Nov 9, 2012 - Ireland’s outlying islands

*** We just learned that Ireland has more than 300 outlying islands! Here's a fascinating article from BBC Travel: 09 November 2012 Ireland's outlying islands By Aoife O'Riordain "Ireland’s indented, craggy coast has more than 300 outlying islands, 30 of which are inhabited. Close in distance yet distinctly quieter than the mainland, these bastions of traditional life are places to breathe in the untainted sea air and soak up the spectacular scenery, and many offer a unique window into the country’s rich cultural and spiritual...

Oct 14, 2012 - Portlaoise to Kilkenny

We resume our travels after I returned to Ireland on 9th October. Thank you to Wendy who had guests come to stay for a few days and stayed for weeks! David had our Dometic fridge fixed under warranty at Maynooth Caravans while I was away. We said goodbye yesterday afternoon … David had fallen in love with Sheppy and he will miss her and their walks together. It should have been about an hour’s drive to Kilkenny, but Snooper took us on a tiki tour of the countryside (user error – no fault of the SatNav. We parked up at Tree Grove Camp about...

Sep 7, 2012 - Farm and Fish

Hired the car and headed out from Dublin to the Kilkenny area. Joe was a natural with the left hand shift and the left hand lane. And between the maps and the GPS, Dennis did an outstanding job on the navigating. Only one round-about that we did more than three trips around! It is a bit less stressful when you can just keep circling until you figure it out. Stopped along the way at Powerscourt Estate and Gardens and at the Glendalough Monastery remains where St. Kevin (does Kevin really sound like a saint's name??) settled and attracted a...

Aug 30, 2012 - Kilkenny

Drive to Kilkenny John discusses the government system on the way Taoiseach: prime minister Senate has 60 members - some chosen by the prime minister and others elected The general income tax is nationwide and has 2 brackets to differentiate Minimum wage is 8.60 Euro and was only established a few years ago The group splits for lunch Kilkenny Castle Tour Medieval castle that was donated to the state by the Butler family in the 1960s (locked the doors and just left it to be taken over) Some Butler descendants live in Oak Brook, IL ...

Aug 16, 2012 - Day 5 (Wednesday) - Fifty Shades of Green

Day 5 (Wednesday)- Kilkenny We left Dublin today. What a great, fun city! If there were not so much more else to see in Ireland, I wouldn't have minded staying another day or two. But given all we want to see on this trip, I think three days was just about the right amount of time. We hit all the major sites we intended to see. It might have been nice to spend some time in the Dublin writer's museum, but I can live with having missed it. I also don't mind having missed the famous "Molly Malone" statue on Grafton street. We managed to see...

Jun 24, 2012 - Waterford Crystal & Kilkenny Castle

We drove 48 km. to Ireland's oldest city, Waterford, to tour the crystal factory (1947). [Steuben ware in Corning, NY, was once a huge competitor for this company.] The tour was very good and we enjoyed seeing the artisans working even on Sunday morning. There were some fabulous pieces for sale in the gallery! Free time for 2 hours. Ivan returned to the rig to work on photos. I window-shopped and walked to the River Nore for photos of buildings and a modern statue. I returned to the rig and fixed lunch so we were ready to push on with the...

Jun 18, 2012 - Kilkenny

Traveling south in our clockwise trip around Ireland, we arrived in Kilkenny on Saturday. It was Scott's first day of driving. He is the only one behind the wheel and -- trust me -- this is a good thing most of the time. His only shortfall is his patience with city driving. On our 6-week road trip across the U.S. in 2009, he deliberately avoided big cities. While Kilkenny isn't that big, its streets are narrow, filled with drunken pedestrians and a challenge for parking. We were relieved to leave our little Ford Focus in its spot after a...

Jun 14, 2012 - Ireland

Hmm.. Ireland, the home of Guiness... the home of irish whiskey & the home of drunken teens making complete fools of themselves while on the turps during daylight hours late at night! Also, I have enjoyed a Guiness or two most days/nights in this country... it's the thing too do. Besides, I am on holiday! In the last few days learning about my Irish roots I have finally began to understand why catholic boys attacked protestanr boys (& vice versa) for the reason that "because he is a catholic boy" or "because he is a protestant boy"... one...

May 27, 2012 - Day 2 Kilkenny

Everyone on trip is from the us.  Sayings we have learned in Gaelic Can I have a fuckle in your clewis means  Can I have word in your ear.   Poke my hone. Kiss my ass.  Kade mea fulcher. 100000 welcomes Kildare. Irish national stud and Japanese gardens.  Horse insured for 60 million euro named invincible spirit Japanese gardens layed out to represent life From birth to death.  We saw a Horse taken to stud named Amadeus wolf. Bryan started to get amorous.  Told numerous times that this weather is not typical of Ireland. It is beautiful. 60...

Oct 16, 2011 - Kilkenny Sunday

Linda woke up early and slipped out to walk the town. She went to church at St Canice Cathedral and said the Cathedral was cold, cold, cold inside. Massive and stone walls no heat she could detect. In the meantime, everyone else woke and left to see the castle, the art center, shopping and to visit the fish feet eating store. Later some of us went back to the cathedral to check it out and visit the gift shop. The highlight of the day was going to Matt the Miller's pub. It was by chance that we picked Matt's but maybe not. We ate dinner and...

Oct 15, 2011 - Armagh To Kilkenny

Saturday morning: Terry loaded all our luggage in the van and we said goodbye to Armagh City. A few minutes later we met Paedar and Bernadette and Brian back at the Middletown graveyard for a personal tour, this time having the benefit of their Hughes/McArdle expertise. The next stop was over the border into County Monaghan where Paedar took us to visit the Hughes homestead in Killymonaghan, which he owns. Very lucky for us because we likely wouldn't have had this opportunity otherwise. The house is at the end of a long, narrow driveway. No...

Oct 10, 2011 - Rick joins us and a travellin' we will go

My brother Rick, who lives near Philidelphia, joined us in Dublin on 08 October. We met him at the airport, and we three then went into Dublin to catch a train to Kilkenny. We spent a couple days there walking the small city streets and visiting the castle grounds. Then it was back to Dublin and a train to the ocean harbor town of Howth. It has a picturesque harbor and lots of fresh seafood from the local fishing fleet. The hike around the penninsula also had some gorgeous views. We'll spend the next few days touring Dublin and some day...