Word’s can’t describe the place. Leastways not mine.
I’ll try with pictures, but they’re just the shallow veneer of the depth, breadth and beauty of the place.
Midnight in Lisdoonvarna -Jet lag makes for odd hours…
But there’s music everywhere at night
The Burren
"(Burren) is a country where there is not enough water to drown a man, wood
enough to hang one, nor earth enough to bury him......” British Lieutenant-General Edmund Ludlow, 1652
Cliffs of Moher
Amazingly beautiful. #1 attraction in Ireland. Apparently more than tourist come to visit judging by this sign at the top.
Cliffs of Moher
Doolin - rugged little coastal town just north of the Cliffs of Moher 
Galway Bay
Galway
Lots of German tourists in Ireland. Most travel by bus.
Galway – St. Nicholas’ Church (circa 1320)
A castle “Murder hole”. Positioned above the gate, you drop rocks and fling arrows at unwanted solicitors. 
The Connemara – NOW we know where we are…
The Connemara – view from “The Quiet Man” Bridge
The Connemara – Luckiest man in Ireland -lone fisherman on a lock (spelled “Lough”, means “Lake”)
...he's the little speck on the bank in the foreground
The Connemara
Crazy rock walls
The Connemara – Killary Harbour
County Mayo near Clairmorris
Wait for it, wait for it...
Dingle
Ventry Bay
Ventry Cemetery
Fahan (pronounced "fawn")– Maureen and Allison @ Beehive hut on Mary Houlihan’s land
Fahan – Foxgloves and Mary Houlihan’s house in background. Maureen’s mom is a Houlihan and Fahan is the area they hailed from
Maureen meets Mary Houlihan
Houlihan house and Kerry Peninsula in background
Beara Peninsula – Amazing history and precious ancient artifacts
Kenmare
Noble sheep of prey, scanning the valley below for their next kill
Speaking of praying, the town of Knock, Co. Mayo has beau coup pilgrims that come to visit a miracle site. Lots of old people (at age 54 I was the third youngest person in town) and lots of venders and religious signs and shrines throughout town. At this apartment building they were filming an episode of the Hollywood Squares with the Blessed Virgin Mary in the center square. I think…
Irish cuisine
Vittles!
Brown sauce. Yum.
Dessert
Family portrait
It will take a while to scrimp and save, but we’ll be back…
Ireland Photos Thanks Mike... Did U run into Paul?
Can not believe that you now have a grown up daughter! Time flies!
Say gidday from DU...
RADU
That is an awesome photo journey!
Very much Ditto what Don Poole just said.
Great pics! Ireland is #2 on the list of the places that I want to visit.
Thanks Mike!
"Guinness is good for you."
It is illegal to use that slogan in the U.S. 🙁
Most excellent pictures and what a good adventure. One question: Can you tell us a little about that rock wall? I've never seen anything like that.
Don
Also a descendant of Mary Houlihan from the Town of Dingle, County Kerry.
Thanks for the photos, Mike. That seems like beautiful place to live.
Ireland Photos Thanks Mike... Did U run into Paul?
No Richard, we stayed on the wild west side...didn't get anywhere near Cork. I didn't see ANY surveyor's out working during two weeks there. I'd even taken some oregon PLSO survey hats to give to any Ireland surveyors I met during our stay and the hats had to fly back home with us.
> Can not believe that you now have a grown up daughter! Time flies!
Man! Does it ever fly. She will be off to college in 4 more years. I wonder if that costs very much money? Hmmm...Maybe we should start saving some money for that...
Thank you for sharing your photos.
Prior - I wish I could. A guy who gave a talk in The Burren, the day before we went to Doolin, mentioned this type of wall but I wasn't paying attention. It's a big wall and those are big rocks. I imagine they just stand and lean better than they stack.
Down on the Kerry peninsula we began to see post and wire fences and it was weird since everywhere else pastures and roads are delineated with rock walls or hedges or both.
Speaking of walls, the majority of the back roads we drove were bordered by rock walls. Walls that begin right next to the edge of pavement. Given the narrowness and twistiness of the roads, I felt lucky that we didn’t lose a rear view mirror or crease the entire left side of the rental car. And in areas where hedges border the roads we got used to the sound of the rear view mirror tick-tick-ticking against the vegetation. I don’t follow Road Rally racing, but I can well imagine that the Irish do very well in them. They’ve got a lot of natural talent driving around the countryside. Thankfully they were patient with my driving.
This is not a driveway. It is a two lane road posted at 50MPH:
A rare straight stretch of road. With a good 16 foot width of pavement between solid rock walls, this veritable expressway is posted at just over 60MPH:
Wow, small world R.J.. Maureen’s mom, Margret Houlihan (like Hot Lips on M*A*S*H*) grew up in Minnesota.
Here are some distance cousins of yours and Maureen’s at the Ventry cemetery, with the Gaelic spelling of Houlihan:
Mike,
very nice series of pictures,
thanks for sharing.
Chr.
Thanks Christ. I always pour over your survey photo journals because they're so darn good and so exotic. It was fun to be in a beautiful place that is very different than where I live, yet familiar in many ways. By the way, I met a couple adventuresome motorcyclist from Belgium in Tralee. They weren’t acquainted with any surveyors from Belgium, though. Not that everyone in Belgium knows everyone else, but you never know…
Great Photos Mike.
Glad you and your family had a good time.
Scott
Ireland Photos Thanks Mike... Did U run into Paul?
Mike,
Well I put 5 (five) thru uni.....
Probable reason that you did not see any Irish surveyors was a reflection on their economy.
RADU
Fantastic pics, great stuff! We have to get over there soon...
Great pics Mike, Thanks for sharing!
I got back from the coast yesterday; camped in the rain for a week.
I'll try to post some pics L8R.:-D
Dugger
Ireland Photos - Pretty!
Thanks for sharing!! I especially like the photo of Kenmare. Makes the town seem robust and friendly with their various colored buildings and such...
The Irish must love their Gin and Tonic. At the Brigade after party/late night get together, this one elderly guy (I thought he was English but he was from Ireland; I cant tell the accents apart) was serving them up like candy. They were a bit too bitter for me but I enjoyed listening to his stories about gin and tonic and other types of beers, pubs, etc...from Ireland. And I absolutely LOVED HIS ACCENT!! He told me "I don't have an accent, YOU do." 😛
