Glad I found you BEFORE we leave!

Ginger · Member

Glad I found you BEFORE we leave!

Michele Erdvig · Host

Ginger,

You will be in for some very long driving days especially from Westport to Bushmills. Westport is a bit west from your route north. Had you thought that stopping in a place like Sligo might actually be better (on the main roads & getting you a bit closer to No. Ireland)? Just a thought.

The Antrim coast is beautiful. Be sure to stop by Dunluce Castle and Carrick-a-Rede rope bridge. There are many wonderful little beaches, coves and hidden areas to explore. Go to the "Trip Reports" section of the forum under the heading "Passports, Suspicious Packages and a Great Trip". Corey is just back from there and has posted some wonderful photos.

I hope you have a great time. Let us know how it goes. And don't be nervous. You will have a ball!

Michele

yesiree · Guru

In addition to doing the Antrim Coast, I also just spent a week near Nenagh. You'll find it a very nice base for exploring the sites you mentioned. They are all within 1.5 hours along winding but scenic roads.

The folks at the tourist office, heritage centre and geneology centre in Nenagh (all housed in the old jail) are very friendly so don't hesitate to stop in there.

There is a list of sites near Nenagh at http://www.knockahopple.com/nearby.htm. If you have a clear day, I strongly suggest you pop over to the village of Silvermines (near Dolla) and head up to the Step Viewing area - there are great views, and you get a birdseye view of Tony Ryan's estate (founder of Ryan Air and Ireland's wealthiest person). Also consider stopping at Hanley Woolen Mills...it makes sense for you to purchase some woolens from near your ancestral home.

I also suggest a hearty lunch at Andy Flynn's (it's where the locals go) or dinner at the Pepper Mill (I'll be honest, I'm not all that fond of the restaurant at the Abbey Court Hotel).

You might consider bypassing Galway this trip...you have a lot of driving and limited time (and driving in and around Galway can be hassle at peak times). I'd prefer to take in a bit of Connemara via Cong on the way to Westport or as Michel suggested, keep on more of a course toward Bushmills via Sligo (it's a fantastic area as well).

We also have posted some tips for Cashel and Dublin on our podcast at www.irishfireside.com.

Let me know if you have any questions about the area...I've been going there for ten years.

Ginger · Member

Thanks for all the wonderful tips. Yes, I realize that we are in for some driving. I was advised elsewhere to make B&B reservations before we left since we would be traveling in August, so I have places to stay in Nenagh, Westport and Bushmills. Any thoughts on changing the Westport reservation...would that be rude? While not paid for, I did give a CC #.

Michele, I did read the post you suggested last night and loved it!! Lots of good info and made me more excited about the trip. Your site is such a wonderful resource!!!!

Corey, I have knockahopple bookmarked and have printed out the list of sights. As for Andy Flynn's and The Peppermill..both are already on the list. Andy's daughter, Bernadette of LOTD fame, celebrates her birthday the same day as mine...so that's where I'll have my birthday pint on the day! Our daughter is a step dancer so we thought that might be a fun place to stop and see some good pictures on the wall! Thanks for your offer of help...I may be back with questions!

Thanks again for your friendly, helpful information.

Ginger

-- Edited by Ginger at 10:41, 2006-07-23

Michele Erdvig · Host

Ginger,

Since you are leaving soon, it may be too late to change your Westport reservation. Each B&B has their own cancelation policy. You could, of course, inquire to see what it is. Wishing you good weather. Let us know how it goes when you get back. We would very much enjoy a trip report like Corey did. It is so helpful to others when people share their tips and trips!

Michele

Ginger · Member

Count on a trip report. I have purchased journals for each person in the family and everyone gets a new pen! I guess we will stick with our Westport reservation and just learn from experience. My husband and I will share the duties so that already haves what we each have to do.

On the next trip, we'll just have to try a self catering home and stay put for a week and see what that is like...gee I haven't left yet and I'm already thinking about going back! I think that must be a good sign!

Ginger

Melissa5 · Guru

Ginger, I just got back from Ireland tonight. Westport to Bushmills is indeed a long drive, as Michele says. On AA Roadwatch web-site it is listed as 5 1/2 hours of driving. However we found all of our drives took us much longer than posted on AA. We left after breakfast from Westport and it took us all day to get to Bushmills, and we didn't have time to do any site-seeing, except for a quick stop at Yeats grave which is right off the road. Naturally we stopped for lunch, and stretch or toilet stops, but we didn't have time to do any site-seeing on this drive and arrived to our b&b near Bushmills just before dinner...had a late dinner about 8:00 pm. An exhausting drive and also hot without air conditioning in an Irish heat wave.

Roads are narrow in Ireland and there are a lot of confusing circles once you get to Northern Ireland especially. Driving is rather stressful. Therefore you will have more fun if your drives are shorter, allowing more time for fun.

