Day 3:  Tuesday, June 7th

Robb had asked me the previous night if I’d like to wake up naturally without an alarm clock.  I thought he wanted to, so I said sure.  So he woke up at 5:30am like he always does and then sat in the tv room and read while we all slept until 9:30 when he finally couldn’t take the loneliness anymore.  I was shocked we had slept so long!  So we finally got on the road around 10:30am.  Days awastin! 

 

We headed West towards Cashel on the smallest narrowest roads we could find.  Not by choice…  We were determined to find the Rock of Cashel.  This is where St. Patrick preached and many many Kings of ancient Ireland had been crowned.  We finally came to Cashel and Robb parked in the first car park he found.    Pay and display rules applied here and we complied.  You pay for a parking time of say 2 hours and leave the ticket laying on your dashboard.  I panicked at this point because my wallet wasn’t in my purse.  I was positive I had it when we left the cottage and dug around under the seats.  No luck!  So we had no cash.  Robb had his wallet, so we found the first ATM and withdrew some cash.  Ryan and Maddy ran across the street to a SuperValue and got a couple waters for the walk.  The waters were a sparkling water that tasted awful!  We ended up dumping them out.  It turned out that it was a hefty long walk to the Rock.  When we got to the base of the steep hill that takes you there, there was a car park.and we knew it would take more than 1 hour and 20 minutes to see everything and make it back. 

 

Ryan and I decided to go get our car and move it to this car park instead.  So we started walking back.  We had a nice talk and I took some pictures of the Friary when we came to it half way back to the car.  At this point, I discovered that Robb hadn’t given either of us the key to the car!  So we headed back to the Rock to catch up with Robb.  He was sitting on the Rock drinking the awful water with the girls climbing on the rocks around like billy goats.  He had realized we’d forgotten the key when he went to pay for them.  And it was cheaper to buy a family pass so he waited outside for us.  So we started our mission back again.  Ryan shifted for me on the drive to the Rock car park.  He really enjoyed that.  Plus, he found my wallet!  It had fallen farther back under the seat than I had thought it might have.

 

The Rock of Cashel was incredible!  The main church park had no roof and had deteriorated quite a bit.  For having survived as long as it had, it was still very impressive.  The wind was horrific up there, but the views were fantastic!  We walked around the graveyard and found some very old tombstones, some very recent.  Robb decided that they must have had a fund raising event and sold spaces for new tombstone remembrances in the 80’s.  People in the 1980s hadn’t actually been buried there, but some put them there in memory of someone.  They had a movie explaining the history of the Rock.  After we left, Ryan admitted that he had at first misunderstood the narrator in the movie and thought that Mormons had invaded Ireland.  But no, it was really Normans.  Maddy found a tombstone dated in the 1400s. 

 

I drove from here and we went south towards Mitchelltown, where we found signs to the Mitchelltown caves.  We found it easily enough and had a picnic in an area next to the car park.  It was a good hike back to the cave entrance where we were met by a pretty girl who was the tour guide.  No pictures were allowed in the cave, so that was a bummer.  We started down the steps.  It was 100 feet to the bottom of the first cave.  Steep steep steps!  And narrow!  Maddy went first after the tour guide and Robb and Meri came last.  Meri was scared to death but was encouraged by everyone.  One step at a time!  Water dripping everywhere.  Once down, it was beautiful!  Crystals shone in a couple rocks that don’t get much moisture.  Then we came to a huge cavern where the Irish Tenors had given a special concert a couple years back..  We got to stand on the actual stage area when they stood and hear our voices echo through the caves.  It was beautiful!  Meri sang Jesus Loves Me to the wrong tune and giggled when she realized it.  Ryan graced us with his version of My Lovely Horse from the Irish sitcom “Father Ted”.  Our favorite tv show.  Our tour guide knew it well and loved that we knew it.  One of the rock formations looked like a giant monster or dinosaur.  The kids were creative with finding different images in the rocks.  The straws hanging from the ceiling are said to take 1000 years to gain an inch in length through the limestone. 

