2024 Ireland Adventure-Great Southern Tour Part 2

 Our second day on the Great Southern Tour with Vagabond/Driftwood Tours was, as Denise put it, a "whiskey-drinking day". Rainy & cold, just as you would expect Ireland weather to be. Did I mention we arrived in Dublin a couple of days after a major weather event? We'd get our whiskey drinking on later in the day. 

We left Kinsale and took a short drive to Old Head, the site of the Lusitania sinking. We hopped out into the wind and rain for a quick photo op. This was the first real view of some dramatic coastline. 

My hood immediately blew down!

Back on the van to get warm. That's our bonus Vagaguide in the very back.

The Ringfinnan Garden of Remembrance is one of those "off the beaten path" places we visited. A Kinsale native worked in a hospital in NYC on 9-11. Each tree is in memory of 343 firefighters, as well a chaplain. The first tree planting was in 2001; the garden was dedicated in 2002. 

We drove to Cobh (pronounced "cove"). I've seen pictures of how colorful the town is, but, unfortunately, I guess I didn't understand our option to go into town or the Cultural Center. I would have preferred to have gone into town but we ended up at the center. It was interesting, but there wasn't a lot of new information. We were given a ticket with a person's name and were able to find out his/her fate, much like the Titanic Museums if you've ever visited there. The best part was an excellent lunch of chicken vegetable soup & brown bread. An added bonus was running into the lady who sat next to me on the flight over. I didn't even take any pictures in Cobh. 

Just before our whiskey drinking, we visited Kindred Spirits. This is an absolutely beautiful sculpture built in gratitude to the Choctaw Nation for their donation to the Irish people during the famine. The donation was sent only 16 years after the Trail of Tears and would have equaled thousands of dollars in today's money.

Kindred Spirits is made out of stainless steel; no 2 feathers are the same. The feathers are in the shape of a bowl to represent a bowl of food.

The highlight of the day was a visit to Jameson Distillery. If you can get to Midleton, make sure you visit the distillery there instead of the visitor's center in Dublin. There is absolutely no comparison.

An Irish Coffee was first on the agenda while we waited for our tour. It did not disappoint!

This is actually the doorway to the beginning of the tour. 

We were able to taste a variety of different whiskey products (Green Spot was my favorite) and received a complimentary drink at the end of the tour. I opted for Powers Honey & Lemon since the other option was Jamie Ginger & Lime. 

Our hotel for the night was right on the ocean. It was an older hotel but the room and bathroom were large. Ballycotton lighthouse was in the distance. We had a chance to see it up close the next morning.

View from the room

A nice, large bathroom

Sweet little sitting room/library

Ballycotton Lighthouse has a black tower. There are tours to the island.

The weather broke the following day, at least, for the most part. We had almost perfect weather for the activities that day. We visited more off-the-beaten-path sites as we left County Cork and entered County Waterford.

Gorgeous blooming trees on the way

A large branch was in the road so Denise, Angela, and 1 of my sisters got out to move it. I got out, but only to take pictures!

Success!!!

1 of the many sheep at Mahon Falls

The road was "magic" in the Comeragh Mountains as the van appeared to move backward uphill on its own

The view from the carpark at Mahon Falls

This is what happens when you ask Denise to take a picture

Mahon Falls

Fairy Tree

Tankardstown Copper Mine was a 19th century copper mine on the Copper Coast

Benvoy Beach. At one time, nuns were ferried here to swim in seclusion.

Gaulstown Dolmen is regarded as one of the finest examples of portal tombs in Ireland.

We ended the day in Waterford. 1 of my sisters & I took a walking tour of the city. More on that next time!

Ireland Adventure: Next Time

I just can't let my Ireland Series go! It was indeed a trip of a lifetime, and it's given me the encouragement to go on more trips like this and to be more adventurous. 

Throughout our trip we found ourselves saying "next time we'll ...". Hopefully there will be a next time, if not to the same areas of Ireland then parts that we didn't visit.

