggy trip (we looked it up because we wanted to know which came first, the verb or the mode of transport). We were taken to the 15^th century Ross Castle now part of the Killarney National Park. After a brief visit to the castle were returned to town where we had a bit of a chance to explore downtown Killarney before returning to the hotel for dinner. 

Lakes of Killarney

Ross Castle

Jaunting Car

We are meeting more and more of the 38 tour participants as we travel along. Americans, Aussies and Canadians predominate with a couple of New Zealanders and a lone British fellow. Only a few more days left to master all their names – not going to happen!

Killarney, Ireland

We are now experiencing Irish weather, a truly Irish experience is how it is described! In fact the tour guide played “Raindrops Keep Fallin’ on my Head” which he says is the Irish National anthem.


 It started raining at 9 this morning and continued all day. We spent a bit of time looking at some thatched houses, similar to ones we had seen previously. Perhaps the most interesting was the one that burned down. Apparently one spark in the wrong place and poof! Which is why the thatched houses are no longer for the poor – they are expensive to construct/maintain and insurance is outrageous. In fact most Irish companies will not insure so insurance is obtained from Britain where the thatched roofs are more prevalent.

Thatched hut being rebuilt

Fancy thatching

 We then proceeded around the Dingle Peninsula, on the Slea (pronounced Shea) Head drive, an area where Gaelic is spoken in everyday affairs. We travelled a very narrow (should be one-way) road. At one point the bus mirror had an encounter with the cliff. Are you getting the idea? And then there were the cyclists taking their lives in their hands riding along this road in the rain. We encountered sheep herders driving their sheep across the road to what appeared to be their doom, but there was a bit of grazing before the cliff. They amazingly hang on by their toe nails nibbling along the edge of the cliff. We stopped to view some clocháns, or beehive huts, which are stone huts used by monks, the precise construction dates are unknown.

Dingle Peninsula

Beehive hut

Shepherd and flock

 We then stopped in Dingle, a very busy little seaside fishing/tourist town to have a bowl of fish chowder, do a bit of shopping at a jewelry store (they make jewelry engraved with an ancient Irish script) and poke around a bit. They have a dolphin which has been a regular visitor for 30 years or more. They have named him Funghi – he is quite a tourist attraction. Some of the harbor tours advertise that if you don’t see Funghi your money will be refunded but then we were also told if they know he/she isn’t in the harbor they don’t go out at all.

Dingle Town

Norma and Funghi

This evening we went out to dinner in Tralee, a nearby town, at the Rose Hotel – famous for hosting the “Rose of Tralee” competition. After that we attended a performance at the Irish National Folk Theatre entitled “Turas: a breathtaking adventure in music, dance and song” – basically a performance of traditional Irish songs and dances (think “Riverboat”) mostly of County Kerry, where we are.

It is Saturday and we are in a Killarney hotel. Also in the hotel is a “hen party”: Irish for a “stagette”. They are all dressed in black and look very scary. Tonight may not be a quiet one.

Limerick, Ireland

Another long day as we did not get to our hotel until almost 9 pm after an early start. So far the weather has been great: sunny and warm.


Our first stop was in Galway which is a very nice city on the bay of Galway. We were able to visit the museum which depicted the village and its progress through the years. It was very well presented and even had a hooker in the middle. No, not what you are thinking, a hooker is a traditional fishing boat used in Galway bay. It was pretty amazing how many artifacts they have found from the stone age onward in the river Corrib. This 6 km tidal river runs through the city of Galway and has an amazing speed!

Galway

From Galway we crossed the limestone plateau of Burren and made our next stop at the Cliffs of Moher. We had lots of time to follow the paths up to the top of the cliffs but the wind was so strong we were afraid we’d be blown off! Apparently a few years ago someone on one of the tours was actually blown over – not over the cliff but just over off her feet.

Cliffs of Moher

By the way we have now passed the site of the Open golf tournament (Portrush) and today another links course: Clare where the Irish Open was held.

Links course

Our last stop was at Bunratty Castle where we feasted at a medieval banquet. We were greeted by the butler and serving wenches then entertained with singing and harp/violin playing while we drank a goblet of mead in the great hall. We were then taken to the main castle hall where we were fed at long tables with benches. Staying on theme we were served a bowl of soup, ribs, chicken and veggies with only a knife to eat it all with. Lots of wine flowing for those who wanted. We certainly didn’t come away hungry. The butler entertained us by crowning a royal couple from the audience to act as host and hostess and later singling out an individual to be thrown into the dungeon for dallying with the ladies of the castle (he was given reprieve when he sang us a song). 

Bunratty Castle

The Great Hall

Serving wench

Thatched cottage

A later start tomorrow but also we will experience some rain.

Sligo, Ireland

Today was a fairly long but interesting day on the road. We left Belfast at 0800 and headed north toward the coast. There were some very foggy areas but it seemed to burn off as we travelled. Our first stop was at a stunning viewpoint above a rope bridge leading to a home on an island near Ballintoy. 

Our next stop was at the Giant’s Causeway. It was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1986. According to legend, the columns are the remains of a causeway built by a giant. The story goes that the Irish giant Finn MacCool, was challenged to a fight by the Scottish giant Benandonner. Finn accepted the challenge and built the causeway across the North Channel so that the two giants could meet. Finn's wife, Oonagh, disguised Finn as a baby and tucked him in a cradle. When Benandonner saw the size of the 'baby', he reckoned that its father, Finn, must be a giant among giants. He fled back to Scotland in fright, destroying the causeway behind him so that Finn would be unable to chase him down. Or you can go with the volcanic formation theory: the Giant's Causeway is a series of step-like geologic formations formed from interlocking volcanic basalt columns leading into the ocean. Whichever story you prefer it was a very interesting stop.

Giant's Causeway

Basatic columns

Finn MacCool's shoe

We then proceeded to Derry/Londonderry (be careful which name you use when talking to the locals, or simply refer to it as “stroke city” as one radio personality does). This, as you may recall was another hotbed of violence during “the Troubles”. One side of the river had the Catholics, the other the Protestants. They are now linked by the Peace Bridge (see pic.). There is also a statue of two men reaching but not quite making it to connect hands to depict the efforts to join the sides.  Like Belfast, Doug did not really feel comfortable there. In fact one of the tour group actually asked if it was safe. We had lunch in a traditional Irish pub (built in the 1600s) complete with “snugs” (curtained cubicals for ladies to have a drink).

Peace Bridge - Derry/Londonderry

Bar with "snugs"

Our ride took us within vision of the castle/palace of Lord Mountbatten and the history lesson from our tour guide Bob included the story of how Mountbatten and family members were bombed in their small lobster boat one morning as he was out fishing. Lots of history in this country, not all good.

Very soon after we switched countries: back into the Republic of Ireland. No more pounds – euros now. After a short stop at Donegal we proceeded to a graveyard which contained the simple grave of W.B. Yeats, Irish Poet Laureate and Nobel Prize winner in Literature (1923). Besides his grave there were graveyard mushrooms which interested Doug!

When you are old and grey and full of sleep, And nodding by the fire, take down this book, And slowly read, and dream of the soft look, Your eyes had once, and of their shadows deep. . . W.B. Yeats

Tonight we are in Sligo, City of Shells, on the Atlantic Coast. Dinner was a group affair at the hotel.