Welcome to the Republic of Ireland!!
I spent 12 days road tripping around Ireland and Northern Ireland. Here is Part 1. Enjoy!
Day 1 Sunday
This morning I woke up very early as I had an 8.30am flight. Unfortunately for me, yesterday I woke up with a runny nose & sore sinus passages between the eyes. This makes it the third cold in 4 weeks. At the moment, there is the “worst cold ever” going around the UK, which people are saying is worse than covid, and lasting for weeks and weeks. Sucks big time. This morning I woke up with a blocked left eustachian tube and sore ear, and a runny nose, which is going to be great on an airplane! Also weirdly, I had zero motivation to pack yesterday. I didn’t end up packing until about 8pm last night which is not at all like me.
Anyways, I got up and walked to the tube station and jumped on the train to the airport. I am lucky that the tube is only 10mins walk and from there, Heathrow is only a 30min trip. Nice and quick!
Security is quite strict at the moment and they are enforcing the 1 small bag of liquids rule. I got dragged aside as the metal detectors went off and had to be patted down, then I had the wand waved over my legs and drug/explosive swabs taken of of my shoes (I wore hiking boots). Then my backpack got pulled aside and it was also searched, swabbed and they managed to force my liquids into 1 bag and seal it. All in all, one of the longest security checks I have had in a while!
This did mean that I got through just 7 mins before they released my gate information so I could get a coffee and then board my flight straight away. Today we had a LONG bus trip to the plane. According to Google Maps, we went from terminal 5 to terminal 2/3 to find the plane. I had an emergency exit row seat (free!) which was awesome, and there was only 1 other person in the row. British Airways have a ridiculously huge carry-on baggage allowance. 2x 23kg bags for our flight so it was great to effectively have no weight limit! They also served a snack (cereal bar) and water, which was nice after all my budget flights lately.
At Dublin, there were no covid checks or anything. We just used the e-gates and off we went. I found the Dublin Express bus and took it to the city. From there I walked to my hostel, dropped my bags and headed out to explore. A lot of things are shut on Sunday here so it seems as the streets were dead and hardly any shops open. I walked a LOT around the streets.
I was hungry so I went in search of food. Irish food at a reasonable price. I settled on a little pub by the river which had a steak & Guinness pie for €12. When it came, I had a bowl with some beef & root veg stew and a disc of puff pastry on top, with a shot glass of Guinness and mashed potato on the side. The pie was delicious. I don’t know if there was Guinness in the pie, or if I was supposed to add the shot to the pie myself, but I didn’t add it, I just tried it as a drink. For the record, Guinness is gross. Absolutely foul. I have no idea how people drink that stuff. I reckon toilet water would taste better than that stuff!
After that, I walked around some more, got some fruit from the supermarket and eventually it was time for my tour of the Leprechaun Museum. The museum is not like a normal one. You have a tour and ít is a bit more interactive, with the guide giving you the history of leprechauns and fairies through folklore and storytelling. It was very good, I really enjoyed it!
Then I was able to check in to my hostel so I went and checked in, and chilled out for the rest of the afternoon/evening to try and rest this cold away.
Day 2 Monday
This morning, after a pretty average sleep, I woke and got ready to go out. My first stop was Trinity College to view the Book of Kells and the Long Room Library. It was only a 20 min walk and while everything was wet, it wasn’t actually raining. Winning on something! At 9.30am I got checked in through security and directed to the correct building. Prior to visiting you can download the app and it has a free audio guide for your visit. The Book of Kells was written around 800AD and contains 4 books from the New Testament (Books of Matthew, Mark, Luke & John), all written in Latin. The exhibition takes you through 8 sections of information, illustrations & exhibits, giving information about the history, construction, language etc. Each book was written by a scribe, who had their own style. For example, one was conservative while another was very fancy and artistic. It is written on high quality vellum (calf skin).
Eventually you go through to a blackened room and there is one of the books, in a hermetically sealed, alarmed and highly regulated big glass box. You cannot take photos so I don’t have a picture for you. Considering it is 1200 odd years old, it is in exceptional condition and the colours are still very vibrant.
