Ireland Redeux -- June 2011 Plans

Itallian Chauffeur · Moderator

Ireland Redeux -- June 2011 Plans

susan · Senior Member

Hi Bob-looking forward to your trip report,I have not been to most of the areas you are going to.

I have been to Powerscourt gardens/waterfall in June and it was lovely,wicklow and sally gap also.

Do you know if your Delta flight is an Aer Lingus code share?Every flight on Aer Lingus has had a time change that we have been on.

Have fun!

Susan

Roy · Guru

My apprehension is based on the 2009 trip which was a JetBlue-Aer Lingus partnership out of Dulles. At the last minute the jetBlue flight was changed and our layover became 10+ hours. To make matters worse, JetBlue couldn't figure out how to check our luggage trough to Shannon. The one time I flew Delta out of JFK, it was a nice flight of directions.

Itallian Chauffeur · Moderator

Susan --

Thanks.

We did a 'Drive By' of Glendalough, back in 2000, on a 1 day drive from Dublin to Cork, so we thought it was High Time to try a slightly more 'in depth' visit ... biggrin

To the best of my knowledge, Delta only code shares with Air France, BUT -- Delta has messed with my flight times REPEATEDLY since I purchased. furious furious

When I bought my tix in March, we were to leave MCO at 6 PM and only endure a 1 hour and 45 minute lay-over at JFK. biggrin

Currently, my MCO departure is 1:34 PM with a 5.5 hour lay-over at JFK. furious furious

When they notified me (I signed up for email alerts biggrin ) they said to contact them if the change caused any problems. confuse When no OTHER routing options proved tenable, I suggested they fly me into DUB, instead -- biggrin biggrin

THEY said -- "But that would constitute a change of itinerary, so we would need to charge you a Change Fee" --- $700 PER TICKET!!!!! furious bleh furious

I think I dislike dealing with the Airline Industry ALMOST as much as Irish Car Hire companies!

Bob

-- Edited by Itallian Chauffeur on Sunday 29th of May 2011 10:42:38 AM

Roy · Guru

Good grief Bob! $700 is criminal...

Itallian Chauffeur · Moderator

Roy --

We've done the Aer Lingus / Jet Blue tandem twice -- once via JFK and once via BOS. While we DID have luggage booking issues BOTH ways, we didn't have any significant scheduling glitches. confuse

Continental once 'Added In' an 8 hour lay-over in NEWARK on a trip in/out of Sarasota, but THEY kindly allowed a re-route into Ft Meyers, at NO charge -- that worked for us, as our daughter lives 1/2 way between the two ... biggrin

Airfare AND connections seem to be getting to be MORE and MORE of a crap shoot! furious

Yar... It IS criminal -- that's why we are STILL doing the convoluted routing! biggrin

Bob

-- Edited by Itallian Chauffeur on Sunday 29th of May 2011 11:24:21 AM

Michele Erdvig · Host

Bob,

I'm just back and rented through Dooley. When I phoned their NJ office and booked they waived the fee for declining CDW.

I recommend the restaurant at the Whitford House Hotel. Nice meals in the bar and great staff.

Vinegar Hill did not impress me. Lots of trash on the pathway up. Evidently the locals light fires up there and it is a sort of "lovers lane" on weekends.

On the drive from Rathdrum to Glendalough you will drive through the Vale of Clara. There is a little sign for the church, which is a very peaceful place down by the river with a bridge.

I was just at Riversadale and saw the cottage. It is small and cozy. Rustic yet with all modern amenities. You can take the stepping stones across the river and hike down the hill to Glendalough. To avoid the crowds go early or late.

Michele

Itallian Chauffeur · Moderator

Michele --

Welcome Back! The Cottage at Riverside sounds PERFECT. Not that I'm suprised, though -- We chose it based upon YOUR rec for the B&B ... biggrin biggrin biggrin biggrin

I hear you, about Vinegar Hill. It's a pity to hear that it's been trashed like that, but I'll PROBABLY still need to see it. hmm

My personal favorite spot in Dublin -- Croppie's Acre -- USED to be even worse. The gate was usually locked -- you had to wheedle a key from the Gateman at Collin's Barracks. After dark, it was habitated by junkies and hookers so it was often littered with dirty needles, broken bottles -- and worse. They've REALLY cleaned the place up, in recent years, but it still doesn't have much draw for the typical tourist.

On another board, long ago, I wrote about the place :

Croppie's Acre is really more a state of mind. The actual grounds are very low key and unimpressive visually, but it is the intangibles that touch me most.
During the time of the 1798 Rebellion, the Acre was unreclaimed swamp land that drained off into the Liffy. What is now Collins Barracks was an English Garrison.

Many Rebels were brought there to the Garrison and publicly executed. Afterwards, their bodies were dumped, unceremoniously, into the adjacent marshland that served as the barracks garbage heap. Among the most notable victims were Matthew Tone (younger brother of Wolfe Tone) and his comrade in arms, Bartholomew Teeling (hero of the Battle of Collooney). Both were commisioned officers in the 1,000 man French Expeditionary Army that General Jean Arable Humbert landed at Killalla, Co. Mayo and stormed through Ballina, Castlebar and most of Connaught, before finally succumbing at the Battle of Ballinamunck, in Co. Leitrim to the 10,000 British troops, under the command of Lord Cornwallis and the Butcher of Vinegar Hill, General Lake.

Despite the British assurrances given at the time of surrender, of fair and honorable treatment of his men, Tone and Teeling were singled out as "traiterous Englishmen".

Their's are just two of the Ghosts that haunt the unassuming Acre. So small a space could never really contain such men as they. Their spirit echoes through out Dublin, just as it lives through all of Ireland.

I AM a bit of a History buff and, no doubt, a bit of an old-fashioned romantic, I suppose. There really isn't much to see in Croppie's Acre, but each time that I am in Dublin, that fact doesn't stop me from looking."

Also, when I was researching the 1798 Rebellion, back in 2002, a facinatingly knowledgeable historian ( and sometime Bass player, for Ciaran Wynne) gave me a copy of his Doctoral Thesis. His name was Mario Corrigan ( the researcher featured in the Rosie O'Donald episode of "Who Do You Think You Are").

I walked the wet and muddy fields at Ballinamuck, all alone, in a driving February rainstorm, while my wife and our other four traveling companions sat, bemused, in the warm, dry van ... confuse

So, sadly -- I probably HAVE to stand atop Vinegar Hill -- in SPITE of it's neglected condition ...

If only JUST long enough to utter a particularly vitriolic curse upon Gerald Lake ... biggrin biggrin

Bob

-- Edited by Itallian Chauffeur on Sunday 29th of May 2011 09:03:50 PM