The website is good but does not do the house justice. We found it much larger than we expected and meticulously clean and well cared for. The owners, Mary Carmel Carroll and her husband Michael have equipped the house with absolutely everything one could need. There are three bedrooms upstairs, each with an en-suite bathroom as well as another bathroom downstairs (4 in total!). I have no hesitation in recommending this beautiful house for up to 6 (possibly 8) people. We had some cool weather in County Clare which gave us the opportunity to enjoy turf fires in the fireplace. It was an easy walk to the main street with a Supermarket and about 9 Pubs. We settled on the friendly Campbell’s Inchiquin Inn as a favourite spot for a pint and reasonable food during the day. I heard some excellent Traditional music sessions at various pubs in town and understand that it is even more common in the Summer months. We ate a great dinner at the upscale but casual Le Catelinais Restaurant. Corofin proved to be an excellent, fairly quiet base from which to tour the Burren and other parts of Clare.

From Clare we drove to County Cork where we spent a week in a nice apartment in Clonakilty. We found the town lively and an ideal base for touring West Cork. There are plenty of good restaurants in “Clon” and many of the Pubs are well-known for music pubs. We heard some of the best traditional music sessions just by chance. (Walk down the main street and listen, go in, order a pint and sit down). Clonakilty is a good sized town with Supermarket and shopping choices and even a cinema. West Cork is an excellent area for those of us who really like food. The grocery stores, butcher shops and farmers markets offered us great choices . We were particularly impressed with the natural products from Gubeen cheeses.

As we saw throughout our trip, housing development in Ireland is booming in Clonakilty and much of West Cork. Driving through Kinsale was a bit of a disappointment. Even in early May it was crowded with buses and traffic. I wonder if it has been ruined by its beauty and popularity.

After a great week of touring West Cork we took the scenic route along the N71 through Rosscarberry, Skibbereen,, Bantry, Glengariff, Kenmare (my wife’s favourite), to Killarney then on to Dingle. The change from the beautiful rolling countryside of Cork quickly changes to the exhilarating ruggedness of the West - a great drive.

We spent 3 nights at a nice guesthouse on Upper Main Street (?Goat Street), a location in Dingle that we found ideal - a bit away from the busy strand but within an easy walk of everything. This was our first visit to the Dingle Peninsula and we found it to be excellent. I liked the bustling town almost as much as the spectacular drives to ancient monuments and monastic sites. I must recommend the Global Village Restaurant on Main Street. A friendly place with a very creative chef offering an eclectic menu. Our drive through the Connor Pass proved to be a highlight. Though the road has largely been widened there is still a narrow section that proved a bit harrowing when we had to reverse uphill to allow an oncoming car to pass. Views to remember.

We had an uneventful but pleasant drive from Dingle, through confusing Tralee and across the Shannon ferry from Tarbert and on to Ennis where we stayed at the excellent Temple Gate Hotel (see the separate posting in ’The Forum’) for the last two days of our trip. This proved to be a good strategy that allowed us to relax and do a bit more shopping while we unhurriedly organized for our flight home. Ennis is a nice town.

I have not talked much about the sights we saw on this trip. We did a lot of touring and saw many things - ruins, scenery, castles, monastic sites, gardens, beaches, mountains and lakes. There is plenty of information available for anyone to choose what to do on a trip. Personally I do not like to take the “must see list” approach to travelling. Having said that I must admit we have visited most of the “must see sites” and enjoyed most of them. We have also enjoyed the pleasures of the spontaneous and the less-planned experiences. The self-catering option changes the emphasis of a trip. Rather than trying to “do” a list of sights and attractions we like situate ourselves in a location and enjoy the experiences that are available within our touring range. This has allowed us to meet a lot of people, locals and fellow travelers, and to enjoy that meeting. Ireland is a small country to be experienced, not a theme park to be observed. All this is a very personal point of view and what is the right approach for us can be completely wrong for someone else. For us, successful traveling is a combination of careful planning and keeping an open mind.