The original idea was to take in some of the Wild Atlantic Way on a road trip, but this was modified. We had a mid-week family wedding to attend so it ended up as a little of Clare and Galway first and a long weekend in Wicklow at the end. Like our earlier trip to Brittany, it was relaxing to travel by ferry and have our own car. First we had the long drive to Holyhead and an overnight stay in a functional, somewhat retro hotel called the Harbour Inn.
The holiday cottage was in Bellharbour, halfway between Ballyvaughan and Kinvarra. It was cosy and roomy enough for us. We had a first night dinner in Linane’s Bar where even the lobsters enjoy a pint of Guinness.
Another local foodie stop was Hazel Mountain Chocolate factory. While the chocolates were eye-wateringly expensive, the cafe was more reasonable and the cakes were delicious. This set us up for the walk around the Flaggy Shore, made famous by Seamus Heaney in his poem “Postscript“.
A popular and interesting walk, we passed a Mortello tower, a 16th Century school for bards and an ice cream parlour. It was tranquil by the shore, quite literally a calm before a storm.
The next day we drove to Lisdoonvarna where the streets were deserted but colourful with artwork.
Next stop was the Ailwee caves where the bear skeletons were still the stars of the show. There had not been any accompanying film projections of the bears on my first trip in 1980.
Then to Doolin where the sun came out and we started on the walk across to the Cliffs of Moher Visitors Centre. A mix of sunshine and blasting showers. We arrived, wind-swept, at O’Brien’s Tower and dense crowds of tour bus groups. As there were no local buses back, we paid €30 for a taxi back to our car in Doolin.
The storm came in full strength overnight so our last day was a drive across the Burren and then on to Spiddal in Galway.
We made our aim, which was the interesting Coral Strand but it was not really a good day for any type of walk or even sight-seeing.
We packed up for the wedding trip. No photos of that as we don’t put other people on this blog. Suffice to say it was lovely and went well. The bride and groom looked amazing and they danced the night away in Cabra Castle, Cavan.
We broke the journey north with a visit to Clonmacnoise which was atmospheric and the film in the Visitor’s Centre was well worth the time spent.
We left Cabra Castle and had a stroll along the seafront in Bray before checking in to the Wicklow Way Lodge .
We were certainly in the sunny south east compared to the wilds of County Clare.
Dinners were The Hungry Monk in Greystones for the first night and then The Wicklow Heather in Laragh.
For the next two dinners as we did not fancy driving any further.
Our big walk was the White Route at Glendalough, which is the ridge of the Spinc. It is a spectacular walk and although popular, it was not particularly crowded. It took us the best part of four hours including a stop for a picnic and to look at the views. We did not linger much in Glendalough itself as it was not as captivating as Clonmacnoise and we felt we had ticked our ruined churches and round tower boxes.
The final full day in Wicklow was back to wet and stormy so we went to Russborough House as an indoor attraction. This was an unexpected hit with us due to an engaging guide and he told us about the RTE documentary on their famous art robbery. We spent the rainy afternoon watching the series and learning about Rose Dugdale and the stolen Vermeer paintings. Here
We had our final bowl of luxury porridge at Wicklow Way Lodge and headed for the ferry back to Wales and the long road home. It was a short trip, but we got to combine catching up with family and celebrating a wedding plus some walking and a taster of Ireland, West and East.
McTernan 