Honeymoon In Ireland - Dysert O'Dea, The Burren and Galway

An updated version of this site can be found here

3 July, 2008

The meal last night was good and a real bargain.  We got a very nice (and extremely quiet) room, a nice two course meal and breakfast for  €50 each.  Breakfast was very good!  The girl and woman running the place were very eager to please.  This place was a welcome evening of relaxation that was greatly needed.  They also provided us with a nice local map and two postcards of the place.


After we left Keane's we headed to Dysert O'Dea.  We elected to try the less traveled route by taking the first road to Corofin from Ennistymon (R470?).  It looked like a great idea as "An Dísert" was signposted, then again, then one more time.  I was feeling quite proud that we had found a back way.  Sarah was doing well driving on a bothairín - well, bothairín is a generous description - and then it happened.  A crossroad with no signs!  We went to the right.  It made sense, we were headed north, our destination was to the east, but the track just kept going and going.  We finally turned around, went to Corofin and got on the R476.  There were HUGE signs for it the whole way.

Castle O'Dea at Dysert O'Dea

The site was great (€4 per person).  Dysert O'Dea is a great one stop tourist attraction.  There is a tower house style castle that is in good condition.  Inside the castle is a tea room and an exhibition of the Irish War for Independence and Civil War.  Also on the grounds is the remains of an abbey with a very unique High Cross and round tower.  St. Tola's cross, shows the Crucifixion and Daniel in the lion's den as well as a likeness believed to be St. Tola himself.  This used to be a very busy pilgrimage site until a previous land owner tired of the traffic and glued what was, until then, a removable head of Christ permanently into the cross. 

We went in the castle first.  It's nice for roaming around and we even got to go on the roof.

St. Tola's High Cross at Dysert O'Dea

After that, we went to the High Cross and decided to go to town for some food.  We picked up some really good cheese and apples at the Spar in Corofin.  The woman at Dysert O'Dea showed us a road into The Burren, where she thought we would get a nicer view than the main road.


It was a right turn immediately after Kilfenora.  If that name sounds familiar, it might be because Father Ted was filmed here.  I believe Carron was signposted, so was the Burren Way.  It was a small, but well maintained road.  After not too long we saw a wedge tomb (Parknabinnia)and stopped.  We decided to sit on the wall there and eat our lunch.


 

Parknabinnia Wedge Tomb in The Burren

Parknabinnia Wedge Tomb Close-up

Carron Church, The Burren

It was a beautiful day and just as the woman at Dysert O'Dea had said, no walls to spoil the views on the drive.  We stopped at an old ruined church named Carron Church and looked around.  

Next, we headed up the road and stumbled across Caherconnell Stone Fort.  It was very well presented and cost €5 to get in.  They did a great job, but the fort itself was not in as good shape as a lot of others (like the Staigue Fort).  Sarah and I had been feeling a bit disappointed by the Burren - we expected more dominant stone cover as we accidentally went zooming past the car park for the Poulnabronne Dolmen.  Poulnabronne is considered one of Ireland' s "must sees" and frankly is an iconic site.  We saw it from the car - people everywhere - and decided to carry on.  From here the views of the Burren  became the stunning views we had hoped for and we got them all the way to Galway.

                      Here's a video of the Burren not long after we had passed Poulnabronne

SIDENOTE:  I had hoped that we might get to visit Kilmihil and maybe take a peek at Kiltumper.  I have read most of Niall Williams' books including the whole series about he and his wife moving from Manhattan to rural Clare and thought it might be nice to see the village, but it didn't fit well into our schedule.

Ard Eoinin, Spiddal

We are staying in Spiddal (another Gaeltacht) at Ard Eoinin B&B.  It's really lovely!  However, as I sit here I have been listening to the women next door have a phone conversation.  We ate at Boluisce restaurant for supper,  You could hear the conversations around us happening in Irish - it was nice.  Our meals were superb!  2 entrees, 1 starter, 2 beers, 1 coffee for €52.  We also stopped by the ATM at the Texaco to stock up on money for our trip to the Islands tomorrow and took a walk around the village.

Flowers outside Ard Eoinin

Inside Boluisce

The seaside in Spiddal

The seaview during our walk

What a wonderful day.  I think not running this morning helped refresh us a little bit.  All in all a great day.  The B&B is nice and a good price (€32.50 per person).  The breakfast was very good too, and Kevin (the owner) who had already been very nice, really perked up when we told him we were leaving in Irish!

