Danielle & Val in Ireland for the 2nd time! Day 5; Killarney to Blessington

Today we started our journey by heading from Killarney to Kilkenny. This was a beautiful drive through some great scenery. We purposely made a few wrong turns and ended up on some small (sometimes scary because they were so narrow) but beautiful little roads. The weather was slightly chilly but the rain stopped and the sun came out and it was spectacular. The greenery here is just so amazingly green that its hard to even explain.
We stopped a castle along the way in Kilcash called, appropriately, Kilcash castle. We were not able to get very close to it because of safety precautions but just walking up near it was pretty amazing to see the stone work and to imagine what it would have been like in the 16th/17th century.
Once we made it to Kilkenny and were able to get a quick cappucino and a scone, we ventured over to Kilkenny Castle. It was quite grand sitting right in the middle of the town center. Once inside the walls there were beautiful gardens on both sides that and grass that seemed to go on forever. The castle construction began in the 13th century and for over 500 years the castle was the chief residence of the Butler Earls and Dukes of Ormond. Across the street from the castle was another beautiful building that houses great shops (time for some souvenir shopping) that used to be the two story stables for the castle, called the Castle Yard. When they were stables the bottom floor were the stall and the second floor was the housing for the grooms. Our next stop was the town of Kildare. We were going to stay there tonight, however, we were surprised to find that all of the inns in the area were booked (we didnt realize this tiny town of Kildare was such a popular place to be on a Saturday night).
Luckily, while enjoying a Guinness and some dinner at a local pub we were able to get on the internet and find a beautiful b&b in the town of Blessington right on the Pollaphuca Lake. We were driving there in the dark on some VERY narrow roads so that made for some funny, albeit frightening, moments in the car! We finally found the b&b and it was even better than we had hoped for. It sits right in front of the water and is absolutely breathtaking. John and Carmel are the owners and upon our arrival served us tea and scones and a wonderful table right in the front room by large bay windows. We cannot wait to see what this place looks like in the morning! I will add the pictures then, since I am sure that they will be worth it! Tomorrow we are going to make our way through the Wicklow mountains on our way back to Dublin to fly out. Last time we were here, the Wicklow area was so striking so I cannot wait to drive through there again!

Kilcash castle 

Yet another cappuccino and scone break

Kilkenny castle

Kilkenny castle gardens

Kilkenny castle

Kilkenny castle

Kilkenny castle yard

Kilkenny castle yard

Kilkenny

Kildare pub 

Lake view bed and breakfast, blessington

 

Danielle & Val in Ireland for the 2nd time! Day 4; Galway to Killarney

Today we made our way from Galway down to the Cliffs of Moher. The drive was incredible picturesque and we took some pretty pictures at Blacks Head on the coast and drove through some very cute towns including Doolin and Ballyvaughn. Once we got to the cliffs we were able to walk up some trails around then and go in to their visitor center to learn more about them and some of the wildlife that live on the cliffs and in the water. Although rainy on our way out of Galway, once we got to the cliffs we got a lot more blue sky.

From the cliffs we drove down through Limerick and Shannon and were able to go through one of our favorite town from our last trip to Ireland, Adare. We stopped there and took some pictures and had scones and tea at an adorable cafe across from the inn that we stayed at last time. The adorable thatched roof houses were just as perfect as I had remembered them and the park in the middle of the town was even greener during these fall months.

From Adare, we made our way down to the final destination of the night, Killarney. Killarney is a larger town than Limerick but much smaller than Galway. We stayed at an adorable hotel called Fairview Guesthouse that looked just beautiful all lit up since it was dark when we arrived. We had a great dinner and a stroll around the town streets looking at some of the wool shops.

Blacks head 

Blacks head

Our fabulous car 

Cliffs of Moher

Cliffs of Moher

Cliffs of Moher

Cliffs of Moher

My Wellies got great use this trip! 

Cliffs of Moher

Selfie time at the cliffs 

Loved having the selfie stick 

Adare

Adare, just love the thatched roofs

Park in Adare

Hotel in Killarney

Streets of Killarney 

Danielle & Val in Ireland for the 2nd time! Day 3; Dublin to Galway!

Hello from Galway! Mom and I have spent the last 3 days in Dublin. I am here for work, attending the WebSummit for the last couple days so mom has been frolicking around during the day and we have been enjoying Dublin in the evening together. We rented a car this morning (BMW M5, mom wanted to be a baller) and drove today from Dublin to Galway. It is about 190km from Dublin, so it only took us about 2 1/2 hours. Mom, as always, had me in stitches laughing while she got used to driving on the left side of the road but the right side of the car. Lets just say we became close friends again with the "wake up" dots between lanes. We also had a few moments of laughter at the toll stops, particularly when we drove up to the left side of the toll booth (my side) instead of her side and mom had to get out of the car to pay the toll while people were honking at her lol. We are staying at a beautiful hotel in Galway called Hotel Meyrick, it is the oldest hotel building in all of Galway and is absolutely beautiful. It is a giant limestone building with grand high ceilings and chandeliers everyone, just stunning. We ate lunch at a great Irish pub, The Kings Head, which dates back 800 years and is located on High Street in the Latin Quarter of Galway. It is a pedestrian street area with a bunch of little shops and restaurant/pubs. The Kings Head is also well known for still having "marriage stones" in the traditional stone walls. Marriage stones are stone lintel carved with the initials, coat of arms, etc. of a newly married couple with the date of the marriage. They were very popular until Victorian times. After lunch we walked down to Sand Hill which is right on the water of Galway Bay. Tomorrow we are off to the South, first stop, the Cliffs of Moher.

Here are some pictures from the day!

Hotel Meyrick, Galway

The Kings Head Pub, High Street in Latin Quarter, Galway