Kinsale, County Cork

Overlooking Kinsale from Charles Fort

Brian at Charles Fort in Kinsale, a star shaped fort perched high on a hill over looking the harbour, they could literally see everything coming in. Genious!

Our traditional Irish breakfast at our B&B in Kinsale. Yes, that is black pudding on the left; Yes, we both tried it; and Yes, (gasp) I ate both of ours for the rest of the trip! It was delicious!

Liam and his partner performed live at 2 Pubs we went to in Kinsale, County Cork. He couldn't get over my Irish features, told us that he thought I was an Irish girl that had married an American. They were great fun!

Roots: Cobh, County Cork

John F. Kennedy Park at the pier in Cobh, County Cork. This gazebo and park would have been here when our family was here to emmigrate. Just to the left is the dock in the pic below...

The dock where the last passengers boarded the ill-fated Titanic, Cobh, County Cork

St. Coleman's Cathedral, Cobh, County Cork

This is a picture of me standing on the pier where my family, the Duggans emmigrated from in Cobh, (pronounced Cove) in County Cork. Just a few hundred feet from where I'm standing is the pier from where the last passangers boarded the Titanic.

Waterford and Kinsale

Random stop for a pic while driving through the Wicklow Mountains

Kissing the Blarney Stone. We hiked all the way to the top in the rain so we could do this. I couldn't believe how high up it was! I almost chickened out....scared shitless actually!!

Waterford Crystal Factory; holding a $10,000 crystal piece in the making! It was crazy heavy, I was terrified I'd drop it, but the guy on the right insisted I hold it!

Brian holding a crystal trophey that is being made for the 2012 Olympics while on tour inside the Waterford Crystal Factory

Waterford Castle; stayed one night; truly felt like royalty! Great way to celebrate our anniversary!

Belltower at Glendalough; Ancient Monastary

Powerscourt Waterfall; Highest in Ireland

Day 2 in Dublin

Great day in Dublin! Had yummy Fish and Chips at the world famous Leo Burdock's, and ate our meal on a wall outside Christ Church Cathedral. They give you a huge portion, 1 was enough for us to split. They wrap your meal all together in paper and put it in a brown paper bag. We didn't even finish our chips, (or fries as us yanks call 'em).





Made it to the Guiness Factory. Pretty interesting. I think that Brian was more interested in the brewing process, and I more so in the Guiness marketing and advertising. I love the photo at left, how appropriate :)










Brian outside of the Guiness factory after our tour. It was pretty crowded, but the reward was a complimentary Guiness overlooking Dublin, high up in the Gravity Bar. I drank my first Guiness here today. Not sure I will ever have one as good as that tasted....of course I liked it so much that I had more as the day went on.....










Christ Church Cathedral. Beautiful!!! We took some amazing pictures inside. Even saw the tomb of Strongbow. And, yes it made me want to drink one in his honor! ;)

Also, went to Temple Bar, heard some live music, ate dinner at Gallagher's Boxty House, delicious Beamish Stout, and checked out another micro-brewery on the way back to the hotel. Tomorrow morning we head through the Wicklow Mountains, and into Waterford. Not sure that we'll have WiFi, but will update as we can!

Slainte!

WE'RE HERE!!!

We're here! After multiple delays yesterday in Columbus, our 12:00pm flight finally got off the ground at 4:45pm, 24 hours after it was originally supposed to leave. We're exhausted but took a quick nap and had a great first day. We went to Trinity College to see the Book of Kells, but I have to admit my favorite part was actually the library. Had lunch at the Porterhouse, an Irish micro-brewery we had scoped out. Great beer! Between the 2 of us we sampled 8 different types of fantastic beer. Wandered around Dublin Castle, and than took a nap. Headed out to a local pub called, Oil Can Harry's for a couple pints and a light dinner. I tried a Bulmer's Pear Cider. Fantastic! Our bartender was the highlight of the day! The picture above is of our hotel, the Roxford Lodge, about a 15 min walk to City Centre. More exploring tomorrow! But now...SLEEP! Some pics of the day are below including the Porterhouse Microbrewery and inside Trinity College.....
:) Cathe

Not the frist day we expected......

2 tickets to Dublin, Ireland, via JFK, New York

..............Exciting!

5 hour flight delay, after waiting on and off the plane for 3 hours

...............Exhausting!

Dinner for 2 while on the runway at 9:30pm

...............Priceless!

Well, our trip didn't get the send off that we were hoping for. Our flight was scheduled to take off from Cols. @ 4:45pm. We were on and off the plane and the runway 3 times, before they finally cancelled it @ 10:00pm. Needless, to say we missed our connecting flight to Dublin @ 9:00pm. So here we sit waiting for a 12pm flight to JFK......hoping to get out of the country tonight. We lost one day in Dublin, and they will not refund our room. After a chance of a minor meltdown, I have taken a positive look on things. St. Patrick's Cathedral, the Guiness Factory, Trinity College, and the Book of Kells will all still be there tomorrow. They are not going to grow legs and run away. We will just have to be a bit pickier about what we see, and a little swifter on our feet while we do it. We are both exhausted after 8 hours at the airport yesterday, and not looking forward to an 8 hour layover in JFK. But Ireland better look out! The Theiler's are hell bent on getting there one way or another :)

Until then, just breathe.

Cathe

Itinerary

Wednesday April 27-depart Columbus

Thursday April 28-arrive in Dublin, check in to the Roxford Lodge Hotel near city centre, Dublin. Do lots of exploring over the next couple of days, visit the Guiness Factory, Trinity College to see the Book of Kells, hit up a local micro-brewery called Porterhouse, and see what else we can get ourselves into :)

Sunday May 1-depart Dublin, and head through the Wicklow Mountains on our way to Waterford Castle. We will visit monastic ruins at Glendalough, as well as the highest waterfall in all of Ireland, Powerscourt Waterfall. Tonight we will rest our heads at Waterford Castle, and enjoy a belated anniversary dinner in the Fitzgerald Room.

Monday May 2-depart Waterford, visit the crystal factory on the way out of town, and head over to Blarney Castle to kiss the blarney stone! We'll head down to our B&B at Landfall House, in Kinsale, on the harbour in County Cork for 2 days. While in Kinsale, we will visit Cobh, or as some know it as Queenstown. This is where Cathe's ancestors immigrated from to the U.S.. We will stand at the same port that they shipped out from, as well as being the last port of call for the Titanic.

Wednesday May 4-depart Kinsale, and drive to our B&B in Killarney, at Chelmsford House. This house overlooks Killarney National Park, and we hope to make it over to the Dingle Penninsula while here.

Friday May 6-depart Killarney, and drive to our last destination, the Old Ground Hotel, in Ennis. While here, we will visit the Cliffs of Moher, the Aran Islands, and hope to make it up to The Burren.

Sunday May 8-depart Ireland from Shannon

We'll try to keep you all updated through our travels, and post pictures and stories as we go! Slainte!