back from ireland

We've been back from Ireland for a week now, and it's time to recap the holiday. Ireland is a very beautiful country, and we had a fantastic time exploring some parts of it. We probably should have spent more time resting in some areas, and driving less (some roads are hectic and can be tiring), but it's just so very tempting to drive to the next town and see what awaits around the next corner.

There are just too many small things we enjoyed along the way to mention them all here. But for me, the main things were the natural beauty of the country, and the old buildings, ruins, graveyards and the statues scattered around the countryside. It's strange driving down a small road and finding a huge statue in the middle of nowhere, with no description or explanation attached to it.

Ansie and I are very keen food lovers, we really enjoy interesting food, food shops and food markets. And this was one area where we were a little disappointed in Ireland. We found a few small food markets, but they had very limited variety, and the shops in the countryside (and even Dublin), didn't have much food that was interesting. We ate at a few restaurants, some were very good, some were absolutely terrible, but I guess that happens everywhere. It was however fantastic being able to find real French Brie (melt in your mouth soft) and creamy English Cheddar in almost every shop. We had a LOT of cheese!

I've drawn our route in red on a map below (click on the map to see a bigger version), and also listed all the places we stayed at (marked with blue dots). We pre-booked two nights in a hotel in Dublin for our arrival, and one night in a hotel close to the airport before our departure, just so we didn't have to worry about the first and last nights. We also pre-booked the first week in Connemara because the first weekend was a bank holiday, and we were worried that we might not find accommodation. The rest of the accommodation we found via road signs as we travelled. I think we were very lucky with accommodation, except for one establishment, every place we stayed at was perfect.



1) We spend the first week in Island Cottage, on the island of Innishnee near Roundstone. This is the perfect place to stay if you want to explore Connemara (there really is a lot to do and see in Connemara). Island Cottage is beautiful, quiet and close to all the sights. The nearest "big" town for shopping is Clifden, well worth a visit. Geraldine, the owner of Island Cottage is a big fan of South Africa, she's been here quite a few times!
2) Castle View Farmhouse just outside Doolin is the perfect place to stay for the Cliffs of Moher, and the music in Doolin. The rooms look quite new, and have nice views, and the place is very close to the village. We generally don't enjoy staying inside the villages and towns, it's more peaceful in the countryside.
3) Slea Head Farm is at the tip of the Dingle Peninsula and has the BEST view ever! The rooms and the house is a little old, but they have THE location, and there are no other B&B's close by, so this really is the best place to stay. Breakfast was great, the hosts very friendly, on hind sight we should have spent another night here!
4) Beach Cove B&B in St. Finian's Bay is at the tip of the Ring of Kerry. New rooms, lovely views, nice beach, good breakfast, very friendly hosts, faultless! Should have spent an extra night here too...
5) Gleann Fia Country House just outside Killarney is a oldish house but very neat and organised. They have a huge property with a river running through it and beautiful garden. It's very relaxing here and the hosts are super friendly. We spent a long time chatting about Ireland and South Africa in the afternoon, and got plenty useful information about the area. It's also very close to Killarney and all the beautiful forests, we should have spent an extra day here too, just to get into the forests again!
6) So this is the only establishment I'm not going to mention because it's just not worth it. In fact, I think it's almost not worth exploring this area because it is so similar to the other parts of Ireland, and there is very little to see around here. I would skip this and go straight to Cork or Waterford from Killarney.
7) Blenheim House near Waterford is such a unique place to stay. It is a beautifull old Georgian house (built in 1763!) and it's just amazing inside. The rooms are huge, the gardens are stunning (they have deer on the front lawn) and all the antique furniture in the house really gives it a very special feeling.
8) We spent our last few days at Riversdale House near Glendalough in the Wicklow mountains. Another perfect location, very new rooms, awesome views, right next to a river, mountain and forests, and close to all the sights. A great place to spend a few days relaxing and walking in the mountains.

