The Emerald Isle…. |

For our vacation this year, we decided it was time to visit Ireland. We planned & we planned & finally the trip was here!! We were joined by our sister in law Maureen & her brother Mike. They had been to Ireland before, but not for many years & were excited to go back!

I took over 400 photos while visiting, so I was only able to choose a few that told our story! I hope you enjoy!

We started by landing at Shannon’s airport and grabbing a rental car. Now we were warned about driving in Ireland—the narrow back roads, driving on the left side of the road, etc. All of that was dicey at times, but overall we managed nicely!!

Our first stop was the Cliffs of Mohr—we were blessed with great weather all week, as you can see from this pic-

From there we drove through the country side, as we were driving we came across an adorable small town- Lisdoonvarna-Rathbaun. We stopped at this quaint spot for lunch. Mike & I had the smoked salmon—it was comparable to eating at the finest restaurant in a huge city! It was delish!!! If you are near here—definitely stop in for a bite, ask for Martin.

As we continued our journey to Galway, we really enjoyed the beauty that is Ireland!

A little tired, we finally reached our hotel in Galway! But I wanted to venture out right away! And everyone agreed. We took our short walk to Shop Street and began gazing at all of the adorable shops & pubs! But then I heard something wonderful….. live music up ahead! This group was amazing, you could tell that they just loved to play—to play!

Over our two days there—pubs & live music seemed to be our theme! Oh and some history too!

I told everyone, I am a bit parched… let’s have a pint!! Orchard thieves is a cider—the other is of course a Guinness—Glen’s choice, I don’t love the beer taste!! Sorry to all of the beer & Guinness drinkers!!

This pub has the interior of a church; it was a little strange having a cider inside of a place that felt more like a church!

See what I mean!?!?!

We were pretty tired from our journey at this point, so Maureen & Mike went back to the hotel & Glen & I grabbed a bite before heading back. I had the most delicious bowl of lamb stew with a side of brown bread—so yummy!! Do not let anyone tell you that the food is not that great in Ireland!

On Wednesday it was more of the same, walking around Galway & seeing what she had to offer. We toured along Friars River, we stopped in the cathedral & caught an impromptu performance by a men’s choir- so beautiful.

That night we decided to head to St. Nicolas’ Church for a Traditional Irish Music Concert. We were fortunate to see the performances by, three musicians & an Irish dancer. In between acts, the gentleman hosting the series also gave a history lesson of the church—it was very interesting!!

If you are in Dublin or Galway, they hold performances all summer- www.tunesinthechurch.com, check it out!

After a sound night of sleep, we said good bye to Galway & headed south to Kinsale!

We stopped in Limerick to see King John’s Castle. This castle is over 800 years old & took many years to complete.

Taking the tour was a great history lesson of the castle & of Ireland. And there was even a display that you can put yourself into—I am laughing because the helmet is huge and it won’t stay on my head!

Glen even got in on the action as we were leaving the castle…

Finally, we landed in Kinsale! We reserved rooms at a local bed & breakfast, which was just lovely!!

The staff was very friendly & ready to help us with of our needs!! By the way, the breakfast was outstanding!! If you are missing your fur babies, Charlie & Lola are more than happy to oblige with some love!! And did I mention our view-

Once again in Kinsale we enjoyed great food, great fun & more live music!!

But alas, we had to leave Kinsale!! As we made our journey back to Shannon, we decided to stop off at just a few more places!!!

Glen was thrilled to arrive in Midleton Ireland—because that is where the Jameson Experience happened! We took a tour of their facility & even taste tested a few whiskeys!

At the end of our tour, we had to visit the gift shop. Glen picked up a personalized bottle of Jameson Black Barrel, that only a few other people around the world have purchased. He was a very happy man!!

From here, we travelled north & stopped at Blarney Castle, where the Blarney stone is located! Be aware that this is a very popular visitor attraction…. So we waited in line for a long time to get to the top of the castle where the Blarney Stone is located.

It was worth the wait, but kissing the blarney stone is not for the faint of heart!! I had to lay on my back & slide backwards in order to reach it!!!

The grounds & gardens are just lovely here, so if you visit, take some time to walk around. You can even enjoy a picnic!!

We said farewell to Blarney & continued our journey back to Shannon! Mike had said that the only thing left on his list to see, was a rainbow. Now remember, the weather had been gorgeous for us, the only rain was at night & during the day while we were driving from Galway to Kinsale. Don’t ya know, we passed through a rainstorm, and at the end we finally saw the rainbow he had wanted! It was crazy how it was the last thing on our list, and we got to see it before we reached our final destination!

Well finally reaching home, we were so happy that our trip was as lovely as we had hoped! We are very hopeful to return to Ireland in the near future!!

Until next time—Quack, Quack