Our Irish Adventure

Posted by Diana (Michigan, United States) on 05/16/17 12:03 PM

We just got back from an almost 3 week adventure in Ireland, Liverpool & Edinburgh. This report will be just Ireland. which was so wonderful. We can't stop thinking about what we saw & did & ate & drank. LOL We flew out of Windsor Ontario Canada to Toronto to Dublin via Air Canada. Flight was fine, if you don't count the 2 babies that took turns screaming the entire flight. No sleep for us but we landed in Dublin, found the AirLink buses and we on our way to the city! Our first two nights were in Dublin at the Clayton Hotel Cardiff Lane, which was a really nice hotel but out of city centre so we left our luggage, found the bus stop & were on our way. We toured Dublin Castle, went to the Stag's Head for a beer for my husband and an Irish coffee for me. Dinner that night at O'Neills Victorian Pub on Pearse St (a short walk from our hotel). We were free until 2pm so the next morning we went to St Patrick's Cathedral and Teeling Distillery. We then met with our CIE Tour group & had a guided tour of the city (via the bus) then to Trinity College, where we had a campus tour & saw the Book of Kells and the beautiful long library. We had a welcome drink in our hotel bar & after that a few of us decided we'd go to Temple Bar and have dinner & listen to some music. We had drinks at the Temple Bar and then went to Oliver St John's Gogarty for dinner and some wonderful trad music. What a welcome to Ireland!

The next morning after breakfast, our CIE bus departed Dublin. There were 35 people on board, most from the US and I think 4 from Canada. Great mix of people and we had fun getting to know them all week. Stopped in Glendalough to see the ruins of St Kevin's monestary then lunch at a pub in Wexford then toured the Dunbrody Famine Ship in New Ross. Spent the night at Dooley's Hotel in Waterford. Dinner was included in the tour all but one night and this one was pretty wonderful. Beautiful presentation and tasted great too.

Got up early for our tour of Waterford Crystal. Very interesting and of course, we ended in the shop so we could buy something beautiful to remember our trip. We found a lovely small bowl to purchase. Next we drove to Cobh, the last stop of the Titanic. We had a guided tour of the city by an expert who'd written a couple of books on the subject as well as helped on a BBC and Nat Geo documentary. It was very interesting. Next stop, Blarney Castle where we climbed the steps & kissed the blarney stone then had lunch and shopped at Blarney Woolen Mills. It was a gorgeous drive to our hotel for the next two nights, the International Hotel in Killarney. Our driver stopped along the way for pictures and also stopped and bought a couple of pints of super fresh strawberries for us to have. Did I mention we loved Frank, our driver? The first night in Killarney we got tickets to see a show called Celtic Fire. It was a great show with music & Irish dancing. We had front row seats (thanks Frank) and enjoyed it immensely.

The next day after our wonderful Irish breakfast, we drove to a store called Moriarity's at the Gap of Dunloe where we first got our group picture taken (in the rain) then shopped a bit then back on the road to go through the gorgeous Irish countryside. Saw lots of sheep, horses, wonderful stone fences, mountains, it was all so amazing and beautiful. It was a windy day but the rain was done & we really enjoyed it. We had lunch at the Skellig Experience then saw a movie about the islands. We just might have to return some day so we can take the boat out to see them. Drove back to the hotel through the beautiful Killarney National Park.

The next day was the drive to the Cliffs of Moher. We took the ferry across the River Shannon to get there. The drive to get to the Cliffs was long but they were nothing short of AMAZING! Frank told us it was Ireland's second most popular attraction, after the Guinness Storehouse.

Posted by Diana OP

Michigan, United States

05/16/17 12:13 PM

703 posts

One of our new friends on the tour surprised his wife with a 3 stone anniversary ring. I was able to get video and pics of the whole thing for them. That was pretty cool. We had lunch in the small cafe then were back on our way and drove to The Burren, a beautiful rocky area by the sea. Took a few pics then drove into Galway, where we had a walking tour of the city then checked into our hotel for the night.

Drove north the next morning to the Shrine at Knock, where some people saw a vision of the Virgin Mary. They had to build a larger church for all the pilgrims that come there to worship. Next stop was Donegal for lunch in a pub and some free time. We toured the castle after lunch. Next we drove outside of Donegal to a sheep farm where we saw a dog named Jack do his thing with the sheep. He competes and placed 3rd in all of Ireland and we could see why. He never took his eyes off those sheep! He was amazing and afterwards, we got to hold a week old little baby black lamb. A highlight of the trip for me! After that we drove to Derry where we had a guided tour of the city and walked on the old city walls. Our hotel was again out of the city center but it was a very nice hotel called the Everglades Hotel.

Our final day of the CIE tour we drove to Dunluce Castle and stopped for pictures then to the Giants Causeway, which was another one of those Bucket List items for me. It was amazing! Next stop was the Belfast and the Titanic Belfast. We did the self guided tour and had lunch there. Our last stop was in Annagassan at the Glyde Inn. It was right by the sea so we had beautiful views to eat our dinner and after dinner, a 3 piece band entertained us. The last hotel for our Irish Adventure was back in Dublin at the Croke Park Hotel, easily the nicest of all the nice hotels we stayed in. Again, not in city centre so a group of about 20 of the 35 CIE peeps kinda took over the bar and had a goodbye party. It was fun.

We had booked an extra night in Dublin at the Jurys Inn Christchurch so we took a taxi in the morning after breakfast to get there. A nice hotel, basic, nothing fancy but it was right where we wanted to be. We walked across the street & toured Christchurch Cathedral then took a bus to Kilmainham Gaol where we had tickets. That was great, very interesting, our tour guide was good and made the history come alive. Took lots of pics then headed back for a rest then headed out again & walked to Grafton Street. Walked down the whole street, stopping to listen to the street performers, went in a couple of shops and ended up at St Stephens Green by the pond. Walked back home via O'Neills Pub near the Molly Malone statue then back to the hotel. Went back to Temple Bar that night and Gogarty's where we enjoyed more of the trad music. The next morning we went to the Guinness Storehouse & took the tour then headed to the airport for our flight to Liverpool. We loved Ireland and hope to return someday.