Anybody been to Ireland?

In My Humble Opinion
1

My girlfriend and I will be spending 8 days in Ireland over the New Year’s holiday. We’ll be flying into Dublin where we will pick up our rental car. We’ll spend one night in Dublin, and then drive to Killarney, where we’ll spend two nights. Then it’s off to Ennis, where we’ll be spending two nights. Then back to Dublin, for two more nights before flying back to Rhode Island.

Anybody ever been? What recommendations for sightseeing/points of interest can you make? So far we’re pretty sure we’d like to see the Guinness brewery, Tullamore distillery and at least one visit to one of their castles. We’re also going to have to spend some time in several pubs. But we’re pretty flexible, in good health (not afraid of hiking, walking, etc…) and willing to drive off the beaten path if necessary to see what needs to be seen. Our only restrictions are our lodging plans (our hotels are already booked). Because of this, we’d pretty much need to stick with the southern half of the country.

So what should we do/see? Thanks.

2

There are a few Irish Dopers who can probably help you out more than I can, but my wife and I have been to Ireland twice and loved every single freakin’ second of it. A great deal of the stuff we did was outdoors, and I’m not sure what the weather is like in December/January, so keep that in mind.

We were only in Dublin for one day, so more knowledgeable people will have more to say, but Dublin Castle and Trinity College were both worth the time as tourist stops. We caught a good session in Temple Bar, but were too exhausted from the flight to stay out too late.

The drive to Killarney from Dublin is a pretty long one, but if you can stop for a breather around Kilkenny there is an amazing old ruin there called Kells Priory. It’s a bit off the beaten path but oh so worth it. We were there for an hour at least and there was not a single other person, just a bunch of rooks spookily “cawing” away. Incredible.

Around Killarney you should definitely go to the national park and Muckross House. (I took the greatest picture I’ve ever taken in my life there, but it’s not online so I can’t show it off). The park is free (and there’s a great church ruin there) and the House gardens as well, but getting into the House requires admission.

Torc Waterfall is around there as well, just a short hike and pretty cool. Ross Castle was nothing special. In Killarney itself there’s a lot of places with cheesy music sessions for tourists. There are good bands to be seen in some of the smaller places, you just have to hunt a round a little.

There are a ton great ruins and forts on the Ring of Kerry. Can’t swing a dead cat without hitting one, really.

Definitely try to get out on the Dingle peninsula. Amazing scenery, and Dingle Town is a cute little place.

Ennis we only stopped in briefly on our last day before hitting Shannon airport. It was a little trafficky and not all that special IMO, though there is a decent church ruin there. But it is a good base to visit The Burren and the Cliffs of Moher, both of which I recommend for excellent scenery. In Doolin (tiny town west of Ennis) we were treated to the best music session of our trip in McGann’s pub - absolutely amazing music and you’re crammed in literally 4 feet away. I strongly recommend going there for an evening if you like authentic Irish trad music.

If you have other specific questions, I’d be happy to respond.

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Thanks, ShadowFacts. This is exactly the kind of stuff I was looking for. It’s easy to just google “Ireland”, but to get actual opinions from real (virtual) people is much better. We will be doing our own research, but opinions like yours are really helpful. Thanks for the relpy. Anyone else?

4

A lot of people ignore Northern Ireland when they go to Ireland. I highly recommend it. The Giant’s Causeway is not to be missed!

5

For pubs in Dublin, the main one I would recommend is Grogan’s on South William St. Both Yojimbo and myself frequent it and it has a great atmosphere, good crowd and lovely staff. Also, the best toasted cheese sandwiches in the world.

**Surly Chick **, I agree with your recommendation but the OP’s itinerary is already booked. A jaunt up north would be impractical.

6

Ennis is not very far from the cliffs of Moher. That’s a must see if you are in the neighborhood. And then hit a pub in Doolin, just north of the cliffs. Famous for it’s music, see if you can get a designated driver and get smashed listening to traditional Irish music in one of it’s pubs. Or get a B&B and get locked in past close. It’s not uncommon to rub elbows with famous musicians there. On of my favorite towns is Dingle, south of Ennis. Take the Shannon ferry to skip stab city (Limerick) and take the N86 through the stunning Connor Pass. Dingle is a very fun town and I fondly recall some of the best greasy fish & chips I’ve ever had in a tiny shop up from Murphy’s pub.

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Is it easy for tourists to go from the Republic to the North? I had the impression that formerly there was iron-curtain border security; has this changed/is this not true?

8

Don’t try to travel too much (too far). There are ruins, castles, abbeys, you name it, all over the place. Don’t spend three hours driving to a cool castle when there’s another cool castle only an hour away. Seriously. When we went (honeymoon) we tried to see too much too far apart.

