Jun 21, 2012 - New Ross and Wexford

Staying at a farmhouse outside of Waterford was a great idea. It was one of our least expensive stays so far, at 105 euro a night, and the most luxurious. The hospitality and food were wonderful as well. The owners of Glenraha Farmhouse, Brid and Jim Fitzpatrick, were wonderful. Brid baked us fresh scones in the morning and Jim took us out to watch him milk the cows. We borrowed gumboots and the boys were delighted to help attach the milking machine to udders. Jim also showed us a new calf that was born the evening before. In Ireland, they...

Jul 6, 2009 - Day 4 - 2nd stop - Fethard & Hook Lighthouse

From the Irish National Heritage Park we traveled south and west down the coast to the Hook Lighthouse. Along the way we saw signs for St. Aidan's Cathedral so we made a quick detour to take some pictures. We then stopped for lunch in Neville's Pub, in Fethard. Hook Lighthouse is one of the oldest standing lighthouses in the world and the oldest working lighthouse in the world. We got to tour the lighthouse all the way up to the gallery (the walk outside of the light). It was extremely windy and we couldn't tell if it was raining or sea...

Jul 6, 2009 - Day 4 - 1st stop - County Wexford - Irish National Heritage Park

We started today with another great breakfast at our B&B then headed out to see The Irish National Heritage Park in Ferrycarrig. This was a park dedicated to archaeological history of Ireland and the Irish. We took a guided tour of several sights from the neolithic age to the Stone Age and then the Bronze Age. We got to see recreations of several different types of dwellings throught the periods of time and ended in a Viking village. It was very informative and Aidan has enjoyed taking lots of pictures with Mom's camera.

Jul 5, 2009 - Day 3 - B & B in Gorey

Our next stop was our bed an breakfast outside Gorey in County Wicklow. It looked just like some one's home. The stay was comfortable and the breakfast was yummy. A drive into Gorey landed us at the Corkscrew - a wine bar - for a great dinner. Next on the agenda was a good night's rest.

May 13, 2009 - Hook Head & Lighthouse

The weather wasn't as nice as we had hoped, but we decided to strike out for Hook Peninsula anyway. This was a fair journey by car as the area is located in Co. Wexford, also known as the sunny southeast. We stopped in Waterford City for lunch and a map to guide us to the lighthouse on the southern tip of the Hook Peninsula. We had to take the car ferry from Passage East and then travel for about 30 minutes to reach the lighthouse. This was quite a treat as most lighthouses in Ireland are not accessible by car. Hook is also distinguished as...

Oct 4, 2007 - From the greens in Ireland to sunsets in Greece

Dearest Friends and family; I haven't found time to write recently as touring has been such a whirlwind of travel and no internet. I had a most wonderful time in Ireland with my great friend Ruth Kelly. She lives on a windy hill in Wexford. Wexford is a medieval city on the east side of Ireland, about an hour south of Dublin. She has build a beautiful modern/traditional house in the heather and gorse. When she was working I worked on her garden and rode bicycles around Wexford. She took a four day weekend and we took her car to Kerry on...

Jun 24, 2007 - Tullamore to Rosslare Harbour, the 'Europort' for ferries from Ireland

Today we made our way to Rosslare, then stayed overnight at a hotel at the harbour so we could make the 9 am sailing of the Stena ferry back to Wales on June 25th. We had a great view of the ferries coming and going on Sunday evening. Lots of trucks, and not so many cars, were travelling on the evening ferries that arrive in Wales after midnight.

Jun 8, 2007 - Daytrips: The Dunbrody 'famine ship' at New Ross & Irish National Heritage Village near Wexford

There are lots of things to see within an hour's drive of Wexford, so we hit the highlights of the tourist destinations on day trips. Our first stop was at New Ross, where the ship 'Dunbrody' is moored as an example of the 'famine ships' that took Irish emigrants to the Americas in the 1840s. The Great Famine is well-remembered here, and there is still resentment of British government officials who refused to abandon 'laissez-faire' trade policies and failed to provide food or relief for the starving Irish when the potato blight ruined the...

Jun 8, 2007 - Daytrips from Drinagh: An evening trip to the Saltee Islands

We were lucky at Kilmore Quay, where we went in search of a boat trip to the Saltee Islands. These small islands are uninhabited by people, but teem with breeding colonies of seabirds. We had given up on a boat trip to the islands and were on our way to supper when we spotted Declan Banks writing on a chalk board to advertise an unscheduled evening trip. It was such a fine night, he said, he had decided to go out at 8 pm if he could get enough passengers to make it pay. So we kept our fingers crossed while we had supper, hoping that he...

Jun 7, 2007 - By ferry from Fishguard, Wales to Rosslare, Ireland

At Fishguard, we drove out to the ferry terminal to get info. There was a ferry leaving right away, so we hustled to get on board in the five minutes left before the big doors shut. We went up the ramps behind two antique cars, who had been waiting to board until all the other cars were on the ferry. The ferry between Fishguard and Rosslare, Ireland, was large and modern, with lots of services and shops, and not many passengers. The Irish Sea was calm, I'm told, but my tummy wasn't convinced...Luckily it was warm and dry outside, where I...

Aug 19, 2006 - Kilkenny. Ireland

We finished our canal trip and went to Kilkenny to catch the train back up to Gabriel's where we will spend the next two nights. We loved every moment of the trip. It was quiet and peaceful and very picturesque on the river, and we stopped often at little towns on the way to stocjk up and visit the pubs, of which there were quite a few. They include combination grocery/pubs and a hardware/deli/pub, really tiny. Kilkenny was a very picturesque town with a river, castle, windy streets and quaint shopfronts. We are back at Gabriel's now, in...

Jul 26, 2006 - Wexford, Ireland

We have made it across to Ireland and landed this morning in Rosslare, county Wexford. We picked up our hire car and are driving up the coast looking for somewhere to stay. Ireland is about 25 degrees C so nice and cool though not as green as I remember it, oh well it is summer now. We have had our first Guiness on Irish soil.