Ireland

[SevenSeasJim]

So I'm going to Ireland in May and was wondering if there are any DO NOT MISS things that people here have experienced (Besides the Guiness Brewery).

We are renting a car so will have access to the entire country. Any cool places/stories appreciated.

[phorbesie]

i haven't been but i'd check out the giants causeway for sure...it's in northern ireland.

[phorbesie]

i think maybe the cliffs of insanity from the princess bride are on the west coast?

[Paan]

There is a great place called Fuckyerself.... go there.

[SevenSeasJim]

Oh ya we are staying in Ashford Castle for a night as well Ashford Castle

[SevenSeasJim]

There is a great place called Fuckyerself.... go there.

Shit that place is in every country.

[djmelbatoast]

i think maybe the cliffs of insanity from the princess bride are on the west coast?

Inconceivable!

[Blurry]

Cliffs of Moher are great (west coast)

Le Grange (Legrange?) is a DO NOT MISS opportunity. Get there somewhat early. Last time we got there at 3pm and missed the tour.

And like Phorbsie said the Giant's Causeway (northeast coast) is a must see.

Have fun!

[Dr_Evil_Mouse]

Legrange is a great spot. It rivals Stonehenge for age, and is much more interesting to look at.

If you're getting into the north, there are some great spots. Belfast is a beautiful old city; if you have a penchant for discovering expressions of sectarian hatred, too, there are plenty of murals around (Shankill Rd., e.g.) that illustrate it well.

The drive along the northern coast, too, is just stunning.

Hmm... time for me to disappear into the recesses of my memory....

[ggrtrhhrtgg]

Galway Bay is one of my favourites, but, the must see place in my opinion would be Belfast.

[AdamH]

One thing you MUST MUST MUST do is go to the Aran Islands. Go to Galway first then take the ferry from there.

I enjoyed Galway alot even with all the hype. Take the ferry out to the Aran Islands and stay at the hostel that's NOT in town, the one that's a short walk out. Their food was outstanding and a completely hidden surprise.

Belfast was really fun, The music is great and so is the food. I did the black taxi tour as most do and it's probably wirth it now as rumour has it the murals are being painted over.

Ireland is small and very drivable. I would spend some time in Donegal as it's probably the closest thing to rural Irish life you can get. It's calm and peaceful and there's lots of sheep to laugh at

Skip Limerick. It's called stab city, so there's that to deal with, and even beyond the grittiness I didn't really see much to it. Same with Letterkenny.

Surprise Surprise...Dublin has excellent pubs. Temple Bar is touristy but you'll still ind some fun ones. I can't remember the name of it but there's a microbrewery in Temple Bar (The Porter House I think) that is great.

The best pint of Guiness in the entire country comes not from the guiness factory. It comes from the Palace Bar, Dublin 2 (21 Fleet Street). You're gonna love it in there.

I would encourage you to walk North from the city and into Dublin 7. It's supposedly rough but I didn't think so and I lived there with no problems. Go to the Cobblestone Bar on North King St (near Smithfield market). It's dark and sketchy and it was firebombed during the height of the Troubles. There's celtic music every Sunday afternoon and if you think you hate celtic music across the board you haven't heard it at Cobblestone's.

[SevenSeasJim]

Thanks guys/girls. We will definetly check out the west coast as we fly out of Shannon on the way back.

[CyberHippie]

Hey I'm going to Ireland and Scotland in May as well. We have no gameplan as of yet, so this is a great thread for me. Some interesting sounding places for sure.

I'm also interested in any "mystical" places that anyone may have visited or know about.

[SevenSeasJim]

I'm going to hit up the Hill of Tara where the Irish High Kings used to have gatherings. It's just north of Dublin. Also going to Killarny National park.

[lara]

Didn't Backbacon go to Ireland in 2006? Or was that Scotland? I'll go check... Ah... it was Scotland.

Numerodos lived and worked in Belfast. Once you get him talking about it its a flood of crazy stories and great info.

Edited January 10, 2007 by Guest

[mattyp]

Cliffs of Moher are amazing.

I'm going to go through our photo-journal of our trip, and make some comments/highlights:

I thought Dublin was nice, but a bit overrated. When we were there, they were having the All Ireland Irish-Football Championship. The two competitors were two neighboring arch-rival counties from Northern Ireland. Everything in town was booked, so we ended up having to stay at a 5-star place. But, a pretty cool city. Check out the Library at Trinity College. You can get free tours of the University. Our tour guide was a modern day Oscar Wilde. Christ Church Cathedral, built in 1180... hmm Guinness Brewery is alright, to at least say you've done it. Best part is that you end up at the top, in a bar that is 360 floor to ceiling window, with GREAT views (and a 'free' pint) so go on a clear day. Also, the Brazen Head Pub is supposedly the oldest pub in Ireland, being 800 years old. Good food. Also, if you are a fan of beer you MUST go to one of the bars of the Porterhouse Brewing Company (the one we went to was in the Temple Bar section of Dublin), a true Irish beer maker. They have three stouts on tap, and will prove to you that Guinness truly is the Budweiser of stouts.

