Ireland

My wife and I went in 2007.

We flew into Dublin and spent three nights in Athlone, three nights in Galway, then turned in the rental car and took the train back to Dublin for a few days. That way we didn't have to deal with a car in the city.

We stayed here first. It was interesting because it's not a "tourist" location and most of the other guest were either Irish or European. From there it was an easy drive one day to Clonmacnoise.

Galway is a great town, stayed here and drove out through Connaught for a few days.

Stayed at The Westbury Hotel in Dublin. It's right off Grafton Street - a pedestrian only area of shops and restaurants. Gotta love anyplace that has a statue of Phil Lynott from Thin Lizzy out front 😉

Overall, I'd suggest not worrying too much about what to see until you're there. Probably the best day we had was when we came across a county agricultural fair by chance that was being held on the grounds of an old manor house that was only open a few times a year. We spent the whole day there touring the house and grounds, watching the local sheep dog trials, hanging in the pub tent with the local farmers, etc.

Have you researched to find what local town or area your family originated.

Visit there and go into a pub and announce who you are relatives of.

There will either be a huge fight or a wonderful celebration. Just joking. 🙂

I have the Rick Steve's book for Ireland and I have found from past vacations that his books are a great place to start, and have with you. I haven't been to the emerald Isle yet, but my wife has about three trips already planned out. (She likes to do that) I will try to send the itinerary's to you when I get home. If you'd like I could let you borrow the book as well.

Mike, I've been to Ireland three times. Last trip was in 1992, so it's been a while and probably things have changed a bit since then. On every trip I based myself at the Skeffington Arms Hotel in Galway and just operated from there with an occasional night elsewhere in the rural areas. As a lone traveler who returned often to Galway, the very friendly staff there really took me under their wing. The Skeffington Arms is on the west side of Eyre Square, just a few steps away from the Hotel Meyrick (which used to be known as the Great Southern Hotel). It is smaller and more intimate than the Meyrick. I don't know what the cost differential is these days, but you might want to consider that option.

Galway is a great city to just walk around in-- lots to see and do. You can day-trip to County Clare (The Burren, Corcomroe Abbey, Cliffs of Moher, Celtic music gatherings in Doolin, etc) or into the wilds of Connemara which is beautiful to say the least, with a lot of small towns and villages and friendly people. A rental car is the way to go-- well worth the expense due to the freedom it gives you to just tool around wherever you might want to go and choose your own wee lane to follow. The distances are not great, so you can see a lot of things in a day's travel, but DO NOT hurry... and if you see young schoolkids or little old ladies hitchiking don't be afraid to give 'em a ride into town. Guarantee you will enjoy the resulting "craic" (conversation).

If you plan on spending time in County Galway it's also an excellent idea to take a trip out to Inishmore in the Aran Islands. You can catch the boat from Rossaveal Harbor, I think it was only an hour or two from Rossaveal to Kilronan. Plenty of B&B's in Kilronan, and you can rent a bike and tour the whole island in a days time. I did it on foot. There's few automobiles on Inishmore, they don't really need them. The ancient ring forts, especially Dun Aengus, are powerfully evocative. If you do make that trip, you might want to do some reading about those islands. John M. Synge's "The Aran Islands" (1906) would be a good book to start with. Also his plays "The Well of the Saints" (1905) and "The Playboy of the Western World" (1907). The latter being famously controversial at the time.

I also spent a week in Dublin once, before taking the train to Galway (on Christmas Eve... what a party that was!). Dublin is another good city for walking about, and of course plenty of pubs and music. I stayed in the Clarence Hotel, which was affordable at the time but might not be these days since it was bought by U2 and extensively upgraded to 5-star status.

Don't quite know why I never made it to the south of Ireland. Have always wanted to see Cork and Kerry (still hope to do so) but just have tended to gravitate to Galway and Clare. Whatever you do, don't try to stick to a really tight itinerary or cover too much ground. Ireland is not the place for a "whirlwind tour". It is a country which lends itself to a slow travel pace and the possibility of maybe finding a spot where you just want to stay for a while. I'm sure you and your family will love it.

Mike check email for Paul's details

RADU

Thanks

Thanks for all of the ideas guys.