And that's it. I need to mention here that we saw plenty of B&B's along the way, so if you're planning a similar trip, don't bother pre-booking accommodation or buying the B&B vouchers, you should manage fine just driving around and following the signs, except if it's peak season. We heard that peak season is mad, with hundreds of people going through the tourist areas, in other words avoid peak season...

wicklow mountains

We've finished all the long driving we wanted to do in Ireland, so now we're going to spend a few days in Glendalough in the Wicklow mountains. It is extremely beautiful here! Big forests and hills everywhere. And we've found a nice little spot right next to a river and a forest...

waterford

We didn't really have our plans worked out for today. We were driving the scenic road along the coast to Cork (stopping at the Charles fort in Kinsale), thinking of looking at a few castles when we get there. But when we got there, Cork looked like a big and busy town, so we continued driving... We're sleeping in a beautiful victorian house just outside Waterford tonight. They even have deer on the front lawn!

killarney

We spent yesterday walking in the forests around Ross Castle, Muckross House and Muckross Abbey in Killarney national park. I sourced and printed some orienteering maps for this area before our holiday started, so this was a area I really looked forward to. The natural scenery here is perfect, and the forests are just amazing. Our forests in South Africa are mostly pine plantations with interesting land features, these forests are completely different. There is such a huge variety in the types of trees and undergrowth, and the terrain is so different, with marshes, grass, flowers, moss, rocky bits and lakes. Racing here must be very interesting, but just walking around is already inspiring. There are so many colors (and shades of green) I could easily spend a lot of time here. We left the area a little late and ended up sleeping somewhere between Ballingeary and Inchigeelagh (after driving through Kenmare, Glengarriff and Ballylickey)

more ring of kerry

Some more pictures from the Ring of Kerry. We're in Killarney now, and it looks like there are some real forests in the area!

ring of kerry

We're on the Ring of Kerry now, at St. Finian's bay, overlooking the Skellig Rocks.

dingle peninsula

A long drive today from Doolin to Killimer, then a ferry crossing to Tarbert, a small detour to see Glin castle (the castle is no longer open to the public, but we were standing around the entrance when the owner drove out, and he said we could go in and have a look at the garden, beautiful flowers and trees), and on to the Dingle Peninsula. The Slea Head road is amazing! Imagine Chapmans Peak with green grass in stead of fynbos, a small (just about one lane) road and a few islands just of the coast. You can't beat this view of the Blasket Islands from our room.

doolin and the cliffs of moher

Today's plan was to see the cliffs of Moher, but when we got there it was covered in fog. So we found a B&B nearby and slept for a few hours. We returned to the cliffs at about 18:30, and it was nice and open, plus all the tourist busses have left. Very beautiful indeed. The sun sets late here, it's still very light at 21:30 in the evening. After the cliffs we spent a few hours at O'Connors pub in Doolin listening to traditional Irish music.

aran islands

We took the ferry from Rossaveal to Inis Mor today. We managed to visit two Celtic stone forts. Dun Aonghasa at the edge of a cliff with impressive views, and the (much nicer) fort near the Dun Arann lighthouse and signal tower. We also stopped at the Seven Churches (Na Seacht d'Teamphaell) which has some really beautiful graves.

the twelve pins

We spent today driving around the twelve pins. We started by driving the bog road on our way to Clifden castle, then a quick look at Omey island, before getting to Kylemore Abbey. On the way home we stopped at the Connemara Giant before having dinner in Roundstone. The views are getting better every day...

clifden

Yesterday we drove the coastal road to Clifden (the closest village larger than a few pubs and one shop). The scenery on the drive is awesome! On the way we stopped at the Connemara Smokehouse, honey roast smoked salmon, delicious! We spent the day exploring the little shops in Clifden, and buying some food. I've said it before, and i'll probably say it again, I love the cheese selection!

inishnee

We're spending the next week on the small island of Inishnee, near the village Roundstone in Connemara, the west coast of Ireland (there is a road that joins the island to the mainland). So far, the countryside is a little different to what we imagined. We thought there would be rolling grass fields, but it's really quite rocky in this part of Ireland, it might just be my orienteering mind analyzing the features in the terrain too much though. It's really beautiful here, the villages are very small (sometimes a pub is the only thing in the village, I think they've got their priorities right!). Road signs don't exist in the rural countryside, and we've seen lots of rabbits and sheep. And it is officially cold and rainy now, my favorite weather! Here are some photos of our drive and the view from our accommodation.

dublin

Our flight with Etihad to Dublin was good, any airline that serves curry for lunch and dinner is good in my books! And our two days in Dublin were good too. I love European cities, the beautiful old buildings with the small obscure statues on them, the big rivers right in the middle of the city, the awesome parks, the blend of very old and very modern. I love the cheese selection! We've already had one of the best brie's we've ever had (not like that flavorless chalk you get in South Africa) Dublin is really busy, it's like everybody is late for something because they walk soo fast, it's mad compared to Cape Town! The weather has also been really hot, was getting worried that I packed too many warm clothes...