Some thoughts on Ireland: places to visit, sights to see.

Preface: 

Ireland is a relatively small country and the distance between those places you might like to visit is not great, so you potentially could visit one place in the morning and one place in the afternoon.  

There are several ways one could visit Ireland: 

• Take a tour company.  The company we chose was GoAhead Tours.  However, the circumstances are somewhat unique in that choice, which I won’t go into now, but they did a good job.  If you look on their website, for example, they advertise 13 different tours of Ireland.  This is similar to all tour companies.
• Go on your own and arrange your own accommodations.  We did this several years ago and it worked out well, staying in B and B’s.  Once in a town one can then either explore on your own or take locally guided tours of the things you want to see.

It’s not uncommon for the ladies to want to stay overnight in an Irish castle hotel.  They are nice but expensive.

It’s not uncommon for the men to want to play a round of golf in Ireland.  They are nice but expensive and they are almost always links courses, so bring plenty of balls.

Several weeks before leaving I always look up on-line events in the places one will be visiting to see if there are any special concerts or festivals at that time.  For example, see “What’s on in Dublin” or “What’s on in Galway”.  That way, for a Rolling Stones concert I would be able to get tickets ahead of time.

The following description is limited to the Republic of Ireland.  I did not describe sites in Northern Ireland such as Belfast or the Giant’s Causeway.

I will begin in Dublin and go in a clockwise procession around the island, primarily along the outer rim, but not necessarily along the coast.

Dublin

• Would begin with a tour of the city using one of the day passes, for example a Hop-on Hop-off (the green bus) or City Sightseeing (the red bus).  These will give you a sense of the city and where things are located.  Some things are close to center city and some things are not.  
• There are a number of walking tours that are worthwhile but a lot depends on who you get for a guide.  It sort of depends on your interest.  Some examples:
• Literary Pub Crawl Tour of Dublin for those familiar with Joyce, Behan, 
• Historical walking Tour of Dublin
• 1916 Rebellion Walking Tour with Lorcan Collins.  This is almost an absolute must if you want to learn about the Easter Uprising
• Pub crawls with Irish Music
• There are many other crawls with different themes.
• The Temple Bar area is essentially a large mass of bars and pubs for those who like to tipple.
• Dublin Castle was the seat of the British government in Ireland.  Not really too much to see there.
• The Guinness brewery is not terribly close to downtown but it’s a great tour and you get a free pint (or more) at the end of the tour.  Similarly, for the Jamison tour.
• The Book of Kells at Trinity College is a must, but be prepared for a long queue to wait in if you don’t go early.  
• An important historical place for the struggle for Irish independence is Kilmainham Gaol.  However, I think it’s important to understand the history of the Irish struggle for independence and in particular the Easter Rebellion before you go.  It is a sad place.  As someone said, “Kilmainham Gaol once was full of prisoners but now is full of history.”  It’s not terribly close to downtown and it’s is best to have a reservation for the tour, actually it’s mandatory, at least the tour is.  There is an excellent series on YouTube about the rebellion called: 1916 The Irish Rebellion, and it’s in three parts..
• Take a stroll down Grafton Street.  It is a pedestrian thoroughfare with many shops and almost as many buskers.  However, look at the weather map so you don’t go on a rainy day.  At the bottom of Grafton is the statue of Molly Malone, the tart with the cart.
• There are two big cathedrals in Dublin: both are Anglican denominations otherwise known as Church of Ireland:  Christ Church and St. Patrick’s.  There is a Catholic cathedral as well, so don’t be confused if you go to St. Patrick’s and think it’s Catholic.
• A walk around St. Stephen’s Green on a sunny day is pleasant with many monuments
• The National Gallery of Ireland is a great museum and has the gold artifacts exhibit.
• The National Botanic Gardens, Dublin were quite nice.  We took a short cab ride out there, but not so easy finding a cab to get back.  I think it depends on the time of year as we were there in the early spring and the gardens were just starting to blossom.  There is a nice little cafeteria and places to sit in the sunshine.

Not-Dublin – places to go, things to see.

• Powerscourt Estate and Gardens:  One of the 10 best gardens and in the world.  It’s not too far from Dublin and worth a day trip.  BUT be sure it’s a sunny day since most of it is walking around outside.  Also, nearby is Powerscourt waterfall, the tallest in Ireland but you have to drive there.
• Along the east coast of Ireland are the three “W’s”,  Wicklow, Wexford and Waterford.
• Can’t’ say too much about the first two as we didn’t visit there
• Waterford has the House of Waterford crystal factory tour.  The ladies love that sort of fancy stuff and the tour is o.k., maybe a grade of B.  Depends on the traveler’s interest in fancy stuff.
• In the city of Waterford there is a castle tower and a reproduction of a Viking long boat.  That’s kinda interesting. 
• Kilkenny: St. Canice’s church (COI) and round tower: a nice church and round tower.  
• Kilkenny and Kilkenny Castle:  This is one of those great estates, much like Powerscourt, but with less extensive gardens.  If you like to see mansions of the rich and nearly famous, this is one to see.  
• To the south is Cork (the second largest city in the Republic) and nearby is Cobh.  Cobh used to be called Queenstown before Independence and is actually an island, and part of the port of Cork.  Queenstown was the last port of call of the Titanic.  In Cobh is the Cobh Heritage Center with the Queenstown Experience which tells the stories of Irish emigration and of the Titanic.  It’s worth a visit
• A little west (and north) of Cork is Blarney Castle with the Blarney Stone.  While it’s fame might outshine its significance in Irish history, there’s more than just kissing the stone.  The gardens are very nice (and there are a number of named gardens, for example the Poison Garden, The Fern Garden) and worthy of a stroll. 