 

Afterwards we headed back to Bruree.  I had tea with Jessie when I took my laundry down.  The washer upstairs wasn’t working and she said we could bring it down and use hers.  Dick had come down with something since their trip and wasn’t feeling well enough to work on it.  Ryan got to meet David and they went off to play on David’s Playstation.  He felt right at home!  Well Jessie did our laundry and even folded it before she brought it up around 10pm. 

 

Dawn in Ireland in June is around 4:15 to 4:30 am every morning and sets around 10:30pm.  So needless to say, it was useless to put the kids down for bed until at least 10 or 10:30 every night.  I’m sure it’s a different story in the winter.

 

Day 4: Wednesday June 8th

We got up a bit earlier than the previous day and headed for County Clare.  Our mission today was to find the house in the Burren where they filmed “Father Ted” as well as the Cliffs of Moher.  I had found directions to the house on the internet and hoped they were right.  We took a couple wrong turns but eventually found it!  We were thrilled and stopped by the road to take pictures.  A neighbor was working on a stone fence up the road and must have thought we were crazy… But I’m sure he’s seen this before.  Apparently there is a family living there, and we didn’t want to disturb them.  So we turned around and headed back to a main road.  

 

Next on the agenda was getting to the beautiful cliffs of Moher.  And we did.  The last time we were there the parking lot was close to the cliffs next to an adorable stone cottage that served as a gift shop.  This time the parking lot was torn up and major construction was going on.  There was a makeshift gift shop across the highway with a much larger parking area.  The walk went over the hill past many cows next to the fence.  Meri wanted several pictures of them.  Thus coining Robb’s famous quote of the day… “We live in IOWA!!  We don’t need any more pictures of stinkin’ cows!”  This only encouraged the kids to point them out for the remainder of the trip. 

 

The walk was through construction, but came out of the edge of the cliffs to a gorgeous view.  Ryan, Meri & I purchased the euro tickets to get to the top of O’Briens tower.  There were clouds of gnats up there, so we didn’t stay long.  There was a free telescope.  Ryan bought more Guinness items and the girls found some souvenirs as well.  We took lots of pictures!  Meri went to town taking pictures with the panoramic camera.  It will be interesting seeing how they turn out.  Ryan met a pretty girl up there and started a conversation.  One sided, as her interpreter came up to tell him that this girl was from Italy and didn’t speak English.  So Ryan asked her to interpret for him.  She reluctantly did, but Ryan never got the Italian girls name. 

 

It was very warm on the cliffs that day.  In fact the weather had been much warmer than we had anticipated and we were running out of cool weather clothes.  Everyone’s jackets were tied around their waists.  We saw one man from Germany singing in German on the edge of the cliffs with a friend video taping him.  Don’t know what that was about. 

 

I bought a cd from a young man who was playing the harp on the long sidewalk down the cliffs.  Meri and Maddy found a couple dogs that belonged to a woman who played the accordian there as well.  I let Maddy throw a Euro in her case when they were done playing with the dogs.

 

We then had lunch in the car in the car park there.  Afterwards headed north through the Burren.  The ground around us became very rocky.  We stopped a couple times to let the kids run out on the rocks.  It was like landing on the moon or being in another world.   Some plants grew between the rocks, but not many.  Totally weird landscape.  We found another beach farther north and let the kids collect shells. 

 

On the way back we took a wrong turn and ended up on one of the secondary narrow roads again.  Oops!  Oh well, Clare county is beautiful and you see it up close and personal on those roads.  We then made our way back to Bruree.  Maddy and I drove into Kilmallock (6 miles away) for some take-away (take out).  We brought back some chicken and chips (French fries).  Not exactly Kentucky Fried, but it was very good. 

