From Adopted Daughter:
“Hi Papa. Could you ask your Readers for advice on visiting Ireland? I’ll be staying at Lough Rynn Castle near Carrick-on-Shannon in August, but other than the castle itself, I don’t know anything about the area (County Leitrim).”
Here’s Lough Rynn, which appears to be a shabby little place:
I don’t know nothin’ about birthin’ babies traveling in Ireland, never having been there myself, so all advice, experiences and warnings will be welcome.
Kim,
I too know squat about The Green Sod .. looked up the place on a map. A good bud of mine is from Athlone, somewhat south of where Adopted Daughter is staying. The Athlone Castle is something of a landmark. And if Adopted Daughter is so inclined, have her seek out Sean’s Bar in Athlone for a pint or three.
My advice is dated since we visited there in 1998. But, here goes. The Guinness tastes much better there because it’s fresher and served at the proper temperature for Guinness. Food was much better than expected, especially the salmon and lamb.
My only visit to the Emerald Isle was on my honeymoon in ’95, so any advice from me would be suspect, but it does remind me of the Friday night when we were the only tourists in little pub in Kilkenny. We were drinking Guinness and listening to a three-piece band singing traditional Irish tunes. I remember thinking, “Well, this is the real Ireland.” Then the band started in on a number that brought the people to their feet, holding up their pints and singing along. It was “Friends in Low Places.” Sigh. But then it dawned on me as I listened to the lyrics that the Garth Brooks piece may actually be the perfect Irish song. Fun was had by all that night.
I’ve an Irish cousin and we stayed with him for a week in Ashlow, County Wickford south of Dublin. We made side trips to Dublin and Belfast. The whole place is so small not much is more than a few hours away from whatever place you stay.
The people are nice, the place is green, there’s surprising amounts of wilderness, there are lots of beautiful gardens (The Mount Usher Gardens in Ashford itself were fabulous) Dublin is interesting, though too touristy, Belfast is a dump.
There are thousands of miles of walking paths, the Wicklow mountains are beautiful and Glendalough national park is great, though crowded.
Guinness is vile industrial trash so thank God many craft breweries and brew-pubs have sprung up serving and selling proper beers and ales.
The roads are good, driving is easy, except on the other side of the road, and bus and rail service is pretty good as well.
I’ve been twice.
In 2000 we landed in Dublin then drove across to Galway City. It’s about a 4 hour drive and we stopped often for tea breaks and such. Tullamore DEW distillery in Tullamore is worth visiting.
The second trip we flew into Shannon on the West coast and went to a wedding in Cork then up to the West Coast towards Galway City and in through Connemara and into NOrthern Ireland where the Belleek china factory is located.
I’m not familiar with Leitrim but I’d suggest the following. Visit Dublin and start at the General Post Office and walk towards Trinity College to see the Book of Kells. Keep walking towards St Stephen’s Green. Check out the Easter Rising of 1916 sites. Stop at Bewley’s Tea for a tea break and people watch. This route I believe takes you near the Temple bar district and you cross the Liffey River so you can see the Four Courts and Dublin Castle and such. Kevin and Howlin nearby have excellant tweeds and is a must stop. Peterson Pipes is nearby too if you want to bring back a Peterson pipe. I think some of Ulysses takes place in that area too. The Guinness brewery is worth a visit from what I hear but I didn’t visit.
Generally, I preferred the west of the country in Galway City and up through Connemara. The Quiet Man with Maureen O’Hara and John Wayne was filmed in that area and many of the building filmed in the movie are still there. MacDonaugh’s (spelling) is a seafood restaurant in Galway City that is rather good. Kenny’s book shop new and used is well worth visiting for books and art. Woolens and souveniers I found to be less expensive on the west coast compared to Dublin.
Near Shannon Airport is the Bunratty cultural village that is well worth visiting. There is a castle there where they hold medieval feasts. Very touristy but still kind of cool to dine in a castle that was built in the 1300-1400s or so.
The Burren in the southeast is interesting to see. Its a large area with exposed limestone and the region is known for its music and smoke houses. the smoked trout and salmon are incredible with price tags to reflect it.
I spent a little time in Limerick city. St Johns castle is there and worth seeing. It was a Royal mint at one time. Not far from there is the area of Garryowen which is what the song of the 7th Cavalry was written about.
Generally I found things to see and do in Ireland were golf, salmon fishing, arts, culture and history. The food was very good, the people were friendly, beer was rather cheap.
Leitrim seems to be in the middle of the country so it might be a very good place to start some day trips. Go up to see where the Battle of the Boyne took place in 1690 to see what the fuss was about.
The things I kept in mind while traveling was places for music, food, history, art stuff like that. I looked for some sites of the ’16 Rising. I also looked for the Royal Inniskilling Fusilier’s regimental museum at Inniskilling norther Ireland since I had a relative in that regiment during WWI. I guess the other things that Ireland is known for is Belleek china mentioned above and Waterford Crystal in Waterford City.
Safe travels! I hope you can share her travel report when she gets back
My daughter was in Ireland a couple weeks back and had an amazing time. She spent most of the trip in Galway and really seemed to enjoy the pubs and little restaurants. One of the pubs had an older Irish gentleman who shared traditional Irish stories which my daughter absolutely loved (the accent and the stories). They did some day trips here and there to various castles and trudged through the UK rain to see the cliffs of Moher (Cliffs of Insanity for Princess Bride fans).
Daughter spent 10 days in Yurp, mostly in Barcelona, but 3 days in Dublin. She loved Dublin, Barcelona…not as much.
All I can really offer.
The emerald isle like most of Europe has been despoiled by Middle Eastern trash. There is a reason the Irish have been PO’d over the situation. Tell her and her party to keep their heads on a swivel.
https://www.irishtimes.com/ireland/social-affairs/2024/05/06/anti-immigration-protesters-in-dublin-are-met-by-counter-demonstration/