UK and Europe 4 month sojourn!

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Apologies all for the big gap in posts but holidaying is quite hectic and is getting in the way of my updates . After Liverpool we flew to Dublin with Ryanair. This was our first experience with them and I was a little nervous given the stories I have heard, but everything went smoothly. We did pay for extra checkin and carry on just to cover ourselves so this was not exactly a cheap air fare, especially considering flight time is only about 30 minutes!

 

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We did the Guineas tour in Dublin which was very interesting and then finished up with a pint in their Gravity bar which has amazing views of Dublin.

 

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Dublin wasn’t all about drinking Guinness! We also visited Trinity College and other landmarks.

 

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Plus of course the Molly Malone statue where it is said that by touching a certain part of her anatomy (it’s obvious from the photo which part ) it will bring you luck.

 

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Dublin was the start of a nine day driving itinerary around Ireland with overnight stops in Cork, Killarney, Limerick, Athlone, Donegal and finishing in Belfast. Ireland is such a picturesque place with such beautiful town, unfortunately though our first few days were marred by quite heavy rain and wind which made driving interesting. Apart from the stops mentioned above we also did side trips to other towns and sights.

 

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The Rock of Cashel

 

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Roast lunch in Tipperary. As usual I didn’t think to take a photo until halfway through eating

 

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Cork is a great town and I would revisit and spend a bit more time there. We had a fantastic room at Shandons Bell Guest House right on the river.

 

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From Cork we headed to Killarney with a stop at Cobh and Carrigrenan. Cobh is a beautiful seaside town with a large port that welcomes large cruise ships. When we were there a cruise ship from Australia had just docked and was being welcomed by the locals with Australian flags and stuffed kangaroos! The town also has a massive catholic cathedral that took over 50 years to build.

 

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We spent the night in Killarney and stayed in a room above a bar called Tattler Jacks. We were on the third floor with no lift and narrow stairs so hauling bags up was fun . We explored Killarney and went out to Muckross Abbey which was a Franciscan Friary and established in 1448 but is now in partial ruins. It is also a burial place with headstones dated in recent years. Our next overnight stop was Limerick (the boy stood on the burning deck….) via Dingle and Wine Strand Beach for a picnic lunch. Dingle is another picturesque seaside town.

We then stopped at Wine Strand Beach for a picnic lunch. There was a little sand beach with people swimming but it was a little too cold for me!

 

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There was also a mini Stonehenge going on at a nearby farm!

 

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A drive along the Wild Atlantic Way took us to Limerick for the night. There were some magnificent views but the road was a bit hairy in parts with only one lane on a curvy mountain road. The photo doesn’t do it justice but it was very tight.

 

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The Cliffs of Mohr was our next stop but unfortunately it was a wet and windy day so the view wasn’t as spectacular as it would have been on a nice sunny day. Still a magnificent sight and reminds me a bit of the Great Australian Bite.

 

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We then headed inland to Athlone to visit Sean’s Bar which is supposedly the worlds oldest bar and said to be established in 900 AD.

 

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We also thought we’d try somewhere a bit more modern so went to Dead Centre Brewing in Athlone

 

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Our trip then took us to Donegal via Sligo, Mullaghmore Head (Brendan Gleeson filmed the movie Calvary in this area) and Bundoran. We left Donegal the next day and headed to Derry where we did a walking tour of the wall which surrounds the city. The tour covered historical issues (invasions, wars etc) and also covered the troubles.

 

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And of course a visit to Derry is not complete without a visit to the Derry Girls mural

 

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The tour guide also mentioned that Derry is affectionately known as The Maiden City as there have been many attempts to penetrate but it’s never been breached

 

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From Cork we headed to Killarney with a stop at Cobh and Carrigrenan. Cobh is a beautiful seaside town with a large port that welcomes large cruise ships. When we were there a cruise ship from Australia had just docked and was being welcomed by the locals with Australian flags and stuffed kangaroos! The town also has a massive catholic cathedral that took over 50 years to build.
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Very enjoyable TR. Your photos of Ireland certainly bring back a lot of memories as we visited a number of the same places you did and drove on some of the same roads. The photo you took of Cobh Cathedral was taken from the car park we used when we visited Cobh.

 

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Very enjoyable TR. Your photos of Ireland certainly bring back a lot of memories as we visited a number of the same places you did and drove on some of the same roads. The photo you took of Cobh Cathedral was taken from the car park we used when we visited Cobh.

Thanks @OZDUCK . Driving on some of those roads is certainly an experience.