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Galway, Ashford Castle, Connemara and Moher - 18th and 19th May

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 Hi all We have had a busy few days in and around the beautiful West Ireland city of Galway - the best of Ireland for us so far. Yesterday we had a couple of hours to walk around the town before lunch, with a cathedral and monastery just a few minutes from our apartment. The town is very quaint with many interesting nooks and crannies, with some buildings going back to the Spanish days of 14th After a stop for coffee we headed off north of Galway for our special treat, a lunch in the Drawing Room of the Ashford Castle. A very memorable occasion, and Norm didn’t even complain when the bubbles were 36 Euro a glass! After lunch we took the long road back around the Connemara loop road, part of the wild Atlantic way, through the lovely village of Clifden, amongst others. Today we ventured south of Galway towards the famous Cliffs of Moher, again using the Wild Atlantic Way. The weather did us no favours as it was pelting down most of the day, anyway we preserved. Great castle shot out ...
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Ring of Kerry, and the castle(s) road to Galway 16th and 17th May

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 Hi all Yesterday we took the long drive along the Wild Atlantic Way around the Ring of Kerry. Even though the weather was a bit mixed, overcast with the odd sunny spot, the rain mainly stayed away. The trip is definitely worth the effort with some stunning cliff top and coastline views. We had a welcome stop for lunch, of course, along the way. Holly may well be becoming a seafood chowder addict! After the long trip back we put our feet up and took the chance on fish and chips for tea from the local food truck down the road from the cottage. No disappointment there - excellent locally caught fish. Today we said farewell to Kinsale and headed North West towards Galway - with a few Castle stops along the way. Morning tea was taken at the old town of Cahir, castle included. Then we proceeded to The Rock of Cashel - one of the oldest castle (and former cathedral) complexes in Ireland. It was windy and grim which really set the scene for the visit - magnificent. The cathedral would hav...
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Kilkenny, Waterford, Kinsale, Cobh - 14th and 15th May

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 Hi all, We set off south from Dublin yesterday, with a coffee stop and castle visit at the medieval town of Kilkenny. The 11th/12th century Castle was very well preserved and well worth a visit.   Then we were off to Waterford for great lunch at the Tower Hotel and a long awaited catchup with Norm’s Auntie Caith, cousins Theresa, Siobhan, Stephen and Second cousin Vicki (now 37 a bit older than the last time Norm met her at age seven). They gave us a great Waterford welcome, and a great send off towards our final destination of Kinsale. We were very happy to find our lovely Lobster Cottage (with the blue door) - home for the next three nights. Nice view just across the road: This morning we took a short one hour trip to the port of Cobh (“cove”), which was the last place the Titanic left from in 1912, plus the port that many Irish embarked from in the mass migrations of the 19th century. The town is well past its heyday, very quiet now, but boosting a magnificent Cathedral as...
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Dublin Ireland, Wednesday 13th May

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 Hi all, another day for us in Dublin City with bit more exploration of the history of this place. We started the day going to Church at the Church of Christ Catholic Cathedral, circle 1030.  It was impressive to say the least, probably a little more understated than many of the European Cathedrals we have visited, however the floor tiles were outstanding. Then we had a nice, windy, walk along the Liffey River towards the “other side” of the city from Temple Bar. It is a bit more impressive than Tasmania’s Liffey! Halfpenny Bridge We carried on across the River towards O’Connell Street - the Main Drag! Were we had a very pleasant and enlightening visit to the GPO Easter (1916) rising Museum. This was an excellent museum, telling the story of the valiant but failed independence rebellion in 1916, seven years before the struggle was eventually successful - a sad time indeed as over 400 citizens perished in the fighting, ironically at the same time that over 1200 republican Irish...
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