7 days in Ireland

Jrmp1217 · Member

7 days in Ireland

Michele Erdvig · Host

Welcome to the forum. May is my favorite month in Ireland. Hope you get some good weather on your trip.

Good plan flying into Dublin and out of Shannon. That will mean less back-tracking. Will you be spending time in Dublin? If so, how long? Depending on your departure flight time (need three hours at the airport for pre-clearance, etc. for flights to US) you will probably want to spend your last night near Shannon.

Because you are interested in the SW I suggest either Killarney or Kenmare as a base for a couple of nights. Kinsale can be crowded on weekends especially if the weather is good. Adare is a small village that most people just pop into for a few photos.

A base in Galway might also interest you. It is a vibrant city and you can day trip to Connemara, the Aran Islands and Cliffs of Moher from there.

As for tourist traps, one person's tourist trap is another's treasure. To my way of thinking a tourist trap is a place where you don't get your money's worth and opinions are very subjective. For instance one famous travel writer does not like Killarney or Bunratty Castle and Folk Park. I do not agree. Others dislike Blarney Castle. But there is more to Blarney estate than the stone and castle - beautiful walks, gardens and Blarney House. Personally, I did not care for the Guinness Storehouse. But that is just me. Others love it and are really into the whole Guinness thing.

Don't worry so much about "tourist traps" and do and see what appeals to you. You can always post again about specific places to see what we think of them rather than get just a general answer.

Let us know if we can help with any other questions. We are here to help you get the most out of your trip to Ireland.

tony2phones · Guru

It is really easy to avoid Kinsale, Dingle, Adare, Doolin or Killarney (although in Killarney it is also easy to avoid the sit together tourist groups)

Blarney believe it or not is great outside the 10am-4pm tourist bus crowds, Cobh is a working town option south of Cork. Beara along with the Sheeps Head and Mizen are great low tourist peninsulas in the south west. Listowel is one of my favourite heritage towns and an option to Adare.

Above the Shannon and Ennis is a town with some tourists rather than a tourist town with some locals but if you want Music

then the Fledh is in town the end of May. http://www.fleadhnua.com/ Loop Head is a free to see option for Moher although Moher is free you have to go after closing so able to park the car

Itallian Chauffeur · Moderator

Beering ideas: biggrin biggrin

Dublin has Guinness, of course. Kilkenny has Smithwick's (Smit-icks) and Cork hosts Murphy's, but there are MANY smaller brewers as well. Michele's Blog article (courtesy of IrelandYes Irregular, Mark Anderson:

http://irelandyes.wordpress.com/2014/02/26/craft-craic-and-cuisine-in-search-of-irelands-craft-beer-pubs/

Mark's Blog (of Irish interest):

http://the-beer-gnome.blogspot.com/2014_09_01_archive.html

http://the-beer-gnome.blogspot.com/2011/02/feakle.html

Judy · Guru

If someone tells you an area is touristy it's simply because those are the places with the most to offer the tourist with your interest.

County Kerry is the top destination of choice amongst the Irish in a survey by myhome.ie. County Galway came in second and County Cork third.

The west and southwest has beautiful scenery in particular around Killarney with the mountains and lakes. The Dingle Peninsula which National Geographic described as the 'most beautiful place on Earth' has beaches and mountains. Galway will have the scenery with Connemara and the music you are looking for. You will also be able to find music in Killarney and Dingle town if you decide to overnight there.

So don't avoid the "so called" touristy places, go and enjoy the beauty of Ireland and it's friendly people.

Itallian Chauffeur · Moderator

Generalized info on highly-regarded pubs and music pubs:

http://www.theguardian.com/travel/2014/mar/17/ireland-best-pubs-music-bars-dublin-belfast

http://www.ireland.com/en-gb/destinations/republic-of-ireland/cork/articles/trad-music-pubs/

http://www.authenticireland.com/west-clare-trad-music-pubs/

http://www.denverpost.com/ci_25361359/irelands-best-pubs-and-bars-pint-live-music

Best source of info for Dublin Pubs (of any ilk): www.publin.ie

A personal favorite: http://www.debarra.ie/ in Clonakilty, Co Cork.

Kildare town, Cork city, Kilkenny city, Killarney, Ennis and Galway city have particularly vital 'Music' Scenes.

markan · Senior Member

Lots of good information given to you already and thanks Bob for the plug on my blog.

Funny, I hadn't checked in on this forum in a few weeks but it just so happens today I booked flights to Dublin for end of March early April mainly as launching point to visit Germany and Prague but the wife and I will be stopping off in Dublin for a weekend on the way home. No way I'm going to fly through Ireland and not stop for a couple of days at least.

