Are you ready to go to Ireland?

Hi all,

     Vicky and I took a trip to Ireland in October 2024. We went to Ireland on our own and self-toured the country, including Northern Ireland. We booked a B&B in Dublin for the first two nights, but otherwise, we had zero reservations for the trip. We knew it was a bit risky going without reservations, but that's how we did it. We learned that it can be very challenging to go without any reservations in the "Off Season" which means after October 1st. But we persevered and enjoyed the challenge and also enjoyed some of the peculiar places that we found to stay. 

     We flew to Dublin and stayed there for two days. Then we rented a car, with me driving, and drove north to Belfast. We kept going north and then circled the entire country counter-clockwise. Our trip was almost two weeks, and we had great fun wandering around. We hit most of the Irish tourist highlights but we also found plenty of off-the-beaten path places as well.

     So, if you're inclined, come along as we tour Ireland. Below are a few highlights from our trip around Ireland that we particularly enjoyed.

In the first photo, Vicky is standing in the Temple Bar area of Dublin, on one of the smaller streets. We loved the Temple Bar area.

     We got right down to business by eating lunch in the Temple Bar. Despite our long flight from SFO to Dublin, we managed to drink some Guinness with our lunch.

     I'm sure that no trip to Dublin can be considered complete without a visit to the St James Gate and Guinness Storehouse. It was one of the highlights of Dublin for us.

We drove the Causeway Coastal Road up to the Giant's Causeway. We spent over two hours there and enjoyed every minute of it. It’s a unique area of Ireland and the world.

     While we visited many of the highlight tourist spots, just driving through the Irish countryside was enough for me to enjoy the trip. Below is an example of why.

     One of my main pre-planned visits was to the Blarney Castle. Vicky was not as enamored as I was but in the end, she enjoyed our visit there as much as I did. The experience exceeded our expectations.

     We stayed at as many B&B's as we could find open and we ate at pubs for many of our meals. The pubs were also highlights for us as you can see below.

     So, if you're inclined to travel to Ireland with us, we are on our way.

Dublin

     We enjoyed our two days in Dublin and could have spent a few more days there. I found it to be a great city. We stayed in a B&B near St. Stephen's Green. Most of our time was on the south side of the River Liffey but we did walk into the north side as well. We walked about town our first day and took a hop-on, hop-off bus the second day. The whole central area of Dublin was easy to walk for us and the weather was beautiful.

     St. Stephen's Green was about a block away from our B&B, #31, in the city center area. It's a key and historic park. It's an old garden square and public park and at 22 acres, a large park. The park has lots of features including many informational signs, statues, ponds, and extensive plantings. Signs give information both of historical nature and about the park. The Green was full of people this day as it was 61 degrees and mostly sunny. I would guess that the park had at least 100 benches and every single one of them had people sitting on them. It was full of both locals and tourists.

     From St. Stephen's Green, we walked down Grafton Street. This is a major shopping area, and we took lots of side streets. But we liked the Temple Bar area more and spent much more time there. We had a late start this day and had lunch in the Temple Bar. It was decorated for Christmas, and it was only October 7th. I asked our waiter why. He said that they only redecorate the Temple Bar twice a year. Fall gets it decorated for Christmas. It stays that way until just before St. Patrick's Day. Then it stays decorated for St. Pat's Day until the Fall again.

     While I knew there were Irish whiskey's, I didn't realize how big whiskey was in Ireland. That's probably because I'm not a big whiskey drinker. We visited the Irish Whiskey Museum and found out more about it.

     We crossed over the River Liffey but looking back towards the south side, we got a good view of the Clarence Hotel. It was built in 1852 but in 1992 was purchased by U2's Bono and The Edge. It's supposed to have a happening bar on the top floor but we didn't make it up there.

     Our tour of the Guinness Storehouse was one of the highlights of Dublin. It far exceeded my expectations. We not only learned about the entire brewing process, but my favorite part was about their barrel making. Through old photos and videos, we got to see them making barrels back in the day and the worker's skills were incredible. I took loads of photos but I'll only include one here. And who counted all the bubbles?

     The Guinness tour is a self-guided tour going from the ground floor up seven floors. You can take the elevator or the stairs and hurry or take it leisurely. We spent two hours getting to the top. Once to the top, the tour ends at the bar where you get some Guinness with a view of all of Dublin. I probably shouldn't have included this photo.

