Castles, Cliffs & Charcuterie

I think I’m falling in love with Ireland more every day we spend here.

We had another memorable day heading north bound. From Limerick, we drove just about 20 minutes and made a stop at the Bunratty Castle. Although it’s definitely more of a tourist stop (think WAY glorified Hale Farm with actors, etc.) it was still a very impressive castle and we enjoyed strolling through the rest of the village they had staged to resemble various homes, a school, tea room, doctors office, etc. We stopped in the doctors office and learned all about procedures (including a process using piping hot olive oil and water to remove ear wax…YIKES!!) and crime associated with drug addiction, etc. This castle was positioned right in the middle of what became a civil war, and has an interesting history. The entrance was equipped with an area above for piping hot water to be poured down on intruders, and a trap door below. We also learned about how left-handed soldiers were often sent up the stairwells first because they had an advantage to easily maneuvering the spiral staircases. However, they were often the first killed, so the tour guide joked that maybe that’s why there are more right-hand dominant people still living 🙂 Overall, an educational stop.

We drove just about 20 minutes further, as we made our way into Shannon, where we decided to stop at Dromoland Castle. This was a destination we gave serious consideration to staying at (thank you sooo much for the recommendation, Tessa & Alex), but the way our overall itinerary worked out we kept passing through in the middle of the day. So, we decided embrace it and explore the grounds and have lunch on site… Definitely need to return and stay/golf here! It’s one of the most famous baronial castles in Ireland, and was the ancestral home of the O’Briens, Barons of Inchiquin, who are one of the few native Gaelic families of royal blood and direct descendants of Brian Boroimhe (Boru) High King of Ireland in the eleventh century. Many US presidents have visited here, and I can absolutely understand why. I was in awe as we drove past the golf course… My eyes felt like a they were pulled by a magneticfield towards the greenery and all I could think about was how amazing it would be to play this course. We spent nearly 3 hours having lunch and exploring the grounds (including a gorgeous private garden that I literally felt like I had entered the “secret garden” upon opening the gate to it), spotted a guest taking a falconery lesson, walked to the Mercury temple (an incredible site… Good work on proposing here, Alex!), and saw carriage rides pass by as we were mesmerized by a pond of lillypads. From here, we knew it was time to grab a bite to eat, so we could get back on the road. We had another fantastic meal at the club house, carmelized onion sausage for Bryan (including golf tees to hold the sausage in the buns) and a tasty ham hock sandwich for me. Our entire experience here was delightful, and I hope to return back to get a round of golf in and stay at this beautiful property.

Our original plan was to only spend an hour or two at Dromoland then head to Burren National Park before stopping at the Cliffs of Moher. However, the rain in the forecast scared us away and it seemed to make sense that we make our way directly to the Cliffs of Moher if we were going to have any visibility. We’ll have to add the Burren to our “return to” list.

Although the morning weather had been glorious, the fog started to roll in as we approached the Cliffs of Moher near 3PM. I was initially starting to feel disappointed, as the forecast didn’t call for any chance of rain in this area until closer to 5/6 PM. We decided to layer up with all of rain/cold weather gear and make our way out to the Cliffs anyhow. As we got out of the car and approached the visitor center, sideways rain attacked! We decided to make a loop through the gift store, and by the time we had done so the sunshine we had all morning reappeared. It was truly incredible, and somehow the views continued to get even better no matter which direction we took another few steps toward! The cliffs provided a spectacular view of the Atlantic Ocean and Aran Islands from it’s varied heights (390-700 ft tall from the water). This really felt like the highlight of our trip, especially as we returned to the car and sideways rain immediately started again. Phewww, we got beyond lucky.

As we made our way to Galway for the night we had planned to stop at a pub called O’Loclainn’s and pass by the 16 century Dunguire Castle. Unfortunately, the pub didn’t open until 8 PM tonight, so we missed the stop. However, walking through/around the Dunguire Castle was really beautiful and just as we were approaching it we spotted a rainbow. It was out of sight by the time we reached the castle, but we still got a pretty cool photo of it from the car (it is faint, just along the gate).

We traveled on about 30 more minutes to get settled in Galway for the night! What a cool city…it’s large and busselling with people (locals and tourist). We stayed at the Residence Hotel which was renovated just about three months ago. It’s a very cool modern art hotel nestled right in the city center. The ajoining bar where we ended our night was packed as we enjoyed some final tunes including Irish folk music, Irish dancing, and some traditional ballads.

We made our way through town, including a stop by it’s landmark… The Spanish Arch.
Built in 1584, it stands on the left bank of the River Corrib, where Galway’s river meets the sea. The arch is the remainder of a 16th century bastion, added to the town’s walls to protect merchant ships from looting. At this time, it was known as Ceann an Bhalla (Head of the Wall). Merchant trade from Spain was prevalent and in 1477 Christopher Columbus visited this area before discovering America!

After learning about the “Spanish influence” (really, our filling lunch) we decided it was an appropriate night for a tapas style dinner and popped into the cozy Kasbah Wine Bar. We tried their Chicken Rillette, roasted Padrón Peppers sprinkled with sea salt (a new favorite) & a charcuterie board (which included another new treat, Caper Berries. They were pretty similar to olives, but with stems and no pits). Following our snacking and wine sipping, we wondered the busy town, and stopped by a local whiskey bar recommended by Uncle Ken (thanks), Freeny’s.