Castle Hotels - Abbey Glen, Ashford, Lough Rynn

Abbey Glen

We have booked a one-night package stay at a castle hotel in Clifden which is near the western coast. When we get there our room is not ready yet and we are hungry, we check out the bar area and enjoy a midafternoon light snack.  We figure we need food in us because our package starts with a history of the castle presentation with free prosecco at 6:30pm.  Before we get there, we wonder if this really is an old castle - yes, it is.  While we are here, we debate if there are any additions to the original buildings and decide we don't want to know.  Our room is on the second floor right next to the main staircase, so I am pretty sure we were in the original building. 

Westport - Wild Atlantic Way

 This is our next stop after our first castle stay in Abbey Glen.  Our route here starts with a scenic drive on the upper sky road leaving the town of Clifden.  It is another one lane road, but oh the views it gave us were fantastic and my favorites.  I have decided I prefer a landscape with a gentle drop off into the sea versus the steep cliffs although that is what you hear about in write ups for Ireland.  We are still following the "Wild Atlantic Way" road signs and we do stop at one of the scenic viewpoints.  It was quite pretty, and we were there probably a half hour or more.  We would have stayed longer but had to get to our next spot-sigh.  I liked how you could see so many small islands.  The tide was out so you also saw some beach areas.  On our way to this spot we had seen a group of people windsurfing and a couple of small boats.  At our spot is a local horse who is happy to have the people around him.

Galway - Wild Atlantic Coast

We have been looking forward to this portion of our trip as our daughter is joining us for a few days.  She flew into Dublin and explored that city before catching the train out to Galway where we picked her up.  That first afternoon, we had a wonderful meal at Kai Restaurant and spent some time exploring Galway including the Spanish Arch and the Latin Quarter.  We start to walk along the seapint promenade to Salthill and its promenade but it is too windy and cold for us so cut the walk short. Then off to a very nice AirBnB in Kinvara about 30 minutes from Galway.  

Limerack

 

Our next stop was a small town just outside of Limerick called Bunratty as in the castle Bunratty.  On our way to Bunratty we stopped in Ennis at the ruins of a friary and then in Limerick to see King John's Castle.

Wild Atlantic Coast - Ring of Skellig

 

Skellig Michael - UNESCO World Heritage Site

Skellig Michael is a pair of Islands 7.2 miles off shore.  Greater Skellig is known for the Gaelic monastery built between the 6th and 7th century.  In our travels, we have been amazed at the great lengths monks will go to seek isolation. (Check out our post for the Meteora Monastery for another example. 

Wild Atlantic Coast - Ring of Kerry

 

Round of Golf one afternoon

We are staying in Killarney in an apartment for a week as there is a lot to do in the area as well as time to cook a little, wash some clothes etc.  (Haircut for me) Killarney is very walkable and full of tourists in the area we are staying in close to the Killarney National Park.  The majority of which are from the USA, but also many Irish, English, German and Italian tourists too. It’s a cute town and we enjoy exploring it on our first day. 

Ireland’s Ancient East - Cork Ireland

 

We drove from Waterford to Cork on a rainy day with a stop in between at a country restaurant.  I actually went without a jacket a little bit on our last day in Waterford, but the wind and the rain meant it was again a chilly day when we left for Cork.  If the weather had been nice, we were going to stop along the coast, but dropped that idea and just enjoyed our lunch at Ballymaloe.