Ireland Days Four-Six
Let's continue the journey.
Day Four- After breakfast we packed up and headed west toward Galway. It was pouring buckets all day. We made a very, very soggy visit to Bunratty Castle, which includes a very charming folk village living history museum. I love living history museums! It was a bank holiday, so the place was packed as much as its limited capacity allowed, with tons of children everywhere. Definitely would have been more fun on a sunny day, with West, but it was a fine way to spend the afternoon given that we didn't want to do any indoors activities. The sun finally started peeking out late in the afternoon, as we made our way to our AirBnB castle accommodation for the next two nights. This castle is unreal, the owner guy bought it in the 90s when it was derelict and crumbling, and he rebuilt the entire top half by hand. He showed us pictures of the rebuilding process and talked about how he did it, totally fascinating. He lives in the bottom half of the castle and rents out the top two floors, so we had access to the roof. Standing out on the roof of a castle looking out over farms and fields was a magical experience. We drove into the nearby town and found the one pub that was open for dinner, snagged an outdoor patio seat, and ended up having a really nice conversation with a local couple that was sitting near us.
Day Five- We packed a lot into this day! Breakfasted at the Spar/gas station in the town (basically grabbed breakfast and sat at a picnic table outside). Drove into Galway for some walking around the city and hunting for bookstores. Galway is such a hub for people who are going off to see local attractions, so it's mainly filled with shops, restaurants, and pubs, and there really isn't anything historic or touristy to see there.
Galway was more crowded than we were comfortable with for staying very long, so we abandoned it at lunch time to go in search of someplace more chill. We found a nearby town, Oranmore, grabbed some take-out salads, and sat on a peaceful little grassy knoll looking out over the ocean. It was unbelievably idyllic.
After that we went over to Athenry, a random town that happened to have a small historic visitors' centre. We had a nice little tour of their one-room museum from their tour guide who seemed absolutely thrilled to have people to take on a tour. It was a really endearing little museum and a nice way to spend a lazy afternoon.
Finally, we had dinner reservations at Moran's Oyster Cottage, a thatched roof restaurant on the coast that I had found specifically because I wanted to sit by the sea and look at gorgeous scenery while eating dinner. It did not disappoint! It breathtakingly beautiful there, Drew really enjoyed the oysters, and we had a very nice time. Back to the castle for our last night there (where I was lying awake late into the night and then got spooked hearing our host singing at 1:30 in the morning, the sound echoing up the winding stone staircase).
Day Six- We had a long drive ahead of us to get from Galway to Youghal. Knowing the drive would be arduous we planned a stop at Lough Derg in the hopes of catching a boat ride out to Holy Island in the middle of the lake. I love a holy isle! We thought we'd miss the boat, quite literally, because when we arrived there was no sign of it other than a shuttered kiosk. We walked around the local park and had resigned ourselves to missing this island, when lo and behold, on our way back to our car, the boat guy arrived! So we hopped aboard and went out to Holy Island, and it was magical. The weather was gorgeous, and for a while it was just us and one other small family on the island, walking around the old ruins and gazing at the glittering water. Had a nice little conversation with the other family while we waited for the boat to take us back to shore.
We puttered along the route and stopped later in a town called Hospital for a late lunch in the back courtyard of a cute little cafe. Walked around the town and explored an old ruined church. Then we continued on our way and the weather turned stormy by the time we arrived in Youghal. Youghal (pronounced "Yawl") is a little beach town on the south coast of Cork, and a place that would never have turned up on our radar if the accommodations in Kinsale had not all been booked, but we ended up being delighted by finding this little local treasure. Our B&B, Avonmore House, was such a gem. The owners were so nice and it was a very comfortable and homey experience.
We walked down to the Tesco and bought some cheese & crackers for a little picnic in our room for dinner. Watched Love Island while drinking local beer/cider and eating Irish cheese, does life get better than that?!
Day Four- After breakfast we packed up and headed west toward Galway. It was pouring buckets all day. We made a very, very soggy visit to Bunratty Castle, which includes a very charming folk village living history museum. I love living history museums! It was a bank holiday, so the place was packed as much as its limited capacity allowed, with tons of children everywhere. Definitely would have been more fun on a sunny day, with West, but it was a fine way to spend the afternoon given that we didn't want to do any indoors activities. The sun finally started peeking out late in the afternoon, as we made our way to our AirBnB castle accommodation for the next two nights. This castle is unreal, the owner guy bought it in the 90s when it was derelict and crumbling, and he rebuilt the entire top half by hand. He showed us pictures of the rebuilding process and talked about how he did it, totally fascinating. He lives in the bottom half of the castle and rents out the top two floors, so we had access to the roof. Standing out on the roof of a castle looking out over farms and fields was a magical experience. We drove into the nearby town and found the one pub that was open for dinner, snagged an outdoor patio seat, and ended up having a really nice conversation with a local couple that was sitting near us.
Day Five- We packed a lot into this day! Breakfasted at the Spar/gas station in the town (basically grabbed breakfast and sat at a picnic table outside). Drove into Galway for some walking around the city and hunting for bookstores. Galway is such a hub for people who are going off to see local attractions, so it's mainly filled with shops, restaurants, and pubs, and there really isn't anything historic or touristy to see there.
Galway was more crowded than we were comfortable with for staying very long, so we abandoned it at lunch time to go in search of someplace more chill. We found a nearby town, Oranmore, grabbed some take-out salads, and sat on a peaceful little grassy knoll looking out over the ocean. It was unbelievably idyllic.
After that we went over to Athenry, a random town that happened to have a small historic visitors' centre. We had a nice little tour of their one-room museum from their tour guide who seemed absolutely thrilled to have people to take on a tour. It was a really endearing little museum and a nice way to spend a lazy afternoon.
Finally, we had dinner reservations at Moran's Oyster Cottage, a thatched roof restaurant on the coast that I had found specifically because I wanted to sit by the sea and look at gorgeous scenery while eating dinner. It did not disappoint! It breathtakingly beautiful there, Drew really enjoyed the oysters, and we had a very nice time. Back to the castle for our last night there (where I was lying awake late into the night and then got spooked hearing our host singing at 1:30 in the morning, the sound echoing up the winding stone staircase).
Day Six- We had a long drive ahead of us to get from Galway to Youghal. Knowing the drive would be arduous we planned a stop at Lough Derg in the hopes of catching a boat ride out to Holy Island in the middle of the lake. I love a holy isle! We thought we'd miss the boat, quite literally, because when we arrived there was no sign of it other than a shuttered kiosk. We walked around the local park and had resigned ourselves to missing this island, when lo and behold, on our way back to our car, the boat guy arrived! So we hopped aboard and went out to Holy Island, and it was magical. The weather was gorgeous, and for a while it was just us and one other small family on the island, walking around the old ruins and gazing at the glittering water. Had a nice little conversation with the other family while we waited for the boat to take us back to shore.
We puttered along the route and stopped later in a town called Hospital for a late lunch in the back courtyard of a cute little cafe. Walked around the town and explored an old ruined church. Then we continued on our way and the weather turned stormy by the time we arrived in Youghal. Youghal (pronounced "Yawl") is a little beach town on the south coast of Cork, and a place that would never have turned up on our radar if the accommodations in Kinsale had not all been booked, but we ended up being delighted by finding this little local treasure. Our B&B, Avonmore House, was such a gem. The owners were so nice and it was a very comfortable and homey experience.
We walked down to the Tesco and bought some cheese & crackers for a little picnic in our room for dinner. Watched Love Island while drinking local beer/cider and eating Irish cheese, does life get better than that?!