Hello all-
We'll be flying into Shannon and taking the bus to Ennis for the first day of the Heart of Ireland Tour. We will have two full days to kill prior to the tour and are looking for historical sites, pubs & eateries as well as some light shopping. A nice wool cap is on our list!
Sounds like the Rick Steves tour spends very little time in Ennis. Is there enough in Ennis to keep us busy and walking around for two extra days?
Suggestions appreciated.
Kind regards,
Mike
The Heart of Ireland tour doesn't spend much time in Ennis, and does assume that many people will fly in a day early. Remember that our meeting time on the tour start day is about 2 p.m. (earlier than on some other RS tours). Suggested options from our guidebook's co-author are mostly side trips out of town:
Craggaunowen is an open air folk museum 9 miles east of Ennis. It has a 16th century tower house castle, a replica of a crannog (small iron age island fort) and the original primitive boat that Tim Severin sailed solo from Ireland to North America to prove that St. Brendan could have discovered America. Plus the grounds are lushly forested and offer some mossy strolls. A taxi ride should not be exorbitant for this short of a drive (guessing under €20 each way). See page 287 in our current Ireland guidebook.
The Clare Museum in Ennis is adjacent to the TI and has some authentic relics. But I consider this more of a rainy day way to kill an hour (see page 286).
Bunratty Castle and folk park gets short shrift in the book because it's heavily visited by big tour groups, but I still like it. It’s what you would expect from an Irish folk park (thatch roofs, livestock, barnyard geese and the smell of burning peat). Bunratty Castle is right in the middle of it and it’s actually a very well preserved 6 story structure with period furnishings inside. It also hosts (expensive…around €50) castle banquets which would be a fun way to spend a night once you’re over jet lag. Or have a pub lunch at Durty Nell’s pub on the grounds of the castle (but again, beware big bus group congestion).
Trains run between Ennis and Galway (to the north) or Limerick (to the south). It’s an hour and a half up train ride up to Galway and about 45 minutes to Limerick. Both towns are friendly, but neither one is a stunner. We do write-up Galway in the guidebook, mostly as a handy hub from which to travel further. It’s a pleasant small city with a young University population but it’s short on actual sites in town. Meanwhile, Limerick is famous (and had a couple of historic sieges 300 years ago). But it’s only real sites are the shell of St. John’s Castle and the mediocre Hunt family Museum. It’s of interest to fans of Angela’s Ashes since Frank McCourt was from there (but most of what he lived among is gone).
I am a big fan of Ennis as a base for visiting county Clare, but it is a workaday town without a lot of sights to see. I thought Bunratty Castle was great, but the folk park did not do a lot for me. I agree with the idea of taking the bus to Galway. Not sure if it's still the case, but Ennis in 2002 had great live music at Cruise's Pub, and locals in the crowd who would burst into song. We had a really magical experience there. I still remember some of the faces and would not be surprised to see them there on a return visit.