     We were tired our first night and ate dinner near our B&B at Madigan's Bar. We went traditional and Vicky had beef and Guinness stew while I had fish and chips, along with some Lamps beers, both IPA and lager. Everything was excellent and we had a great night's sleep.

     This was our second day in Dublin as we enjoyed more of the sites. I was surprised by how much fall color we saw in Dublin. Many of the buildings in town were covered with vines which turned many fall colors. Below, Vicky is eating breakfast (eggs benedict) in our B&B, and you can see some colorful vines growing behind her.

     The Trinity College, founded 1592, and the Book of Kells, created around 800 AD, is a "must see" in Dublin.  We made the stop and it was very worthwhile, despite the crowds. It is the largest library in Ireland with over six million printed volumes. Most of the 200,000 volumes in this two-story section were being digitalized and boxed, so no longer on the shelves. But there was still a couple of sections with the books. It was great just being inside this library and imagining all the people and scholars that had worked here. This section of the library has also been used in various films.

     The harp below is in this same area of the library. I hadn't realized that the harp is the national symbol of Ireland and a symbol of its Celtic origins. The harp has a rich history in Ireland and great cultural significance. It's also the Guinness emblem. This is the Brian Boru harp and the oldest known surviving Irish harp.

     We decided that we wanted to visit a whiskey distillery, so we went to the Jameson Distillery on the north side of the River Liffey. I was surprised to learn how much whiskey distilling resembles beer making. John Jameson started his whiskey making endeavors in Dublin in 1780 and they're still going strong. We had a great tour guide and were given more than sufficient tasting samples. 

     We ate dinner this night at Bruxelles Pub. I had lamb and Guinness stew, and Vicky had seafood chowder and brown bread. Both were excellent as we stayed with the tried and true Irish food. 

Belfast

     We drove from Dublin up to Belfast, which is part of Northern Ireland. That means it's part of the U.K. I did not find Belfast overly alluring. It got bombed by Germany during WW II and then had the "troubles" that caused more grief and destruction. My take was that Belfast is hoping to regain its spirit and I hope it's successful.

     Our first stop in Belfast was the Titanic Museum. The Titanic was built right near here in the Belfast Shipyard. The museum was interesting and very busy. Our main reason for stopping here, however, was that our grandson, Henry, had done a 4-H Club illustration presentation last year on how the Titanic had sunk. We couldn't pass it up or pass up buying Henry a book and some souvenirs. 

     We found an inn in the central district of Belfast and after settling in, we spent the afternoon walking around the Belfast central district. Belfast does have some older buildings which we loved but it also has lots of steel and glass structures, courtesy of having to rebuild from the war and the troubles.

     Below is the Merchant Hotel, formerly the Ulster Bank headquarters building, but now a five-star hotel. It was a block from our hotel and a beautiful building with lots of intricacy in its architecture.

     The Big Fish, officially the Salmon of Knowledge, is a curious piece of public art on the banks of the River Lagan. It's a printed ceramic mosaic sculpture, 33 feet long, and was commissioned in 1999. It's on Donegall Quay and from what I could glean from information panels, it's for multiple purposes. It seems that the quay and river had become a mess of trash, sunken boats, and whatever, and needed cleaning up to bring back the fish. But it also signifies the city's rich marine heritage and celebrates Belfast's cultural identify and is a symbol of hope, resilience, and renewal for the people of Belfast. I accept that but to me, it looked like a really big fish. I wish Belfast well with their resilience and renewal.

     We wandered widely around the central district. I mostly liked the smaller and more interesting side streets, of which we found quite a few. This street was very appropriately decorated for the Irish weather. We saw lots of sun, rain, and rainbows in Ireland.

     We found many references to Irish authors as we wandered around Ireland. In this case, we wandered to the top floor of the Victoria Square shopping mall. I could only get a photo through the glass up on the fifth floor, so not a good photograph. You are looking at the Belvoir Forest Park in the back. On the top of the mountain, can you see the giant? (hint: he's lying down). Jonathan Swift saw the giant and this was his inspiration to write Gulliver's Travels. (from what we read)

      We saw lots of public art in Belfast. Some I got and some I didn't get. In the first photo below, you can see me sitting there trying to determine exactly what I'm looking at. 

     In the next one, I know what I'm looking at but I'm not sure why it's there or what's the significance.

Giant's Causeway

     We drove north from Belfast on the Causeway Coastal Road to the top of Northern Ireland. We drove along the Irish Sea with Scotland in view off the coast. The land was mostly farmland with big green fields, lots of sheep, some cows, and some forest lands mixed in with the farmland. It was a beautiful day, not much traffic, and we passed through lots of small towns. The photo below will just give one glimpse of our drive along the coast.