Then you continue to the Fagel Collection. This was a private collection of around 20,000 items however it was bought by Trinity College in 1802 and discovered that there were multiple items bound together so the actual number is considerably higher. It also contains a large number of original maps, hand drawn from early explorations.
Lastly you make your entrance into the Long Room. It makes you go ‘wow’ as you walk in. It is very long (65m) and has bookshelves on either side, completely filled with ancient books. A balcony level was added and also filled with books, although these ones are newer (19th Century). The room contains 200,000 books (yikes!) and has a Legal Deposit status. This means that any book printed in Ireland must be added to the collection, free of charge. The room also features 14 marble busts of famous people and I found a couple that I recognized. They also have one of the few remaining copies of the Proclamation of Ireland and they have the original Irish harp, which is the oldest harp in Ireland and the symbol of the Irish Government. I zoomed in to some of the books and I found one by Plato. That’s an old book!
Afterwards, I walked around a bit and looked at some buildings. I came across a statue called Molly Malone. Apparently a famous fictional character from a song.
I then went for a walk to the Jameson’s Distillery. I hadn’t booked a tour as I don’t drink whiskey but thought I would at least see the outside.
Next I walked back across the river to the Temple Bar district. Apparently there is a famous bar here called Temple Bar, in the area of Temple Bar. It is red and covered in plants. I have never heard of it so Googled to find out why it was famous. Turns out it is because they have over 450 types of rare whiskies. Took photos and moved on.
I decided to go to a restaurant for some Irish food for lunch. It appears that a lot of the traditional Irish meals have been removed from a lot of menus over covid so the Irish pubs have a typical pub menu these days. Frustrating! This place sells a traditional potato pancake called a boxty. I ordered the chicken boxty, which had the potato pancake, grilled chicken tenders and topped with a creamy white wine sauce. It was delicious! I am finding dining in Ireland quite expensive though, which sucks. This cost me €17 and my tiny 330ml Coke Zero cost me €3!
After lunch, I headed to the Dublin Castle. It is free to visit the staterooms at the moment, which is awesome. You are not allowed to take bags so you put them in a free locker first. There is a large grand staircase, which is impressive. Upstairs, the rooms are quite ornate. Lots of huge paintings, a huge royal throne, lots of gold and even a Wedgewood room, decorated in pastel blue & white.
From the outside, it doesn’t look like a typical castle. Just lots of rectangular buildings, and one round turret looking building.
By now I was exhausted (I am still feeling sick) so I went back to my hostel to rest. Here’s hoping tomorrow I wake up feeling much better!
Day 3 Tuesday
This morning I woke up feeling better in terms of the cold but still coughing. Gotta love a chest infection! Oh well. I packed up, grabbed a coffee at the hostel restaurant and headed out to the bus stop to take the bus back to the airport to collect my rental car.
I ended up getting a Mitsubishi Space Star. It’s a bit like a Lancer hatchback, but a bit different, and definitely the cheapest model in the lineup! It has a radio/CD player. No built-in screen, GPS, cruise control etc. I had to Google and watch a YouTube video on how to find the Bluetooth to connect my phone! Oh well. Can’t win them all. At least it is a small car and comfortable.
My first destination was Birr Castle. My primary purpose for visiting this place is that they have a huge telescope, which was the world’s biggest for 70 years! Birr Castle is still someone’s home, so you can’t actually go inside, just view it from across the moat. It was a bit rainy but not too bad.
The telescope tube is 1.8m wide and 17m long. It was built in 1845 and is built on a north-south axis, facing south. Naturally I double checked with my compass app!
After that I went for a walk around the gardens and found the world’s tallest box hedges! They are around 10m tall!
Next up I drove down to Kilkenny to visit Kilkenny Castle. I was a bit early for my ticketed time so I went for a walk around the town. It is a pretty city centre. It is actually quite a big city, but the centre feels like a little village with cute streets.
