We stayed with Mary and her husband, Tommy, for 3 days.  She took us into Dublin (via the LUAS the cabled train system) to see some of the sites and do some shopping.  We spent hours talking and reminiscing.  We met neighbors and friends and family who had heard we were coming and wanted to meet us.  It was wonderful.  It became apparent then that my daughters sorely needed to connect with some young people and have some fun.  Tommys nephew, Paul, a rugby player who is a dead ringer for Toby Keith, and some of his friends took the girls out to Temple Bar for some Dublin-style partying.  Well, they enjoyed it so much that they went out again the next night, too.  And THAT is how I came to miss my opportunity to visit Newgrange.  They were too tired to get up early enough to make the Mary Gibbons tour, and I did not want to go alone.  The good news is that now I have an excuse to go back.  And believe me, I will.  Dublin was a definite highlight of the trip.  After all, its the people that we will remember most of all.

We really liked Christ Church Cathedral, and thought the Book of Kells was overpriced and hard to see, as there were a lot of tourists there that day. We were in line for the Guinness Tour, but realized it would be a wait (lots of tourists), and the girls had to get ready to go out (takes hours, you know), so we left.  Needless to say, Dublin made a strong impression on my daughters, and they both say they would like to return.

We said our tearful goodbye and promised not to wait another 36 years to get together.  Then we were off to Kilkenny, via the Wicklow mountains.  What a gorgeous drive!  We visited Powerscourt.  We all loved the gardens.  I did not know Rhododendrons came in all those colors.  Keely and Kasey fantasized about it being their home and throwing a great party there.  We walked all through the gardens, ate lunch and left for Glendalough.

I stopped at a local Home Depot sort of place to ask for directions.  A customer heard me and offered to lead me there.  This was the first of 3 times that someone offered to take me to where I was going.  So nice and so much appreciated.Glendalough was really all I had expected it to be.  So serene and peaceful and beautiful.  I would like to return sometime, perhaps in off-season when there would be almost no one there.  Wow.

We finally got to Kilkenny, and I pulled over at the Castle to ask a taxi driver for directions to Alcantra.  He led us there.  Liam and Brigit were so gracious.  They were on their way out for the evening, and they turned their sitting room over to us, as the TV in our room had just broken recently.  Its great how trusting people can still be.  They just gave me the keys, and left us there in their beautiful home.  Keely had caught a cold along the way, and wasnt feeling too great.  Kasey and I went out to bring back dinner.  About 5 minutes walk, and there was McDonalds.  I know, its sort of cheating, but it was just the ticket for the girls, one of whom was homesick and the other who had a cold.  So we ate McD, watched Charmed on TV, and went to bed.  BTW, we could not get over the F word being allowed on Irish TV!  The next day we toured KilkennyCastle, went to the Kilkenny Design Centre, and walked through a bit of the town.  It really was lovely, but we did not see much of it, sadly. We had given up one of our days there by staying an extra day in Dublin. Next time.

The drive to Killarney was long.  We stopped at the Rock of Cashel (wonderful) and ate lunch at Grannys Kitchen.  We found Killarney Lodge with no problem, and spent some time wandering around the town and shopping.  The next day we took a Deros tour of the Gap of Dunloe.  It was during the jaunting car ride that Kasey began her conversation with Helen, and we realized that we were the IrelandYes! forum folks.  It was so nice talking with Helen.  Then we ate lunch at Lord Brandons cottage, where I took a walk and found a lone chicken burrowing herself in a bowl of dust.  Our boat ride over the lakes was great, windy and cold.  When I told the captain that we are from an area where two rivers meet (Shenandoah and Potomac) at Harpers Ferry, he actually knew what I was talking about, and said he loves the song, Oh, Shenandoah.  We returned to town, and had dinner at Hannigans and I highly recommend it. 

Dingle was easy to get to, and a beautiful drive.  It rained all day the first day, so we went to the aquarium and to the shops and on to Murphys to meet up with the group from the forum.  Helen was there, but there was no indication of anyone else.  The place was crowded, and we needed to eat something, so we told Helen we would go and eat and return.  We did that, but she was gone when we got there, and the waitress said she was not approached by anyone who was supposed to meet up with a group.  So, that was a bust.  Saturday was beautiful, and we went horse-back riding at Longs. They were very nice and I would recommend them without hesitation.  Our guide was a girl from Hungary, Ana Maria.  She said she loved being in Ireland.  I fell pretty hard for Tom, my horse, but sadly, I had to leave him.  We returned to the B & B, which was the Tower View.  It was very nice.  They have a pet sheep (ram) worthy of mention.  His name is Harry, and he has 4 horns 2 curved ones (as you would expect) and then 2 that go out from his head like a giant V about 2 ½ feet long!  He was pretty amazing looking.  We fed him his favorite food:  toast.  Kasey loved him.  After a shower and a rest, we went out to the Slea Head Drive, stopped at some of the scenic overlooks and saw some beehive huts and ended at the Blasket Centre.  The views were extraordinary, and the film was very moving.  We drove back to the Tower View and organized our suitcases for the flight home.  Tomorrow would be our last day in Ireland. 

The drive to Bunratty was really easy, though somewhat long.  We did not go over the ConnorPass.  It rained on and off.  We found Bunratty Lodge easily, and then went back to see the castle.  Keely and Kasey were pretty tired, and were not too enthusiastic at first, but when we got inside the castle, they loved it!  We walked around the entire FolkPark and went back to Bunratty Lodge to get ready for our Ceili in the Corn Barn.  It started at 7pm, and it was a wonderful, entertaining evening, a perfect end to our trip. 

Our flight was for 11:00AM.  We turned the rental car in, and the man who checked it over took us to the terminal.  He was driving like a madman, and when he put on the brakes and turned a corner, all our luggage went flying out into the road!  We were pretty upset and worried about the breakable gifts we had.  There was no apology.  I dont think he likes his job very much.  We checked everything once we got inside, and nothing was broken.  After check-in, we shopped at the Duty Free shop. The flight home was uneventful.  I sat next to a really nice couple from Pennsylvania and chatted with them between naps.  The service on the flight home was better than the flight to Ireland.  I spent a fair amount of time thinking of making plans to go back.