     The Giant's Causeway is a major tourist stop but we arrived at mid-morning and beat the crowds. The Giant's Causeway Museum was very well done with lots of displays, videos, explanations, and photos. We spent time reviewing the volcanic activity and geology about the sixty-million year-old successive lava flows, heating, cooling, and shrinking into 40,000 interlocking basalt columns.  There are a handful of similar geological sites in the world.

     There was also information on the myths and legends surrounding the causeway. The stories involve mythical creatures, the sea, and I'm certain, plenty of magic. The only thing missing was the "little people."

     Below is the start of the trail down to the sea and the Giant's Causeway.

     In the next view, you can see in the distance as the land curved in and out along the coast. It might look like a lot of people on the rocks, but compared to the busloads of people coming down as we were leaving, it was a small crowd of tourists.

     The Giant's Causeway was really a fun place to visit. It's an oddity of nature and without being able to put it into words, I just really liked the hexagonal columns of rocks. Some columns have four, five, seven, or eight sides so not all hexagonal. Some are flat and some stones are curved. They vary in height from ground level to perhaps forty feet high. I don't know about the myths and legends, but I will say that the place felt magical. 

The Old Glen Bar

     We continued west after the Giant's Causeway. We made stops in Derry (Londonderry) and Donegal. While we probably didn't give either place enough time, we found them very crowded and busy. We had a look at them and found out quite a bit of information about the area. We had initially thought of staying the night in Donegal, but since it was so crowded already, we decided to keep going. 

     The next highlight on my list was the Glenveagh National Park so we backtracked north from Donegal with that in mind. 

     Vicky was searching online for a place for us to stay as it was getting late and darkness would soon be on us. She was having no luck finding lodging. It was well after five o'clock and the country was sparsely populated. We passed through some very small towns but never saw a B&B or hotel sign.

     You can see below the country that we were driving through.

     As we were driving on the outskirts of a very small village, I saw a sign that said "Coffee" and an arrow. I pulled into the dirt driveway and told Vicky that we would ask for help finding lodging in the coffee shop. It was a very small, one-woman coffee shop with two customers. I asked straight away, "We need a place to stay tonight, do you know of any place nearby?"

     The owner and the customers talked and decided to recommend the Old Glen Bar. The woman who owned the coffee shop said she would phone the bar owner and ask if they had a room available. She did and they did and we said we'd take it. Then the owner asked if we wanted dinner and I said "Yes." She gave us directions and after purchasing some coffee and other edibles, we were on our way via a narrow local road.

     We arrived at the Old Glen Bar at 6pm. We went into the bar and the owner showed us the direction to our room, right next to the bar. He said the door was open and the keys were on the coffee table. He said we could come back to the bar if we had any problems.

     It turns out that the Old Glen Bar is circa 1768, and despite being in a very remote location, is very well known and highly celebrated. We went into our room and within about two minutes, the electricity went off. We waited a few minutes before going to the bar to find out about the power. The bar was all dark except for a multitude of candles. The bartender said the power was out in the entire area and wouldn't be back on until around 7pm.

     We sat down and ordered. I had a Guinness and Vicky ordered some wine. The bar was dark wood, picture covered walls, money tacked to the ceiling joists, and plenty of friendly people. We sat talking and enjoying our drinks for an hour. Then the lights came back on, and the bartender announced that dinner would be in about ten minutes.

     After ten minutes, the owner came in and personally escorted us to the dining room. It was through the bar and into another dining area that was dark, cold, and empty and then through another door to a well-lit, warm, and very full restaurant. I looked at Vicky and said, "How did we get in here?"

     The room had lots of award plaques on the wall and even a Michelin man standing in the center of the restaurant. It was like something out of a silly movie that I would think would never happen in real life. The food was incredible and just kept coming...

     Dinner included homemade bread, cheese, marmalade rolls, a tart, onion beignets, chicken liver pate, two kinds of lamb, and for our main courses, I had scallops and Vicky had three pork loin cuts. We skipped dessert because we were so full. Our waitress insisted we at least look at desserts as it was included in the meal, but Vicky and I were both insistent that we had topped off our tanks. Can you imagine that?

     Below you can see some of our dinner courses from my photos.

