Our Trip – In Summary

Celebrating our 35th wedding anniversary was quite something this year. Not sure how Sara continues to put up with Dave for so many years, but he is glad she does. As indicated in the About page, this trip was a little more than the anniversary. It was a little bit of walking in our ancestor’s footsteps, but more about that later.

While we were in Dublin, we were constantly worried about the weather – rain. As it turned out, the forecasts called for spoilers every day – but we didn’t lose any time. The rain came briefly and left – and for the most part our touring days were bright and sunny. We are grateful for this!

This trip began in style with Business Class tickets non-stop from San Francisco to Dublin, Ireland. The Aer Lingus flight was great – smooth, good service, good food. We arrived in Dublin just before noon local time. An easy cab over to the Westin hotel in the city center and we were there!

After getting refreshed, we walked around the area to scout out where we wanted to focus over the next 9 days. We walked quickly around Grafton Street and into the Temple Bar area. After tiring ourselves out, we stopped at Gogerty’s for a dinner and then back to the hotel for our 1^st night’s sleep in Dublin. Click Here for some pictures of Day One.

Monday brought about a more vigorous exploration of the city. We purchased a 2-day hop-on, hop-off bus tour that stopped at various places around the city. It was a great way to go to attractions we had targeted – as well as learn about new areas. The drivers were generally good narrators – adding their own little twist to the history of the various sites. Our big stop for the day – the Guinness Storehouse – their mother ship of sorts. We then walked over to the Brazen Head Pub – oldest in Dublin, founded in 1198, for dinner – Fantastic end to a day.

The day’s pictures / places are Click Here. For a short tour introduction video Click Here. For pictures from the Brazen Head Pub Click Here. And, in case you are not familiar with the Guinness Toucan story – Click Here.

Tuesday was a bit more of the same from Monday – more hop-on, hop-off jumping around the city to sites of interest. Most notable, was the tour of the Jameson Distillery – which was very cool. We relaxed in the evening because we had scheduled a day trip away from Dublin the following day – which meant we needed to be up early for the long bus ride.  Click Here for pictures from the day.

On Wednesday we engaged Wild Rover Bus Tours for a trip to Kilkenny and Glendalough (Glen-da-lock). After the long day, we went over to the Temple Bar area to eat at a place called Boxty’s. The Hake and Salmon were among the best meals we’ve had. We’ve written quite a long blog about this day – so, Click Here to see the day.

Having been out from the city and a few days here under our belts, we ventured out around Dublin on our own. There is plenty to see, once you get your bearings. We walked over to Dublin Castle and then went through the Viking Experience in Dublinia and went on to tour Christ Church. All very interesting places that we learned a lot about Dublin, and Ireland, history from.

Friday we wanted to ensure we toured the key remaining (for us) Dublin site – Kilmainham Gaol. This was a most moving experience. There is quite al lot we’re written and provided links to in our post for the day. We encourage you to take a look and reflect a bit on the history from this place. I don’t think I have ever used the term moved before – but this moved me. Click Here to access this blog & Pictures.

On a lighter note, we also visited Grafton Street for some shopping and a beautiful garden/park – St Steven’s Green. Click Here for the pictures & blog.

At this point, it’s hard to believe there is more!! But, there is.

Saturday we decided to try a different type of day tour – via a train. We used RailTours Ireland. The tour was a longer one – with stops in Blarney, Cork and Cobh (Cove). The latter was the last port for the Titanic – also, in case you didn’t know, the ship was built in Belfast, Ireland. It is also very close to where the Lusitania was sunk – which brought the US into the 1^st World War.

So – as you can see, there is a lot to see on Saturday! We got off to a pretty bad start. About an hour into the train ride the train in front of us broke down. The result was a 90-minute wait on the tracks – and then making the extra stops that the broken train hadn’t been able to make. All told, a two-hour loss in the day.

We did get to Blarney and enjoyed the time in the Wool Shops – note these wool factories were establish in 1750 and made all the military uniforms for all UK soldiers world wide up until the 1960’s. Since then, the place has been turned into a tourist/shopping center selling goods made locally.

Because of the time lost on the train, we weren’t able to wait in the long line to kiss the Blarney Stone – so neither of us have been bestowed the gift of Eloquence as a result of the visit.

The journey continued on to visit Cork and then to Cobh for the Queenstown Experience. The latter really moved Sara – as it is likely that here ancestor’s emigrated through Cobh at the height of the potato famine through this port. There is an exhibit that approximated of the type of experience her ancestors went through. Not pretty – many died just trying to get out of Ireland.

From what we can pretty certainly establish, her 3^rd great grandfather, James Mackey (Mackie – as there is no “y” in Irish) came to Canada in 1848 – which was the absolute worst of the potato famine. The preceding census of Ireland (1840) shows him with children and wife. When he hits Canada and shows up with just the kids – youngest born in 1847. Since the wife is not with, she either died shortly after the baby was born, or on the trip. For pictures of the day – Click Here.

Sunday, we needed to stay local and catch our wind – but still much to do and see. Trinity University was right next to the Westin we were staying at and they have an amazing story, a nice campus and a display of the Book of Kells (contains the four Gospels in Latin based on a Vulgate text, written on vellum.) We greatly enjoyed the tour given by a graduate student, the walk through of the Kells exhibit and the amazing library. For pictures of the day – Click Here.

Monday was our 35^th Wedding Anniversary! A very special day for sure.

We also took another day tour to one of Ireland’s most picturesque locations – the Cliffs of Moher.

Beyond that, we also visited / drove the Burren Coast which is a very unique place – not only for it’s physical and visual aspects but also the variety of vegetation found there due to the combination of the terrain and the prevailing trade winds. You can find flowers there that are normally found only in the Caribbean as well as the arctic. Many pictures for the day can be see by Clicking Here.

For Tuesday – our last full day in Ireland, we stayed local and took it easy. We wrapped up some shopping for gifts for the kids and grandkids as well as leisurely strolled around Grafton Street, The Temple Bar area and the surrounding areas. We had a very nice dinner at Boxty’s and bough some of the Potato Pancake mix to bring home. We topped the day off with dessert and cocktails at the Mint Bar in the Westin.