Sept 15-22 County Mayo

County Mayo

A place Grandma Corrigan called "the wilds of County Mayo" - her people came from more civilized Roscommon and County Kerry. This will be in the area where both of our Corrigan ancestors came from - in case you are unaware, our Grandfather Corrigan's parents were both Corrigans.

Will be driving here from Dublin after dropping off Colleen, Chris and Adam at the airport.

Beautiful scenery and the longest greenway in the country - 

http://www.greenway.ie  - great for biking or walking.

Wonderful towns of Newport and Westport and Achill Island. See the village of Doona where some of the Corrigans were from. 

View in Westport

Achill Island - truly the "wilds of County Mayo"

Famine Walk Memorial

This week can be just relaxing, visiting local pubs and shops, spending time on Achill Island and the ocean, riding bikes on the greenway. 

Staying at Westport - this house has only room for 4, should more people want to come, I'll find another house also.

Terrace at the house

The view

the sunset

Sept 15 - arrive
Sept 16 - Westport
Sept 17 - Achill Island
Sept 18 - Greenway
Sept 19 - Newport, Doona
Sept 20 - Achill/Westport
Sept 21 - drive to Dublin - stay at Radisson Blu
Sept 22 - fly home

Last night at Radisson Blu at the Dublin Airport

Sept 12-15 Northeastern Ireland/UK

We'll be leaving southwestern County Kerry and driving to northeastern Northern Ireland/UK.

On the way a stop to see Rock of Cashel

     About a 3 hour drive - have lunch in Cashel - tour the cathedral - 7 Euro, spend an hour or two

http://www.heritageireland.ie/en/south-east/rockofcashel/

Drive to Strangford through Dublin - another 3+ hours

We have a cute house in Strangford, County Down, Northern Ireland

This village and house are within walking distance of Castle Ward, otherwise known to GOT fans as Winterfell. There are quite a few activities and tours of other spots where GOT was filmed that we hope to visit also. Fun for fans but also it means visiting some of the scenic areas of this part of the country - good for everyone. 

Opportunities here for bike rides too.

Even a bike tour and you can shoot arrows wearing GOT costumes...but hey, why not bring your own?

Preliminary Plans

Sept 12 - Rock of Cashel, drive to Northern Ireland

Sept 13 - Castle Ward, GOT experience, dinner at Cuan

Sept 14 - Belfast and northern GOT tour

Sept 15 - Colleen, Chris and Adam leave for Dublin and home and we drive on to County Mayo

Sept 9-12 Southern Kerry

Sept 9-12 - Southern Kerry - Skellig Michael, Ring of Kerry - 2 hour drive from Listowel

Adam, Colleen and Chris arrive in Dublin, hopefully early morning They can either rent their own car or take a train to Tralee and we will pick them up on the way to Portmagee.

If you want to come along, I might need a second house/hotels - Chris, Colleen and Adam will be with us. But the house we booked has room for 8. NB:This is the nerds part of the tour!

Skellig Michael

Because, Star Wars
TRYING to get booking to land on the island but wow, is it popular!

Ring of Kerry

Because its cool
For driving, walking, cycling

Fishing Village of Portmagee

Our Airbnb in Portmagee, County Kerry

Room for 8 people - we have six

the view

Ring of Kerry drive

Preliminary plans

Sept 9 - drive down from Listowel

Sept 10 - try to get to Skellig Michael - otherwise Ring of Kerry

Sept 11 - Ring of Kerry or Skellig Michael - or If the weather doesn’t co-operate, we’ll be exploring Valentia Island and its surrounding area, driving to the summit of Geokaun mountain for some amazing 360 degree panoramas.

Sept 12 - drive north

Sept 3-Sept 9 Northern Co Kerry

Sept 3-9 - Northern Kerry - sights, bike rides, hikes, tour Listowel and Ballybunion, a few pubs...

This is where our Lawler and McElligott ancestors lived.

Drive from Galway to Listowel in County Kerry - driving down the coast and stopping - probably will take most of the day.

Listowel, with a population of about 8600 is an Irish Heritage Town. Its history dates back to the 1300's. Along with Ballybunion on the coast, these two are the two largest towns near where our McElligott and Lawlor relatives lived.

LOTS of cute pubs - even one called "Kevin's" - and its on William street...

Listowel castle

Bridge over the Feale River

More on Listowel at http://www.listowel.ie

Derry House is so centrally convenient - and less expensive - a great base for day trips to many places of interest, scenic and cultural, in County Cork, County Clare, County Limerick and the rest of County Kerry.

Our self-catering property in Kerry, is in a quiet location in the Heritage Town of Listowel, County Kerry. Whilst situated in a town location, the property still retains a countryside feeling being right on the edge of town, yet only minutes to the town centre, supermarkets, restaurants, pubs, town-park, golf, pitch and putt, fishing and other amenities.

The 3 bedroom, all en-suite. Two rooms have a double bed and single bed. 

The house is now booked and has room for 8 people if anyone else is interested.  It is in a more "country feel" area but just minutes from Listowel main streets. It was $83/night for two people. $27 more per person/night if more than 2.

Listowel

Hopefully not this crowded in September!