Glenveagh National Park

     It was a short drive from Glen to Glenveagh National Park. The main feature of this park is Glenveagh Castle. It was built by Captain John Adair between 1867 and 1873. Adair made a fortune by risky land speculation in the United States. He returned to Ireland and bought up tracts of land in Donegal. He had married Cornelia Wadsworth Ritchie in 1869, and she was a daughter of a Union general in the American Civil War. Together, they created the gardens and the castle. Adair wanted to surpass Balmoral, Queen Victoria's Scottish retreat. Of course, it was a messy process and involved buying land and evicting hundreds of long-time tenants from their homes.

     The castle is in the Scottish baronial architectural style and consists of a four-story rectangular keep surrounded by gardens. The property is over 40,000 acres of the Derryveagh Mountains with lakes, glens, and woods and includes a herd of red deer.

     The estate changed hands twice, once in 1929 and again in 1937. Henry McIlhenny purchased it in 1937 but bequeathed it to the Irish state in the 1970's while continuing to live in the castle part-time until 1982. It had many famous visitors over the years including Greta Garbo, Marilyne Monroe, and John Wayne. Today it's the second largest national park in Ireland at over 65 square miles.

     We toured the entire castle, all the gardens around the castle, and took one longer walk up into the mountains.

     The head gardener had his own house in the garden behind the castle.

     The next photo was on our walk up into the mountains. It gives a better idea about the land and mountains surrounding the castle.

     The castle overlooks a large lake.

     The castle even had a swimming pool which sat right above the lake and below the castle.

Self Tour Stops

     We were self-touring this trip so many of our stops came from seeing a sign or finding something curious or just evading the rain. We tended to stop frequently and found many things that most tour groups wouldn't stop to see. Curiosity was our leading guide.

     I was not aware that Halloween and trick or treating originated in Ireland. My thoughts are that other countries make this claim as well but now I know that Ireland does too.

     We also found a substantial number of Halloween decorations scattered about Ireland.

     We made a stop in the small village of Newmills. Vicky couldn't get an internet connection and we were lost. As I pulled over to wait for her to determine which way we should go, we saw a sign for Newmills Corn and Flax Mills. I pulled into the parking lot which was a large parking lot with zero vehicles in it. We decided to visit the mills as we could see the large waterwheel on one of the buildings.

     As the only tourists there, we were treated to great attention by the museum hosts. The oldest building in the mills is 400 years old. Everything looked in great shape and all looked freshly painted. It was an interesting visit. These mills milled flax, corn, barley, and wheat.

     I found a couple of things particularly fascinating. First, flax was made into linen. The two largest periods of demand for their linen were the American Civil War when their linen was used for the soldier's uniforms and during World War II when linen was used in airplanes for its light weight and strength. I had never associated linen with war before our visit here. These mills operated until 1982 which was another surprise.

     We saw tremendous numbers of farms with lots of sheep, cows, horses, and other animals. We saw lots of hay being grown and since our family also grows hay, I wondered how it worked out with all the rain that they get in Ireland. Here's how they handle the hay for storage, though I'm not sure how they dry it with all the rain.

     We were driving on a narrow local road in or near Sligo, a small coastal town, when we saw a sign that said, "Sligo Riding Centre." We pulled into the parking lot and gave ourselves a tour of their facilities and talked to several of the employees. All of the horses were boarded in barns, and most of the horse activities were done indoors. They did have several outdoor jumping courses and an outdoor arena. Below is their main indoor arena. It was between classes.

     Ireland, like many European countries, is known for its castles. In the case of Ireland, we passed many of them but didn't stop too often. We saw many castles on our trip such as this one, just off the coast road, as we drove past Sligo.

     This stop was at a coffee shop. It started raining heavily so we just took a break and waited for the weather to clear.

Galway City

     I title this post "Galway City" because we initially asked our questions wrong, for Ireland. We might ask someone, "what do you recommend we see in Galway?"

     People would then begin to tell us all the things in County Galway that we should see. We found that the Irish people consider their counties first, and the cities later, if at all. So, if we wanted to know what to see in the city, we had to specifically ask what to see in Galway City, not Galway.

     Galway city was a vibrant place, even in a light rain. We started near Eyre Square and walked for over an hour all around the city center area. We also made some good purchases for the grandchildren in Galway.

     I think of castles as being out of town, on the top of a hill or overlooking a lake or river or something like that. But if you go back in time, the same place might be in a city now. The next photo is Lynch's Castle, right in Galway city center. We learned that it's a medieval fortified house, though its name is Lynch's Castle. 

     Other times in town, I would poke into an open gate or garage type door and be surprised by what I found behind it, and it was not a garage.