For cities, I think we liked Galway much better than Dublin. Great bars. Great food. (actually, the food all over was much better than we expected it to be). A pub that has live music everynight is the Roisin Dubh. A shopping mall has been built around the old city walls. Near the Spanish Arch is this little restaurant called Nimmo's. It is a small two story stone building (used to be a fishmarket). It is not cheap, but is SOOO worth it. The menu is limited, and written up everyday on a chalkboard and brought to your table. (I think the phone number is 091-561114)

You'll find old castles and sheep almost everywhere. Be careful driving. It will take a day to be used to driving on the other side. Blind corners can be dangerous, either for opposing traffic coming at you down the middle of the road, or sheep trying to cross the road.

Kylemore Abbey is worth checking out, and I think it is close to Ashford Castle. Ashford Castle was a fantastic experience!!! If you go to the main dining room for dinner, you will need a coat and tie. They were able to provide me with a coat, but you'd be better off bringing your own. Very neat history of the place. From there you can do a boat tour of Lough Corrib. Inchagoill (island of the stranger) has the gravestone of the nephew of St. Patrick, and the remains of a 5th century church possibly built by st. patrick. Also, if you have time and money, on the Ashford Castle grounds you can get lessons in falconry (I decided no to do it in the end).

Clonmacnoise south of Athlone was founded in 548 AD. Interesting historical site with some great huge stone Celtic Crosses.

Roscrea Castle was a well done and interesting tour. The castle was completely restored (structurally), and gives you the feeling of what all those small castles laying in ruins that you'll come across must have been like.

Birr Castle grounds and Gardens. It has a telescope that was the largest telescope in the world for 70 years. And box hedges that are over 300 years old.

6th century monastic site at Glendalough.

Kilkenny is a nice little town. Good pubs, another cool castle tour.

I forget if it is the Kerry Penninsula, or the Iveragh Penninsula, but out there about three miles off the western tip is Skellig Michael. From out there you cannot really see the mainland. Some monks built a monastery out there in the 6th century. They aren't really islands, but rather jagged rocks that jut straight out of the ocean. One of them is painted white with guano, one of the largest stops for some migratory birds, the other is where the monks built their monastery. I'm not sure there are any official tours of the island, but you will find locals who will take you out there on their boats. They'll drop you off, and come back later to pick you up. Because of the rough nature of the seas (we had to wait a few days for our chance, some days the trip was impossible) and the jagged rocky nature of the island, they can't really dock the boats. You then climb up thousands of steps to the top to reach this monastery. All old stone walls, 'beehive huts', gravestones, even an 'outhouse' perched over a thousand foot drop to the waters below. I guess they defended the site against vikings and such. My description doesn't do it justice. It truly was one of the most amazing experiences of my life.

Also, the Dingle Penninsula is well worth spending a few days there. The ocean side towns, the scenery. Really special. Many places there still speak Celtic, and many of the road signs are Celtic only. Some crazy tight mountain passes to drive through. In the middle of the Connor (Conor?) Pass you can stop and park by a stream coming down off the mountain. Find a trail and hike up the steep slope and you'll find this hidden lake/pond that is the source of the stream. Something special, great scenery, magical place. Look up on the vertical slopes rising up behind the pond and you will likely see sheep impossibly climbing them. Elsewhere on the penninsula you can find a hike that takes you to the top of a mountain/hill where an ancient Irish king used magic to set his fortress spinning at night so that no one could enter it (place called Cathair Chonroi,and the king was Curor Mac Daire). Also, on Dingle there is the Dunbeg Promontory Fort. The Gallarus Oratory is a good example of the 'beehive huts'. Over 1300 years old, these huts made of just local stone, with NO mortar, are water tight.

Well, I've got to stop writing, and get on with my day. Hope some of this helps. I'd LOVE to hear about your trip when you get back. I hope to go there again someday.

[SevenSeasJim]

Thanks for that write-up Matty. Just curious what part of year did you go?

[mattyp]

late September / early October

supposedly we were very lucky. Beautiful weather! It rained less than 1/4 of the time.

[SevenSeasJim]

I love hearing the weather there "showers followed by periods of rain". haha