Then I went to Kilkenny Castle. It is a large U-shape with a large formal rose garden on one side and massive open lawns and courtyard on the inside. Inside the castle, the rooms are very colourful.
There was also a tapestry exhibition on the bottom floor called the Ros Tapestries. They are 15 hand made tapestries that have taken 20+ years to make. Each one apparently takes 5-10 years!
Next up I continued to Waterford. After checking in to my guesthouse (right next door to the Waterford Distillery for you whiskey lovers!), I went for a walk around the city centre. It is also a pretty city centre. I found the Waterford Crystal House, which is my destination for tomorrow.
Day 4 Wednesday
I woke up feeling a lot better this morning. It was completely silent at my accommodation and my bed was comfy which makes for a good night’s sleep. I have breakfast included every morning for the rest of my stay so I packed and went downstairs to find some food. I ordered the Full Irish Breakfast: sausages, bacon, baked beans, egg, tomato, potato ‘waffles’ and white pudding. Potato waffles turned out to be those potato smiley face things. Everything was great…..except the white pudding! I had never tried it before, and thought I would give it a go. Essentially it is the same as black pudding minus the blood. I didn’t like that one.
My first stop for the day was the House of Waterford Crystal for a tour of the factory. I got there early as they have a very limited number of people per tour, and you can’t pre-book a specific time, only the day. They also have a huge showroom/shop so I walked around there for a while before the tour. They have some amazing pieces! Also very expensive pieces! The have a new collection of tumblers called stellar. They have zodiac sign constellations on them. Very pretty! But each tumbler is €360. Each!
Finally it was time for the tour. We were taken across the courtyard to the start. There was myself and a South African older lady and her adult son. For covid they have 4 staff members leading the tour, one for each section of the factory. The first lady gave us the history of Waterford Crystal and showed us some iconic and unique designs. Then we watched a short video in the next room.
Next we were taken onto the factory floor. First is the wood mould making room. This is where they make the wooden moulds and tools for the crystal making. Moulds have to be soaked in water for 36hrs, and they typically only last a couple of weeks due to the heat.
First stop is the crystal blowing. We watched some guys melting, blowing and moulding crystal bowls. The ovens are 1400oC! Just a tad warm! Then they go into the kiln to cool down overnight. Each piece has a plug on them from the glass blowing stick.
In the next room, the cooled pieces are prepped. First the plug is sawn off with a diamond saw, and the inside and outside edges are bevelled.
The next step is the marking up. Each piece has a particular pattern drawn onto it with a Sharpie. For the standard patterns, a series of rectangles are drawn on giving a starting and finishing reference point. For complex, commission or one-off pieces, the entire pattern is drawn on.
Next up is the cutting room. A series of craftsmen cut the crystal to form the patterns. When we were there, they were working on a series of sports trophies for a big UK competition (I didn’t hear which sport). They were making 4 trophies, 1 for each of the 4 countries, and each one features the emblem of the country (England has a rose, Wales has a dragon, Scotland has a thistle and Northern Ireland has a shamrock). Each cut goes 2/3 the way into the crystal. It looks frosted but later the piece is dipped in acid and the crystal goes, well, crystal clear! One of the men was cutting the Irish Lace pattern into some tumblers and told me what he was doing. In the cutting room they also have 2 automatic cutting machines. They are used when they need to make a number of perfectly identical pieces. They are started and finished by hand, but the middle process is done by machine. She said these account for ~6% of the total crystal production. That means 94% of the crystal of completely hand made!
Last room is the engraving room. Here is where a whole range of things happen. At the first station, a man was making a commission piece. Someone had ordered 4 large (30cm-ish) Nutcrackers. He and another person were working on those pieces. They start with a rectangle of crystal and then they cut and carve it into the required pieces. Each piece is then glued together with a special glue that sets solid in 60 seconds. At the next station, a man was working on another commission piece. Someone has ordered some whale sculptures. It has a large clear whale (40cm-ish) with a small frosted whale calf (10-15cm-ish) on top. Each complete sculpture will take 4 weeks to make! In this room, they also do sandblasting to create the frosted look.
