Just wanted to let everyone know that we're back from the most amazing vacation we've ever had...in Ireland, of course!  Back, exhausted, and recovering from 2 weeks away followed by a wedding the day after we arrived at home.  So many, many stories to tell, and I promise a detailed trip report very soon.  We took 1000 photos - no kidding - and are hard put to find ones we don't want to keep!  School begins the day after tomorrow, but I vow that in between obligations I will write this report.  Melissa5's idea of writing in stages was brilliant (brilliant! I love that quintessentially Irish turn of phrase), so that's what I'll attempt to do.

Brief details - I drove all 1400 miles, and it's a good thing DH was not at all interested in taking the wheel, because as it turns out I totally enjoyed it.  The 14 pubs refer only to those with music - there were probably at least 14 more without!  We spent time with family in County Sligo, found the ruins of my great grandmother's home in County Leitrim, made some charming new Irish friends in a tiny town in County Limerick, and met three fabulous biking twenty-something guys from Edmonton at the Poulnabrone Dolmen, including Chris whom we have on video playing his fiddle in front of the Dolmen.  We plan to stay in touch and are looking forward to their trip report - three weeks biking across Ireland.  Wow. What an amazing trip all round.

More soon, but thank you thank you thank you to everyone who helped make our trip picture perfect.  I couldn't stop commenting that all the research and planning paid off in spades - this forum was a huge part of our success.