Manchester, United Kingdom

I’m not sure how many of you have been following our travels since we started them last year, but in November my eldest daughter, Samantha, got engaged to an Irish boy living in Queensland. So immediately, we factored in the need to meet the Kinsella family when we got to Ireland. It turned out to be really easy because we caught the ferry to Ireland from Fishguard in Wales to Rosslare, which is in County Wexford, which is the home county of Maurice’s family.

After a phone call to warn them of our imminent arrival, we met Mary (Maurice’s mum) in Ferns where we had dinner before heading up to Ballyduff to stay with them. Isn’t Ballyduff such a typical Irish name? And it was the cutest village – the church, the school, gorgeous gardens and a tiny little shop where the shopkeepers know everyone’s business. Apparently, there is a self-appointed gardener who looks after all the communal gardens and therefore as you drive through the village, it is really pretty! Well, it was when we visited in summertime!

It turns out that the Kinsella family is a rather largish clan! Maurice is the youngest of 8 kids (4 boys & 4 girls), and going back a generation, his dad is the eldest of … I think I’ve run out of fingers! But we met Charlie & Dave, and their wives, as well as Michael, Kathryn & Brian, James & Nicola, Ciarán & Jenny, … I’m sure that I’m forgetting people and if so, I’m sorry, but I can’t remember everyone’s names!

We had a place to stay that was warm, had plenty of hot water and we didn’t have to keep breaking camp every second day – it was sheer luxury! And everyone was so friendly and welcoming. When Sam described meeting Maurice’s mother, she said that she (Mary) was a feeder, which means that she is constantly asking if you want something to eat or she is putting food out for you to eat. And Sunday mornings are a cooking extravaganza as well as madness! Apparently it is a family tradition that everyone comes around for a cooked Irish breakfast after mass on Sunday morning! Mary was constantly cooking, putting plates of food in front of the seemingly never-ending stream of people as they arrived, and everyone was talking at once! It was crazy but it was also so much fun. The whole family made us feel welcome and we know that Samantha has scored with her future in-laws.

Another bonus for staying in Ballyduff is that it is only about one hour away from Avoca. What’s that, I hear you ask? Who remembers watching Ballykissangel on TV? Well, Avoca is the town that was the setting for Bally-K. The pub in the village agreed to changing their name whilst the show was being shot so that it wouldn’t need to keep being changed, and once tourists started visiting, the Pub kept the name of “Fitzgeralds”, as it was called in the show! The local parish priest also allowed the church to be used in all exterior shots, which helped with the decision by the production team to film the series in Avoca. So, when you visit Avoca, you can sit in Fitzgeralds, walk around the church, you can visit Kathleen’s store and also walk across the bridge that was used a lot in external shots. We had a great day exploring the village. And, as a bonus, we learnt all about the local program to re-introduce Red Kites into that part of Ireland, and we got to see one circling around over the village and the Heritage Centre. It was spectacular to see.

Ballyduff is only a bus-ride away from Dublin – ok, so it is a long bus ride, being one and a half hours, but we thought that was going to be easier than driving to Dublin and trying to find somewhere to leave the car for the day. When we got there, we weren’t really sure what we wanted to so, so we did an open-bus tour of Dublin, to see there was to see. It turns out that there is quite a bit to see, too much to see in one day so we will definitely be going back to Dublin to explore more closely!

Our last day in County Wexford was spent visiting Hook Head, Loftus Hall and the Dunbrody at New Ross. In case you are wondering what these are – Hook Head is the oldest continuously operated lighthouse (over 800 years). The present tower dates from the 1200s but apparently there was originally some sort of beacon from the fifth century and is supposed to have been started by a monk. The tower was built by the Earl of Pembroke who was Strongbow’s son-in-law, and no, I don’t mean the person who invented Cider! The custodians of the light were a group of monks who lived on the Peninsula. Loftus Hall is a large house that has had a varied history, but it’s claim to fame is that it is apparently the most haunted house in Ireland – sorry, but I think that the ghosts were out when we visited! Finally, the Dunbrody is a replica Famine ship that is moored in New Ross – a Famine Ship is a vessel that was used to transport the 1000s of Irish people who were affected by the Potato Famine in the 19^th Century.

Just a quick side note here – during the Civil War (Cromwell), Waterford was held for the Royalists and Cromwell is alleged to have said that he would take Waterford “by Hook or by Crook” – Hook being the Hook Head side (eastern side) of the estuary and Crook being a village on the western side.

Sadly, it was time to say goodbye to Mary & Noel and hit the road again. It would have been too easy to stay longer, but there was still more to see and do in Ireland.

And so, it was off to County Kerry on the opposite side of Ireland, with a short stopover in Waterford where we just HAD to visit the Waterford Crystal factory and do the factory tour. The funny thing was we ran into two Aussies, Lynette & Kurt, who we met at the HUBB-UK and they are travelling around on their motorbikes. When we arrived in County Kerry, we stayed in a campground in Killarney for a few days and explored the Ring of Kerry and the Dingle Peninsula. We drove through the home of the Wild Colonial Boy (Castlereagh), had dinner in an Irish Pub and stayed for our first experience of Irish music. I just have to add a note here about campgrounds in Ireland – they are great! Unlike many European campgrounds, the Irish ones seem to cater for campers in tents and provide some communal areas to escape to in bad weather! Great to see!

