Ireland pages

Itinerary

Acknowledgements

Ireland pages

This page is largely intended as a gateway to some of the other Ireland pages.
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Dublin

Beyond Dublin

Giants Causeway

Northern Ireland

Animals and birds of Ireland - wild and domesticated

Itinerary (with help from Wendy's journal)

September 3, 2017 Sunday - SFO to Newark to Dublin

Overnight on plane

Two hour delay in Newark

September 4, 2017 Monday - Dublin

Cab to Mespil Hotel

Walk to St Stephens Green Park - birds

Trinity College

Student lead tour

Book of Kells (no photography)

Long room library (no flash)

Old cars in quad for the filming of a period movie

Dinner in Temple Bar at Auld Dubliner - with music

Mespil Hotel

September 5, 2017 Tuesday- Dublin

Late start

Cab to National Botanical Garden

Walk around gardens, green houses

Art in Context exhibit - being set up all over

Museum Cafe

Cemetery next to Garden

Cab to Natural History Museum - peat bog men

Cab to the Redmonds for dinner - Deirdre, Tony and Ailbhe

Deirdre drove us back to our hotel

Mespil Hotel

September 6, 2017 Wednesday- Dublin

Reservations for Kilmainham tour online

Bus to near the Kilmainham Gael

Walk the last bit

Got a wonderful set of instructions and other info from a building painter

Bought Irish Heritage pass - even though we were in Ireland for a week and a half, this turned out to be a good decision

Tour of the prison

Irish Museum of Modern Art Cafe and courtyard

We got lunch in the basement cafe and took our meals and ate them in large courtyard

Walk along Liffey, photographing bridges

Christchurch Cathedral - grounds and bridge

Dublin Castle

Chester Beatty Library

Rejoined castle tour

Walk around neighborhood

Musical pub crawl - three stops

Met Eva Kunz and Ryan

Cab back

Mespil Hotel

September 7, 2017 Thursday - Dublin to Adare to Dingle

Taxi to airport car rental - Opel Astra - manual transmission, lots of dashboard info

Both registered to drive but Wendy did all the driving when we were together

Adare, County Limmerick

Walk around town

Lunch in Adare at thatched roof restaurant

Adare Augustinian Abbey - attached to active school

Adare Castle (from the road)

Drive to Dingle

Dingle Atlantic Bed and Breakfast - key was left in lockbox, but we had difficulty in figuring out how to access it

Walk around town

Met George and Dawn Tsongas

Dinner at Dingle Pub

Outstanding music including amazing percussionist who essentially played the "acoustical stool" he was sitting on

Dingle Atlantic Bed and Breakfast

September 8, 2017 Friday - Dingle

Breakfast at Dingle Atlantic B&B - lox and bagels - delicious

Walk along waterfront, visitors center

Small farmers market

Dingle Peninsula loop, Slea Head Drive

Fairy ring fort

Fed sheep

Dunford Fort

Lunch and dessert at Stonehouse restaurant

Beehive huts

Galarus Oratory church

An Riasc Monastery

Church of Kimalkedan and cemetery

Blasket visitors center - rainbow

Views of Ventry Bay and Skellig Michael

Walk around town looking for an open restaurant

Late dinner at Chinese restaurant

Dingle Atlantic Bed and Breakfast

September 9, 2017 Saturday - Dingle to Ballyvaughan (County Clare)

Breakfast at Dingle Atlantic B&B - lox and bagels - delicious

Late start getting on the road

Stop to photograph water falls at Conor Pass

Encounter traffic en route

Tarbert car ferry

Cliffs of Moher - visitor center, hiking

The Burrens at sunset

Ballyvaughan

Monks Tavern for dinner, music - amazing young group of musicians including Irish bagpipes

Burren Atlantic Hotel

September 10, 2017 Sunday - Ballyvaughan (County Clare) to Clifden (County Connemara)

Breakfast at Burren Atlantic Hotel

Walk along the waterfront

Late start getting on the road

Shanmuckinish Castle

Corcormroe Abbey and Cemetery

Muckamish Castle on the beach

Moyne Castle

Car got stuck in the mud and there was no one around

Walk around Cong

Puddlestick Cafe

Cong church and Abbey

Walk to Ashford Castle but did not go in

Drive around Lough

Abbeyglen Castle Hotel, Clifden

Arrive at hotel in the rain

Huge double room suite

Skip dinner and have fabulous dessert buffet

Turn on fire place, use tub spa

September 11, 2017 Monday - Clifden (County Connemara) to Donegal

Breakfast at Abbeyglen Castle Hotel - elaborate breakfast buffet

Explor building, walk around grounds, take pictures

Connemara National Park - hike part way up

Peat bogs, moorlands above tree line, heather, glacial erratics

Hike lower waterfall trail

Rain!

