First trip to Ireland; taking whole darn family! (8 people) HELP!!!

Marcia Gold · Newbie

First trip to Ireland; taking whole darn family! (8 people) HELP!!!

Michele Erdvig · Host

Marcia,

Welcome to my forum! We are delighted to share our love of Ireland with you. I just had a look at your website. WOW! What beautiful photos. You are truly an artist. I can't wait to see what you do with the Irish landscape.

Maybe it is not such a bad thing to take your trip of a lifetime a couple of years early. Who knows, you might just have to return for your 25th too! wink After all there will be 8 people this time. Maybe something romantic in two years for just the two of you?

You did spell my name right. And I had a good laugh when I read "Michele, should we just hire you instead of begging for free information?" Please feel free to use the forum and get whatever info you need here. That is why I created it. There is no "begging" just asking and helping. If you think you need extra care and attention after using the forum and/or getting my book, then by all means contact me about an itinerary. But that is not a condition of the forum. We are all here to help and have fun.

I think that the change I would make to your itinerary would be to skip staying in Kenmare. It is my favorite small town in Ireland but spending two nights in Killarney instead makes more sense. You must make two trips to Kerry Airport, one at 10:30 at night! If you stay in Killarney you are only 15-20 minutes away. If you are in Dingle it is 1-1/2 hours. I would not do that drive in the dark.

That will only give you one night in Dingle, unless you care to steal one from Dromoland or Dublin. But that should be sufficient.

If you have not already done so, take a look at my Lodgings page for good recommendations on where to stay.

Butler House & Butler Court get good reviews, however the latter may be noisy. I checked Rosquil on my last visit and will be staying there myself next time. It was splendid. Priced right too.

Castlewood, Heatons, Greenmount - all good choices. Although I must say my favorite is Emlagh House. Downstairs rooms have private patios overlooking the bay.

The Shelbourne has just gone through a multi-million euro remodel. It is a venerable Irish landmark and in an excellent location.

Why not learn a few Irish phrases? You can even listen to Irish radio to see if you can understand anything. biggrin : http://www.rte.ie/radio/index.html and click on RTE Raidio na Gaeltachta

Michele

-- Edited by Michele Erdvig on Monday 23rd of March 2009 01:30:57 AM

Marcia Gold · Newbie

Thank you Michele. My husband, who never listens to anybody but me because he has to, has taken every one of your suggestions to heart so we've redesigned our itinerary and I hope you think this is okay:

Arrive 8:35am Monday 13 July, drive to Kilkenny, stay at Rosquil for two nights (they are SO nice and I told them you insisted we change our itinerary so we could stay there!)
Check out Rock of Cashel, Bru Bora/Sounds of History Museum, maybe St. Canice's Cathedral and Dunmore Cave (we love caves). Kilkenny restaurant because they have vegetarian food; visit Kilkenny Design Center and Cashel Folk Village if time.

15 and 16 July: Visit either Cork or Blarney Castle (why are we kissing a touristy dirty old rock?); Muckross House and Gardens. 2 nights at Loch Lein Country House Hotel; asked for Michele's discount & received it! Pick up mom/niece the next morning; short run around Ring of Kerry; pick up son & wife pm. Staying in Killarney as per your recommendation since I have two trips to Kerry Airport in one day.

17 July (Friday): Dingle Peninsula, stay at Castlewood House in Dingle Town, hit a pub that night for music (son will bring mandolin so he can jam with other musicians); maybe Dingle An Droichead Beag? One night in Dingle as per your recommendation.

18 and 19 July: Lunch in Adare and maybe medieval banquet (Bunratty tourist banquet or Traditional irish Night Ceili?? not sure) on the way to two nights in Corofin at Ballypiortry Castle. Wheee! Also was able to tell a few other B&Bs in the area that you recommended them. Next day visiting the Burren with my macro lens (I will send you photos); Aillwee Cave, maybe Cliffs of Moher unless too crowded. Dinner and pub music in Doolin at McGann's or O'Connors.

20, 21, 22 July: Leave Corofin, try to hit Galway (or not), try to hit Clonmacnoise Castle on way to Dublin (or not?), return car at airport I guess. Not good idea to drive to hotel in Dublin and drop off family? Two full days in Dublin, hoping to get some good music in at night; tourist stuff by day.

Still haven't resolved the rental car issue. We have a reservation but after reading your book a few times, now realize more research needs to be done.

WE LOVE YOUR BOOK and have read it over and over. It's the only book we'll take with us.

Am learning Irish. Online. Can't understand anything yet on the radio link. But I can say "Kiss My Ass" pretty well, and so can my boys. Hope we don't get in trouble at those pubs!!!!

Anyhow, hope this sounds okay, would love love love any feedback you can give.

Marcia

PS Will be sending you Iirish landscape photos on my return, you've been so helpful. I'm bringing a lot of lenses and will do some HDR (High Dynamic Range) while there. Could be stunning results. It's my latest photo fad.

CowboyCraic · Guru

Marcia,

It definitely looks less frantic than your original. I don't see how you will squeeze in the Banquet or the Corn Barn Ceili and make it to your lodgings in Corofin though.

You should find some excellent musicians and seissuns in Co Clare, as the Willie Clancy Summer school will have just finished up on July 12 in Miltown Malby and the Galway Arts festival will be just kicking off. The Galway Arts Festival runs from July 13 - 29th. There is a lot of street entertainment at City Centre, some good, some excellent and some that make you wonder what they were thinking. confuse

There is so much to see in the immediate Kilkenny area, you might think of heading to Killarney via Cashel & Cahir and doing those sites enroute instead of Cork or Blarney. Just outside of Kilkenny, you have Jerpoint Abbey, Kells Priory, Rothe House, St Canice Cathedral, Duiske Abbey, Kilfane Glen & Waterfall and Dunmore Cave. Then there is all of Kilkenny to explore .

