Ireland

Although it is a long way off, in order to prepare for the ND - Navy game and McHugh Pilgrimage, we need to find out where most people want to go.  The Game is scheduled for September 1, 2012 at Croke Park, Dublin, Ireland.  It has a seating capacity of 82,300.  In 1996, about 38,000 people attended.  Dick has put me in charge of orchestrating the trip.  Anthony travel, ND's official Travel Agent (owned by Anthony Hesburgh, I think) has the lock on all US tickets.  They have no details yet on their itinerary.  I am going to try and get tickets locked through the Irish Tour group.  Brendan tours had indicated that they would be able to handle the tickets if we go with them.  I have not heard from the other three cazrriers.
     Mike McHugh

I am thinking right now, that getting one of the 4 tour companies in Ireland is the way to go.  They usually take care of the accommodations, route and tour guide.  If there are enough people, we can dictate the route, and have them do the driving.  They also get better deals on accommodations and meals than we would by ourselves (and maybe tickets to the game as well!).   I put a narrative of our two trips so you may get a sense of the available activities.  Check out the links.  The route we drove on the map is highlighted in green (of course).

Check out their proposed routes here:

 

 

 
     CIE Tours Brendan Vacations Celtic Tours Dooley Vacations

First Trip -- July 11-17, 2002

  
Considering the narrowness of Irish Roads, Driving on the wrong side, and Dangers of drinking and driving, taking a tour makes a whole lot of sense to me.  Of course, the tour bus and guide add to the cost, and the Blackburn in all of us makes us want to take a second look at that.
     I digress.  What I would like from each of you is to fill out the form below.  This will give me some idea of the itinerary and travel time.  Our first time over, we took Celtic tours program Celtic Delight on July 11-17, 2002.
     We landed in Dublin, visited Brendan on the Irish Way,  and recouped overnight at a hotel in Clontarf, just North of Dublin Town.  The next day, we rode to Kilkenny Town where we toured the Butler Castle (It was given to the City right after the Irish Civil War, and the Butlers skipped town).  Then we motored on to Waterford in the South East part of the country.  After the obligatory tour of the Waterford Glass Factory (and gift shop) , we stopped in Youghal (it is pronounce y'all, just like in Georgia) and had a gargle.  We spent the night in Cork City.
     The next day, we toured Cobh ( pronounced cove). There is an outstanding emigration /immigration museum there, as well as a museum dedicated to the Titanic disaster.  Cobh was called Queenstown at the time, and that was the last stop the Titanic made before.  We then rode to Blarney, some kissed the Blarney Stone, others of us kissed someone who had kissed it, because it is fearfully high.  This was on a Sunday, so we heard Mass at Noon in Blarney, and then shopped for a couple of hours.  The Blarney Woolen Mills there had the best prices, or so our tour guide told us. We stayed overnight in Killarney, which is pretty centrally located for the ring of Kerry and Dingle peninsulas. 
     Monday, we got back on the bus and went around the Ring of Kerry, in the South West part of Ireland.  Scenery is beautiful.  Waterville is a town there, if you are following along on the map above. When we got back, Mary, Mary Kate and I took a jaunting cart ride.  It was way pretty cool to have done it once.  That night, we stayed at the same hotel in Killarney. Tuesday, we went around the Dingle peninsula, which is just north of the Ring of Kerry.
     Killorglin is one of the towns on that peninsula, but we stopped in Dingle, a fishing town.  I could easily retire to here.  From there, we cut across country to Limerick City and had the medieval dinner at Bunratty Castle, which was pretty neat as well, but watch your consumption of meade.  We then went to the Claire Inn for overnight.  Wednesday, we got on the bus and rode to Shannon Airport, where the tour officially ended.
     However, we had rented a car (with me as the driver) because we wanted to see some more of Ireland, that we missed.  We headed out, going North from Shannon Airport to Ennis, and headed west to Lahinch (where they often play the British Open Golf Tournament). We turned North to the Cliffs of Mohr, which has since been redone.  We then drove to the town of Doolin ( 7 miles or Km away) and had lunch.  The town is noted for its Irish music, but there are only two bars, and we went to the wrong one that has entertainment for lunch.  Anyway, we then drove through the Burren, which reminded me of a concrete contractor gone mad.  We then drove to Ennis and stayed there for the night.
     The next day, we drove North to Cong, which is North of Galway City just inside Mayo (God help us), between Lough Mask and Lough Corrib.  This is the town where the greatest movie ever made was filmed.  Ashford Castle had only two bathrooms indoors at the time.  John Ford got one and the Duke got the other.  Well worth the trip.  We didn't plan too well, because we had booked reservations at a old protestant manor house, Gregan's Castle, which had been turned into a country inn.  It was on the Burren, so we were doubling back a bit.  As we were sitting in the dining room, we could look out across Galway Bay, and see the lights coming on in Galway City.  It was a sight I will never forget.
     I cannot honestly tell you how many miles we drove, but I was very glad we bought the insurance, as we had to hit a rock in the middle of the road on the way to the airport, and ruined the tyre and possibly the rim.  Despite this hazard, we made it back to Shannon Airport for our return home.  However, we found out that the plane which said "Nonstop" from Ireland, stopped at Dublin, and picked up the rest of the plane full.  In planning, we should plan on flying in and out of Dublin.  Mary does not like going up and down if it can be avoided.
    