Kylemore Abbey

Westport

Christie's Cafe - very small place - quiche, dessert, perfect dry cap, lots of friendly locals

Walk around town, along river

Creevykeel court tomb - neolithic site - stone circle, passage tombs

Late arrival in Donegal, check in

Take out pizza, eat in room

Abbey Hotel Donegal

September 12, 2017 Tuesday - Donegal to Bushmills, Northern Ireland

Breakfast at Abbey Hotel Donegal

Donegal Abbey

Donegal Castle

Church

Slieve League - drive to end of the road and hike

Stop at library/ visitor center

Kilclooney More - neolithic dolman

Rain

Drive to Bushmills arrive 8ish

Check in at Smuggler's Inn

Dinner at hotel

Drive down to the Giants Causeway by myself in the pitch black and rain - to scope it out for the morning

September 13, 2017 Wednesday - Bushmills, Antrim Coast Northern Ireland

Predawn wake-up

Drive to and walk down to Giants Causeway

Giants Causeway - fairly deserted except for a TV show film crew

Back to hotel for breakfast at Smuggler's Inn

Carrick-a-Rede - rope bridge

Walk down to the beach - site of a Game of Thrones village set

Ballintoy Harbor

Encounter a Game of Thrones tour

Ice cream

Dark Hedges

Path to the road led through a garden with lots of fairy imagery

Road had a fair bit of traffic and was flanked by beautiful barley fields

Drive to Dunluce Castle - too late to get in

Walk across the street to the ruins of an old church

Huge flocks of birds

Nice dinner at the Bushmill Inn in town

Back to Smuggler's Inn

September 14, 2017 Thursday - Bushmills (Antrim Coast), Giants Causeway Northern Ireland to Trim

Predawn wake-up (day 2)

Drive to and walk down to Giants Causeway with Wendy

Giants Causeway - fairly deserted

Back to hotel for breakfast at Smuggler's Inn

Dunluce Castle

Bushmills Distillery include sampling, no photography

Lunch at the distillery

Drive up coast

Dunseverick Castle

White Park Bay Beach - huge numbers of rabbits

Dinner at the Giants Causeway Hotel

I walked back down to Giants Causeway for sunset - again fairly deserted

Walk up to organ pipe formation with a tourist from Mexico

Return to hotel in the dark - where Wendy was waiting

Smuggler's Inn

September 15, 2017 Friday - Bushmills (Antrim Coast) to Drogheda

Predawn wake-up (day 3)

Drive to and walk down to Giants Causeway fairly deserted

Giants Causeway

Back to Hotel for Breakfast at Smuggler's Inn

Finish packing

Cross back into Ireland

Drive to Newgrange but find out that we had to go all the way back to the visitors center and take the bus in order to get in.

Newgrange - visitors center

Take a bus down to Knowth where we met up with our guide - last tour of the day - small group - 7 people

Get to climb on top of the main tomb

Dessert at Visitors Center

Drive to Drogheda

Scholars Townhouse Hotel

Dinner at the hotel lounge / bar

September 16, 2017 Saturday - Drogheda to Trim

Breakfast at Scholars Hotel, Drogheda

Walk around neighborhood

St, Laurence Gate

Drive back to Newgrange - visitors center

Bus to Newgrange site

Tour of the inside of the site with demonstration of how the light penetrates into the inner sanctum on the winter solstace

Bus back to visitors center

Drive to Trim

Tour of Trim Castle - great guide

Lots of rain

Walk to Tower

Warm up / dry off in car while Wendy went off exploring

Back to the Castle to use the restroom

Ice cream - vanilla with coffee syrup

Dinner at Judge and Jury pub - pizza

Drive to hotel

Boyne View Bed and Breakfast - out in the countryside

Explore the grounds but not much to see - lots of mud

September 17, 2017 Sunday - Trim to Dublin Airport to Newark to SFO

Breakfast at Boyne View Bed and Breakfast

Trim to Dublin Aiport

Stop for gas near airport

Return rental car

Flight at 12:55 pm

Arrive SFO at 9 pm

Related pages

Northern Ireland 2017 - Giants Causeway

Acknowledgements

Last modified: December 29, 2019
Created: August 26, 2017 (from wyoming2017.html)
Contact: siegelr@stanford.edu
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