Cork to Galway

Kerry Tattoo Convention

May 28-30
See also a photo album of our adventures in Ireland.

We had rented a car in Cork and had spent a day driving to Mizen Head. Our plan today was to drive around the Ring of Kerry (that's a peninsula on the south west), see Parknasilla (a fancy resort/hotel recommended by our friend Jacquie) along the way and maybe even get over to Dingle (a small town on the next peninsula) before leaving the ocean side and returning to Killarney for the night.

Once again this was a case of distances in Ireland being much longer and roads not as good as expected. It's a couple of hours from Cork to the start of the Ring of Kerry (we were travelling counter clockwise around the peninsula starting in the southern corner at Kenmare) over pretty good roads by Irish standards. Nevertheless, by the time we got to Parknasilla, which is only about a half hour into the Ring of Kerry, Kate was pretty car sick and the jarring on rough roads was causing problems. Nevertheless, we stopped there for a light lunch, a bit of wine and some photos.

Along the way there were tons of rhododendron in blooom. Ireland is very green as advertised, but this time of year the hedge rows were blooming in pink.

We dashed around the peninsula making only a few stops to take some pictures and headed to Killarney where we had a room booked not too far from the downtown at the Dromhall Hotel. Kate rested while I explored Killarney. Again, it's one of those pretty Irish old towns. There's some green space and carriage tours of the town and the parkland. The weather was cool, wet and grey. The town seemed to be a big tourist destination with lots of shops ("Feckin' Ejit" T-shirts caught my eye), dinner shows and pubs advertising live music. Also, a coming Tattoo convention!

We didn't get out to see any music that day, instead we just grabbed some drinks and a bite from nearby shops and spent the evening resting up.

May 29, Killarney to Galway
From Killarney to Galway via Limerick was a pleasant drive on very good roads. The day was grey and cloudy so there wasn't much too see. We had intentions of seeing the Cliffs of Moher on the west coast just south of Galway but the weather was against us. We did stop at the Blarney Mills along the way and noted the small Limerick Airport that had been in the news of late (wrt. Trump, Trump's visit and his nearby resort).

In Galway we stayed at the Harbor Hotel a short walk from downtown. Again this was recommended by our friend Anne who we met later for dinner at Ard Bia at Nimmos on the waterfront of the Corrib river right by the Spanish Arch a short walk from our hotel.

We did a bit of a walk about in the downtown area but it was cool and rainy. We missed the Galway Museum which is near the Spanish Arch. It would have been a good place to get out of the rain.

We enjoyed our dinner with Anne and Michael and they took us further afield across the river and harbor to see some live music upstairs at the Crane Bar. That was another great night of Irish music. When we got home to Canada we were watching a Netflix series "Jack Taylor" about a hard drinking former Galway Garda (police) who hangs around a lot drinking at the Crane Bar. Neither Anne nor Micheal had heard of the series.

Near the Spanish Arch we stopped to see the small monument to Christopher Columbus who apparently visited in 1477.

May 30, Galway to Dublin
Galway to Dublin was uneventful. We stayed near the airport at a modern Premier Inn Dublin Airport in a shopping area called the Airside Retail Park (lots of modern shops -- you'd think you were in North America). Dropped Kate off at the airport in the morning, dropped the car off at the rental agency and took their shuttle back to the airport.

From Dubin, off to Amsterdam.