Any Irish tips?

[creaturecat]

Angela's Ashes would be a good read. on the plane.
a book of Irish poetry would be nice to take along, as well.

[motion]

Thanks, everyone, for the excellent suggestions. I will incorporate most of them into my plans. Truly appreciated! In Dublin now and ready to hit the streets. Its much more touristy than I would have guessed!

[motion]

Originally Posted by rusnak

Motion, when you get back, I'd really love to see some pics. I think it'd be a real hoot to sit in a real centuries old Irish pub. I'm curious about the food for some odd reason.

I plan on doing most of my eating in pubs.... should be interesting

[motion]

Originally Posted by recycled sixtie

As mentioned above the Isle of Man. Although I have never been there I spotted it from the west coast of England when I did Wainwrights coast to coast walk. You being a motorcycle enthusiast might like it but if the races are not on it might not live up to your expectations unless of course you rent a motorcycle?!

Cheers, Guy

It would be pretty strange to be on the Isle and not see crazy racers zipping by. I'll save that trip for the future.

[motion]

Originally Posted by masraum

On a mostly unrelated subject.

Motion, from reading most of your little bits and pieces about your travels, it seems like you try to stick to the road less traveled, but since you do travel so much, do you ever try to make it to any Michelin starred restaurants?

I'm not much of a foodie. Perfectly happy with a baguette, olive oil and balsamic, and some fromage. I do keep an eye out for Michelin starred restaurants and have eaten at some, but frankly, they tend to be too pricey for me to enjoy. Usually. We had an $8 bowl of ramen at a starred restaurant in Tokyo recently which was fantastic!

[motion]

Originally Posted by creaturecat

i would go visit wheatwacker, from Adv rider.
get him to line up and register/insure a moto in your name. he can as well store it for you during the off season. maybe an older Africa Twin .......
travelling by moto in Europe is something you could get used to. pretty sure of that.

wheatwhacker | Adventure Rider

This exact scenario has been on my list! I'll be scoping out AT's on this trip.

[Eric 951]

You should visit St. Patrick's Cathedral and Trinity College while in Dublin





And Blarney Castle has beautiful grounds

[OffCamber00]

Going on a drive through the Connemara is really fantastic.

[jmaxwell]

If you are near Shannon, Bunratty castle holds a medieval feast and has a walk through old Irish village, and if you don't want to do the feast you can always eat at a 400 year old pub called Durty Nelly's. We were chasing O'Bryan history, so we found some of the smaller places on our journey

[cashflyer]

My wife and I talked about your trip and came up with a few things. Most of these are just "stop and go" places where you will only spend a few minutes up to maybe an hour or so at most. (other than the pub, where you need to stay for several pints)


If you're traveling up the A25 from Dublin to Belfast in the afternoon/evening hours, stop into the Thierafurth Inn and have a few pints. It'll be good craic.
Thierafurth Inn

Close by, on Moneyscalp road, is the Drumena cashel. Not a big attraction, but quite old. Built prior to 325ad, approximately.
Drumena Cashel, Down

Just a few miles past there is the town of Castlewellan. Stop in to see the 19th century castle and the forest park.
Castlewellan Castle
Castlewellan Forest Park & Peace Maze

Not far away is Dundrum Castle. 13th century. Mostly ruins now.

[glewis80SC]

Spent 10 days in Ireland with the family last summer and loved it we stayed at an Airbnb cottage for 6 days outside of the town of Roscrea in rural Ireland that was my favorite part getting away from the real touristy areas and meeting the locals....wonderful people.
Cliffs of Moher are cool but very busy with tourists, if you can drive the Ring of Kerry do it its a long day but worth it, +1 on Galway and Dingle is a *****in little town too. We did the Waterford Crystal tour and worth your time for sure...the chinese restaurant across from the Waterford factory pours the best pint I had the whole time in Ireland.
In Dublin do the Literary Pup Crawl...I'm serious do it it's well worth the $50.00 and a blast, the Guinness Tour is cool but don't need to do it again.We were able to find good food it wasn't all fish and chips at all. Driving can be an adventure..it's fun but stressful at times the road are really narrow at times.
Best advice....stop in the small towns go into the pubs and talk with the people.

Irish cottage

Rural Ireland...Tipperary

Kids in Galway

My driving mishap

[Rinty]

Originally Posted by motion

In Dublin now and ready to hit the streets...

Since you're still in Dublin, check out the Wicklow Mountains just south of the city. It's a fabulous area. Glendalough is really pretty.

Concerning all the suggestions above, you can't really go wrong anywhere on the Island.

If you're into an organized tour, C.I.E. Tours is really good.

Have fun.

[cashflyer]

Originally Posted by glewis80SC

Your cottage photo reminded me of the cottages my family stayed at when they went to Ireland for our wedding. "Millers Close"
Millers Close Holiday Cottages

[cashflyer]

A couple more pubs in Castlewellen....

The Old Tom
On the square, in town.
Kind of an "old man" pub, but enjoyable people and conversations.


The Fountain
Just as you're coming into town.
Nice, historic building.


Maginns
On the lower end of town
Maginns Bar Castlewellan


A good one in Newcastle is Quinn's - and they have good food, too.
Quinns Website


Down in Newry, the Quayside Inn had good food.



(These are all places that I have been to, but it was about 13 years ago)

[rusnak]

ooh, I love those pics of the Irish countryside. Just fantastic! And the castle - I would not want to leave.

[Eric Coffey]

If you are pub-hopping, might as well throw in a stop at the Brazen Head (Ireland's oldest).

Of course, I am a bit biased...

[cashflyer]

When you're done in Belfast, head over to Derry.
It was a significant border area during the troubles.
It also has the only completely remaining walled city in Ireland

[cashflyer]

My wife said ti give you a couple more ideas.

In Dublin, you can stay in Clontarf Castle - a 19th century castle which has been renovated into a nice hotel.
Interwebz says it is very expensive, so maybe you just drive by and take photos. lol
http://www.clontarfcastle.ie/

(not us)

Also in Dublin, you can visit the Kilmainham Jail - a museum on the history of Irish nationalism which offers guided tours of the building. This was also the filming location of the prison scenes in the movie, "In the Name of the Father".

[Rinty]

Originally Posted by cashflyer

A couple more pubs....

Johnnie Foxes, on the edge of the Wicklow Mountains, is one of my favourites:

https://www.jfp.ie/

But they're all good.

[unclebilly]

Irish tip... May ya be a half an hour in heaven before the devil knows yer dead... Or is that an Irish toast..?