If you are going to change your reservations just do it right away to give them notice, and make sure you get a response acknowledging your cancellation. I just got back tonight so I'm not sure when you are leaving. Have fun!

The only drives we enjoyed were the day-trips where we were staying in one b&b for 3 nights, and we were taking a leisurely drive, such as the ring of Dingle, and had all day to do it, with plenty of time to stop and enjoy some walking.. All of our drives to get from one b&b to the next b&b were too stressful and not enjoyable...drives listed as being around 5 hours or longer according to the AA Roadwatch are actually longer for the tourist new to Ireland, we found.

Michele gives great advice. She helped us a lot!

Ginger · Member

As the trip gets closer we are getting more excited...guess that's just normal. We're unable to cancel the Westport booking...we'll chalk it up to experience and know to start our next trip's planning here!

Corey, any Nenagh tips appreciated!!! Our B&B hosts at Willowbrook have been very friendly and we look forward to their suggestions as well. I've bookmarked a Nenagh town site which list local businesses. We are hoping to take a quick nap upon arrival and then explore town. Souveniers from great-great grandparents town will be treasures!

Thanks again to all for being so kind!

Ginger

Melissa5 · Guru

Ginger, since you will have to make the long Westport to Bushmills drive, as we did, I have a few suggestions for you to make it easier:
1) Make sure your rental car has air conditioning. If you hit an Irish heat wave, as we did, the long drive will be very uncomfortable without air conditioning. (We found out too late that we DIDN'T have air conditioning!)
2) Get an early start. This will help. We didn't...left after a leisurely breakfast...I'm sure we didn't leave til 10:30 or 11:00 am. This isn't a good idea when making a long drive un unfamiliar roads.
3) If you don't already have one, try to get the OSI Complete Road Atlas of Ireland...it is the best map we had and it is very detailed. It got us un-lost a great number of times. It is useful to have one of those plastic laminated tourist maps to use along with the road atlas, because you can see the whole country at once on the tourist map.
4) This is a long drive...listen to Michele's good advice which she gave us about NOT being tempted to veer off of the main route to see anything...the drive is too long. Taking Michele's advice, we stopped to see Yeat's grave because it was right on the route, and it was a very interesting spot. Actually a lovely spot for a boneyard!

GIANT'S CAUSEWAY:
I have a few suggestions for enjoying the giant's causeway as well. Since you are going in summer it stays light longer. the most crowded time is the middle of the day. The early morning or the later evening is the least crowded time. Also bring some sort of eye drops...all 4 of us, plus many people around us, were having problems with some sort of allergy...which makes your eyes itchy and makes you sneeze. It may be a seasonal thing...If you rub your eyes it gets worse. Hubby has eye drops for allergies, but I have to use a special kind of eye-drops which are "preservative-free in the eye" because the preservative in regular eye drops irritates my eyes.

Anyway you will all love the Giant's Causeway, even with itchy eyes. It is a grand and mysterious site. We actually headed right down to the Causeway without stopping at the visitors center. We intended to get to the visitor's center later, but it never happened.

-- Edited by Melissa5 at 10:33, 2006-07-26

Ginger · Member

Melissa5

Thanks for all the wonderful tips. I will make sure we are up and out early on on Bushmills travel day. We will stick to the path no matter how tempting, knowing that the Causeway is at the end of the rainbow. For our two kids, ages 14 and 11, this part of the trip is the ultimate prize.

We have journals to write down our tales os maybe this will be a good time to organize the first part of trip's adventures. My daughter has typed and printed all our postcard addresses on labels so this may be the time to write out the next batch and send them off when we arrive in Antrim.

The eyedrop tip is terrific. I have family members who are allergy prone so I will stop today and get some for my pack.

Speaking of packs, will a backpack be the best bet or should I carry something a little different? I've seen messanger bags that go over the shoulder and across the chest. Any thoughts?

I have the Michelin roadmap. Is OSI sold here in the US? I only found the Michelin at Borders.

Melissa5, thanks again. Did I read somewhere that you call the San Diego area home? My daughter and I just came back from the North American Irish Dance Championships held in that fine city! We had a terrific time and felt so welcome. We plan to take the boys with us next time. (Too much dancing and too many curls for my son this past time!!!!)

Ginger

Melissa5 · Guru

Ginger, yes, I live in sunny San Diego. I ordered our OSI Complete Road Atlas of Ireland on-line. Naturally I forget where the web-site was... On the map it says www.osni.gov.uk for Northern Ireland and it says www.irishmaps.ie for Ireland but that isn't where I ordered the map, I don't think... Have a look there anyway.

Rick Steves has two sizes of very light-weight back-packs on his web-site that you can order. If you want it faster you can pay for express. They are smaller than the regular size backpacks that kids carry school books in, and much lighter. They are perfect for taking on a hike.

I also like zip-off pants which have lots of velcro pockets. Then you don't even need a backpack at all! The pants zip-off into shorts. You can buy them in sporting goods and camping stores like R.E.I. or order them on-line.