Next time, we'll definitely use Bunk Campers again. If I'm not with CH, I'll rent a car and stay in B&Bs. And I'll go a little later than mid-March. I want to see the heather in bloom.

Next time, we won't even plan where we're going, we'll just go where the wind takes us. We'll take advice from locals and go from there.

Dublin: I missed Kilmainham Gaol the previous 2 visits, so that has to be at the top of the list next time. I just don't want to spend more than 1 day in Dublin; there's too much to see to be stuck in a metropolitan city that doesn't really "feel" like Ireland!

I would definitely go to Athlone, County Westmeath (between Dublin and Galway) to visit Sean's Bar, the oldest pub in Ireland (over 1000 years old). And then go back to Ballinasloe to catch up with Sean the barman. And then drive over to Sullivan's in Oughterard for pastries and coffee. After that, I would be all for heading north. I'd love to re-visit Knock; my SIL and I visited there during our visit. 

Next time we'll check out the hurling schedules and watch a game in person. We learned about hurling during our visit to the EPIC museum. If you don't know about the game, this may help:

Next time I'll purchase a cell phone when I get there. CH had his turned on to use internationally and it cost us $10/day. I haven't looked into the cost of just buying one once we get there but it seems like it would be much easier to do that. We had a bit of trouble figuring out the phone numbers so that would alleviate that problem. It also would be much easier to pull up the places we're visiting while we're there instead of finding out what we missed after we got home. 

Next time, we'll plan out our meals and go shopping as soon as we can. That would have been such a time-saver (and money saver) for us. While we enjoyed eating at the pubs and restaurants, I think we should have only eaten out once a day instead of eating out for lunch and supper. In my opinion, we spent too much time in grocery stores almost every day when we could have been doing other things. 

When I wrote the recap post for Flyin' the Coop, CH's advice for anyone thinking about going to Ireland and really visiting Ireland is to just do it. Even if you have to put it on your credit card and pay it off later, just do it. You'll be so glad you did!

This is exactly how we felt about Ireland!

The Best of Our Ireland Adventure

 

For a major re-cap of our Ireland Adventure, here's a list of my "Best of Ireland":

Best Campground

My favorite campground was Hungry Hill on the Beara Peninsula. The owners were so very nice, the showers were great (although it was a tight squeeze for CH), and I just liked the overall feel of the place.

Best Drink

Definitely the Guinness. I tried Murphy's but it didn't hold a candle to the Guinness. CH's would probably be the Bulmers Cider, but I'm more of a beer girl! I had 1 "Jamie with Ginger & Lime" (Jameson, ginger beer, and lime) but couldn't get enough of the Guinness. Especially since I learned my lesson by not trying it until the end of the last trip!

Best Food

This is a tough one because we didn't have a bad meal the whole time we were there. The beef stew at The Castle Inn really stuck out for me, so that's what I'm going with!

Best Irish Coffee

Without a doubt, the best Irish Coffee I had was at MacCarthy's Pub in Castletownbere, County Cork, on the Beara Peninsula. I told Adrienne (the owner) it was the best I've had, and she laughed and said that I probably said that every time I had one. 

Best Scenery

This is another tough one because every time we turned a corner there was something more beautiful than what we had just seen. While Ladies View was gorgeous, I'm going to have to say the scenery at Kilcatherine's Point/Church on the Beara Peninsula. It took my breath away.

Best Ruin

Out of all of the castle/abbey/tower house ruins we saw, I think Tintern Abbey was my favorite. Rock of Cashel is definitely in the running for the best, but there was just something about Tintern Abbey, with the battlemented bridge and church ruin, not to mention the walled gardens, which I'm going to have to go back and see again when it's in full bloom.

Best Surprise

The best thing that we experienced without expecting it was the Irish Red Deer on our walk from Ross Castle back to Killarney. I knew the deer were in the park but had forgotten about them until we saw them.

Best Pub

Oh, gosh, y'all! We went to a lot of pubs while we were there! If I had to pick one that I would definitely go back to, it would be the Moycarn Lodge and Marina. It's not really considered a pub, but it set the beginning of our adventure with new friends, laughter, and (of course) drinks. 

