Ireland

For the last two weeks, I was back in Ireland for work. Instead of going home over the weekend, David decided to island hop over to Ireland for a couple of days of site-seeing. Even though it’s hard being away from David and Kirby when I travel, I am enjoying the perks like free plane tickets and hotel rooms for trips like this!

Limerick is only an hour from London by flight, so David caught the last flight out Friday after work. Unfortunately his plane was delayed for almost 2 hours because of thunderstorms in England, but he eventually got there!

On Saturday morning, I arranged for a driver to pick us up from the hotel and take us on a tour of the area. Our first stop was Dromoland Castle, a beautiful castle in the countryside. These days it functions as a hotel on a golf course. David was in heaven, imagining playing a round of golf there. He really had to stretch his imagination at that time, though, because it was raining pretty hard so the course was deserted.

After driving around the grounds and splashing around in puddles inside the ‘secret garden’ we got back inside the warm, dry car and drove through the Burren.

The secret garden at Dromoland Castle. 

The Burren is a rugged region of the country covered with limestone rocks and more than 90 portal tombs.

We were starting to get pretty hungry after hours of driving and site-seeing, so we stopped at a local jam producer and stocked up on wild blueberry, strawberries with champagne, and apricot spreads. We also picked up a jar of mango chutney.

We had one last stop before our pub lunch – the Cliffs of Moher.

The cliffs were great and I couldn't imagine how beautiful they are in the spring or summer when it doesn’t feel like a hurricane outside. We were able to see through the rain and got some good pictures, but we weren’t willing to hike around the cliffs for very long in that weather. I literally almost blew over 8 times…. It was so windy, the Atlantic Ocean waters were blowing up OVER the cliffs. 

We ran through the spray of water and walked around O’Brien’s tower, then heading to the pub.

This sign cracked us up.  "In case you're an idiot and decide to

go over the wall, be prepared to fall to your death!"

It was a perfect lunch. We sat in a comfy booth next to the wood fire and enjoyed seafood chowder, fish n chips, and hearty shepherd’s pie. Our driver even convinced me to try a Guinness. David had a regular pint and I had a half pint with some blackcurrant juice to sweeten it up. It was actually really delicious! To finish off his meal, David had a glass of Jameson’s Irish Whisky.

After lunch we drove back towards Limerick and stopped at our final destination, Bunratty Castle. The castle is about 1,000 years old – built by the Thomond Lords.

We were the only ones inside the castle, so David couldn’t help walking around proclaiming himself “King of the Castle – King of the Castle!” 

Bunratty is not just a castle, there’s also a town around the castle inside Bunratty Park. The houses are all models, demonstrating what life was like 100 years ago in Ireland. We saw everything from the poor fisherman’s shack to the grand Georgian mansion.

There was also a little town decorated for Christmas. Some of the employees were making scones using old-fashioned baking utensils in the farmer’s home. They were delicious! There were also lots of animals on the grounds. We saw some deer and donkeys and Shetland ponies. One of the donkeys looked so miserable, and when we got closer, we saw why. She was preggers! She was literally about to burst – you could see the baby donkey moving around inside of her. David started chanting, “Have it now! Have it now!” But alas, the baby was not coaxed out of the womb by David’s terrifying chant.

We ended our tour at Durty Nelly’s, one of the oldest pubs in the area. It was built in 1620 and is famous for teaching patrons how to pour their own pints of Guinness. And trust me, this is an art form. They take their Guinness very seriously in Ireland. Later that week, I was able to go back to Bunratty with the Dell team and have dinner at Durty Nelly’s restaurant.

On Saturday, I made dinner reservations at my favorite restaurant in downtown Limerick, Freddie’s Bistro. This restaurant was recently named one of the 100 Best in Ireland. I ended up going back later that week with a coworker and happened to have the same waitress who sat us at the same exact table. I hope she doesn’t think I’m a floozy who brings all my dates there!

On Sunday, the weather was much, much better so we walked along the Shannon River to King John’s Castle. Interesting fact, King John ordered the castle to be built, and then he never even visited Limerick, which means he never set foot in his castle. It was later used to protect the town (unsuccessfully) against sieges.

We were the only ones inside this castle also! I guess it really was the off-season… We had fun wandering around and watching the informational videos. Since the castle never housed royalty, it’s pretty plain. There is an archaeological dig under the castle showcasing some 12th century houses and an old mine used during a siege. But other than that, it’s mostly empty rooms and a courtyard with the gallows, a catapult, and a couple of stocks.

While walking back towards the city centre for lunch, we stopped at St. Mary’s Cathedral, the oldest building in Limerick still used for its original purpose. St. Mary’s was built in 1168 and has a beautiful, historic cemetery. We walked through the graveyard, but didn’t go inside since it was Sunday morning and we didn’t want to interrupt Mass.

We had lunch at another favorite, Chocolat, and then headed across the street to Moody Cow Milkshakes. One of my coworkers is leaving Dell in a few weeks to pursue his passion of milkshakes. He opened up this milkshake bar a couple of months ago and business is booming! David had an Oreo milkshake and I had a Riesen hot chocolate, complete with whipped cream and a Cadbury flake. Yummy!

After our dessert, David had to head out to the airport to get back to London. It was a really short, but fun weekend. It’s embarrassing to think that I’ve spent a month in Ireland since I started traveling with Dell back in August…. And the most I had seen before this weekend was the inside of the Dell office and the restaurants of the city centre. But now I can say I’ve seen a lot! And I’m very thankful for my great husband who flew to Ireland to see his long-distance wife!