Does your daughter do the Irish dance championships? I love watching Irish dancing.

Have a great trip!

Have you driven in Ireland before? You will run across circles. Of course you go around the circle to the left clock-wise...if you don't see the road you want go around the circle again...we once went around a circle 5 times!

Ginger · Member

Thanks for the bag tips. I have an Eddie Bauer small backpack that I carry as a purse so I think that's what I'll use. Our son has some zip off pants so maybe I will get some for the rest of us...better hurry...we leave on Sunday.

Yes, my daughter did participate in the NAIDC. She competes throughout the year, mostly here on the East Coast in PA, NY, MD and NJ. The Nationals were incredible. There were dancers rom all over the globe. She made two frineds from New Castle in England. What an experience. I'm hoping to take a picture of her doing a reel or hornpipe in one of the pubs. Maybe at Andy Flynn's in Nenagh!

Ginger

Michele Erdvig · Host

Ginger,

I think you will probably be fine with the Michelin map. You can purchase the osi atlas all over Ireland. I found mine in a grocery store!

Michele

Ginger · Member

Thanks Michele! I'll look for the map at Dunne's in Nenagh.

We are coming down to the wire. I have a notebook with a page for each day of what we might like to do. Nothing is written in stone because I understand flexibility is the key to this trip! (I've reminded my husband of this fact!) Maybe the stop at Bushmills, Smithwick's and Dublin will be enough to help him!

I just found the 3 day Freedom pass on the Dublin bus system. Looks like that will be just what we need to get around from the airport when we droop off our car to get us to Ringsend via the Airlink. We will use the hop on/off for touring on Monday and Tuesday morning and then take the Airlink back to the airport to head home.

You have helped me to feel so much more relaxed about this trip. Thanks for your kindness.

Ginger

yesiree · Guru

You'll have no trouble finding the OSI map. The Nenagh tourist office will have it. There are at least two bookstores right in town centre as well. You probably could find it at the shop/bookstore at the airport (however, you won't need it to get from Shannon to Nenagh).

I can't remember the nights or the pubs, but there are traditional music sessions in Nenagh and nearby Garykennedy, Breid at the tourist office should know when and where (I can't remember how she spells her name).

To go on the Smithwick's tour, you'll need to go to the security gate of the Brewery for a ticket and then wait by the front door. Don't be late or you'll miss out. You don' t get to see the brewery, but the vaulted basement room where you watch the very dated video is interesting and you get free Smithwick's (remember it's pronounced "Smitticks"), Guinness and Budweiser. I hope you have a copy of my walking tour of Kilkenny (http://irishfireside.com/downloads/downloadkilkenny.html). I think the family would enjoy the Castle and climbing the roundtower at St. Canice's (it's quite a climb and claustrophobics beware).

Melissa5 · Guru

Ginger, tell your daughter I much admire her Irish dancing spirit and who knows, maybe I will see her in a performance someday.

We were treated at our local church to a surprise award-winning group of girls doing Irish dancing at our church Irish festival. They had gone to a Belfast competition and won awards.

Ginger, if anybody in your family is wishing to do the Bushmills distillery tour, go early in the day because it books up! We hadn't planned on it, but when hubby saw it and I read to him how old it is (from 1600's) he was eager to see it. However the tours were already all full for the day so we missed it.

You will also be near the ruins of Dunluce castle when you go up to the Giant's Causeway. We enjoyed wandering the ruins and the great views out to sea. Then we decided to join a tour group, and were glad we had already seen the ruins in peace and quiet, because being in a tour group really ruins the peaceful atmosphere, though our guide was good and told some interesting facts. (The tour is included in the admission price but you can wander about on your own if you wish.) A whole bunch of people arrived at once, who had apparently already pre-booked the tour.

Ginger · Member

Corey

Thanks for the tips especially about Smithwick's. It has been my new favorite drink. While the girls are practicing dance, we head off to Brannigan's for a pint. Can't wait to bring back a souvenir for the frinds back home.

Your podcasts are excellent! (Tell Liam I loved Kitty O'Toole!) I have asked my daughter to download them to my Zen (I'm download challenged!!!) Can't wait to listen on the plane to Shannon!

Nenagh sounds like a great place for us to begin our Irish adventure. A feel for the country and some unbelievable sights. Look for our report when we return.

Any good tips on gifts for the friends back home? Something unique and cool for 11 year old boys?

OK, I think the nerves are turning to excitement...thanks for helping that turnaround!

Ginger

Michele Erdvig · Host

Ginger,

There are so many great things to buy in Ireland it is hard to narrow down. For inexpensive and easy to pack items buy calendars. For around 4 euro your friends and family will have a year-round present. The boys may like some T-shirts with Irish sayings or other things on them. There are plenty of expensive items like crystal, jewelry, china, Belleek (my favorite), silver, etc. If you like pottery there are many unique pottery shops around the country.

Michele