In Town is Blarney Woolen Mills which is a nice place to have lunch and do some shopping.

• Almost directly south of Cork is the town of Kinsale and Charles Fort.  The latter is a star shaped fortification from the late 1600’s with nice views over the water.  In and of itself, it had little historical significance and is only partly restored.  But on a nice day, it’s worth the trip.  The town of Kinsale is a nice little town but not too much more to be said than it has the usual assortment of pubs and shops.
• You will then travel farther west towards two peninsulas that jut out into the Atlantic on the southwest part of island, Kerry and Dingle.  These are both known for their circumferential drives around the coast road giving one beautiful overlooks of the coast and the ocean.
• The more well know is the Ring of Kerry, which is the more southern one.  Because it is more well known, it is more crowded on the roads and the “pull-over” overlooks can be crowded with tourist buses, although when we were there in mid-May we did not see any.  Amazing!  It’s a day’s journey around.  It is common to stay in the town of Killarney which is at the base of the drive.
• The other drive is the Dingle Peninsula.  Less well known but therefore less crowded.  Similar ocean and coast overlooks.  One could either stay in Killarney or Tralee.
• Just south of Killarney is Muckross House.  One of those big estate houses with beautiful gardens and furnished 19^th century mansion.  Nice little cafeteria restaurant.
• Killarney itself is a nice little town, one of those that has mostly everything along one main street.  Pubs and restaurants abound.
• Along the north shore of the Kerry peninsula is a small museum dedicated to rural life called the Kerry Bog Village Museum.  Maybe worth a quick visit, not more than an hour.
• Heading north you come to the city of Limerick.  Limerick is where the Shannon, Ireland’s largest river, meets the ocean.  If one is a big Frank McCourt fan, it might be worth a stop to take a tour of the Frank McCourt Museum and even take a guided walking tour, but you’ve gotta be a big fan of McCourt (Angela’s Ashes, ‘Tis, Teacher Man). I wouldn’t go unless you’ve read his books.
• Just west of Limerick is Bunratty Castle and Folk Park, a large 15^th century tower house.  The tour is good and the adjacent Folk Park is interesting, but the latter is for the 19^th century way of life.
• As with many of the restored castles throughout Ireland, Bunratty Castle has a nightly (?) medieval banquet or otherwise musical entertainment and these restored castles have Irish festivals with Irish music and dancing in the great hall.  It’s really a dinner theater.  They aren’t cheap, but probably you should plan on attending at least one event of this type just for the ambiance and diluted soup.
• On the way from Limerick to the Cliffs of Moher will be The Burren.  This is really just a geological feature, a bare limestone plateau.  The amount of time you spend is related to your interest in geology of a unique ecosystem and you can see the highlights in a few hours but it’s kinda out of the way.
• Further north along the coast is the second most popular tourist attraction in Ireland, the Cliffs of Moher.  I guess Dublin is the first.  This is again a popular spot and there will be lots and lots of people there.  They have a large parking lot and they have a lot of tour buses, and you pay for the parking.  This is again one of those places that you gotta look at the weather map as it’s all out of doors (almost) and it’s on the ocean, so there can be morning fog which has to burn off, or there is rain.  If it’s heavy rain, there’s not a lot to see.  Of note, there are cliffs rising up out of the sea all along the west coast of Ireland, it’s just that these are the most well known and most easily accessible.
• Farther north is Galway town, somewhat of a party town (there’s a university there).  There are two streets filled with pubs and shops,   Quay Street and Galway’s Latin Quarter.  There are frequently a lot of buskers along the streets.  Galway is a good place to find Irish pub music and musicians.  However, remember, the music generally doesn’t start in the pubs until 9 at night and goes on into the wee hours, so come rested.
• North of and east of Galway is one of my favorite places, Kylemore Abbey and Walled Garden.  Since it is kinda out of the way, you may not want to take the time although I find it quite beautiful.  The issue here is that it depends on your time.  If time is running short, the road back to Dublin is quite direct from Galway.  The M6, which cuts due east to Dublin is quite direct, so you may want to cut it short and head back to Dublin.  On the way to Kylemore you can stop in Clifden which is a quaint little town and has some interesting historical features related to Marconi and the wireless.
• Heading east on the M6 to Athlone one can detour off the M6 to Clonmacnoise, an early Christian center with excellent examples of stone Irish crosses and an interesting museum.
• Heading back east to Dublin on the M6 you come to Athlone.  There are two features of this town on the Shannon worth mention:
• Athlone Castle is interesting
• One can take a cruise on the Shannon from the quay.  One example is the Viking tour boats.  If it’s a nice day, take the boat up to the Hodson Bay Hotel, have lunch there and then take the boat back to town.
• Lastly, about half way between Athlone and Dublin is the Kilbeggan Distillery. Nuf said.