     We planned to listen to some Irish music while in Ireland. Our expectations were that we would be inside a pub in the evening. In Galway, all we had to do to hear Irish music was walk down the streets. The same was true in some other towns.

     Plus, there were people performing out in the streets other than just street musicians, like the artist below.

     Galway had lots of great stores for shopping and nice places to see and visit.

Cliffs of Moher

     The Cliffs of Moher are considered Ireland's most popular tourist attraction. They might be, but they are not on my top list. I just didn't find them that incredible. Of course, that could just be me. I mean, I've seen great sea cliffs in France, Spain, Portugal, and Norway that I found pretty spectacular. I've seen cliffs such as El Capitan in Yosemite, Constantine, Algeria, Machu Picchu, and many more that I found more spectacular.

     I do agree, however, that they are incredibly popular. The crowds at the cliffs were in the thousands of people. I understand that they draw over a million visitors a year. But while it was crowded, they did a fantastic job of parking you and giving you directions. It was a long walk but very well organized.

     The cliffs are located in County Clare at the southwestern edge of the Burren region. They run about nine miles long and rise up between about 400 feet and 700 feet above the Atlantic Ocean.

     The visitor center was really jam packed with people, so we spent our time walking to and along the cliffs. The only real stop of note was O'Brien's Tower which is at the midpoint of the cliffs. It helped that it was a beautiful day.    

Ireland Driving

     I did all the driving in Ireland and Vicky did the navigating. She probably had the tougher job. Years ago, I drove over 1,600 miles in the UK with a manual car, not an automatic, and had no problems of note. On this trip, I drove 1,153 miles. Vicky and the woman at the rental car place made the decision that I should be driving an automatic. I had asked for a manual car, but my decision was overridden! At any rate, the driving of the car was easy despite sitting and driving on the "wrong side of the road." 

     My two main technical driving issues were complicated roundabouts with multiple lanes going into and out of them, and standard intersections where I had to make a right turn in heavy and fast traffic. Those situations took extra concentration. 

     The other key, and frequent, problem was very large vehicles driving very fast on extremely narrow roads. These were mostly the "local roads" but also sometimes on the regional roads. The motorways and national primary roads were very easy to drive. We managed to spend a lot of time on the very narrow local roads, but we only had a few close calls.

     In the next photo, you can see Scotland offshore as we drove up the coastal road.

     Scenes like the next one were some of my favorites on our drive around Ireland.

     Not all the sheep managed to stay in the pastures however.

      As rain is extremely common in Ireland, so are rainbows.

     We also drove through some forested land and yes, they had sheep there as well.

Dingle Peninsula and the Ring of Kerry

     Two of the frequently touted highlight drives of Ireland and particularly southwestern Ireland are the Dingle Peninsula and the Ring of Kerry. These are driving routes that some information says can take up to two full days, due to heavy traffic. It was good news/bad news for us. We drove it in a matter of hours since there was extremely little traffic. The bad news was that it was overcast and drizzling rain. All the tourist photos that we saw for this area had blue sky and blue ocean waters. That was not the case for us. 

     These scenic areas are known for their rugged coastlines, green hills, charming small towns, natural beauty, and cultural heritage. What I will remember the most are the narrow, winding, up, down, and sideways curvy roads. I felt extremely fortunate that there was so little traffic. My non-driving memories are of interesting contrasts of greens and browns, the cliffs and the sea, the sheep, the rocks and rock walls, small patchwork agricultural fields, the neat white houses, islands just off the coast, and again, the wild and crazy winding roads.

     Despite the minimal traffic, many other vehicles were coming at me in the middle of the road, and I had to quickly pull off, sometimes into the brush. Some of the driving was tense and tiring. I think Vicky liked this area much better as there was no navigating here, just following the road.

     The last photo here is taken from our hotel room in Sneem, a small town on the Ring of Kerry.

Killarney National Park: Muckross House

     Killarney National Park is one of the highlights of the Ring of Kerry. It's right next to the town of Killarney. It became a national park in 1932 but has a human history going back 4,000 years. It was Ireland's first national park and has been expanded since it became a park to over 25,000 acres. The park includes lakes, mountains, woodlands including the most extensive native forest remaining in Ireland. It also has a herd of red deer.

     There's lots to see and do in Killarney National Park but one of the main highlights is the Muckross House. It was completed in 1843 and is a 65 room Tudor style mansion. The gardens surrounding it are just as impressive. Queen Victoria visited Muckross House in 1861.