Anyhow here's some more information for you to consider:

1. Dublin is an excellent place to start for good food, beer, and music. In addition to the info Bob already shared with you here is some more:

A friend of mine has started a website specifically for craft beer in Dublin. He visits Dublin at least once or twice a year to keep it up to date. But this will give you a more thorough rundown of Dublin than my blog posts. http://www.dublinbeerguide.com/

Now pubs that I would strongly recommend in Dublin for good food, good beer, and/or good music would be firstly L. Mulligan Grocer in the Stoneybatter neighborhood (yes it is walking distance from river Liffey, Temple Bar area, etc. I did write up a blog post specifically for L. Mulligan: http://the-beer-gnome.blogspot.com/2014/02/l-mulligan-grocer-dublin.html now you won't find good traditional music at L. Mulligans but the best trad music pub in Dublin happens to be just a few blocks from there called Cobblestones. So it's very easy to enjoy a nice dinner at L. Mulligans and drink some of the very best Irish craft beer and then walk almost just around the corner to Cobblestones to enjoy some Trad music. Cobblestones also happens to have a pretty good beer selection as well: http://www.cobblestonepub.ie/

Other interesting pubs to visit in Dublin at the top of my list would be (in no particular order): The Porterhouse (brewpub with two locations in city center - one in Temple Bar), J.W. Sweetmans (brewpub along river Liffey), The Palace Bar in Temple Bar, The Norseman in Temple Bar, The Bowe Bar (good beer selection and trad music on some nights - near Trinity college), O'Donaghues on Baggot street (for trad music - can get very crowded), any of the Galway Bay Brewery pubs in the city such as The Black Sheep, Against the Grain, The Bull and Castle beer hall, and the Brew Dock. That should keep you plenty busy in Dublin for a while.

2. West Coast - Since you want to spend some time on the West Coast and the things you have mentioned in your post that you want to do it is almost begging for you to visit in Westport, County Mayo for a couple of nights. Bob has already posted my blog post on that but I'd also point out that Westport really has it all as far as good food, good beer, and good music. Really everything as far as that goes is in abundance in that town and it's positioned in a very scenic part of Ireland where you can do scenic drives north to Achill Island and south to Connemara and Joyce Country. So plenty to keep you active during the day and you'd be hard pressed to experience all the fantastic restaurants, music pubs, and good beer in the town. Since my blog post the first brewery to open up in Westport in probably a very long time has opened. It's called Mescan Brewery and if you follow their Facebook page you'll see that you can get their beer in a lot of pubs and restaurants around town: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Mescan-Brewery/228600377304798

Matt Molloy's pub in Westport has long been famed for it's trad music but they have also jumped on the local craft beer bandwagon the last couple of years and you can get beers from the local breweries like the West Mayo Brewery on tap there. If you happen to be there on a Sunday you can go to the Cobbler's Bar at the Wyatt Hotel right at the octagon and enjoy not only a great meal but local craft beer and a good traditional music session that they hold there every Sunday evening: http://www.wyatthotel.com/. Hoban's pub on the octagon is also a great place for music. For something different around the corner from Hoban's is McGings where if you get tired of Irish trad music you can catch a jazz session there and a bluegrass session on a sunday afternoon and beer from the local breweries on tap. Several other very good restaurants in town like An Port Mor: http://www.anportmor.com/

3. County Clare: Traditional music is plentiful as you can see from one of the links Bob posted for you. One place that deserves special mention is the Roadside Tavern in Lisdoonvarna. Really good food and it is also a brewery so you can drink their stout, red ale, or lager. On weekends they have regular music sessions: http://www.roadsidetavern.ie/roadside/?q=music-roadside-tavern

If you do happen to go to Doolin the Fitzpatrick's Bar at the Doolin Hotel has an excellent beer selection.

The town of Kinvara (actually county Galway but it feels like your still in Clare) is one of the best villages for traditional music in the area. Good food at Keough's pub. Not much to mention regarding interesting beer to drink. You'll be on the Guinness in Kinvara (nothing wrong with that).

Others on this forum could tell you more about the Southwest than I can. I haven't been there in years.

Mark

2.

markan · Senior Member

Slight correction to above info. The Bull and Castle beer hall is not part of the Galway Bay Brewery chain but I accidentally included in that section.