James – Thanks for the recommendations, especially on places to stay. We plan on staying in just two or so towns and day tripping rather than the forced-march “If its Tuesday this must be Skibbereen” style of travel, so its nice to have some trustworthy places recommended rather than picked out of a tourist book. A Harris – Actually, Maureen does know where some of her long lost kin lived in the late 1970s. For my family we will scour the log books and registries of every last insane asylum, prison and poor house in the country. Thanks for the book offer Jered, we’ve got Rick’s book and a couple others. I agree, his books are good and we will take it along. WV – thanks for the information on Galway. That’s where I’d like to spend most of our time. On the radio a while back, I think it was NPR’s American Roots, they were talking to an Irish musician who said another, more out of the way, town in the Galway region was the new hot-bed for Irish folk music. Are you familiar with this recent development in traditional Irish music?

And Richard Abbott, I got your email. Thanks mate. Your blood should be bottled.

Thanks

Not just traditional music, Galway is the home of one of my favorite pop-rock bands

Saw Doctors - N17

Saw Doctors - Bless Me Father

Thanks James. I had no idea. Great music, great lyrics. Now we have more Irish road music for the Irish road trip. Especially when we hit the N17.And/or go to confession.

Thanks

Mike, there is an immense amount of good Irish music, some of which is modern and some is ancient. The West of Ireland (the Gaeltacht) is one of the last bastions of traditional Irish music. The gaeltacht is centered around Galway. My experience in Ireland was that there were generally 3 kinds of live music available, and these consisted of:

1. Horrid renditions of American country-western. It is everywhere, but avoid it at all costs.

2. Irish pop/rock, e.g. U2, The Corrs, Sinead O'Connor and others. Worthy stuff. Mike Scott and The Waterboys are especially noteworthy, some years ago you could seek them out in the village of Spittal (just west of Galway) and even sometimes at the American Bar in Kilronan Inishmore. They may have disbanded by now, but I'm sure the main players remain somewhere in counties Galway, Mayo, Donegal or thereabouts.

3. Traditional Irish ceilidh music, which is becoming more difficult to find, but it can happen pretty much anywhere in Clare or Galway if you hit the right pubs at the right time. When I was last there, the wee village of Doolin (also called Fisherstreet) in county Clare had about 10 houses and 3 pubs, and you could hear traditional Irish music there if you timed it right.

If you want to hear good traditional Irish music (a la The Chieftains) you have to keep your ear to the ground, or just accidentally stumble into a pub where it's happening. In the rural districts, fiddlers and string-players and uillean pipers and those who play the bodhran will gather in the local pub, and that is definitely something to watch and hear. If you want to buy a jar or two of Guinness for the musicians, don't hold back, because the music will get better if you do.

Perhaps you are a guitar/banjo/mandolin player, and by chance happen to have your instrument on hand. You might get recruited. For a visitor, that's when the fun really starts. Or so I remember it.

Where is he? Lurking and hibernating and sometimes some Canadian chaps give me a wake up call to come visit....you know who you are DG!

What dates are you thinking of being here? As for your initial ideas, if you like the wild countryside, you'll love that.

Send me an email - or reply to this post, and if I am around I could always try and catch up and buy you a .... ahem.... coffee or 2?

Cheers,

Paul

Paul

As they say in Ireland...

Check your email, Bragh

... or, more particularly...

"Email go bragh"

Hey Mike
Good to hear you have hooked up with Paul. Be sure to bring back a story to publish in the Oregon Surveyor.

John1Minor2

Doolin, County Clare

here's the wiki link to Doolin

If you are driving from Galway, and take the road through Ballyvaughn on the south shore of Galway Bay and up into the Burren and then to the Cliffs of Moher, you will probably end up in Doolin and might get a chance to hear some great music in the pubs there. If the weather is calm, you can take a boat from there to the Aran Islands, but personally I would not chance that during the winter months. It can be a rough passage even in fine weather. The advantage of taking the boat from Doolin (rather than from Rossaveal) is that it also stops at the smaller islands, Inishmaan and Inisheer before going on to Inishmore. Disadvantage is that if you're not a well-seasoned waterman, the chances of "mal de mar" are high. Best just to settle in at a Doolin pub and enjoy the music and the craic.