Honeymoon In Ireland - The Dingle Peninsula to The Cliffs Of Moher

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2 July, 2008

Coill An Róis

We started off with our morning run.  Jimmy had said he would go with us, but we didn't see him and struck out on our own.  About 3/4 of a mile down the road we saw Jimmy on his way back home!  He'd gotten up at 6 and was afraid he'd go back to sleep if he didn't go right away.

Coill An Róis means "Forest of The Roses"
and here they are

We returned from a nice run to AMAZING showers.  He really has done something great with his house.  The shower was much better than ours at home.  The whole place was wonderful.  When we reached the breakfast room, Jimmy was waiting.  We had a nice talk about last night, the morning and life in general.  He then presented us with homemade bread, muffins and scones with tea as we ate our cereal.  We thought it was delicious until he brought out the rest of our breakfast.  Sarah had gotten a fruit plate which had 8-10 different types of fruit sliced and arranged - 2 of which were from his garden.  He also raises chickens, so he has fresh eggs!  He made me scrambled eggs with salmon.  This is hands down our favorite place so far!  Before we left we talked to Jimmy for another half hour or so.  He spends the winters as a chef in New York and then returns to run the B&B (thus the great food).  He also had his niece and nephew from America staying with him so they could practice using Irish (he is a native speaker).

Our bed at Coill An Róis

Our room at Coill An Róis

The horse out our window at Coill An Róis

Then we made straight for Tarbert.  The ferry was easy.  The ferry leaves on the half hour, each hour.  They had public toilets at the pier and it cost €17 for the car.  We had picked up some bread, cheese and fruit earlier, so we ate our lunch in the car while we waited to load.  The trip across the Shannon takes about 20 minutes.  The weather was amazing, so we skipped the Loop Head and went right for the Cliffs of Moher (seen in the film the Princess Bride as the Cliffs of Insanity).

The ferry at Talbert

The view of the Shannon from the ferry

Cliffs of Moher with O'Brien's Tower

The cliffs are dramatically different from my last visit (1999).  There is a huge parking lot across the road from the cliffs now.  It costs €8 to park.  I was a bit upset thinking that I was about to have to pay a second fee for the Cliffs, but you don't.  The other time I had visited I loved that the path from the road to the Cliffs was lined with buskers and people selling all kinds of items.  That's all gone now.  The path is larger and nice, but I missed the excitement of the old way.

When we reached the end of of the path, I thought to myself, "This sucks."  But, Sarah had never been here so I didn't want to spoil her visit by saying anything negative.  They have erected earth and stone ridges and built permanent paved walkways around the cliffs, but you are so far away that the awe and wonder I had my original visit were replaced with a feeling of being cheated.  We decided to head up the path the path to left (to the south - away from O'Brien's Tower).  Our reward: A sign telling us that we could not proceed.  

Is this sign actually an invitation?

However, we  (and many others) did.  We went right past the dreadful EU presentation of the cliffs onto the cliffs as there were meant to be.  Maybe, what adds the element of wonder is the feeling of danger.  Anyway, it made the cliffs striking and wondrous, not tame.

The clifftop path beyond the sign

The path and cliffs south of the sign

Keane's Oyster Bar

We left the Cliffs and retired to our lodging (Keane's Oyster Bar).  It's 3 miles out of Kilkee on the Kilrush side.  I found an Internet special for a two course meal and B&B for €50 and the website looked nice, so we booked it.  Our room is huge!  It has one double bed and two singles, a sitting area with a table, couch, chair and a TV, a food area with a refrigerator, counter top, cabinet, kettle, toaster and they gave us milk and jam.  The building itself has the accommodation on one side, a small shop, a pub and a restaurant.  I can't wait to see what the meal is like - the room is amazing!

Our room at Keane's Oyster Bar

Day 5 Ireland Itinerary

Coill an Róis, Dingle Peninsula
Tarbert (Ferry), Co. Kerry - (1 1/2 hours from Coill an Róis)
Killimer, Co. Clare - (crossing from Talbert takes about 20 minutes)
Cliffs of Moher (near Doolin), Co. Clare - about 1:15 drive from Killimer
Keane's Oyster Bar, near Kilkee, Co. Clare - about 1:10 drive from Cliffs of Moher