2. Travel

Ireland 2009

At the end of June 2009, Patrick Rowley and his wife Ann organized yet another "pub crawl" of the southwest coast of Ireland ending with two days in Dublin. We left Dulles at 7:30 pm and arrived in Dublin at 7:30 am which was actually 7 hours later plus the 5 hour time difference. We immediately flew to Shannon arriving at 10:30 am and boarded othe tour bus with our driver/guide Martin Raft who was called Matthew. We didn't go to our hotel but rather headed immediately for the Cliffs of Moher where our adventure began...
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Our first stay was at the Bunratty Shannon Shamrock Hotel. Just out the door of the pub and past the 20 meter indoor heated swimming pool was this little cottage.
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Our first stay was at the Bunratty Shannon Shamrock Hotel. Just out the door of the pub and past the 20 meter indoor heated swimming pool was this little cottage.

IrelandCounty ClareClareBunrattyShannon Shamrock Hotel

  • Our first stop along the way was the town of Lehinch in County Clare. Our first pub was called the Spinnaker where we had our first pint of Guinness. After our pint we strolled across the street and looked out on this vista. Needless to say it was just a bit rainy and overcast that morning. Lehinch it seems is a surfing town and surfers were in the water just up the rocky beach from this shot.
  • Our next stop was the Cliffs of Moher. The slight drizzle and overcast persisted.
  • This was a look out tower at the Cliffs of Moher.
  • We walked up to the tower and had a look about.
  • This is the view as we walked back from the look out tower to the visitors center. At the visitors center we were able to enjoy a nice lunch while it began to rain fairly heavily. We did a little shopping and then back on the bus to drive to our hotel in Shannon.
  • On the way back to the Hotel we stopped at religious site which was a grotto that was teeming with fetish. Unfortunately the batteries in my flash failed so I only got this picture of the Fuscia that was growing wild everywhere.
  • Our first stay was at the Bunratty Shannon Shamrock Hotel. Just out the door of the pub and past the 20 meter indoor heated swimming pool was this little cottage.
  • After dinner in the Shannon Shamrock Hotel dinning room, we spent our first evening at this pub which was just down the street. Patrick had advised us how engaging the locals might be. He also warned us to avoid the topics of religion and politics. We spent the evening over a few pints of Guiness in conversation with two Englishmen who had a distinct hate for the French and only wanted to discuss religion and politics.
  • This was just across the lot from Durty Nelly's. The wild flowers were everywhere.
  • Bunratty Castle was literally next to Durty Nelly's; the property, a type of theme park, stretched back for 26 acres.
  • Another view of Bunratty Castle.
  • The next day we left Shannon and slipped through Limerick stopping in Adare on the way to Dingle via Tralee .
  • We stopped in Adare at a visitors center. Across the street there was the most beautiful public park.
  • I'm not sure they ever have to water the flowers...
  • This church was across from the park and next to the visitors center.
  • There was no lack of flowers in bloom just lining the streets.
  • This small monument was just in front of the church.
  • We began to appreciate the beauty of the country side on our drive through Limerick.
  • Our next stop was Inch Beach; we invaded this local pub which had an unusual fireplace.
  • We had a little stop at Inch beach where Bill was able to get in a bit of breakfast.
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