     Muckross House was a planned visit for us. It changed hands three or four times with the last family owning it being an American named William Bourn in 1910. He presented the estate to his daughter Maud on her marriage and then he moved to California. But Maud died in 1929 and her husband's family donated it to Ireland in her memory.

     Our main reason for wanting to visit Muckross House is because the Bourn family moved to California after they left Muckross House. They built Filoli, a mansion, only about 25 miles north of our house. It was built between 1915 and 1917. Bourn owned one of the richest gold mines in California and was president of the Spring Valley Water Company which supplied San Francisco's water. Filoli is a 56-room house and sits on a 654 acre estate. We have visited Filoli and plan to visit it again.

     The name Filoli is an acronym formed by combining the first two letters from key words of William Bourn's credo: "Fight for a just cause; Love your fellow man; Live a good life."

  Muckross House looks out over Muckross Lake.

   We went for a long hike around the grounds, well beyond the gardens.

Inside Muckross House

     We took the park’s tour of the Muckross House. We didn't get to visit all 56 rooms, but we visited all the rooms that they allowed us to visit. I took an extensive number of photos, but I will confine myself to just a few for this post. I just want to give you a glimpse of the house. I'm sure there are plenty of photos of it online.

     They must have been big hunters as there were deer heads in many of the rooms like you can see below.

     I mostly included the next photo to let the fishermen know that the lakes were full of big trout.

     Games of all sorts were obviously important to the people who lived here.

     I lost count of all the rooms dedicated to food preparation and cooking but there was a bunch of them, and they were some of the highlights for me and Vicky.

Ross Castle

     Ross Castle is also in Killarney National Park. It was built in the 15th century and consisted of a tower house and keep on the edge of Lough Leane, one of three lakes within the park. In Irish, Lough Leane means 'lake of learning.' The castle has a tremendous history going back all those years. On the day we visited here, Ross Castle was closed or at least the main tower house. We were still allowed to walk around the outside and climb a bit, so we did. The main tower house is five stories plus a top layer. 

     We liked how the castle was built out of and on top of a rock outcropping.

     No offense to those 15th century Irishmen, but I'm guessing that they were on the short side.

     We could only get up two stories high on the castle. I can imagine the view from the top of the sixth floor was spectacular.

Killarney

     Killarney is a town in County Kerry, also on the northeastern shore of Lough Leane, and also part of Killarney National Park. It has a tremendous natural heritage, a long and involved history, is also on the Ring of Kerry, and is a popular tourist destination. Tourism is Killarney’s chief industry. Killarney's tourist industry dates back to the mid-18th century, so they are well prepared for tourists. 

     The Killarney town center was about a five-minute drive from Ross Castle. We found Killarney to be a fun and lively town. We walked all over the town center and managed to purchase a lot of gifts for home here.

     The first photo will give you a pretty good idea about Killarney and tourism. We saw horses in other small towns but not as many as in Killarney. They also had old automobiles and other conveyances for tourists to ride.

     I expected to find Guinness beer all over Ireland, but I had no idea how often I would find other Guinness businesses.

     My favorite Christmas album of all time is Bing Crosby's "White Christmas." One of my favorite songs on that album is "Christmas in Killarney." We found a Christmas store in Killarney, and we had to go in and look it over.

     I could have taken the next two photos in several towns, but these are from Killarney.

Blarney Castle

     After spending most of the day in Killarney National Park, we drove to Blarney Castle. We picked a good time to visit from the signage we passed. On our way to the castle, signs said, "90 minutes from here," and "60 minutes from here," but we never had to wait to get to the castle. I'm guessing that from the time we got into the line at the castle entrance until the top of the castle was probably between 30 and 40 minutes. But we had good company, conversations, and we enjoyed seeing the castle and the views.

     The original castle was built before the year 1200 of wood timbers. It was rebuilt of stone in 1210. But it was destroyed and rebuilt in 1446 by the MacCartheys of Muskerry. Today the medieval stronghold is a historic landmark and one of Ireland's great treasures.

     As we approached the castle, we heard some women laughing and excitedly talking about their photos. They were standing behind a large rock and we were curious to understand what they were talking about. They said they would show us, just stand right here. They said it's an iconic photo.

     The first floor up to the second floor is a basic stone castle area with a standard stone staircase. I was impressed by the thickness of the castle walls.

     From the second story, we entered a solid rock spiral staircase. It's a very tight staircase, steep, and somewhat claustrophobic. That plus we had lots of people both ahead of us and behind us. The staircase did have some room entrances, arrow-shooting openings, and occasional windows.

