Hello Ireland!

 

   After being on hold for the last two years, visiting the Emerald Isle finally came to be. With its stunning scenery, historical sites, and incredibly friendly people (not to mention the pubs), Ireland did not disappoint!

Getting There

Stories have been told, and movies made about the struggles of Irish immigrants who made their way to North America suffering in dark, rank conditions in the steerage sections of ships. While in no way do I wish to diminish their sad history, I feel that the tourists of 2022, who are brave enough to board a flight in economy class (i.e. steerage!) share something in common with these poor souls. Being squeezed into tiny seats with little or no leg room for seven hours, forced to struggle with the luggage that you did not check for fear of it being lost, and being fed food that is comparable to gruel seems to be a modern day reality. 

The above photo is the ticket we were given when we visited the Titanic Museum in Cobh, near Cork. It is a replica of an actual ticket of one of the passengers on the Titanic. Mine was for Mary Kelly, 22 years old, traveling alone. At the end of our tour through the museum, we got to find out if our passenger survived the journey to America. The ticket outlines the food that they would be served while on board, dinner included: soup, beef, mutton, carrots and turnips, green peas, fish, pork and plum or rice pudding for dessert, according to the day of the week. ...... I'd take that over a mushy wrap with mysterious filling or processed meat in a heated bun of some kind with two one inch square brownies that stuck to the cardboard container for dessert! 

Enough said about air travel. Now on to the beauty of Ireland. (by the way, my Mary Kelly did survive!)

Dublin

St. Patrick's Cathedral Dublin

It was appropriately rainy when we arrived in Dublin after our grueling flight, but the next day the sun was shining and we covered a lot of ground in the city center. After exploring Trinity College, St. Stephen's Green and Grafton Street, we had a tour of St. Patrick's Cathedral. As you can see in the photo above, it is a massive structure build between 1220 and 1260 and the interior is filled with ornate detail and one of the most impressive organ's in Europe. During our tour we learned that at 3:00 pm we were "invited" to attend a choral evensong, which we gladly accepted. Since we had 45 minutes or so to wait we decided that we would be true Dubliners and find an appropriate place to pass the time ... a pub!

This tiny pub was a true local gem just around the corner from Saint Patrick's. We had a couple of pints and then went to church!

clockwise; Trinity College campus, St. Patrick's interior, Grafton Street,
 St. Stephen's Green

Chantal, Diane, Lynn, Martha on the O'Connel Bridge, Dublin

                                               

Wicklow Mountains

A fellow tourist taking in the view.

In contrast to the bustle of Dublin, was our tour of the scenic Wicklow Mountains. Our small group tour bus took us through winding country roads to enjoy some great scenery and gave us a couple of hours to walk through woodland trails, and explore an ancient monastic city.

Off to Cork, Cobh, and to Kiss the Blarney Stone!

Our first adventure on a train in Ireland took us to the city of Cork. Our excursions began the following day as we took a commuter train along the coast to the seaside town of Cobh (pronounced Cove).

Outside our accommodations in Cork.

Cobh 

The town was absolutely charming, but the rain and wind soaked us and turned our umbrellas inside out, so we ducked into the lovely Commodore Hotel for a warm lunch and a "civilized" glass of wine. In desperate need of an indoor activity we made a dash down the street to the Titanic Museum.

Martha checks out the old fashioned telephone booth in the hotel lobby
and Diane looks for a break in the weather.

We returned to Cork to dry out and have a little rest before heading out for dinner at Oliver Plunket's Pub. The food was good, as was the music and dancing, and the Paddy's (Irish Whiskey) superb! In spite of the evening's libations, we were up and ready the next day to go to Blarney Castle.

Irish dancing to entertain us at Oliver Plunket's Pub in Cork.

Local Bus from Cork to Blarney

There's nothing like riding the top deck of a double decker bus to get a great view of the street as the bus weaves it's way along. In about 20 minutes we were out of Cork and at the entry to Blarney Castle and Gardens. 

Chantal outside Blarney Castle

For those who think that kissing the Blarney Stone is an easy task, you will have to think again! 

Martha

Chantal

Some images of the gardens around Blarney Castle. I particularly loved the 

                                                                    Poison Garden!

Galway

The last leg of our Irish adventure took us to Galway, a clean town with a lively city center.

Our accommodations were at a B&B called Almara House. While the rooms were small, they were immaculate and our host, Marie was lovely and could not do enough for us. She fed us a wonderful breakfast each morning with fresh coffee and orange juice, as she ensured that we were all set for the day's adventure in terms of transportation and directions. She even offered to drive us to the train station the day we left!

Aran Islands

From the port of Galway we took the ferry to the Aran Islands, home to ancient rock settlements and famous for knitted Aran sweaters. The landscape is a grid of rock walls created to keep sheep enclosed and to mark who owns what. It is barren and isolated but beautiful. A taxi driver we had told us that he found it very therapeutic to spend time there, a much needed break from the busy traffic of the city.

Chantal, Lynn, Diane, Martha on the Aran Islands

After exploring the islands and shopping for sweaters, we returned to the ferry for the two and a half hour trip by the Cliffs of Moher and then back to Galway. 

The cliffs of Moher taken from the window of the ferry seating area 
(less crowded and less chilly than the deck!).

  Upon returning to Galway we headed for the Latin Quarter for dinner, and then up the street for a wee Paddy's for a nightcap, while we did a little people watching along the street.        

                         

Back to Dublin and Goodbye to Ireland

When we returned to Dublin for our last two nights, it kind of felt like coming home .... well sort of. At least we knew our way around a little bit. We did a tour of Kilmainham Goal, and made a visit to Mulligan's Pub, a bar that is famous for its Guiness and has played host to several American Presidents. One last Guiness to toast Ireland!

Mulligan's Pub

We covered a lot of ground, and while we had planned to go to Belfast for a day, we decided to take it easy and relax a bit during our last nights. As we reflected on our trip, and all the sights we saw and experiences we had, we agreed that what we would remember most about Ireland was the people. Everyone was so generous with their time and ready to go out of their way to give us directions or strike up a conversation. 

Thank you to my travel companions for sharing this trip, and thanks to Ireland for a memorable experience!

Chantal, Martha & Diane with their favorite Irish Poet in Dublin