Rush hour in Ireland really can be like this. Of course it isn’t all like that, but outside of major cities, and not too far outside at that, things get pretty rural pretty quick. It is idyllic and beautiful, heck even the weeds along the side of the road are a special shade of green only seen in Ireland, but the pace can be a bit slower than you might be used to.

Also, it seems like every town has some sort of ruin or stone tower or abbey or something that they just live and work next to without giving it a thought. The gas station will be right next to the 9th century falling down castle which is right next to the pub next to the hardware store next to the church. Those can be just as fascinating, and without hoards of tourists on them.

Go into a rural pub (which might also be the local grocery store or post office), smile, ask for a couple of pints, strike up a conversation with the barkeep, and ask if there’s anything interesting nearby they could recommend a couple of out-of-towners might enjoy seeing. You’ll get everything from the aforementioned ruins, to Clancy’s award-winning sheep in the farm down the road, to their aunt Mary’s bake shop across the street, to “I dunno” (in which case go to the next pub and repeat). If you go in later in the afternoon you might wind up with a dinner invitation. Also, if you do these fact-finding missions in the afternoon you can make plans for what to do the next morning / day, then do another pub visit that afternoon / evening to get ideas for the next day.

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Even at its worst the border checkpoints (manned by British Army) were no more a hindrance to travel than the US/Canadian border, in fact it was less of one arguably. Nowadays there are no checkpoints and other than the road signs changing you’d be hard pressed to notice you had entered another country.

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A tip on driving around Ireland: mind your speed! Speed cameras are abundant, especially around Dublin airport. Nothing to remember your trip like getting home and finding a speeding ticket in your mailbox.

Which, er, reminds me…Irish Dopers, is there a statue of limitations on those? :o

11

No problem crossing the border. Mostly the only way you’ll know you’ve gone from Ireland to Northern Ireland is that the road signs will switch from km to m.

I recommend a day trip to Galway. I haven’t been in years but I always loved visiting there. Or if there is one on take in a rugby match. A good Munster game would be something a bit different from the usual touristy stuff.

12

When in Dublin:

Avoid Temple Bar. My eyes nearly dropped out when I got charged a fiver for a pint.
The best thing we saw in Dublin was Kilmainham Gaol, a preserved Victorian prison where they shot the ringleaders of the Easter Uprising. It cost just a couple of Euros for a guided tour by a historian that lasted about an hour.
The Guiness factory tour is OK. The Jamiesons one isn’t. Avoid at all costs.
The Book of Kells exhibition at Trinity College is pretty good.

13

Great, great, great! Thanks to all for the input. Capt. Ridley’s Shooting Party, I love the suggestion of the prison. I always love me a good prison tour! We’ll be sitting down soon to come up with an itinerary, and a print out of these suggestions will be in my hands. Capt., a fiver for a pint? Is that in euros? If so, that means about $3.34 US for a pint. I wish I could get a pint in the US for that! Keep the suggestions coming!

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Oops. I did my math backwards. Looks like that pint’s going to cost me $7.45 US at Temple Bar, Capt. That is a little pricey.

15

Isn’t 5 Euros more like $8? I think we converted what we got charged back into pounds, so it was ~£5, or thereabouts.

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You’d be lucky to pay only €5 for a pint in Temple Bar. In fact, don’t drink at all in Dublin, everywhere else in the country is cheaper.

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Thanks. I’d read somewhere that there was only one train that crossed the border, from Belfast to Dublin, and that it was a pain to get set up, and I had images in my mind of British police forts and whatnot, so somehow I thought that there wasn’t mich traffic across the border, and what there was was heavily inspected.

We don’t hear much from Ireland here. Glad to fight my ignorance.

I hope you mean ‘km to mi’ (kilometres to miles) there. :slight_smile:

18

Okay, I’ll clarify by saying this. When there were British Army checkpoints at the border you were usually casually questioned by an armed soldier who was usually surrounded by his comrades. This *was *intimidating but there was never an issue that you wouldn’t be allowed enter the north unless they happened to think you were carrying arms or explosives in your car. I don’t imagine they ever scrutinised non-Irish tourists all that much.

19

A fiver!!

Bastards charged us £5.75 a few years back.

One thing nobody has mentioned about The Emerald Isle is the fact that if you have money the Irish will accept it.

No matter what currency, they’ll take it off your hands with pleasure.

I love Ireland, both North and South, great friendly people and absolutely fantastic food and drink

We had kidney soup in Co.Cavan and I swear it was so thick a mouse could have walked across it. Then we went to Co.Fermanagh and got totally shitfaced with some Irish colleens…boy that was day to remember.

Yep, I love Ireland