 

Robb, Ryan and Maddy watched a Tv-ized “Minority Report”.  Meri and I went to bed early that night.  The TV had only 3 channels.  The kids got hooked on a VERY dumb show called “David the Gnome”, mainly to make fun of it.  The lead gnome had Tom Bosley’s voice.  They found “Dora the Explorer” who spoke in Gaelic and was teaching the kids Spanish.  There was “What’s the Story in Ballamorey?” and the main cartoon show was “The Den” that had an Irish cowgirl with a very bad Texas accent and a puppet with an even worse Texas accent introducing the cartoons.  Meri mimicked her for about a month afterwards.  Every night was a movie on one of the channels and usually a program about a realtor trying to find a young couple a cottage to fix up.  Or a show about Holiday Homes from hell.  The kids and Robb also discovered a show called "Little Britain".  Not all of it is appropriate for kids, but they switched the channels a lot.

 

Meri discovered snails all around the Mill and started collecting them.  She was determined to take her new pets home, but we convinced her that the officials at the airport would confiscate them.  So she let them go every night.  But that morning, she had quite a collection.  Cludo, the puppy from downstairs had become Meri’s best friend as well and came up to see if we had any treats.  Maddy had some leftover chips from the plane and was giving them to Cludo.  Cludo saw the snails and took off with one, thinking it was a chip.  We heard him crunching it behind the flower bushes and Meri flipped out!  Crisis!!!

 

Day 8 Sunday, June 12th

Breakfast at Kingdom View was wonderful!  Full Irish breakfast.  Two other families were staying as well and we compared notes.  We loaded up the car, settled our bill and took off.  We discovered that though the B&B’s were lovely and very friendly places, bringing kids to them isn’t the best choice.  I felt like I had to constantly shush them.  Renting a cottage was much easier and cheaper for week.  We'll definitely rent a cottage again next time we come. 

 

Regarding B&B’s, on Thursday we found out that Jessie & Dick wanted us to come back and stay on Sunday night instead of another B&B.  We had paid for 7 nights and we were only staying 5.  And since no one had rented the place for that week, we were welcome to stay.  So I cancelled the B&B near Bunratty for Sunday night on that Thursday.  On our contract (through GoIreland.com) it said that if we cancelled 48 hours in advance, we wouldn’t be charged.  I called the B&B to cancel.  I should have called GoIreland.  The lady there wanted to charge me anyway if she wasn’t able to rent it out.  I called GoIreland when we got home and they took care of it.  Friendly, friendly people!  She wasn't supposed to charge that.

 

So anyway, leaving Kingdom View, we headed back onto the Ring of Kerry for one last look at the ocean.  We took the B&B ladies advice (I wish I could remember her name) and found Castlebeigh/Rossbeigh beach.  Very rocky parking area!  And a steep rocky hill to the beach, but once there the beach was soft and huge.   Tons and tons of tiny sea shells everywhere!  Meri & I collected quite a few and kept them in a Pringle’s can.  The kids built their sand castle, got wet, found a wet dog to play with, found several washed up jelly fish, stepped on one and had a great time!  The kids had to change their clothes next to the car out in front of the world.  Meri had sand everywhere and complained when she walked.

 

Our next stop was Killarney.  We found the road with the most shops and the book store that Robb wanted to check out.  He found the Sister Fidelma books that could not be found in the USA, I found some Niall Williams books (not the ones I was really looking for - but they'll be fine) and the kids found a few books each too.  Of course, their books could have been found at the local Borders store.  But it gave them something to do for the flight back.  Actually I had been looking for Niall Williams sequel to "O Come Ye Back to Ireland" and found it at our local Borders book store when we got home!  Small world!

 

We had lunch in a pub a few doors down from the book store and gift shops.  We’re suckers for the cheesy souvenir shops!  I got an Irish newspaper for a friend and some candy for the road.  Does anyone else love those Aero bars?  The Mint Chocolate ones as well as the Orange ones were fabulous!!!  I wish we could find them here. 

 

Ryan found a Guinness bottle key chain with fluid in it.  I made sure by asking that it was only colored water.  I found lots of stickers with Aoife written on them.  That’s Meredith’s middle name and you can’t find anything like that at home.  Maddy picked out lots of postcards. 

