Homeward Bound ~

~ Kinsale harbor, County Cork ~

"Farewell beautiful Ireland"

"Hello dear England" 
Our favorite pub for supper on the way 

home - The Pheasant Inn near Heathrow 

airport - a short walk from our hotel.

We flew from Ireland to England this afternoon
 and will be crossing the pond tomorrow.

Leaving Cork and hopping a train back to Dublin. . . . .

Packing the bags again this morning and heading to the station soon.

Train back to Dublin this afternoon through all that beautiful brilliant

 green countryside. Oh Ireland, you have stolen my heart!

Yesterday we took a bus south from Cork city to the coastal town of Kinsale where

we had a great time . . . . . . . so warm and sunny that the red-haired, pale

 skinned Irish were soon sunburned and everyone was licking an ice cream cone!

More pix later from Kinsale which was a lovely visit.

Back in the city our evening, once again, was filled with traditional music, 

on the streets and in the pubs!

Goodbye Killarney - we'll be back again!

A five day stay in Killarney was our jumping off point for two very special 

day trips by coach - the Dingle Peninsula and the Ring of Kerry.

I will be sharing those amazing trips with you when I have more time -

just know that the scenery was magnificent and I hope to return again 

for another trip some day. 

Ireland has been so special in every way and I'm truly loving it here.

Killarney Lakes

Several days spent in Killarney included a lot of traditional music which

 we loved.

Stopping by to hear Iive music in pubs every evening also brought interesting

 conversations with locals and other tourists. . . . . . . and on the small town streets

 there were numerous groups or individual singers belting out the best in Irish

 songs and tunes.

Now in Tralee, home to the world-famous Rose of Tralee International Beauty Pageant.

Bob is busy searching for more information on his Sullivan family roots - so leaving here 

this morning by taxi for the nearby small town of Castleisland where his paternal

 grandfather was born and lived before taking the boat with so many others to Boston

in the late 1800's.

 Hopefully a visit to the parish church and a look around the burial grounds might bring something interesting to add to what Bob has discovered so far!

Inisheer, the Aran Islands. . . . . . . .

We are staying really busy on this trip, every day some place beautiful and interesting

draws us out early morning and we don't return to rest until late evening. . . . . . after

 visiting a new venue for an hour of traditional music, either in a pub or on the street! 

 We are on our fourth day in the town of Killarney where the music is great, the weather

really kind with plenty of sunshine.

We have traveled to the Dingle Peninsula and the Ring of Kerry - two awesome day

trips where I took hundreds of photos as the scenery was stunning.

Here are some promised photos from the Aran Island of Inisheer - it was a lovely place 

and, although cloudy, the rain stayed away and we enjoyed the boat ride and a couple of hours onshore. 

Bob with Ronan and Molly - they took us around the island on an interesting tour.

We stopped at the local pub/cafe for a freshly baked fruit scone and some liquid refreshment.

Cliffs of Moher and the Aran Islands. . . . . . . . . . .

Arriving in Galway City we immediately checked the weather forecast

and decided Wednesday was the day for our tour of the area named

 The Burren, the famous Cliffs of Moher, and of course the Aran Islands. . . . . . . .

Sunshine and clouds were promised with only a slight chance of a shower 

which thankfully didn't show up.

View from the high cliffs - a boat similar to the one we sailed on for the Aran Islands trip.

Sailing back from Inisheer, the smallest of the Aran Islands, the sea was 

quite rough however, our boat was still able to do the 'under the cliffs' part

of the journey which was spectacular and allowed us a quite different 

perspective of these huge cliffs and rock formations.

Standing 214 metres (700 feet) high and 8 km (26 miles) long, the Cliffs of Moher

 boast one of the most amazing views in Ireland.  

Started our cliff top walk here. . . . . . . . . .more pix coming, along with views of our 

lovely ride around Inisheer Island with Ronan and Molly.

MY IRISH MOMENT. . . . . . . . . .

I will share some beautiful scenery with you soon

 from here . . . . . .the Cliffs of Moher in Galway, Ireland.

Standing here in the wind was amazing.

 Earlier, we circled the rock pinnacle below, tossed

 about in a small boat, as we sailed under the cliffs, the

 seabirds, including hundreds of puffins, circling above

 our heads. 

Then, walking along the cliff top later, looking down,

 one truly felt the majesty of this remarkable area. 

I'm truly loving this beautiful country.

Wexford back to Dublin. . . . . . . . . .

Tried to do this post on the train to Galway yesterday but the WIFI was having a 

few problems when it came to Adobe Flash - kept telling me to update, wouldn't

 allow me to use PicMonkey to edit the pix a little bit.

So, can't write much - just some pretty views along the tracks returning to Dublin

 from that recent day trip to Wexford - just under 2.5 hours. 

Ireland is an easy country to get around.

The train south to Wexford. . . . . . . . .

Here on the County Wexford coast, about 70 km south of Dublin, the beach scenes
 in two wonderful movies, 'Saving Private Ryan' and 'Brooklyn' were filmed.

We went by train to Wexford for the day yesterday and had a fabulous time.

Will be telling more later about the little town which welcomed us with open arms.

James Joyce - 1882-1941

Walking around Dublin I stopped to say "top o'the morning" to Ireland's 

famous novelist and poet, James Joyce.

Today is our last day in Dublin. We head to Galway by train tomorrow.

How lucky we are to have enjoyed our first five days in Ireland in brilliant 

sunshine and comfortable - around 58F - temperatures.

We made some lovely new friends today - Marilyn & Noel from Australia's

fabulous Gold Coast, Queensland (where I've visited), they are actually

 New Zealanders; and Barbara & Doug who recently move to South Carolina

 from New England.

One of the great perks of travel is meeting new people and enjoying some 

fun conversations.

More details and stories when I have more time.

Breakfast in Dublin, Lunch in Belfast. . . . . . .

Yes, yogurt and a croissant in one country . . . . . . fish 'n

chips a few hours later overlooking the city market in another!

Connally Station, Dublin

Ireland's spanking clean, very comfortable  always on time

 trains. . . . . . . . .if only we had them back home!

Heading north to Belfast. . . . . . in lovely sunshine.

Crossing the border was no problem, didn't even require our 

Passports - although I would have liked mine stamped for this,

 my first time ever, in both Ireland and Northern Ireland.

Belfast, Northern Ireland

Lots more to share later.