     The views outside from the castle were impressive as we climbed up the castle.

   I was surprised that a good percentage of people drop out of the line before getting to the top or kissing the blarney stone.

     We, of course, made it to the top of Blarney Castle with our spirits in tact.

Kissing the Blarney Stone

     Kissing the blarney stone was one of my agenda items for Ireland. For some reason, Vicky said it was a waste of time for me as I didn't need it. Vicky, on the other hand, had decided that she didn't want to kiss the blarney stone. But as we entered the castle and made our way up the spiral staircase to the top, she had a change of heart. By the time we got to the blarney stone, we were both onboard and ready.

     I found the whole process to be rather peculiar. The blarney stone is at the top of the castle which is 90 feet high. Plus, the line in front of us moved rather quickly and I eventually found out why. For example, of the nine people right in front of us in line, only one person kissed the stone. The rest darted past like it was the plague. 

     In the first photo, this is where we came out of the spiral staircase on top of the castle. You can see the blarney stone kissing going on at the other end of the castle. If you look at the right center, you can see a person's legs and feet. That person is kissing the stone.

     If you want to know about kissing the blarney stone, don't expect to find it out from me. As we walked along the castle walk in the above photo, the right side had information plaques on the wall. There were four of them, each one had a different story about the blarney stone. I'll only include the first one here.

     Wait, was Vicky saying that I'm full of beguiling but misleading talk, even before I kissed the stone?

     The stone kissing process was not that easy, at least not for me. I lay down on my back, held the two metal bars, leaned back down as far as I could and the guide said, "No, you have to go down much further." I told him I was already all the way down. But I scooted forward, arched my back, and leaned way back again, and suddenly, there it was. It was clear to see as it was smooth and sort of a blue-green color as opposed to the rest of the stones. A quick kiss and I was done. I might also mention that it was easy to see that I was 90 feet high and could see the grass growing at the bottom of the castle.

     From down below and outside the castle, you can look up and see where people are kissing the blarney stone. It looks a bit daunting from down here.

     We left Blarney Castle and went right across the street to the Blarney Castle Hotel. We got a room on the third floor with a super narrow staircase and no elevator. It was a challenge, but we got up there, looking out towards Blarney Castle.

     We ate dinner in the hotel bar. I waited until after dinner to try and see if there was anything to the blarney stone kissing business... 

     You can see the bar below, but this was when we arrived. After dinner, every seat was taken, and it was standing room only.

     The big screen TV's all had horse racing showing on them. As I watched, I had a revelation and decided to try out the blarney.

     I walked up to a group of people at the bar and loudly stated, "Now I'm from California and I've driven almost all the way around Ireland. I realize that you people drive on the wrong side of the road, but I've grown to accept that. But now I'm looking at horse racing and I see that you people are making your horses run around the racetrack in the wrong direction. (clockwise) I'm okay with driving on the wrong side of the road but you shouldn't be making your horses run in the wrong direction around the racetrack." 

     I made three separate attempts, at different times and in three separate areas of the bar. Each time, they would look up at the horserace in progress, say something like, "Yea, that's how they do it," and go back to their own conversations and beers. I couldn't stir up any kind of reaction. The closest I got was a couple who told me, "Don't look at us, we're from Australia."

     So now I'm beginning to wonder just how much stock I should put into the blarney....

Postscript. It's very common for Vicky and myself to get a cold, flu, or some other ailment on our long foreign trips. For that and other reasons, many people told us that whatever we do in Ireland, DON'T kiss the blarney stone. Well, we both did and neither one of us ever got sick on the entire trip!! 

...and that's no blarney!

Blarney Castle Grounds

     Blarney Castle sits on a 60-acre parcel of land. And while it's famous for its castle and the blarney stone, they have some great grounds. I would say that they are well prepared for tourists and visitors. We went right to the castle and up to kiss the blarney stone since there were so few people. But after we had finished and exited the castle, we spent some time walking around the grounds.

     The grounds include views, paths, creeks, bridges, an arboretum, woodlands, and other places to see.

     Some of the best views we got were from the castle itself. You can see a few of the special gardens on the ground. Others are hidden by the trees. We spent the most time in the "poisons garden." (poisonous plants)

     Blarney Castle also had a large carriage house or carriage area devoted to horses with many different horse conveyances in the barns.

     We also saw some stone circles such as the Druid's Circle. Below was just a small part of one stone circle.

