Aug 28, 2012 - Kildare

This morning Wendy took the day off work and she, her friend Marie, David and I went sightseeing. We went first to The Heritage Golf & Spa Hotel in Laois, with its Championship Golf Course designed by Seve Ballesteros. After having a look around inside and a walk past some of the luxury apartments we headed for Kildare to the Irish National Stud, a Thoroughbred horse breeding facility. Also within this complex is The Horse Museum, Japanese Gardens (created in the early 1900’s and now acclaimed as the finest Japanese Gardens in Europe) and...

Jun 25, 2012 - Jedpoint Abbey

It was a short drive on a sunny day (!) to |Thomastown, Ireland, for our guided tour of this quite-well preserved 1180 Cistercian Abbey. (These monks broke off from the Benedictine monks because they felt the B's were not strict and austere enough!) Our excellent guide did a marvelous job of describing the way the abbey was used, the routines and duties of the monks and the laymen who did most of the work around the abbey and grounds. Its cloister piers have more carvings than any other abbey in Ireland (knights, ladies, bishops, dragons,...

May 14, 2008 - Kildare - Horses & Gardens

We met Timmie & Esther and headed northeast through the lush, green countryside; our destination was Kildare. We stopped in Portlaoise to check in at the hotel and we had lunch at Subway. Fortified, we traveled the few remaining miles to Kildare. Kidare is Ireland's Kentucky; horsebreeding and horseracing country. The Curragh, Naas, and Punchestown are major venues for horseracing meets. Kildare town is centered around a market square and is the home to St. Brigid's Cathedral. A little out of town, in Tully, is the Irish National Stud, the...

Sep 19, 2007 - By the time we get to Newbridge, the moon will be rising...

"Strewth mate, it's bloody great to see a bloke in tight undies again..." The young (and built like an all blacks rugby forward) Irish physiotherapist in Mullingar was actually from Sydney and I didn't quite know what to say to her reaction upon seeing me half dressed. When she lifted her eyes back up to the upper part of my body, she must've noticed the perplexed expression on my face. "Ah mate, you should see the baggy boxers that the Irish blokes all wear." She explained. "And they even wear them under their footy shorts." Having not...

Aug 21, 2007 - Maynooth

I didn't have much else to do so I headed back to Dublin to see if I could find somewhere to stay. Most places were expensive and didn't come with much so I headed out to Maynooth. It was a nice town that had a shopping complex I could check out. Once again no clothes but I got a couple of new movies for my PSP. I have been watching the same three for ages now so the new ones are appreciated. I also got a tuna melt Panini for lunch while I was there. I must say that it was bloody nice. The place I stayed at is actually an old horse farm....

Jun 26, 2007 - Kildare

This morning I took a train through the rural countryside between Kilkenny to Kildare. I visited St Brigid's Cathedral, round tower, wishing stone, and fire temple. I walked 3 km to the Irish National Stud farm & Japanese Gardens & St Fiachra's Garden. The tour of the stud farm was really interesting. There is quite a process and tremendous cost to breeding pedigree racehorses. The Japanese Gardens were beautiful (although the last thing I expected to see in Ireland), there was a story to go along with the gardens and a trail to follow as...

May 24, 2007 - Dublin to Glendalough

I decided to make a break out of Dublin for a few days. I took a bus to an old monastic settlement 1 1/2 hours southwest of Dublin. I met up with an Australian girl...Kate who was also travelling to the same hostel for a break from the busy scene of Dublin. After the bus dropped us of Kate and I set out for a quick walk along the narrow road in search of our hostel. We settled in an went out to explore some of the local hiking trails. The whole area is in a National Park with several lakes and miles of hiking trails. It is so peaceful here....

Jun 19, 2004 - Glendalough day trip

Well, the weather cooperated. It was mostly partly cloudy all afternoon, with intermittent sun and rain. The bus ride into the Wicklow Mountains was something out of a movie, in fact a lot of movies have been filmed here, usually when they want to portray the Scottish Highlands (like Braveheart, for one). Glendalough, which means 'valley of the two lakes,' was the site of an ancient monastery that specialized in philosophy while the rest of Europe was in the Dark Ages. The monastery had several graveyards and bell tower. Then we took the...

Feb 8, 2004 - Summary of Ireland

Taken from the Irish Rover Website - http://www.tirnanogtours.com/ DAY 1 : Dublin to Westport Departing Dublin we make our way straight to Galway to meet up with some more travellers who will join our crew. From here we make our way into the wilderness of Connemara and follow the stone wall laneways around the rugged mountains. This is followed by a visit to Killary Harbour, Ireland's only fjiord, before we make our way to Westport at the foot of Croagh Patrick. DAY 2: Westport to Derry From Westport we leave Mayo en route to Sligo where we...