Ireland has the best pub culture of anywhere we have been - far better than other places that traditionally think they have the best pub cultures. We never felt more welcomed, nor saw and met such a good representation of camaraderie and sense of community. Families, professionals, mates, visitors, and tourists all mixed together harmoniously. Most of all, we loved their great sense of humor. A sense of humor is so important, according to John Cleese as without one we loose our sense of perspective. Well, the Irish must have a heightened sense of perspective.
And the humor can really get out there! YouTube the likes of 'The Bull Mick' and the 'Savage Eye' channel to sample the 'out-there-ness'. I have never seen so many tears run down Peter's cheeks...
As we were in Ireland for 3 months, we decided to focus most of our time on The wild Atlantic Way, which is a collection of roads that runs vertically up the west coast. The WAW is best described by its sub-regions in the picture and it's Wild to be sure - and gorgeous. You could explore for ages along this coast. Even in the winter as it is now, it is beautiful, rugged, and dramatic. We were able to make it all the way up the coast from Schull to Donegal County in the Northern Headlands. Unfortunately, we had to drive back to Dublin twice to re-hire the car again as most EU locations do not allow you to have a rental car out for more than 28 days at a time. It was unfortunate as we really preferred to focus on the west coast
Having driven the Haven Coast up to Schull and visiting with Peter's sister Jane, we moved along to the Southern Peninsulas. The highlight of this region was the Killarney National Park, which is the oldest national park in Ireland. All the 6 national parks in Ireland have great walking trails and easy parking. Tourist attractions in Ireland are much more low-key and non-commercial than I am used to which was really nice. They seem to focus more on the nature and beauty than the marketing. There are also plenty of pubs just outside the park with traditional Irish music in the evenings. Kenmare was a wonderful town just south of the park with a brightly colored Main Street with plenty of pubs.
Moving up to the Cliff Coast, the Moher Cliffs seems to be the single attraction that does advertise heavily. It seems to be on every tourist's list of things to see and tour buses run daily ​from Dublin just to get a peek. However, the cliffs run along the coastline down to Kilkee, where we decided to go instead on recommendation by the locals. The Kilkee cliff walk was about 1.5km one-way and dry with a tarmac trail the entire way. It was one of the highlights of our trip and highly recommended.
We also stayed in Galway which really lives up to its reputation as being an artistic and trendy city. You will find pubs with traditional music, trendy shopping, canals with swans, and a great vibe.
Before headed northward to the Bay Coast, we had to swing by Dublin for the rental car exchange and went to see the Dunbrody famine ship while there. It was a good tour with actors in period dress and educated us on the Great Famine which occurred partially due to farming methods, dependency upon potatoes, and limited crop diversity. The other cause was sociopolitical pertaining to land rights, trade, and absence of representation. The event is bedded deep into the culture and only recently has the population seen growth.
Before leaving the Dublin area, we drove through Wicklow National Park which is a large, spread out area of rolling mountain ranges. We also stopped by Clonmacnoise, which has a visitor center showing four High Crosses, and was a significant religious site for education and scholars.
Getting back to the WAW, the Bay Coast was one of our personal favorites because of the great walking trail in the Connemara National Park. It's a perfect 3-4 hour day of hill-walking with a stone pathway and great views on top.
Finally, after heading back to Dublin one last time for the rental car, we made it up to the Surf Coast and the Northern Headlands. We cut through Northern Ireland on the way, and finally figured out that the speed limit signs changed from km/h to miles/h!! In County Donegal, we found the town of Ardara to be the highlight. It seems that Nancy's pub is widely known in all the surrounding counties, so that is where we headed and were warmly welcomed by the entire bar which happened to be celebrating a wedding from the day before. The after-party was a joy to watch with dancing and distant relatives catching up on old times. It was good to slow down, relax, and work some more on the next update for my app, EVHotels.
Also in County Donegal is Slieve League, which does not have the notoriety of the Cliffs of Moher, but do have the highest sea cliffs in Europe. There is a great boardwalk along the sea at the top of parking area and well worth a visit. The sea cove is beautiful.
We will definitely come back to Ireland, by sea next time, though we think it would be difficult to sail into much of the rocky shores of the west coast. Not stop is back to France where Chloe is waiting for us. The next episode will follow us moving on to our new floating home and getting up to speed on all the on-board systems.