We also got to see replica trophies that they have made, including The Ashes trophy! Naturally I had to have a selfie!
Then we ended up back in the showroom and were finished with the tour. Absolutely fascinating learning how the crystal is made. I can see why it is so expensive, given how long it takes make each piece!
Next up for the day is a drive to the Rock of Cashel. It is so big I could see it from a distance! I thought it would take ages to walk around however when I got to the top of the hill and entered the site, I discovered it is very tall but empty inside. It took me 10mins to walk around and inside! I was offered the chance to join a free guided tour but it was not running for another 20mins so I left.
Then it was off to the Blarney Castle and the Blarney Stone. I think every one who visits Ireland wants to kiss the Blarney Stone and I was definitely no different! The grounds of Blarney Castle are very beautiful. I passed a sign just outside the castle that said the wait from that point was 60mins! They have a one-way system for covid so I followed the pathway and climbed up. And up. And up. And finally, after one last narrow and steep spiral staircase, made it to the roof! There are 2 staff at the Blarney Stone, one photographer and one helper. The photographer was kind enough to take pictures of me with my phone. First you sit on the mat then lay down with your head over the hole in the edge of the castle. Remember, you are like 4 storeys high! The man helps you hold the hand rails, wriggle closer to the wall and lean right back and down into the hole. Then you kiss the wall and the man pulls you back up. Don’t worry, they disinfect the wall in between each person with a special sanitizer that is safe for the wall and humans, as well as killing all the bugs and bacteria. Yay! Now I am going to be blessed with persuasiveness and eloquence! At the bottom I spoke to a guy in the shop and mentioned about the wait time. He said in peak summer, it can be a 2-3hr wait in the queue! I am so glad that Ireland is so void of tourists at the moment. I have not had to queue for anything! It has been amazing!
After making my way down to the bottom of the castle (another very narrow & steep spiral staircase), I went out the back and saw a sign for the Poison Garden. Intrigued, I went to find out more! Everything in this garden is harmful to humans in some way. They even have opium poppies (not in flower), mandrake, wolfsbane, lily of the valley, tea (caffeine) and…….marijuana! The first, and probably only, time I have ever seen real life marijuana.
Lastly, I went and saw the Blarney House, which is not accessible. Nice and big!
Then it was time to head to Cork, my overnight stop. My guesthouse had messaged to say the parking is limited so I wanted to make sure I got a spot! The place is lovely and my room is huge! The lady at reception said to leave my car until I am ready to check out so I walked into Cork city centre. It is a 10min walk downhill, which means it is a 60min walk uphill to come back! Bit of an exaggeration but you get the idea. I spent some time online hunting for restaurants that have traditional Irish food. I specifically wanted Coddle, which is a bacon, sausage, potato & vegie stew. Unfortunately, I found plenty of Irish restaurants/pubs, but none serving Irish food, just normal pub food. I saw a burger place that had a special and decided on that.
When I got into Cork city centre, I walked around and had a look. It is a fairly normal city centre. Nothing super special.
Then I went to the burger place and ordered the special. It is a Welsh Rarebit burger. I’m not going to explain it, I am just going to post a picture of the description and my actual burger. It was so unbelievably good. Better than any burger I have had in London!
Then I headed up the big hill to my accommodation and chilled out.
Day 5 Thursday
I woke early this morning (annoying!) so I dawdled about, scrolling through Facebook and watching tv, before heading down to breakfast at 8am. It was busy! It is a small dining room, seating about 20 people. The menu is a bit fancier than I have had before so I ordered eggs benedict, which was served with bacon and a lemon herb hollandaise. Delicious!
Then it was time to head out. My plan for today was to drive the Ring of Kerry. It was a 1.5hr drive to Killarney, the start of the ring. From there, I started the drive in a clockwise position. Killarney would be roughly 4pm if you picture the Ring of Kerry on a clock face.
