So, this summer, my mother and I are going to visit Ireland, home of (some of) our ancestors, for a couple of weeks. We’re not visiting anyone in particular, we just want to see the country and the sights. So, for our Irish dopers, and others familiar with the fair isle, are there any particular sights we should make a point to see?
I’ve no idea, but I’m reading this thread becase there’s a good chance I (along with my DoperGuy) willl be going to Ireland in September as well. So far we 're thinking of drinking and pillaging some in Dublin, then renting a car and exploring the countryside. We hoping the trip will bein in Setember sometime.
<do not make a post under the incluence of Vicodin an Ambien - it takes much much longer to write anything approaching English>
The Dublin Dopers. I highly recommend 'em.
As well as Galway and the Aran islands.
OK, well the first question needs to be: Northern Ireland (Ulster) or southern(Eire)? A specific county would be helpful, too…
If southern, I definitely recommend at least a day in dublin (a weekend might be better) - especially the guinness brewery!
northern… there’s the giant’s causeway… and uh… the town where my dad was born… probably some other stuff too 
Depending on how long you have, you could do a round trip - the coastal regions of Ireland are much more pleasant and interesting than the midlands (sorry, midlanders).
Pesonal favourites:
Dublin has about 3 days’ worth of sights to see, and 7 years’ worth of drinking in pubs…
The Glens of Antrim in Northern Ireland are fabulous. The Giant’s Causeway is mad, and Donegal’s fantastically remote.
Sligo’s nice, and Leitrim is a much-overlooked county - very unspoiled.
Galway’s a great city. The Aran Islands are a good day trip.
The Burren is bizarre.
The Dingle Peninsula in Kerry is just beautiful. My favourite part of Ireland. See if you can book a cottage there in a village on the peninsula, or stay in a B&B in Dingle town.
BTW, if you hate smoky atmospheres, you’re going to hate it!
[hijack]Ulster is incorrect terminology for Northern Ireland, as it comprises 9 counties, three of which are in the Republic of Ireland - it’s not just the 6 counties of Northern Ireland.[/hijack]
A friend of mine once toured most of the island along the coast. He said that the first days they stopped the car every now and then because thay just had to take a photograph of the breathtaking scenery. After a couple of days they stopped the car to take photos with the words: “It might be very beautiful, but at the moment we are unable to determine, so we had better take a photo and evaluate it when we get home again”.
He showed me his photos and the landscape was indeed breathtaking.
Apart from that I agree with ShadowWarrior that the Guinness brewery is a must.
There is so much to see. I think Jjimm has the best description so far.
Let me know if there is any specific information I could dig up for you.
Oh, I missed Cork and West Cork. Lovely too. Kinsale is very nice, if somewhat touristy.
I don’t have a terrifically high opinion of Waterford or Wexford, alas.
Have to agree with this! If you and your mother are into seeing the best of Ireland’s scenery then Kerry is unmissable…
The ‘traditional’ scenery route for driving (I’m presuming you’ll be hiring a car) is the so-called ‘Ring of Kerry’, a round route from Killarney, around the Iveragh peninsula taking in Killorglin, Cahirsiveen, Waterville, Sneem and Kenmare.
Click here for a map of Kerry
The Dingle Peninsula is just as beautiful, and a little quieter… The drive from Tralee to Dingle along the Conor Pass (there are two roads from Tralee to Dingle… The ‘main’ road and the narrower, but more scenic Conor Pass. Any local will be able to give directions. Once you’ve reached Dingle (a wonderful fishing town, with a great athmosphere, excellent food and a local celebrity Dolphin called
Fungi ) be sure and carry on to the Gaeltacht (or Irish-speaking) areas West of the town, out as far as Dunquin… (As the locals say 'Next parish, America).
