Oct 6, 2012 - The Magical Mystery Tour

*** What an extraordinary week we've just had! On our seventh day in Ireland, we ran into friends from the U.S. in Brogan's Bar in Ennis! They'd come over to Ireland with nine friends, so they numbered 11 in all, and they were on DAY 1 of a week-long musical/cultural tour of Ireland, traveling in two vehicles: a small bus and a van. We joined the group and traveled with them through Counties Clare, Galway, Mayo, Sligo, Leitrim, Roscommon and Donegal. Our guide, John Willmott, was so far beyond amazing that we couldn't begin to do him...

Sep 11, 2012 - The sun shows up again.

Continued up the coast. Lots of nice shoreline and lots and lots of sheep. Stopped off to check out the Baleek Irish pottery factory. Mary picked up a couple of classic pieces. Made it on to the Ardnamara Guest House. A bit of a challenge to find as these folks don't seem to be keen on using addresses and they seem to be pretty flexible with the names. Drove around the peninsula and explored the cliffs at Sleive League. Great hike and outstanding views with cliffs rising 1000 feet from the sea. Much more impressive than the more popularized...

Apr 19, 2012 - 1st day in the Emerald Isle

The day actually started more than 24 hrs ago when I decided that I should replace my passport at 11am on Wednesday when I had to fly out at 8:30pm. I won't go into all the frantic details because I'm sitting in Ireland right now so it worked and all is well. Landed 30minutes early in Dublin so I was early to pick up the rental car and had to wait a little while to check in. Decided to get the insurance and GPS. I'm so glad I did or I would still be Dublin trying to get out of the city or somewhere in the middle of the country asking...

Sep 19, 2011 - Donegal

Out on the wild west coast the smaller villages are a nice change of pace and the climate so similar to home. From Westport going north we were through some remarkable landscapes that were quite like the mesas and buttes in Wyoming except of course being covered in green. We passed between two of these stunning monoliths just south of Sligo and the sweep of Sligo Bay. Our destiny today is dear old Donegal. Our quest today is to find a laundromat! Our last washing was in Holyhead, Wales and none of the hotels in Ireland have guest laundry,...

Aug 24, 2011 - Slieve League, Ireland

Today we drove past Sligo Town and along the coast of Donegal Bay to see the cliffs near Slieve League. Slieve League, sometimes Slieve Leag or Slieve Liag, is a mountain on the Atlantic coast of County Donegal. it is 1,972 ft, high and has Ireland's highest sea cliffs. We walked up to see the cliffs and take some photos, lucky to arrive when the sun was out. As is typical here, soon after we arrived at the cliffs, the rain clouds moved in and we had a nice walk back to the car in the rain. It added to our adventure for the day! We then...

Aug 19, 2011 - 1 Woche in Irland - 1 week in Ireland

Nach ueber 9 Jahren, in welchen wir es nicht in unsere ehemalige kurzzeitige "Wahlheimat" Irland geschafft hatten, bauten wir die Insel im Atlantik nun als vorletzten Zwischenstop auf unserer Weltreise ein. Es besuchten uns ebenfalls Patrizias Mutter und Tante, mit welchen wir eine Woche lang den Nordwesten dieser schroffen, gruenen Schoenheit per Mietauto erkundeten. Ab Galway gings zumeist der Kueste entlang bis in die Provinz Donegal, vorbei an Farmen mit den omnipraesenten Schafen so weit das Auge reicht,traditionellen Fischern,...

Aug 10, 2011 - Donegal and return to Dublin

Lidia & I spent a day in Donegal on our way back from Killy Begs to Dublin. The architecture of Donegal Castle was very interesting; 12th thru 18th century sections that spanned age old Irish Chieftans thru Norman warriors to aristocratic English lords. Back in Dublin we meet-up with Rosemary and George arriving from Austin. Spent four more days in Dublin before traveling to Tralee by train, and then to Camp on the Dingle Pennisula from where we'll begin our hike around the pennisula. Ciao for now

Aug 6, 2011 - Kelly Begs and the Slieve League coast

Began our day with a taxi ride from Kelly Begs to Silver Strand Beach at Malin Begs. Drive thru the countryside illustrated the cutting of peat from the ancient bogs. The hike from Malin Begs to Fellin took about 7 hours. We went from sea level to about 2200 ft above. Hiking thru the fields with 'trails' being those of the foot (hoove?) paths of our ever present companions - sheep, by the hundreds. There were no other hikers along the route. Their loss. The scenery was spectacular, even though the 'trail' was quite 'moist'. The meadows and...

Sep 25, 2010 - Donegal

@@@@@@@ Background Prior to the Plantation of Ulster, County Donegal was divided between the O’Donnell and O’Neill clans. When most of Ulster became Northern Ireland, Donegal was severed from its neighbouring counties and County Fermanagh also completely cut it off from the rest of the Republic. It has stayed stubbornly independent-minded and Dublin pretty much ignores it completely. Donegal is the most remote part of the entire island and as a result, Donegal has the country’s largest number of Gaelic speakers. The main appeal of the...

Jun 12, 2010 - Day 2 - Dublin to Donegal

Dee: Day 2 awake at 6:30am we’re still messed up on jet lag but we’re fine. A nice breakfast and we’re out of Dublin. Yikes….this driving on the left side of the road is quite unnerving and can make you come out of your skin on some of these one lane wide 2 way roads if you know what I mean!!!! I’m the one reminding Dale to stay on the left side of the road and stay out of the ditch, which happens to be my side. Dublin is quite modern and caters to the younger crowd of Ireland. I couldn’t wait to hit the countryside and experience the...

Aug 11, 2009 - Donegal

A short travelling day today- spent an hour on the internet answering emails from home and updating the website. It has taken me awhile to get back into the swing of things! We used the main highway until we hit Sligo and then we used the country roads which are of course more interesting. Visited Bundoran but the convent mentioned by Dave was closed and we couldn't find the mountain road where cars seemingly roll uphil.. We finally arrived at Donegal and immediately found a lovely B and B-right across the road/river from Donegal Castle....

Sep 25, 2008 - Westport to Killybegs via Sligo and Donegal

We had been seated near a family from New Jersey last night at dinner, and when we went down for breakfast this morning, there they were. We had not enquired last night where they were staying. We had breakfast, packed the car, and went into Westport to have a look around, and guess who we met? The same family! We have met many people on our travels, but this is the first time we have run into the same party so often. We enjoyed our stroll through Westport then set off for Donegal, stopping at Sligo on the way. Sligo proved to be a...