 

Then we hiked back to the park & pay car park.  We decided to skip Tralee and took Jessie’s advice about Crag Cave.  She had been there on several school trips and raved about it.  But we kept it a secret from the kids.  They had their noses in books or slept, so it wasn’t a problem.  However unbeknownst to me, Robb tried to be a sweetheart and drove miles out of our way to find a Woolen Mills outlet.  We drove in and discovered that they’re closed on Sundays.  Bummer!  It was a nice thought though. 

 

We found Crag Cave easily enough.  Tons of signs to guide you there!  While we waited for the next tour to start, the kids and I found more souvenirs!  I bought 2 Rugby Ireland shirts for Ryan and Maddy and since they didn’t have one in Meri’s size, I got her little dolls for the flight home.  I wanted to know what an Irish phrase meant on a sign, to make sure it didn’t say anything inappropriate.  Both girls running the counter had no idea and didn’t speak Gaelic.  I’m beginning to think only 5 people in County Clare still speak it.  By the way, all the signs were still in English! 

 

The Cave was vastly different from Mitchellstown Caves.  For one thing you could take pictures here.  Also the steps coming down into it were metal.  It was much more commercialized.  But still had water dripping from the ceiling and the usual damp feeling.  The guide heard we had been to Ailwee & Mitchelltown and asked us how this one compared.    I have to say that Ailwee is still my favorite.  But I didn’t tell her that.

 

We headed back to Bruree and our final night at the cottage.  We packed and cleaned up the car as well as the house  Getting all the groceries out for our final meal in our own little cottage.  For supper that night we had leftover chips (French fries), spaghetti, hard boiled eggs, toast, salad, Lucozade (awful stuff!), milk, cereal and the rest of the battered hamburger pattys.  The kids got very silly and I recorded most of it on my digital camera as mini movies.  More of the puffin jokes flew! 

 

I took the rest of our food stash down and gave it to Jessie along with our $$ to reimburse the electricity coins.  She was such a dear and gave me a hug goodbye!  We missed seeing the old mill run because Dick had been sick all week, but she told us to come back someday and rent there again.  We very well might.

 

 

Day 9 Monday, June 13th

Got an early start today.  Didn’t even eat any breakfast at the cottage.  Just loaded up everything, locked up and went.  I drove this morning to the airport.   We took our final swing through Limerick and found the car return place without a problem.  The man took a look at our rental and the broken mirror and said they would send us a bill.  Haven’t gotten one yet.  Robb thought this might happen pretty frequently and they could replace it with a few Euro.  They gave us a lift to the airport in their bus.  The kids looked wiped out! 

 

At the airport, we got a final Irish breakfast at the café.  Blood sausage!  The kids thought I was gross to order it, but actually didn’t mind the flavor once I forced them to try it.  It would be nice to get back to real meaty sausages though. 

 

We found the area we were supposed to be in for our flight and I saw the shops.  Robb was anxious to get through customs, so he said that I could come back and shop once we got settled.  WRONG.  Once through customs, you cannot go back, so don’t fall for it when your husband tries to tell you that.  He was truly sorry however.  There was a shop in the waiting area, but it wasn’t open.  So we had 2 hours to sit and wait.  Meri took more panoramic pictures of us sitting there looking tired.  The older two just read. 

 

Once on the plane, we had to wait some more and it felt like forever before we were finally off the tarmac and in the air.   We arrived in Boston and found out that the Chicago plane was being delayed.  What a surprise!  Apparently bad weather over Chicago today!  Again…  So we called Doug and made arrangements for a later pickup at the O’Hare as he had our minivan.

 

Doug met us at the baggage claim area and walked us to our car.  I don’t know, but I probably would’ve parked closer than 3 miles from the airport.  At least it seemed like it.  Up escalators, across parking lots, down steps, up an elevator, down an escalator...  I was beginning to think he didn’t know where it was until suddenly we were there!