Best Story

The best story from the whole trip is meeting Maeve & James in the Killarney Pub. We walk into this packed pub, ask to sit with a young couple, and end up sitting there for hours talking, drinking, and laughing. The best part is that Maeve is a Special Education Teacher of high school-age students with Autism. I only regret that we didn't swap information so I could ask her more questions!

Best Advice on Where to Eat

This one is a no-brainer! The first piece of advice we received before we touched down on Irish soil was the best: Sullivan's in Oughterard, just west of Galway. Incredible coffee and just as amazing pastries. I would go out of my way to stop there again!

Best "Do-Over"

There are only 2 things that CH & I did that my SIL & I did in 2017. One was taking the ferry over the River Shannon between Galway and Killarney. That was a time-saver. The other thing was my favorite: Finding Husseys Pub in Killarney. In 2017, we found it by accident and had to go in because of the name. This time, CH saw it (again, by accident) and we had to go in. If you find yourself in Killarney, definitely look for it. 

Best Overall

How can I not include the Irish people in this category? Every person we spoke with was incredibly nice. (Well, there was that 1 bus driver in Dublin but I put the blame on myself for that one!) Everyone was so helpful. If we had not spoken with anyone, we wouldn't have seen half of the really cool things we saw. Before we went on our trip, we watched videos and read about what not to do when you're in Ireland. One of the things was not to talk about your heritage. I think I'm a rarity of an American because I have no Irish in me...I'm only German. Almost everyone we spoke with at any length asked us if we had Irish blood. So strike that advice about not talking about your heritage! It struck me how many people had traveled to the USA or to Australia. It was rare to speak with someone who had never been, and almost every person said they had a relative who lived in the US. If for no other reason, go to Ireland for the Irish people. Don't be shy...talk to the people in the pub. One lady at the campground in Killarney told me to stand at the bar in a pub...don't sit down at a table unless you want time to yourself. 

But the absolute best thing we did for the whole trip was hiring the campervan. Having a toilet at our disposal (ha!) was perfect for our needs. Having the freedom to go where we wanted, when we wanted couldn't have been more perfect. And, on top of that, it was most certainly a money saver. We couldn't have been more pleased with Bunk Campers. If you're planning a trip to Great Britain or to Ireland and want to go at your own pace, check them out!

Hook Peninsula, County Wexford

 

Location of Hook Peninsula

I have a feeling not too many visitors to Ireland actually know about Hook Peninsula. I wanted to stay near Wexford and while planning I found an open campground within walking distance of the town of Wexford. But as I researched the campground I decided that probably wasn't the best place so I found another one that was closer to the Peninsula. This turned out to be quite the find! 

Roches Campervan and Campsite is located right on Bannow Bay, which is where the Normans landed in 1169 AD. In fact, you can see where they landed from the campsite.

I think I have the arrow pointing to the correct place

The campground is a working dairy farm complete with farm dogs. There was only 1 other person staying there so we had the campground almost to ourselves. During warmer months they have live music in the common area, but the owner had traditional Irish music playing for us that we were able to enjoy during trips to the bathroom. 

View from the top of the hill as we drove into the campground

We were close to a village, Wellingtonbridge (County Wexford), so we went into town to get dinner and more groceries. I don't remember what we ate at this pub, but it was good and pretty convenient.

More like a restaurant than a pub, but the food was really good.

Enough about the campground. For more details visit the post on our Flyin' the Coop blog. 

Thanks to a lady I spoke with at our first campsite, our first stop on the peninsula was Tintern Abbey. If it wasn't for her, we probably would have missed this gem!

The Abbey as we drove down the lane toward it

The history is amazing. In 1200, William Marshal, Earl of Pembroke, ran into stormy weather and his ship was almost wrecked. He vowed to find an abbey where ever he would land if he landed safely. He donated 3500 hectares for a Cistercian Abbey. The Abbey was then colonized by monks from Tintern Abbey in Wales. The Abbey became a residence in the 16th century; a member of the family lived here until 1959.

