Excellent music, Bob!

Was sorry to hear about your family's "Loss" and glad to see that you are still here.  It has been kind of quiet on the Ireland web sights lately, guess it has to do with off-season and all.

I am still working on our March 27 trip.  I will share our plans for the first 4 days on another post.

Have made contact with Buckley self catering near Millstreet, but Katherine is not sure she wants to do a Thursday-Wednesday schedule, when the normal is weekend to weekend.  Am also wondering if we will need an entire week for geneology.  Also am having anxiety about spending a whole week away from a pub with trad music!  We are booked into Dublin Mar 27 Sun and Mar 28 Monday, (jet lag days!) and Kilkenny March 29 Tues. and March 30 Wed.  On the other end we are booked in at Kenmare April 7 Thurs and April 8 Fri, and Bunratty April 9, flying out of Shannon April 10.  That leaves Mar 31 thru April 7 wide open.

Would love to do a self cater for that time frame, convenient to where we will be doing geneology research, and the music/pub scene in the evenings, but may have to think about B&B's instead.  We have not seen the Skibbereen, Bantry, Baltimore area of SW Cork county including Beara Peninsula.  We can do Beara from Kenmare.  The rest... maybe enroute from Millstreet to Kenmare, making a south and southwest loup.  I'm open to suggestions, if you have time to weigh in.   Dan 

 

Dan, 

This is always a quiet time of year on the forum. Everyone is busy with the holidays. Once the new year is here things will get busy again with people starting to plan their 2011 trips. Actually the quiet time gives me the time I need to update and publish the new edition of my book each year. Would you believe that in 2011 it will be in it's 20th edition?  Where does the time fly to?

Where are you staying in your already booked towns?

Michele

Dan,

You will be very happy at Rosquil. Rhoda and Phil run a super nice guesthouse. If you walk into town for dinner you can always catch a taxi back. It won't be that much.

Virginia's is right in Kenmare town. They don't have private parking so you will have to jockey for space on the street. I just stayed at Arthur's Lodge Wood, which is just around the corner from town - about a 3 minute walk. It is excellent with plenty of parking. If you want to be right in the town with off-street private parking try O'Donnabhain's. Personally, I prefer being just slightly out of town as it cuts down on the noise. I'm a light sleeper. But you can always ask for a quiet room in the back.

Bunratty Lodge is my favorite in Bunratty. I know Mary will look after you very well.

I think you should give self-catering a try. It is a totally different experience from B&Bs. When I'm in Ireland I do a mix. I like to give my husband a break from moving on all the time. You can settle in, spread out, not be on anyone's schedule but your own, sleep in if you want, cook or not. But it is very nice to have a whole house just for yourselves. Plus you get to explore one area in depth.

Michele

Bob,

Within the past few days, I have been in contact with Catherine, and she is willing to do our self-cater Thursday-Wednesday March 31 through April 6. Her price is actually less than what you quoted, so it IS a great deal for a week, and it had crossed my mind to pay for the week and NOT use all the days....if....we were done with geneology. This works out (with the Euro at $1.40) to be about $13.50/night/person based on the lease price over 7 nights for 4 people. A B&B would be about 4 times that amount/person, but would, however, include breakfast. I am waiting to hear back from Catherine to see if there will be electricty and/or heating oil charges, what the down payment will be, and how she will want to be paid....cash or credit card, etc. When we find out these details, we are very close to booking. Rathmore sounds like a good option for music on weekday evenings, and we might check on Killarney for an afternoon/early evening session....most likely on the weekend....if it all. We could leave Buckleys a couple of days early, and then head southwest toward Baltimore/Scibbereen/Bantry area. Which of these or other southern Cork towns in that area, would be good to spend a couple of nights at,  in your opinion, and get in on some good sessions?

We had planned to go to Cork city ourselves to tour the "Murphy's" Brewery. I emailed them, and they replied that due to construction/remodel that Heiniken is doing there, their insurance company won't allow them to do any tours. (Heiniken bought them out a few years back.) There is another brewery in Cork City...."Bemish" (sp) I believe, that does tours, so may do that, then stop for a exterior photo op. at "Murphys" Of course, we will have already taken the "Guiness" and "Smithwicks" brewery tours by then. Our friends want to do the Jamison tour, and my wife says she wouldn't mind doing that again also....it is great whiskey! I was one of the official "tasters" when we were there in 06! Considering 5 samples, and then a shot of the favorite....well.... I was the driver, and had to take it easy during the taste testing! Luckily I had loaded up on a big Irish Fry Breakfast!

I know you have stayed at the Buckley self cater, and if you would happen to come by on your way in the evening, you are welcome to stop in for a cuppa and an "IrelandYes Irregulars" chat! I know your time will be short with only a week.

Thanks for your help! Getting close to 3 months.....and counting! Dan

Michele,

Your self catering breakfast menu sounds just great for us!  That way we will be hungry enough to try some of the great soups, toasted sand., and breads that are popular in Ireland for our lunches.

Yes, our plans are progressing nicely.  I have just received an email from Catherine at Buckley's Self Catering near Millstreet,  tonight.  We are booked in for 7 nights, March 31-April 6.  The rate is 270 Euros/week, with no extra charge for heat or electricity, no deposit, and will take cash but no credit card.  We are looking forward to trying self-catering after spending over 24 nights in B&B's during the past 2 trips to Ireland.

I will post a full proposed itinerary after the first of the year.

We are in the process of getting ready for 2 weeks with my parents in sunny Arizona over the Christmas school break, and there fore the Ireland planning will be on hold for a while.  This self cater is the last big piece of the puzzle.  I don't know if I mentioned our rental car situation, but it has been reserved and pre-paid  in US dollars, which gave us a 10% discount.  We booked a mid-size standard sedan for 12 days for $533.00 US.  This was through "Journey Ireland" a semi local tour company from the Pudget Sound area, which has been in the Ireland tourism business for over 40 years, and holds a franchise agreement with Hertz Car Rental.  It is advertised, and verified by others who have booked there as all inclusive (except for super cdw)  You used to be able to purchase SCDW ahead of time, but the last few years, it has only been available at the car rental booth IN Ireland.  They tell me SCDW will be 12 Euros a day, and will add approx another $200 on for a total cost of $733.00, which will be split between 2 couples.  We decided not to use the World Mastercard for CDW since there was another couple involved, and the entire transaction would only be on one credit card, and only me as the driver listed on the contract.  I felt good about being able to lock in the price in US dollars, in case the value of the dollar declines, and the fact that it was all inclusive.  Hopefully no surprises when we get home on our credit card statement!

Hope everyone's preparations for the Holidays are going well.   Dan