My first stop was Torc Waterfall. I had read that there is a ‘tiny’ carpark nearby but it is always full so you have to park further away and walk along the main road. When I got there at 10.30am, there were 2 cars and 4 empty spots! Winner winner chicken dinner! From the carpark it is a short 200m walk through the forest. The forest is super green. And the trees are fluffy with moss. It is beautiful! You can hear the waterfall the whole way. It is a very beautiful waterfall!
Then I continued driving the ring. I didn’t have many intended stops, but there were a few scenic laybys that I stopped at. I even got to see Skellig Michael (from a big distance). The boats stopped running for the season so visiting was not possible.
Then I stopped at the Kerry Cliffs. From the cliffs, you can see the nesting areas of a range of bird species. You also get a spectacular view of the cliffs. There are a couple of lookouts that you can walk to. Up big steep hills! My poor lungs are still recovering from my chest infection so this was definitely a struggle! The view was great though! I was also super lucky with the weather so far. Rains when I drive, no rain, sometimes sunshine, when I stop! Awesome!
By now, I was getting a bit hungry but there were hardly any places open. Most of the shops were closed as well! I decided to drive all the way to Killarney to my accommodation. My B&B is another lovely place, and is close to town, 6min walk, which is great.
When I walked into town for dinner, I spotted a white hotel that has a stunning display of bright pink-red ivy on it. There are a LOT of buildings in Ireland that are covered in ivy I have noticed, and right now, since it is autumn, it looks absolutely amazing.
I took my dinner (Chinese takeaway) back to my room and chilled out.
Day 6 Friday
This morning at breakfast, the host served me a homemade cherry scone, along with my chosen scrambled eggs and bacon. It was delicious, although I couldn’t taste a lot of cherry flavour. Very sweet. She makes them herself which I could tell she is proud of. She was a lovely lady.
I had only one place to visit today: The Cliffs of Moher. It’s a 3hr drive from Killarney, which is quite a long drive. I was very glad to finally reach the car park! Fortunately, like everywhere else, there weren’t a lot of visitors. From the car park, you cross the road to access the cliffs. The visitors centre is built into the hill and contains a big exhibition, café, restaurant, toilets and gift shop. To access the cliffs you continue walking and you finally get to the edge. From there you can go left or right (like at a T-intersection). I first walked left. There is an old path close to the edge, and a newer, fenced path further back. There is a whole stack of stone slabs forming the fence to stop people getting too close to the edge. Apparently the cliffs are quite unstable and 66 people have died over the years. The view is very good. You get to the end of the path, and then the Cliff Walk begins. Big bright yellow DANGER signs are there to warn you. From here, you can walk further up and along the cliffs.
I walked for a bit, then turned around and went to the other side. This requires walking down the steep hill, then up a large number of stairs to a higher part of the cliffs. There is also a tower with a viewing platform but it isn’t accessible at the moment. From here, you get an even better view of the cliffs. The Cliff Walk on this side is closed so you can’t go very far. This side was more windy than the other side!
Then I went back to the visitors centre to have a look around. The exhibition is alright, but the best bit was the seismograph. It is recording seismic activity in real time and displaying the data on a big screen. It didn’t give the strength of the tremors but in the past 24hrs there were a couple of VERY big tremors, seismically. One happened while I was there, but I couldn’t feel it.
Then I left and headed for Galway, my overnight stop for today. I found a car park in the city centre which has 24hr parking for just €6.50 which is pretty cheap for city parking. After checking in to my hostel, I went out and walked around the streets to explore. It feels like a busy normal city. Not as quaint and cute as some of the others I have been to.
Then it was dinner time so I went to an Irish bar/restaurant and had bangers & mash.
Back at my hostel I found the bathrooms and discovered they are male/female shared. Not had those before! Very strange brushing your teeth, going to the toilet and showering in the same room as guys. Back in my room, I was watching tv shows in bed and one of the girls in my dorm (a French girl) was vaping in the room! Like what?! All the girls in the dorm have gone out now, going to be an interesting night! Seems like Galway is a bit of a party town!
Stay tuned for Part Two coming at the end of the month!