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October 22, 2007
Enroute to Arklow, Ireland
This year Linda and I went to Arklow, Ireland to observe the Feast of Tabernacles. We flew into Shannon Airport on the western side of Ireland so that we could visit The Cliffs of Mohr and the Dingle Peninsula on or way to Arklow. We also stopped over one night in Blarney, but we didn't kiss the stone. Dingle and the peninsula were spectacular and I have many great photos and recorded music. I'll be uploading them as soon as I hae time to process everything.
Departing from Kansas City, Missouri, we flew and traveled with our good friends, Carl and Barbara Mueller. After meeting up at the Shannon Airport with another good friend Jason O'Conner, we upgraded to a 9 passenger van so that we could all travel together.
We first drove to The Cliffs of Mohr. It actually was a bit dangerous due to gail force winds and we had to crouch down everytime the wind gusted. We then drove on towards Dingle to spend the night.
Linda had alread booked our rooms in Dingle. So, we pulled in, unloaded our luggage and got a bite to eat at one of the nearby pubs. I don't know the population of Dingle, but it is a small fishing village. Someone there told us that they have 35 pubs!. That evening we walked around listening for music from the sidewalk. We visited 4 pubs and found some really good authentic Irish music. In one pub we caught guitarist/vocalist Tommy Sullivan with Damian Mullane on the accordian. They are both terrific, but Damian is just awesome.
The next day we drove out to the tip of the Dngle Peninsula. Folks, I haven't said much so far about the width of the roads. But, I MUST warn you that there is a reason you find repair shops around specialzing in exterior rear view mirror repairs. THE ROADS ARE EXTEMELY NARROW AND TO BE RESPECTED AS SUCH. Nevertheless, there was barely a cloud in the sky and the weather was windy but warm. We got some fantasic postcard pictures. Again, I will be posting them soon. After touring the Dingle peninsula, we headed for Blarney.
Again, Linda had already booked our rooms in Blarney and they were just beautiful. We stayed at the Kilarney House B&B which I highly recommend. The next day we got an early start and beat the tour buses through the entrance. They arrive there about 9:30 a.m. After touring the beautiful Blarney Castle and viewing the stone (not kissing it) we headed out to tour the famous Jameson DIstillery. Amazingly, we found the distillery fairly easily. Linda and Barbara volunteered as taste-testers at the end of the tour. That meant they had to sample several other whiskys as well as the Jameson brand. Yep, they got a wee bit tipsy. But, I was driving and Carl was my nagivator. So we headed on towards Arklow.
As we neared Arklow, Linda phone the landlord of the 5 bedroom townhouse that we rented. Besides he 5 of us, another good friend from Missouri, Jack Wright, stayed with us in Arklow. We got the place for a little over $1,000 for 1-1/2 weeks. When you split the cost it makes it very reasonabe. The landlord met us there and turned over the keys. I'll be writing more specifically about the Feast in Arklow in my next update.
Posted by banjonut at October 22, 2007 12:30 AM