Ireland Bound

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November 13th, 2015, 03:16 PM
Oddmott

Ireland Bound

The bride surprised me today with a proclamation of "You can't get mad, I bought this a long time ago...we're going to Ireland".

So, of course I got mad first... Because we just bought the money pit house and have endless renos to handle, and i'm now self employed, yada yada yada...Then I got excited.

We'll be there from late March into April. Good cool temperature for me, and likely the only chance we'll have at sunny periods between winter bleakness and spring rains.

Has anyone been and have trip suggestions?
November 13th, 2015, 03:41 PM
rf2

No suggestions, but that's one place I would like to visit. You are a lucky guy!
November 13th, 2015, 06:23 PM
cantcatchacold

Where are you going ? I was in Ireland in April, June and September. Late March it will be cool and wet but warmer than what we have here.

I have more then enough to eat at home
November 13th, 2015, 06:29 PM
Brampton Mike

Loved Ireland when I was there...people so friendly and the island was awesome! IF you happen to go through a town called Toomavera (sp) check out Mollie Maguires!
November 13th, 2015, 06:45 PM
Oddmott

Quote:

Originally Posted by cantcatchacold

Where are you going ? I was in Ireland in April, June and September. Late March it will be cool and wet but warmer than what we have here.

I have more then enough to eat at home

We'll be going all over. Air BnB for lodging and car rentals are cheap for the week.

Landing in Dublin for sure, spending a couple days there. Definitely checking out my ancestral roots (MacNamara/Sheedy) in County Clare, the Ring of Kerry, Wild Atlantic Way and tons more.
November 13th, 2015, 07:05 PM
beardchaser

I did the same thing. Rented a car and stayed in B&B's for two weeks. The breakfasts are so huge you won't need to eat again until late afternoon. In a pub, or course. You can pre-buy B&B vouchers from Tourism Ireland. Oh, and have fun on those narrow roads. It is a test of your driving skills for sure. Enjoy the trip. I can't wait to go back again.
November 13th, 2015, 07:06 PM
cantcatchacold

In Dublin the temple bar area is amazing. While traveling plan on a day or two in Cork of you can. Cobh also is great for immigrant heritage. The wild Atlantic way is so great and so many awesome stops. Try to hit bantry as well if you love sea food.

If your going to Blarney take the side trip up to Mitchell's town to the caves. Awesome place.

On a side note with the terror attack tonight if in cork go to a pub called ziggys. There's a pic on the wall of me with Claude Coleman when we toured with Ween, he is one of the drummers with eagles of death metal from time to time and has recorded with them on 2 albums. Also 2 Canadians on the tour crew with them, the just played Dublin and one of them posted a pic on my FB wall of a pint of Guinness last night. Hope they are ok

Also start listening to lots of Rory Gallagher.

I have more then enough to eat at home
November 13th, 2015, 07:09 PM
cantcatchacold

Also with car rental don't cheap out on insurance. The roads are narrow, rock walked on both sides in the country. I'm back over April 10th in Belfast then Dublin and cork June 1 -4

I have more then enough to eat at home
November 13th, 2015, 07:15 PM
cantcatchacold

Here was our road to the house we rented in Macroom https://vimeo.com/145694138

I have more then enough to eat at home
November 13th, 2015, 07:30 PM
woody1948

Enjoy your trip, I would love to go and visit some of my family also Maybe I will go with Paul next time.
November 17th, 2015, 04:22 PM
Sharon

Quote:

Originally Posted by Oddmott

The bride surprised me today with a proclamation of "You can't get mad, I bought this a long time ago...we're going to Ireland".

So, of course I got mad first... Because we just bought the money pit house and have endless renos to handle, and i'm now self employed, yada yada yada...Then I got excited.

We'll be there from late March into April. Good cool temperature for me, and likely the only chance we'll have at sunny periods between winter bleakness and spring rains.

Has anyone been and have trip suggestions?

Lucky guy! I wish my husband would surprise me. All I get is "Do you want to go to Mac Donalds?" :)
November 17th, 2015, 05:16 PM
TroutSlayer

You will love the country and the people. The bitter half and I, along with two friends spent three weeks in Ireland this past May and June. The only rain we saw was a couple of days while we were driving. We flew to Dublin and rented a car. Drove 3,250 kilometers from Dublin down the coast and on up to Galway. We have family in Dublin and County Kerry, when not with them we used B&B's. She never did tell me what the trip cost and it doesn't really matter. I need to get back there soon.

As far as suggestions, stay away from the tourist traps and try to get back into villages that the tour busses can't get to. Don't kiss the saliva soaked Blarney Stone.