I would recommend the Cliffs of Moher cruise over seeing the cliffs from the top. It is quite the experience, looking up at those touring cliffs, teeming with seabirds, from your ferry boat.

For learning Irish, I often suggest Pimsluers Irish, which offers eight lessons on CD. You can find it on Amazon, I would think. It does seem that the less polite words are the ones most quickly learned. That may be a primitive survival reflex. biggrin

Car rental is the least desirable chore when planning a trip to Ireland. I continue to book with my favorite company and have given up on the hunt for the best rate.

I wish you the best of light for your photography. I will include one I have pulled out of my archives. This photo was taken on Inis Mor near the Black Fort.

Slan Beo & Safe Journeys, Bit

-- Edited by CowboyCraic on Wednesday 1st of April 2009 01:01:46 AM

-- Edited by CowboyCraic on Wednesday 1st of April 2009 01:03:27 AM

stewh · Guru

Marcia,
What a great trip you have planned. We spent a week self-catering in Corofin a couple of trips ago and got to really like the village. You may know that the American feminist writer, Rosemary Mahoney, wrote a very interesting book, Whoredom in Kimmage about her time in Ireland where she lived in Ballyportry Castle. People I talked to in some Corofin pubs were not enthralled by the book. You may find some good music in the Corofin Pubs. We saw a group of French musicians doing Trad there. I am sure you won't upset anyone with 'Pogue Mahone'. The language in Irish Pubs can be pretty salty by North American standards. Have a good time.
Stewart

Green Dragon · Guru

Just be careful about being the focus of complaints. I took my husband, parents, and two girlfriends to Scotland last summer (I posted the trip report on this site) and had no end of troubles until I put a stop to it. I was the 'common' link of them all, so I was the person to whom complaintswere registered. Since I did the planning and such, I took it badly whenever someone complained - and my husband is a chronic complainer. Eventually I told everyone if they had a problem with someone, talk to THEM. Only complain to me about problems to me, that's all I could handle! :)

Marcia Gold · Newbie

Bit! Go raibh maith agat!! You are amazing. I've already removed Blarney Castle/Cork and the Corn Hall ceili from my itinerary. Galway will go next. No Green Blur for us! We plan to return many times.

The Pimsluers Irish book and CD is on its way, along with a few copies of "Wicked Irish". We loved the French version, can't wait for this one. And we're going to book the Cliffs of Moher cruise. No crowded clifftops for us.

What do you think about the Sciuird Archaeological Tour on Dingle? Is it worth it? Or should we just drive around ourselves?

Car rental still ahead. We booked one thru economycarrentals.com, but I will research before trusting it at all.

Thank you Stew H for the book tip...guess I won't carry that one around in Corofin. One of my sons is bringing his backpack guitar and mandolin, and wants to jam in the pubs. My middle son, the drummer, wants to buy a bodhran and join in as well. The youngest boy will just go around using salty Irish. What an adventure. How do you say "Oy, gevalt!" in Irish!

And Green Dragon, thanks for the heads up. I took 67 people to Paris for our son's bar mitzvah in 2006, and I actually had more trouble leading up to the trip, with so-and-so saying they would not be in the same room with someone else, etc., and I was terrified I'd be hit with tons of complaints. But besides having to ask one guest to stop picking up on the cute girls; and comforting a few parents whose kids disappeared one night into the French countryside to have some unsupervised 'fun', it was a great trip. I will make sure to deflect all complaints. (Although I never take anything personally unless my husband says it, and he knows better than to complain about anything but money.)

I can't wait to get back and post my landscapes.

Michele Erdvig · Host

Marcia,

Sorry for not answering sooner but I have been up to my eyeballs in work. I think your new itinerary looks very good. Although I had to smile about "short run around Ring of Kerry". Actually doing the Iveragh Peninsula takes a good portion of a day. You might want to consider a more relaxing day seeing the sights in Killarney itself. You can easily fill the day with Muckross House, Gardens & Traditional Farms, Ross Castle, Torc Waterfall, Muckross Abbey, Cherry Tree Walk, etc.

Skip Cashel Folk Village. I did not think it worth the time or money. But as Bit suggested you could do Cashel and Cahir on your drive to Killarney. There is a lot to do from Kilkenny. The R700 south to Inistioge is very scenic and the village of Inistoige is so cute. It was used in the movies "Circle of Friends" and "Widow's Peak".

For lunch in Adare try the golf club at Adare Manor, Dunraven Arms pub, or Pat Collin's Bar. If you eat at the golf club be sure to take a stroll around the grounds and gardens. The doorman at Adare Manor is a character!

On leaving Corofin I think I would skip Galway and head to Clonmacnoise (not a castle but a monastic site). Who knows, you might even fit it a visit to Belvedere House & Gardens on that day, depending on time.

Glad my book is coming in handy. I will look forward to your review of Ballyportry Castle.

Michele

P.S. The first thing everyone always learns in Irish is pogue mahon!

murphybridget · Veteran Member

It sounds like you're in for quite an adventure in Corofin with your sons! Jamming in the pubs with backpack guitar, mandolin, and bodhran sounds like a fantastic way to immerse yourselves in the local music scene. And navigating the nuances of salty Irish language adds an extra layer of fun to the experience!