IMHO, the greatest tourist attraction in Kerry is Skellig Michael … Essentially, it’s a giant rock, about 8 miles from shore on which there’s an Island Monastery , a colony of puffins, gannets and the most incredible scenery!! (It’s also on the UN list of World heritage Sights) Passage to the island can be arranged with a small number of licenced operators… (For preservation reasons visiting is strictly controlled) Boats leave from Portmagee, or one or two other local ports and need to be booked a few days in advance, and if the weather isn’t ideal, the trip won’t be able to go ahead… But be assured that despite the inconvenience, it’s an unbelievable place to visit, and well worth the effort of planning ahead to arrange the trip…
Just to prove that there’s no bias in favour of my home county, I’d better suggest some of the things worth visiting in the rest of Ireland…
Limerick is not a widely visitied tourist city, but if you find yourself in the area, the
Hunt Museum is, imho, the best museum in the country… Much smaller than the National Museum, it makes up for its relatively small size by having a collection in which virtually every piece is a trasure… It was the personal collection of a pair of antique dealers and they had an eye for keeping the most exquisite pieces for their own collection…
If you are in Dublin, a day trip to Glendalough is an ideal way of escaping the busy city… The mountain scenery is wonderful, there are lots of quiet walks and the monastic ruins are most interesting…
One of the lesser known museum collections in Dublin is the Chester Beatty … Again, a private collection, donated to the State, there are some wonderful manuscripts…
As regards scenery, loath as I am to admit it, south and west Cork is also wonderful, with some very pleasant coastal villages…
BTW, in terms of general advice
Kerriensis
See my Irish Stuff page for some ideas.
A friend of mine has a page of links for a first time visitor.
I like the Rough Guides series of travel books…they won’t steer you wrong.
slainte
How much longer if you’re drinking in pubs with Dopers?
I have been. Started in 1995 before they were dopers, and still going…
Never been, but I almost went once when I saw an ad for rental of houseboats and you just drifted down the rivers, stopping at villages and going into the pubs before ambling back to your houseboat and drifting back down the river.
Sounded great, and wasn’t all that expensive (at least back when I read that ad).
This physicist had a fascinating time visiting Newgrange last year. Sure it’s a bit crowded and the restoration’s arguable (though Michael O’Kelly’s book allows you to know what’s what), but there’s no substitute for seeing it in it’s landscape.
And St. Michan’s church in Dublin, with it’s mummies in the crypt, is unforgettable.
In answer to some of the questions: We will be there for two weeks, and we’ll be in Eire, not the UK portion. We’re not planning on restricting ourselves to a single county. We’re already planning on staying in B&Bs, and we’ll have a rental car. Although we probably will visit a pub or two for the atmosphere, my mom doesn’t drink much, and I not at all, so we won’t need to spend several years in them ;).
Some of this scenery sounds fantastic… jjimm, by “smokey atmosphere”, do you mean actual smoke, or fog? Fog I don’t mind, at all. As for smoke, well, my entire state smelled like a campfire for the past two summers, so I suppose I can handle that as well.
My guess is “smokey atmosphere” refers to cigarette smoke. The anti-smoking craze hasn’t taken hold in Europe nearly the way it has in the U.S., and it may seem to an American tourist that EVERYBODY but him is puffing on a cigarette.
Continuing the hijack, “Eire” is incorrect terminology for only the Republic of Ireland, as it is simply the Irish word for Ireland and thus has all the ambiguity that “Ireland” itself does. (plus, it’s Éire.)
I highly recommend Derry and Belfast in addition to the places already mentioned, BTW.
I’ve never been there, but I would go to Cobh (prounced “cove”, formerly Queenstown). The last port of call for the Titanic and more importantly, ten miles off the coast is where the Lusitania was hit by a torpedo. If you go there, they have a museum and a monument to the victims.
If you’re Catholic, I recommend Knock, about 2 hours north of Galway. It’s a Marian apparition site, so it’s fun in that “Catholic-equivalent-of-Roswell” sense. (Although as a warning, there’s a lot of street vendors around the shrine selling religious wares, Virgin Mary soap-on-a-rope, and other miscellaneous tacky wares. Kills the mood no matter what you believe.)
W.B. Yates’ home is somewhere south of Galway, if I recall correctly. Neat building…I actually slept in his bed for a few minutes.
Oh, and Galway itself. I know several other people have mentioned it, but the town really does rock. Its summer arts fest should be coming up soon, so make it a point to get out there if your trip coincides with the event.
Kilmainham Gaol, if you’re anywhere near Dublin.
Really. Truly.
But bring a coat. 80 degrees outside, 40 inside.
Cyn