If you visit Inishmore, Dun Aengus is a very impressive iron-age fortress built right up against the cliffs.  That will definitely impress them!

Perhaps on your way from Westport to Belfast you will be in the Sligo area. If so, check out Carrowmore. Passage graves WAY up in the Bricklieve Mountains. The view is spectacular, as is the drive up and down.

Second the recommendation of Kilmacduagh.  We visited in late June, and it's very quiet.  It's also a beautiful drive to get there.

 

The setting and mass of Dun Aengus would impress most people.  The one thing about Inishmore is that it's crammed with tourists.

Oh, Michele, thanks for the links! My romantic heart is beating over those piles of rocks that have witnessed the history of many lives. Thank you everybody for sharing your favorite pile of rocks! (I saw this expression somewhere on-line and I like it because it can include everything from castles or monasteries which are nearly intact and restored, to literally something that might look like a pile of rocks but is ancient and surely haunted with history!

KYLEMORE ABBEY...I've heard it's one of the most picturesque sites to behold in Ireland, but that the view of it is as good as it gets...if you try to visit it, there isn't that much to see. It's a school now? I see there's a restaurant. One visitor wasn't allowed in to see the gardens. (What I am wondering is, shall we plan on just driving by Kylemore Abbey and stopping for photos, or having a closer look and spending more time there?)

THE BURREN / GUIDE: We'll definitely check out that stone fort in the Burren. Speaking of the Burren, Michele, I know the Burren has both piles of rocks and also some plant-life to interest hubby the biologist. Do you recommend any particular local experts who could give us a private guided tour of the best sites in the Burren? Someone who knows the history of the "piles of rocks" as well as knowing where to find the best spots for plant-life in July?

LEANING TOWER OF KILMACDOUGH: Wow, I didn't know Kilmacdough had its own leaning tower. Oh darn, forget where that was, I'll look it up again. Thanks!

MINARD CASTLE, DINGLE: Oooh, Michele, what a gorgeous spot on the Dingle! Those pirates sure destroyed that castle, leaving us behind just a chunk of it, but surely this is a haunting spot, if ever I saw one in a photo. Maybe we'll get some family photos here, and perhaps a ghost or two will show up in the photo. (It can happen.)

Thanks a million, Michele. I have been enjoying your book. It seems to be magic, because every time I pick it up, I find a page I swear wasn't there before! Your book, your web-site, your advice and experience, and the generous folks on your web-site have vastly enriched our first trip to Ireland, I can already tell! (Looking forward to July 2006 Ireland...one more trip with the daughters...each time I am thinking, this might be the last one! But then I get them to come for one more family vacation...)

MaggieL, thanks for recommending the "piles of rocks" near Ennis. What I love to do is to have a file of choices of sites/activities for the areas we will visit. I choose a few highlights and have my family vote on the others, but since they don't do the research, they rely on what I share with them. Sometimes they just say, I don't know, Mom, you pick!

I know it's going to be a good trip when the files are getting fuller than the time allows. Not because we will try to cram everything in. On the contrary, because we will have more choices, and just select the few best choices that are the best balance for our needs.

Photos help a lot too. Doesn't it amaze you that some of these "piles of rocks" still exist, that nobody has torn them down and built condos there or something?! I guess I have lived in Southern California too long.

Melissa,

Thanks so much for your kind comments about my book, advice and website! I am so glad you are enjoying it all. Planning is supposed to be enjoyable and I am all in favor of injecting fun into the process whenever possible.

Kylemore Abbey is most impressive from outside. It is a fairytale photo op of the dreamy castle reflected in the lake and backed by brooding mountains. There are only a few rooms open to the public since it is a girl's school. The gardens are okay but not worth going out of your way for. There are some lovely walks through the grounds. There is also a self-service cafe and a gift shop.

Achill shouldn't be too crowded unless it is a weekend with something special going on there. Most of the time it is just the ocean and death-defying sheep clinging to the cliffs.

I suggest you contact a couple of Burren guides, tell them your interests and see if they can accommodate you. You might also email Bernadette at Drumcreehy to see if she has personal knowldedg of who might be the very best.

http://www.heartofburrenwalks.com/

http://www.burrenwalks.com/

http://www.burren-tours.com/

http://homepage.eircom.net/~burrenhillwalks/

Tim Robinson who does an extremely well-regarded hand-drawn map of the Burren sometimes gives tours: http://gofree.indigo.ie/~wirl/roundstone/bog.htm His contact email is on this site.

Michele

P.S. September is my second favorite month for visiting Ireland.

 

Well, you aren't going to be anywhere near the Rock of Cashel, so that's off your list. You are going to be near the Aran Islands so Dun Aengus is a possibility, and I would also highly recommend it, but a trip over to Inishmore will take a whole day away from the rest of your plans so you may want to stay on the mainland and visit Kylemore instead. Very beautiful, romantic setting, with a wonderful romantic/tragic story to go along with it. You are going to be only two days in Belfast and the trip to and from Dunluce castle would require a whole day as well, but while you are there you could visit the other 'pile of rocks' the Giant's Causeway. But there are so many 'piles of rocks' in Ireland that they will be easy to find, you won't go wrong with any of the suggestions made here. One other pile of rocks that hasn't been suggested because it's not a castle is Newgrange. It is definitely one impressive pile of rocks!

Anita.