Cobh (Cove)

     We stopped in Cobh, at least in part, because it was the last port of call for the Titanic. We wanted to go there to tell our grandson, Henry, about it. Cobh was also the departure point for 2.5 million Irish people who emigrated to North America between 1848 and 1850. We saw a sign that said Cobh was a "Tidy Town" winner in 2021 and I can see why. Cobh is still a very tidy town.

     The name “Cobh” was curious to me. This village was established in the 1750's as a Royal Navy port and known as the "Cove of Cork" or just Cove. When Queen Victoria visited here in 1849, they changed the name to Queenstown. It stayed that way until 1920 when the local council decided to change the name back to Cove. But they decided to use the Gaelic spelling for Cove which is Cobh. But Cobh has no meaning in Gaelic and the town’s name is still pronounced Cove.

     Parking was a frequent issue for us in Ireland. I was surprised how often it was difficult to find a parking place in many of the town centers that we visited. I had a problem finding parking in Cobh as well. When I finally found a place and pulled in, right in the center of town, I felt pretty lucky. Then I looked up at the sign. I turned to Vicky and said, "Have I mentioned that most people call me Doctor Bosworth?" But then a car pulled out across the street and I moved across and parked there.

     The Titanic didn't dock right in Cobh. There are islands right offshore and it would have taken a lot of time to maneuver into the port. So they just sent in two tenders and some smaller boats to drop off and pick up passengers and luggage from Cobh. Below you can see the area where the tenders for the Titanic made their stop in Cobh. 123 passengers boarded the Titanic at Cobh but only 44 survived the sinking.

     The building on the right above is the Titanic Experience or the Titanic Museum.

     We must have passed through four or five "Tidy Town" winners on our drive around Ireland. I never heard about the annual contest, so I don't know what to say about it. But I will say that every one of the winning towns that we passed through was tidy and impressive.

     We visited the Heritage Center Museum in Cobh. It was a fantastic museum, and I wish we had more time to spend there. I learned a great deal about Cobh but even more about Ireland as a whole. The photo below was at the entrance to the museum. They also had some delicious hot chocolate.

Odds and Ends

     This post will be some odds and ends from our trip around Ireland that I didn't work into any other posts.

     I liked the fact that Ireland celebrates authors. That's in contrast to the US where we more often seem to celebrate wars and war heroes. As I've traveled the world, I've found that much more often, countries seem to celebrate wars and military heroes far more than authors or other artists. I liked that about Ireland.

     The photo below is in Galway. It's a bronze statue of Oscar Wilde, an Irish writer, and Eduard Vilde, an Estonian writer, having a conversation.

   Guess what the next photo is??  I took this photo in the kitchen at Muckross House.  Answer at the end of this post.

     If anyone could find a horse store in Ireland, it would be Vicky. This store was in Killarney.

     I was tempted to find out what an "authentic Turkish barber experience" involved, but honestly, what would they cut on my bald head.

     I wouldn't want anyone to think that we didn't have the full Ireland travel experience, by which I mean heavy rain. It was raining lightly in Cork. I asked the hotel desk clerk how far a walk it was to the English Market from our hotel. He said fifteen minutes. We decided to go for it. Fifteen minutes, my asscot! It took us over an hour and the sky opened up and poured rain on us nearly the entire time.

     The photo below is in our hotel room at The Dean. We got soaked from head to toe and had to dry everything that we had been wearing.

     I'm a gardener and big plant guy. I found this little alcove in Wicklow Mountains National Park. It was raining lightly but these folks were comfortable.

     Near the end of the Ring of Kerry, we were again having a difficult time finding a place to stay for the night. After visiting three or four B&B's in Sneem with no luck, we went into Dan Murphy's Bar. The bartender and two customers said we should go to the Sneem Hotel. We did and got a room and it was quite a nice place out on the edge of town. For dinner, we went back into town to a restaurant and then back to Dan Murphy's Bar for a nightcap.

     I drove us back to our hotel, but it was raining pretty hard. I dropped Vicky off under the portico in front of the hotel and then went and parked the car. The hotel had a fireplace in the lobby and Vicky was standing there talking to a guy when I got back from parking the car.

     I joined their chat but soon, Vicky said it was time to go up to our room. I concurred and away we went.

     When we got out of hearing range, Vicky said to me, "Thanks for rescuing me, that guy was hitting on me!"

     I turned to her and said, "Well darling, you've still got it!"

Quiz Answer: a knife sharpener