Doolin is a great village for traditional live music in their three pubs. You can walk between all three with your beer in hand until you find a tune you like, and nobody cares. From Doolin it's a short boat ride over to the Aran Islands and seeing the Cliffs of Moher from below is way better than from the top.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Oddmott

The bride surprised me today with a proclamation of "You can't get mad, I bought this a long time ago...we're going to Ireland".

So, of course I got mad first... Because we just bought the money pit house and have endless renos to handle, and i'm now self employed, yada yada yada...Then I got excited.

We'll be there from late March into April. Good cool temperature for me, and likely the only chance we'll have at sunny periods between winter bleakness and spring rains.

Has anyone been and have trip suggestions?
November 17th, 2015, 06:21 PM
Hunter John

Thats great Mott, its on my bucket list along with Scotland to see some of my heritage. Have fun and safe travels. Oh, take lots of pics?
November 18th, 2015, 08:27 AM
Dythbringer

Quote:

Originally Posted by Oddmott

The bride surprised me today with a proclamation of "You can't get mad, I bought this a long time ago...we're going to Ireland".

So, of course I got mad first... Because we just bought the money pit house and have endless renos to handle, and i'm now self employed, yada yada yada...Then I got excited.

We'll be there from late March into April. Good cool temperature for me, and likely the only chance we'll have at sunny periods between winter bleakness and spring rains.

Has anyone been and have trip suggestions?

Have fun. I don't have any tips as I have never been to Ireland.

Don't stress out about money when you are self employed. As a self employed individual myself, I have found it was the best financial decision I did for myself (this was before the Wynne government decided to "help" me with my retirement plans).

Funny how "you can't get mad" at her for doing this but if you did something similar......
November 18th, 2015, 09:38 AM
fishermccann

Take your golf clubs and stick a couple of fishing rods in the bag with the clubs. Many of the worlds great golf courses, and fishing streams in Ireland.
November 18th, 2015, 11:04 AM
Oddmott

We still haven't solidified the itinerary, but we do know we won't be going to Northern Ireland this trip. Essentially if you drew a line from Dublin -> Galway, we'll only be straying 100kms or so above that line.

We'll definitely be checking out several castles, some coastal villages, Doolin for the tunes, Kilkenny park, County Clare for my ancestral ties, and a fair bit of random touring as I'd love to sniff out a few things that don't make it into your average tour.
November 19th, 2015, 12:38 AM
GW11

Something to consider when you book B&B's (if you haven't already)... you're money goes a lot further if you stay in the smaller villages or farmhouses in the countryside. I know it isn't Ireland, but my wife and I honeymooned in Scotland in '02 and the difference in quality of the B&B's between urban/rural was astronomical. In the bigger cities, some of the B&B's were borderline hostels. For the same price you could stay in a really nice, clean and quaint farmhouse or cottage 10 minutes from town.

Have fun!
November 19th, 2015, 08:53 AM
LongHunter

Cliffs of Moher is a phenomenal sight and was my wife's favourite part of the trip when we went a few years back. Most of my preferred spots were in the North (ie. Giant's Causeway and the antrim coast road) so won't be of much help. As someone else said Temple Bar in Dublin was a great time and they have a musical pub crawl there that was a blast. The advice I give everyone going there is that if you're going to rent a car get the GPS, street signs are few and far between over there, hopefully neither of you are nervous drivers. It's a great trip, enjoy.
November 19th, 2015, 04:09 PM
DGearyFTE

Good Luck Odd... got to Temple Bar and have Guinness for me...
My Dad's family is from Cork County but I do like Dublin!
November 19th, 2015, 05:37 PM
TroutSlayer

Quote:

Originally Posted by fishermccann

Take your golf clubs and stick a couple of fishing rods in the bag with the clubs. Many of the worlds great golf courses, and fishing streams in Ireland.

Right on. Our friends golfed three couses between Kenmare and Galway. We got a tour of "Old Head Of Kinsale" but couldn't afford a round at $1,000.00 Canadian with club rentals.

http://www.homeatfirst.com/OLD-HEAD.HTM
November 20th, 2015, 02:59 PM
Smallies4life

We didn't get to see as much of Ireland as we would of liked. But what we did see was great. The Wicklow Mountains (a few films made there) were great and beautiful. Also the town of Killkenny was great too. Ran into some former Ontarians in a pub there too, really is a small world.

If you want a great burger in Dublin go to BoBo's on Dame St, you won't regret it. Belfast was fantastic too, titanic museum, Giant's Causeway, you can't go wrong.