 

We got back to Doug’s house, used their toilet again and headed home.  Since we had been without sleep for almost 23 hours, Robb & I decided to stop in Sterling and get a hotel.  The kids were zombies and walked in without luggage or even shoes.  We slept for 6 hours in our clothes and left the next morning extremely early.  We had taken my laptop for this trip and had downloaded roughly 80 pictures and movies each night.  Recharged the camera batteries and did it all again the next day.  So I used this time to go over the pictures, relive a few memories with everyone and started on this diary in the car.

 

We made it home by mid afternoon, taking an hour break for a wonderful Machine Shed lunch. 

 

Hopefully it will be sooner than another 7 years before we go back.

 

Val

 

 

Hi Michele,

I found my file on Father Ted locations...

basically you have to get onto the R476 from Corafin and go to Kilnaboy (look out for a ruined church, post office and phone box), take a right, go past the school, and just keep on following the road, you know you are near when you see a stream running on the left of the road, a bit further and the house is on the left.

My only changes to these directions is keep on going on this road even when you think you're on the wrong one.  It goes on forever!!!  And I never saw the stream.  Trust me, if you've ever seen Father Ted, you WILL recognize the house when you get to it.  You're almost out of the Burren when you finally get there.

The Old Mill in Bruree was very nice!  3 bedrooms, 2 baths, smallish kitchen, diningroom & livingroom.  The electricity is run with coins and you reimburse the owner at the end of the week.  They supply the coins.  This heats the water and runs the appliances.  Dishwasher, stove, etc.  Very comfortable.  The livingroom smelled vaguely of smoke, maybe from the peat fireplace.  They had a small stereo in the livingroom with a few cds to listen to.  The kids learned to do the Hustle from it!  There is a beautiful flower garden in the front.  You park by the back door.  From the front door, you can walk down some steps, walk along the mill stream back to the apartment downstairs where the owner lives.  The sound of the stream is very comforting.

Our 10 best highlights were... (and not in any particular order)

Bunratty Traditional Irish Night

Dolphin Boat Ride from Kilrush

Rock of Cashel

Mitchelltown Caves

Father Ted's House

Any beach

Kate Kearneys cottage

Skellig Boat Ride

Blarney Castle & grounds

Cliffs of Moher

Your story about Mitchelltown caves sounded exciting!  In the Ailwee cave 7 years ago, they turned off the lights and you couldn't see your hand in front of your face.  I can't imagine being stuck in there with a bunch of school girls if that happened!

Val

BTW:  My 10 year old made a movie using our photos and movies from the trip, backed up with great Irish music for the 4H fair.  She got a blue ribbon!  I'm burning you a copy and sending it off in the next few days.  It's fabulous!  She did a wonderful job.  I hope you like it!

 

-- Edited by mcval at 22:02, 2005-09-09

Great Report Val!

The pram guy in Bruree is a pretty reliable fixture in town...did you notice the bicycle mirrors on the pram...he always sees you before you see him.

You saw a lot of great stuff, and it sounds like the kids had a great time too. Thanks for posting!

Forgot to "log in" earlier...still getting used to the new forum. I was the anonymous post earlier.

Yeah, my car was entered into pram guys list of license plate numbers in 2004. A local told me that he keeps track of all the cars that come through town just in case there was ever a problem. Any time something happens...the Garda go to him first. He's quite a character.

I just visited Bruree after visiting Mitchelstown Caves; we walked around, visited the DeVelara Museum and checked emails there...all very enjoyable. Made my first stop in Kilmallock this summer. It was late in the evening, so things were quiet, but it was very nice...much more of a working Irish market town. It's actually a pretty good-sized town and the Blossom Gate and abbeys were very interesting.

Val,

The CD arrived today. Thank you sooo much. I felt as if I was along you on your trip with your lovely family. It was just wonderful. My husband watched it twice. Your daughter did a wonderful job and richly deserves a blue ribbon! Many thanks to you both for such a nice gift.

Michele