Ardfert Cathedral

Listowel Castle

Ecotrek tours - cycling or hiking - Bromore Cliffs, or others

Ballybunion

History and Folklore

http://www.ballybunion.ie/history-and-folklore.html

Sept 3 spent driving down from Galway

Sept 4 - Try to get together with Danny Houlihan/EcoTrek for tour and genealogy

Sept 5 - Gullane, Gunsborough, ancestors towns, Ardfert

Sept 6 - in Listowel, castle

Sept 7 - Ballybunion

Sept 8 - Colleen, Chris and Adam arrive

Sept 9 - leave for Southern Kerry/Portmagee

August 30-Sept 3 - Galway

Sarah says we really must see Galway - plus she left some things there she's hoping we can retrieve.

Galway, says Sarah, is a small town that is very Irish, not a cosmopolitan city like Dublin.  Here we will find the finest pubs and scenery and she wishes we would bring her along. 

In fact her list of things to do went like this:

1. Bring me along

2. Stay more than a couple of days

3. Go to my old apartment and try to get my camera lens and hard drive

But seriously
1. Galway - city with Irish character and Sarah knows the best pubs
2. Cliffs of Moher
3. Aran Islands

Here's the rest of her advice
If you want to get out of the big city and experience Ireland, Galway is the best. It's got all the green and Irish culture. I'd fly into Dublin, and rent a car (that's what my parents did). It's about a 3 hour drive to Galway. House Hotel is cute, or there's actually a nice Days Inn right in the middle of 'downtown' you can do a day trip to the Aran islands and bike or walk around. Cliffs of Moher is also popular, it's beautiful, but the Aran Islands are a hidden gem. Idk if they're available/open during the fall, but I would check it out. For pubs in Galway - the Quays for awesome live music, Kings Head for a casual sit-and-drink type of place (every pub has life music!), Monroes is a classic traditional Irish dancing and music place.

I would definitely spend a day in Galway just wandering and exploring (I believe there is a free walking tour, or you can just walk down the coast to Salthill) and a day trip from Galway to the Aran Islands (one of my favorite places, and you can be as active as you want with the bike renting, or 'personal tour van') or the Cliffs of Moher. From Galway, you can do a whole bunch of day trips into the Irish country side, either with a tour group or in a rented car. :)

So the trip starts on August 29, flying to CDG in Paris, then plane to Dublin. Driving from Dublin to Galway, around 2 1/4 hours.

So, it's going to be this 3 bedroom apartment in the Latin Quarter near the Spanish Arch area and close to the main downtown.

Plan to spend some time seeing Galway, enjoying the area around the apartment, restaurants and pubs. Visit Cliffs of Moher and Aran Islands.

Preliminary plan
August 30, walk in Galway, visit pubs, sleep - Tigh Coili Pub
August 31,
Sept 1, in Galway - Ard Bia for meal
Sept 2 Cliffs of Moher and Wild Atlantic Way south, Kinvara - maybe John Prine will be in town!
Sept 3 - Farmer's Market 8AM for breakfast, check out and drive down Wild Atlantic Way
             Tarbert, ferry to County Kerry and to Listowel


My cousin's notes

For music in Galway, of the 5 listed on this page:  http://www.galwaytourism.ie/ptop-5-traditionalmusicpubs.html my favorites are Tigh Coili, and the Crane Bar.

Tigh Coili is at the top end of shop street, the main walking lane that you’ll be staying quite close to.

Shop Street is really great, cool bars and shops line both sides of it. Neachtains pub on that street is nice too, although not usually a music pub, as is The Quays pub.

There are many street performers as well. And at busy times, the lane can be really tight with people, so watch your pocket!

My good friend Pat Bracken used to perform with his puppets up near Tigh Coili. He died a few years ago, and you can see a plaque dedicated to him on the outside of a building near there. (if you are looking at Tigh Coili, from Shop street, the building with the plaque is on the right.) He was a brilliant stone carver as well, and many of the carvings on the buildings there were carved by Pat (jewelry shop signs, etc.)

My favorite restaurant in Galway is a place called Ard Bia at Nimmos, which is just under the Spanish Arch. Really beautiful food, great breakfasts too. Try to get a seat near a window so you can see the swans swimming in the River Corrib, where it meets Galway Bay. And just on the other side of the river there is the area called the Claddagh, once a small fishing village, and the birthplace of the famous Claddagh ring. http://www.ardbia.com

Also, when I was in Galway last summer I had a fantastic meal at a small Italian Restaurant called Venice, at 20 Abbeygate Street Lower. Not too far from the train station. It is owned by an Italian family, and the chef will tell you it is the best Italian food in Ireland. So I decided to believe him, and ate there twice.

there are a few good theaters in Galway, including Town Hall, and the Druid. Always good to check what’s on in those places. And, if you ever see a show featuring a performer called John Nee, AKA Little John Nee, go see it without hesitation. He lives near Galway, and performs there often, and everything he does is brilliant.

There’s a nice walking path that follows the river, from the Spanish Arch area up toward the cathedral. It passes by the Salmon Weir bridge, where salmon returning from the bay to their spawning grounds up river will jump up the weir there. I’m not sure what time of year they do it, maybe you’ll be lucky.

Also. look for the farmer’s market while you're there, its in a lane behind tig coili. And look for a booth run by Dermot O’Mara, who lived in St. Paul for years and started Irish on Grand (his sister Maeve runs it now). Hs moved back to East Galway to be an organic farmer. He’ll be selling vegetables under the name Sunny Meadow Farm. Tell him Nick sends his regards.