From Kerry, it was up to County Clare where we visited the Cliffs of Moher. We stayed in Doolan and visited two different pubs for more examples of Irish music. After 3 nights of Irish music, we have experienced three different sorts of music and have loved them all. I just have to say that if you are coming to Ireland, you HAVE to visit the Cliffs of Moher – they are truly spectacular! We did a cliff walk from Doolan to the Visitors Centre at that highest point of the Cliffs. The walk was just over 8 kilometres and our guide was the man, a local farmer called Pat Sweeney, who had the idea of developing the cliff-top walk and convinced the local council to fund it, provided he got the local farmers to support it and allow the walkers to cross their land, which he did! Whilst on the walk, we saw some amazing sights – old quarries where the sandstones had been taken from for building of bridges and towers. We also saw some errant cows, sheep and donkeys who were all trying out the cliff-top walk! Another amazing sight was the Puffins – these little birds apparently spend all their lives on the water except for their breeding season when they come in to nest on the Cliffs, and they were still in their nests when we walked along the cliffs, so we got to see them… one of those amazing moments when you travel!

Our next County to visit was County Clare where we found a little remote campground just behind the sand dunes from the Atlantic Ocean! Whilst there, we did a Nature Walk through the Connemara National Park and learnt all about the Irish bogs and how they were formed, and all about turf-cutting, which still goes on today. We met some beautiful Connemara Ponies, including Fiona with her 3-month old colt, who was very shy. For MJ, the highlight was the Seisiún, which is an Irish celebration of music, singing and dancing. One of the best things about this event was that all the performers are locals in the town and their ages range from 12 years upwards. They were an amazingly talented bunch of people with each person being able to play several instruments – for example, one girl played the Irish whistle, the flute, the button accordion, as well as dancing! And another young man sang beautifully, danced amazingly, as well as played the Irish harp! We decided that they were all over-achievers! But the music, the singing and the dancing was astounding!

When we planned our time in Ireland, we thought that 3 weeks would be enough time to see it, and quite a few people agreed! But after two weeks, we have just scratched the surface of Ireland and now we are off to Northern Ireland. We had a long drive from Connemara to Derry, also known as Londonderry. Our campground was just over the border in Northern Ireland. And when I say “just over the border”, the hedge along the property boundary, was the border between Ireland & Northern Ireland! The view was amazing from the campground – you could look across to the Lough Swilly and if you turned around, you looked across the hills of Ireland. We went into Derry and had a really interesting walk around the Bogside and heard all about the “Troubles” from a member of the Nationalist side. Our guide was committed to NI returning to Ireland and had been an active participant in the “Troubles”, earning a prison sentence of 20 years for his efforts. Whilst we didn’t do a guided walk to hear the Unionist side of things, it was very much in your face when you were in the Unionist parts of Derry – every single house had a Union Jack and a Northern Ireland flag flying, and the streets were decorated with the same flags plus heaps of bunting because it was very much “Marching Season”.

We were starting to encounter a bit of rain, so on a wet day, we drove around the Inishowen Peninsula, which is the most northerly part of the Republic. We went all the way up to Malin Head and nearly got blown off the land! It was cold, windy & wet… Ahhh, don’t you love Ireland?! After having the wettest day & night and our tent getting drenched, as well as Nick’s sleeping bag, air bed & stretcher – he wasn’t a happy camper – we headed to Belfast, via Bushmills and the Giant’s Causeway. Bushmills is the home of a very popular and famous Distillery of Irish Whiskey. And just before the town, we saw a ruined castle, which was perched right on the edge of a prominent point – apparently, this ruin was the inspiration for CS Lewis and his description of Cair Paravel in the Narnia books!

When we arrived in Belfast, we were a bit confused because all the directions for our campground told us to go to the Ice Rink at Dundonald! We wondered how that could be right, but it was! Across the road from the Ice Rink is the campground with the highest level of security I’ve encountered! One key to open the pedestrian gate, another key to open the drive-in gate, a code to open the showers/toilet block and a 4-metre high (about 12 feet) fence that went around the perimeter of the campground! No-one was getting in or out!

Exploring Belfast, for us, meant the obligatory trip to the Titanic Experience. All the brochures said to allow 1½ hours, but we were there for about 3½ hours, so we felt that whilst it was expensive, we got value for money. The displays are set out quite well and cover an explanation of what Belfast was like in the early 1900s, the building, the launch, the fit-out, the sinking, and the aftermath. Suggestion – make sure you wear comfortable shoes!

We then varied our time in Belfast and visited a really lovely garden to the south, a National Trust garden called Rowallane. The gardens were established in 1860s by a Reverend and continued by his nephew. The gardens are broken up into a number of different styles of garden and includes an old hut that has been used as a location for the show, “Game of Thrones”, as well as an ancient Rath from between 700-1100AD. Our last day before heading back to England was back in Belfast, and we went to the Ulster Museum to see the Spanish Gallery – which houses an array of finds from ships from the Spanish Armada that were wrecked off the coast of Ireland. MJ was feeling very special because she got to touch a cannon that had been retrievied from one of these shipwrecks! You could still see the mark showing that the cannon had been cast in Belgium for Phillip II.

Sadly, it was time to say “Goodbye” to Ireland and catch the ferry to Liverpool (cue “Ferry Cross the Mersey”). But, we loved our 3 weeks in Ireland/Northern Ireland, which was nowhere near enough time. And we will definitely by coming back one day…

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