Visited: Feb 2019
I've finally come to Ireland. It's been on my list for a while and with a sub 1 hour flight from London to Dublin why not.
Day 1 - Ireland!!!
I set off this morning around 6 AM after sleeping only a few hours. Typical me I woke up in the middle of the night and stressed about the driving and travel. I was going to leave at 7 AM, but leaving at 6 AM I avoided the morning rush a bit. I got to the airport way too early and waited around for 2+ hours having a Nando's breakfast (not bad) and listening to podcasts.
Interestingly I flew out of Gatwick. I used to fly out of Heathrow whenever I could because from Earls Court it was a straight shot on the Piccadilly line and at around £3-5 (I think time of day dependent) it was cheap to get there. As it turns out, from Barbican (station or general area) it's quite fast to get to Gatwick via the Thames Link from Farringdon - around 50 minutes door to security. Farringdon station feels like a bigger tube stop. I think it was around £7-8 (may be more during rush hour), so it was quick and cheap. Looks like I have a new favorite airport (which just means least worst choice airport).
Flight was on time, easy, boarding was easy, quick - even if it was by tarmac and stairs. Quick immigration. Car rental at Europecar wasn't the best but I was early. All in all I was on the road around 11:40AM, less than six hours after leaving my flat and if you count I left early really it was more like 4.75 hours door to car.
Driving West
I started out a little shaky in the car. I was overconfident from my Scotland driving last year. Also the car is a manual with and auto overlay and the gear shift lag is terrible. It pulls left. The breaks are very sensitive. It has the auto off when stopped. All in all it took me a bit to get used to. But all good now and driving on the highways and in the country isn't that bad - just need to get used to the narrow roads!
Unfortunately I've taken more video than photos. Tomorrow I'll do better with photos. The drive was smooth overall, however the tyre pressure is low and I have to see if I can take it to Europecar tomorrow - luckily there is one next to my hotel (Nox Galway).
I did stop at a fill up station for food and then again to see a random set of ruins - as it turns out there are a lot of stone skeleton castles/towers/keeps along the way. And lots of stone walls - some too close to the road for my liking.
From the ruins stop I drove all the way to the Cliffs of Moher. The drive was on smaller roads, some pretty tight - not quite as tight as Scotland though. I had to pay to park, but it also included the entry fee. It was very, very windy the entire drive leading up to the cliffs and it was even windier at the cliffs. I asked the woman at the entry to the parking if it's usually windy. She looked at me oddly and responded 'Well it is the coast'. Lesson learned for this landlubber.
The cliffs run around 14km and have rises from the ocean in the range of 400 meters on the southern side to 700 meters on the northern side. The cliffs are very impressive! I've seen the White Cliffs of Dover too - read this - which I would say are comparable. The main difference is the colour. White vs Green. Like winter vs summer. Except the white cliffs are limestone, not snow; and the green cliffs at Moher are green in February.
The cliffs below - and one cold human.
The cliffs can be hiked in either direction. I went right (north) and after a few hundred meters the safety level went way down as the concrete walkway and metal railings turned to a dirt path with no railings. Given how windy it was I'm surprised how many people walked the northern section. I walked around a 1-2km out and back and didn't walk the south section. In either case you could make a very long hiking day of it.
From the cliffs I drove to Doolin - a short 10 minute drive. The village is quaint, has some nice pastel coloured buildings and a pier where apparently people surf from. It also has boats to the Aran Islands. I stayed there for 30 minutes by the pier watching the power of the waves crash into the rock barriers setup all around the pier. There were a few people around too and we all seemed to tempt faith by getting closer and closer to the crashing waves while hoping rock to rock. As best I can tell no one got wet on this ride.
Photos do not do this justice. The wind and power of the waves was great to see.
I decided Doolin deserves more description - as were it warmer and I less tired I would have liked to see more of it. That said it's quite small, but here is the official pitch:
"Doolin is the traditional music capital of Ireland, gateway to the Cliffs of Moher, the Burren and Aran Islands and a perfect touring base for County Clare."
Being very tired and getting cold I drove to Galway and my hotel to call it a day!
Total Driving Day 1: 352km (~5 hours)
Day 2
My early 7AM start turned into a 9:30AM departure. I didn't mind as I ate a leisurely and big breakfast.
First stop was to drive into Galway which is the biggest city in the province of Connacht. Go ahead and try to pronounce it. I downloaded an Irish history podcast and listened to the period between 400AD - 1000AD on the way between Galway and Derry. The summary of Connacht is 1) it was a small backwater during the large power struggles in the 5th - 10th centuries - but kings still needed to woo it to stay neutral and 2) it's still the smallest province at 550,000 population. That said apparently provinces are not used so much as counties are used. But I thought I would bring it up.
Galway is a relatively small city and feels relaxed yet still busy enough that it feels like things are going on. I drove around the centre area and parked by their main square - Eyre Square then read a bit of history.
Photos: Eyre Square, a road in Galway and a shot of its port.
It was a trade centre in the past, being the primary trading spot in the middle ages for Irish trade with the French and the Spanish. One of the main sites to see in the city - the Spanish Arch - was built during its peak trade period. The city was apparently visited by Christopher Columbus in 1477 on his way to Iceland. The city was also loyal to the English crown longer than most of the rest of the country and helped support the Jacobites after they lost the crown to the Hanovers.
In any case a quaint city worth a visit and maybe a stay.
Kylemore Abbey & Victorian Walled Garden
From Galway I drove just over an hour to Kylemore Abbey & Victorian Walled Garden. The drive was beautiful - more on driving today below. The only downside was that it became very windy again AND rainy! And not regular rain, but a heavy sideways windy rain. In any case it was very worth it.
The abbey and grounds are stunning. The history of the grounds as a quick summary:
The main mansion (castle?) was built in 1868 for Mitchell Henry when he and his wife Margaret fell in love with the property - and moved from England to live here
They also built an extensive walled garden which grew among other things much of the food for the estate
The building helped a very depressed economy at the time
Margaret sadly died on a trip to Egypt and a neo-gothic church and mausoleum were built in her honour
The property was sold to the Duke of Manchester in 1903 who tried to entertain rich and famous people there but was eventually forced to sell it to the Irish Benedictine Nuns due to gambling debts.
I walked to the mansion and then the church and mausoleum. The grounds and buildings were all beautiful. Sadly much of the mansion was not open to visitors, so you could only see around 10% of it.
Inside the castle/mansion
I skipped the walled garden as I was freezing and wet after walking around outside between sites on the property. Nonetheless here are some great photos:
The grounds:
Driving to Derry
I then drove to Derry (Londonderry), Northern Ireland - is Northern Ireland a country or part of a country or both? It's also Ulster (or most of Ulster). I'm so confused. The drive was around 250km from the abbey but over 4.5 hours, so that should be a good indicator of the types of country roads passed along the way.
The drive in this part Ireland is amazing - it's a great combination of rolling hills like England, small towns made with stone all around, open dry barren mountainous areas similar to the Scottish Highlands, farmlands similar to England or Ontario and lots and lots of sheep and green!
There is so much green everywhere you can see why the Irish use it as their main national colour - football team(Gaelic Football), Rugby Team, Soccer team (yes they call it soccer), leprechauns. Green is even in their flag along with white - that may symbolize peace and ... well if only rain were orange their flag would be perfect.
Here are some highlight photos of the drive which just won't do it justice!
Total Driving Day 2: 364km (~5 1/2 hours)
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