Second Trip -- July 7-14, 2005

  

     Since we had to go over and visit Brendan while he was studying in Ireland, Mary said we had to go over and visit Mary Kate while she was on the Irish Way as well.  On Thursday, July 7th, we took the same flight out of Chicago, but when we got to Ireland, we took a cab to a nice hotel in the City Centre.  We walked around a bit, as it was just 10:00 Friday am when we checked in.  We found a trolley tour, as we had done in Boston, where you hop on, and hop off.  While on the tour, we saw many things, including the Book of Kells at Trinity College, the Guinness Storehouse and Kilmainham Gaol.  All of them were on my bucket list. Although they charged to get in, they were well worth the trip.  There is a ton of stuff to do in Dublin, including a walking tour of literary pubs, Jury's Cabaret, the 1916 rising, and St Patrick's Cathedral (C of E). We are saving these for our next foray.
     Through a travel agent, we had booked a package which let us make arrangements to stay at practically any Bed & Breakfast in Ireland. You receive a book with pictures, descriptions and telephone numbers of the available B&Bs and hotels. All we had to do was call. Mary became an expert at using an Irish Phone Card there. If the B&B had a room, we merely presented a card, so the inn keepers could collect payment from the Tour company.  This gave us the freedom of traveling at leisure, and not having to keep to a strict agenda.  some tour companies call this a Fly - Drive tour.
     Friday night, in Dublin, we were worn out, and we retired for the evening.  Getting up the next morning, we took a cab to the Hertz car park, and rented a Toyota Camry, but they do not call them that over there.  Automatic transmissions cost about twice as much to rent as a manual one, so even the cab drivers have manual transmissions.  Our car had everything except cruise control.  We found our way out of Dublin heading South.  Brendan the Navigator, sat in the Left-hand seat; I drove, of course sitting in the right hand seat.  Mary, in charge of Nibbles and the Rosary, sat in the back.  Our first stop was in Glendalough in County Wicklow, which had an amazing visitor center.  It was where St Kevin lived, Round Towers and Celtic Crosses.  Had time permitted, we would have stopped in New Ross, where the JFK Memorial Arboretum can be found, but we kept driving to Waterford City, found a hotel, and called Mary Kate.  After We spent the evening with her, we retired to the hotel, where we had a few pints.    
     The next day, we heard Mass just down the street from the Boarding School where Mary Kate was staying.  Saying tearful goodbyes, we left and drove to Cashel, in Tipperary.  An ancient cathedral built high atop "The Rock of Cashel", beautiful scenery and a nearby pub helped us to decide the next leg of our trip.  We had an open agenda, but I wanted to drive through Kilenaule, the ancestral home of the Feehan's (Dad's Grandmother emigrated from here).
     Monday, we backtracked a bit and drove through the town.  We probably should have stopped and asked for the Feehan's, but, unannounced and unexpected, we demurred, and drove back through Cashel and Tipperary Town.  There we picked up the N24, a divided carriageway, and drove to Limerick.  We got on the N18 to Ennis and Gort, finally taking the N8 to Galway City.  Pretty, but a long drive.  We drove through Galway City to Salt Hill, the first town west of Galway City, and kind of a resort community. Our B&B, The Rose Villa was to Mary's Liking, and we were able to take in some  long walks and a few pints.  We decided to stay in the same B&B the next night as Kevin and Angela O'Hare had a vacancy.
     The next day, we headed North out of Galway to Knock.  Getting directions is a story in itself, but we made our Pilgrimage, had lunch, and then decided to drive on the by-ways down through Cong, again, and through the Joyce Country of of Mayo and Galway.  Starkly beautiful country, with a view of the ocean, we made it back to the Rose Villa in Salt Hill.  I had toyed with the notion of going to the Aran Islands, but we were running out of time.  The next morning, we took the N6 through Ballinasloe and Athlone heading toward Dublin.  We had made reservations at Mrs Farrell's Hollywood  B&B in Ballyboghil near Swords, north of Dublin and its airport.  As we were running pretty early, Mary wanted to visit the town of Bray, on the Irish Sea, just south and east of Dublin.  Somehow, we drove through Dublin, and spent several hour in Bray, walking and relaxing.  Brendan, ever patient and watchful, wanted us to go to Johnny Fox's Pub. Johnny Fox was owned and operated by Daniel O'Connell's Son in Law. It is the highest pub in Ireland, with great live Irish music. No Guinness for the driver, but I did have an excellent Prawn Salad, with about 5 pounds of shrimp on it.  We listened to a few Irish Tunes, and got into the car for the ride back around Dublin to Swords.  Mrs. Farrell's B&B is on a farm, with potatoes growing all around it.  Unfortunately it was two miles from the nearest pub.  Make sure that is in the rule book; the B&B should be right next door to the pub.  The pub was called O'Connor's, and was established in 1735, in Ballyboghil (spelling is correct).  That is 24 Years before Arthur Guinness began brewing.  They had Guinness and Budweiser on tap.
     All in all, we drove 759 miles in the few days there.  A short stay in Ireland, but we managed to return the car to the Hertz Car Hire at Dublin Airport without incident, get on the plane, likewise without incident, made our way, sadly, back to Chicago, leaving many areas of the Maine-sized country to explore next time!  All things considered, the worst part of the trip was the driving.  It is better left to the professionals.
     Still on our Bucket List is the North and West.  I would like to see Newgrange, The Giant's Causeway and Donegal; however, revisiting some of the other places is not entirely out of the question for us.  It is my hope that this short essay will make filling out the form easier.

Here are some other links that the visitor to Ireland Might find useful.
Heritage Ireland Ulster Tourism Discover Ireland Trish Tourist Board N Ireland Tourism

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Ireland - Dublin We would like to see the following in and around Dublin

Ireland - South-East

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