Mark

Jrmp1217 · Member

Thanks for all of the great info! There have been some changes to our plan. We are going to fly in and out of Shannon and want to do a west/southwest roadtrip. We still have 7 nights. I think we have narrowed down the counties that we want to visit. Galway, Clare, and Kerry. Please let me know if you think we should fit another one in there. Sad we will be missing Kilkenny, Cork and Mayo. Now I am having trouble mapping out an efficient route/itinerary. Any ideas? Thanks!

tony2phones · Guru

Thats 3 big Counties, I can guess where you are thinking of going but if you care to enlighten us then it might be easier to advise on the logistics. Dates might also help.

Jrmp1217 · Member

Arrive early Sat morning, 5/23/15 in Shannon. Depart Sat morning, 5/30/15 out of Shannon.
Here is what we want to see:
Galway: Connemara, Aran Islands, Galway City
Clare: Cliffs of Moher, The Burren
Kerry: Dingle Peninsula, Part of the ring of Kerry?, Skellig Michael

I am open to doing to Ring of Beara instead of the Ring of Kerry if it makes more sense. Please let me know if I am missing anything.

Towns we may be interested in visiting as well:

Kenmare
Dingle
Listowel
Adare
Ennis
Doonbeg
Doolin

Interests:
Food
Music
Sight-seeing
Hiking/kayaking
maybe Golf...
maybe Horseback riding/hawking...

Thanks!

Jrmp1217 · Member

or should we skip southern kerry altogether, just do the dingle peninsula, and loop around to Kilkenny?

Itallian Chauffeur · Moderator

I suspect Tony's guess was correct! biggrin biggrin

If you are 'doing' Dingle, then I strongly recommend the Beara (and Healy Pass) in substitution for the ROK.

View to the North: https://www.flickr.com/photos/itallian_chauffeur/14618147291/in/set-72157645603932391

View South: https://www.flickr.com/photos/itallian_chauffeur/14621345015/in/set-72157645603932391

You SAID 'Kilkenny -- did you mean to type, 'Killarney'? confuse confuse

See my June, 2014 Trip Report (with links to photos covering MOST of your proposed route: http://ireland.activeboard.com/t58107182/ticking-the-boxes-tour-june-2014/

tony2phones · Guru

Whenever someone says "I don't want a Tourist Trap trip" you know Dingle, Doolin, Adare and probably Kinsale are on the cards. wink

You want Music good craic bit of beer and some good food without paying a fortune for a chiefs quirks. With the Fledh http://www.fleadhnua.com/ on in Ennis then you could use the town as a base for your Clare points Ennis, Doolin, not sure why Doonbeg unless for the Golf (not sure its an open course since the Trump takeover) http://www.worldgolf.com/courses/ireland/countyclare/

From Ennis to Dingle for a night (or more?) calling at Adare and Listowel on the way before taking the Connor Pass and dropping into Dingle Town.

If you want to go to the Skelligs then stay the night in Portmagee the boats go out at 10am weather permitting and the town is a "quaint" fishing Port just like Dingle used to be 35 years ago. http://www.portmagee.net/ What if St Rick had visited here instead?

Kenmare or Killarney are great touring bases for the whole of Kerry but Kenmare is a little smaller and better placed for Beara which although the same size as the Dingle Peninsula has far fewer visitors and even less % of gift shops. Great place to dirty the hiking boots.

Jrmp1217 · Member

ok. how does does this look? Trying to limit daily drive times and avoid backtracking. Also, do # of nights in each location seem sensible? Thanks for all of your help!

5/23-5/24. arrive in Shannon at 8:30am- drive to Galway. 2 nights. See Galway City; Connemara. (worth it to splurge and stay at Ballynahinch Castle one night?)

5/25. Drive to Doolin. 1 night. See Cliffs of Moher. Aran Islands.

5/26. Drive to Dingle. 1 night. See Dingle Peninsula/

5/27-5/28. Drive to Kenmare. 2 nights. See Ring of Beara.

5/29. Drive to Ennis. 1 night. See Burren.

5/29. Leave from Shannon at 11:45am.

Jrmp1217 · Member

correction: leave 5/30.

Michele Erdvig · Host

That will work. Ballynahinch is an old fishing lodge as opposed to a castle. It is a great old hotel though. It is rather isolated so plan on eating dinner there. If you must have a castle try Ashford Castle in Cong.

Rich · Newbie

If you're in Dingle.... A 2016 map of pubs(&the odd cafe) https://www.google.com/maps/d/viewer?mid=1G3-enFt2UxKALT1LvwlK6mj95tk&z=10&ll=52.140%2C-10.270 For music.... open that map in the browser and type 'music' the search box. But info gleaned from the net is very sketchy. Local info, mentioned elsewhere "Try to get hold of a West Kerry Live, a free fortnightly colour magazine, easier said than done as they go like hot cakes. Everything is listed there."