If you have heard of the Cliffs of Moher, you may be aware that they are stunning! I agree wholeheartedly, this was an amazing day. Happily the sun shone for us all day and we enjoyed this day immensely! The pictures speak for themselves, rising over 200 metres from the sea the cliffs are spectular to say the least!
All up I think we walked about 13 kilometres from one end of the cliffs to the visitors centre. Tip – if you happen to visit it’s much cheaper to stop and park at the nearby farm than it is to on further to the visitors centre.
We interspersed our walk with lots of stops and even a wee nap in the Sun after a picnic lunch. We also stopped at the visitors centre for toilets and they have lots of interesting information about the cliffs.
The countryside is as beautiful as I expected. Kilkenny castle is very busy with lots of school groups (last week of Semester) so we pass on a lcloser visit.
Waterford Crystal was stunning but we decided to forgo a tour for a walk as the weather is so lovely.
We stroll around the Viking Triangle taking in Christ Church Cathedral, GreyFriars, the Dragon Slayers sword and Reginald’s Tower.
Dragon Slayer’s sword. Can he lift it.
Reginald’s TowerGrey Friar’s.
After a lovely couple of hours we hopped in the car and took the coastal route to Corke.
Coastal route
Nod to Hazel, Rob’s mum who also lives in Newtown.And Annestown! No kidding Annie!Annestown
AnnestownAnnestown
Dungarvan – Abbeyside
Ireland is so lovely yet I still got a sense of the hard life Meghan had spoken of in her talk at the Museum the day before, in some places…
Onwards to Corke. We particularly wanted to visit County Corke as Rob’s mum Hazel’s Family has ancestral ties to this area.
We visited beautiful St. Fin Barre’s, the old fort and did a small walking circuit that we happened across.
Saint Fin Barre’s CathedralLabyrinth walkElizabeth Fort Clarke’s BridgeGotcha!
Greenmount walk
Busy day! Dinner at Mrs Fish’s (yum – top 5 in Cork) then about an hour’s drive back to our accommodation.
I spent the whole drive home trying to capture the beautiful light flooding across the hills…
Our flight was originally scheduled at 8:30am but left late due to a medical emergency. The flight was incredibly short 42 minutes. We were literally up, parallel for 20 minutes, then down.
Selfie – cute couple!First view of Ireland from the air.
Rob and I were very excited to visit Ireland as it wasn’t on our original itinerary. Being sick had opened up some time though, so we had four days to enjoy Ireland’s beauty.
After passing through customs and arranging to collect our hire car we headed for Dublin city.
Local traffic on the way in.
We parked and walked to a hop-on-off green bus stop for a tour. As we were walking to the bus we saw this little guy.
How much is that doggy in the window?
The bus tour was great taking us along the River Liffey and across O’Connell Bridge. we saw the birthplace of Guinness.
Milk truck? Nah that’s a beer truck!
We hopped off at the bus near College Park and Trinity College to walk around to see the book of Kells, c 800 AD it is an illuminated manuscript book in Latin containing the four Gospels of the New Testament. You have to book to see it though so we missed out as the day was fully subscribed, pics from the museum slideshow only.
Trinity College.Book of Kells.
So we moved on, next stop the Little Museum of Ireland. What a great place! Meghan our tour guide was charming, articulate, lyrical and very self effacing in her presentation of Irelands history. Sobering at times but very entertaining!
Meghan holding centre stage!
Next stop was Temple Bar to have a true taste of Guiness! Complete with Irish hats no less.
Temple BarGuinness – yum. My first one ever!Rob’s an old hand!
After sustenance we took a walk around Dublin City. We walked past a couple of really nice restaurants – Marco Pier White and Carluccio’s then past Dublin Castle.
Marco Pier White – would like to eat here!Carluccio’s – would like to eat here too…Dublin Castle
Dublin CastleDublin Castle
Then we walked past the Cathedral and though the East Inner City, popped into the Clarence for a drink (Hotel owned by U2) and then over the Millenium Bridge.
Famous Octagon Bar!
Selfie on the Bridge
Dublin is a beautiful city. Lots of tourist on this Sunday afternoon, a rain shower or two to keep us on our toes and history everywhere you turn.
We had an early dinner at Murray’s Hotel – 2 for 1 special included in our tour tickets.
After dinner we headed out of Dublin for Clough in Bellacolla, county of Laois, West of Dublin. We stayed at High Nelly Cottage, which had a thatched roof and was named after a Bicycle for the previous owner who fixed Bicycles. So cute and rustic and where I first start to run into internet and wi-Fi problems. None here!
Rob really did hit his head and I did the same thing the next day!Loft bed
Aga for cooking.Black stave for heating and cooking.
Downstairs was one room and bathroom. Stairs either end to two loft beds. It was fun to stay there and experience life as it would have been in times gone by.
Physio my way 
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