Our bed at Ard Eoinin

Our bathroom at Ard Eoinin

Day 6 Ireland Itinerary
Dysert O'Dea (about 1:15 from Keane's Oyster Bar)
The Burren ( about 15 minutes from Dysert O'Dea)
Spiddal (about 2 hours drive with no stopping from Dysert O'Dea) 

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

An updated version of the is site can be found here

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 

Honeymoon In Ireland - The Dingle Peninsula

An updated version of this site can be found here

1 July, 2008

Sheila's breakfast wasn't great.   It was greasier than most and the meat didn't seem to be very expensive.  On the whole, not a bad place to stay though.  From The Black Valley we headed to Dingle (An Daingean in Irish).

SIDE NOTE: Dingle Town is the beginning of the Gaeltacht (an area where Irish is the primary language).  Road signs in these areas only give the name of towns in Irish.  It's no big deal, but you need to make sure that your map has the Irish version of town names.

Once in town, we stopped by the pier and used the public restrooms before heading into the Tourist Office.  The Tourist Office had great maps that had all of the town names in Irish (which is what I would hope they have in the Gaeltacht).  They even gave us directions to our B&B (Coill an Róis).

From Dingle, we headed on the Slea Head loop.  Our first stop was Dúnbeg.  It's a nice promantory fort, but I thought that the Staigue Fort was more impressive.  The fort was built during the Bronze Age making it one of the oldest forts of this type in existence.  Admission was €2 per person.  Across the road is an Audio-Visual that we skipped, but they let us use the restroom.

The entrance to the fort

Inside the fort

Exiting the fort

View from Dunbeg Fort

Another view from Dunbeg

After that we saw the Beehive houses (Cloghans).  The stone huts were built with corbelled roofs, making them able to protect against the wind and rain.  You are able to go in and out of all of the huts on the complex on your own.  Again there was a car park,  €2 admission and a REALLY clean single person restroom.

One of the Cloghans

The sign on the inside of the restroom.  The BEST sign I have ever seen!

We finished the Slea Head Loop,  seeing some absolutely fantastic scenery.  The loop left us back in Dingle and we proceeded to our B&B (it was 3:45 PM).  Jimmy (the owner), greeted us and started a DVD about Dingle, but we ended up just chatting and drinking tea for about an hour.  Then we set off with his maps in tow.

The view of the Blasket Islands from the Slea Head Loop

 First, we went to the Gallarus Oratory - another Heritage site - woo hoo! (This one has free admission, but only for the Gallarus - there is a private visitor center that charges a fee)    Built as a church for the locals around 700 AD without mortar, it was cool to see how it keeps out the rain and wind still today!  A couple of hours earlier the wind was so strong that it was blowing through our car (that's right -- the wing was howling THROUGH our closed windows!).  Inside here though, just a slight breeze.

The Gallarus Oratory

View through the Oratory

Priest's house at Kilmalkedar

 Next up - Kilmalkedar.  This place was really special.  We started at a ruined building to the left of the church, across the lane.  After seeing so many buildings with guides, it was fun to try and piece together the clues to deduce what the building might have been used for. (We guessed it was for the priest and we were right!)  St. Brendan's Holy Well is next to the priest's house, but it is locked up by the owner.  A real shame, maybe one day he will open it.  When we finished here, we entered the churchyard.

I'm glad that we went through the front instead of the side gate (through the modern graves).  As we walked up the front walk, a statue of the Virgin Mary with a red rose in her hand and a rosary wrapped around her hands stood looking out over the graves.  Just over her shoulder to the left was a grave marker labeled in ancient Ogham script.  After entering the door to the church we saw many features that are considered to be unique - the sign said that they were copied from Cormac's Chapel at the Rock of Cashel.  We recognized this and most definitely should have won something!  I also noticed that the hiking trail was labeled differently.  It had what looked like a medieval pilgrim and a Crusader's cross.  I figured it must be some sort of St. Brendan pilgrimage site.  I found out later that just up the hill from the church is where he used to meditate, and is the site where he had his vision that led to his explorations.  And the pilgrimage happens on the last Saturday in June (3 days ago)!

The Ogham Stone

The graveyard

Notice no mistakes in Irish, but something happened with the English =)

We were hungry and went into Dingle Town to eat.  We ended up eating at The Old Smokehouse on Main Street.  €25 for two entrees, 2 glasses of wine and a cup of coffee.  The food was mediocre, but the service was good.  After we finished eating, we made a brief stop in The Internet Cafe on Main Street.


We got back to Coill an Rois about 9:15 and I was exhausted so I went straight to bed.

Day 4 Ireland Itinerary

Black Valley, Ring of Kerry
Dingle Town (just under 2 hours)
Coill an Róis (about 15 minutes out of Dingle Town)