We arrived before the grounds opened, so we took a stroll to see the battlemented bridge and church ruins.

The church is believed to have been used by the villagers

The parts of the abbey that are still standing are the nave, chancel, and Lady Chapel. 

You can tell there used to be another floor

Also on the grounds is a walled garden. We bought entrance to both, thinking we got quite a deal because the guy allowed us to purchase student tickets since he was out of senior ones. We were a few weeks too early to enjoy the beauty of the garden. We saw pictures of it in full bloom and it and I'm sure it is absolutely spectacular at the height of the blooming season.

A glimpse inside...mid-March was definitely not the time to visit!

The main reason we stayed near the Hook Peninsula was the Hook Lighthouse, which is the oldest operational lighthouse in the world. 

The lighthouse dates back to the 12th century

While on the tour, we were told that monks first ran the lighthouse even before there was one. They lit fires on the bank to warn ships of the land and probably helped to build the current tower. One look at the inside and how similar it looks to monasteries of the time supports this.

The ceiling looks very much like the ruins of the abbeys that we visited

The fireplace dates back to the 13th century and spans 3 floors

The chapel was one of the first things we saw as we came in the door of the lighthouse

I didn't take any pictures of the staircase holding the 115 steps to the tower, but it is unique considering that time period. Usually, the stairs within the castles and tower houses are clockwise so the knights coming down the stairs could hold their swords in their right hand, putting the opposing knights coming up the stairs at an advantage. In the lighthouse, the monks needed room to hold the bag of fuel for the light, so the stairs were built going the opposite way of the castles/tower houses.  

Luckily, we didn't have to climb all 115 stairs at one time; we stopped on each floor to hear the history. When we finally got to the top of the tower, the views were breathtaking.

Somewhere out there is the Graveyard of a Thousand Ships. The most recent ships lost were in 2007. There is a memorial close by; however, the guide didn't tell us about it and we didn't see it. Too bad; I like to visit memorials and pay my respects to those who lost their lives.

There is whale-watching and seal-watching on the Peninsula but we weren't there at the right time of the year for that. There are the ruins of a church that is near the lighthouse. St. Dubhán was a Welsh monk who came to the Hook Peninsula in the 5th century. The ruins of the church are believed to be from the 13th or 14th century. It is the monks from the monastery that he founded who were the first caretakers of the lighthouse. Dubhán means "hook", so the peninsula took its name from this monk.

We didn't stop because we were on the way to find a place for the night and we weren't sure how long it would take. I took these pictures as drove by:

County Wexford: DONE. We thought about staying another night at the same place we stayed the night before but I wasn't sure what to expect at the next location I wanted to see. So we headed up the coast toward Dublin. We were hoping to find a parking lot in Wicklow where we could park the van, walk to dinner, and walk around town. I found the town to be very crowded and not van-friendly. Every parking lot we found had a height restriction bar on it. I asked a lady if she knew of any place and she directed me to what would have been a good one, except for the height restriction bar. We actually found one parking lot that was adjacent to a park complete with a skateboard area which gave me a reason to wonder how safe it was. So we decided to just head farther north, staying on a regional road to see if we could find something. We saw signs for a bird sanctuary and thought that may be a place but before we found it, CH saw a pub in a village called Newcastle.

If you know who Hozier is, Newcastle is where he is from. I'm not sure if he still lives there, but Sinead O'Connor does. CH went into the pub and the manager gave us permission to stay in the parking lot overnight. We had an amazing dinner, complete with dessert (and a pint...or 2 of Guinness), and a good night's sleep. The manager even gave us 1/2 of a loaf of brown bread, butter, and homemade jam before we left for the night.

I was happy to see a mama sheep and her lambs in the field next to the parking lot the next morning:

We were ready for our last full day with the van. Next up: County Wicklow.

To find out more about our camping adventure in Ireland, visit Flyin' the Coop.