Ireland Road Trip

My great grandmother was born in Ireland so my mom has always wanted to go there, and in August we got a chance to go there together! We took a road trip from Dublin to County Cork to the Cliffs of Moher and then back to Dublin. It was such a lovely adventure!

Day 1

We flew from Amsterdam to Dublin and then took a bus from the airport to the Hilton Dublin Morrison. The hotel was in a super handy location for walking everywhere and was really nice inside. My personal favorite part was that they had a filtered water fountain for refilling your water bottles!

Hairy Lemon

For dinner we walked to the Hairy Lemon where I tried my first Guinness with my dad. It would also be my last Guinness, as I quickly learned I was really not a fan. I did love the Guiness pie that I ate though!

After dinner we explored the Temple Bar area a little bit and found a nice pub to get a drink to wind down our first quiet night.

Day 2

Brother Hubbard

We only had one full day in Dublin because we wanted to see more of the country, so we didn’t have any planned activities to leave time for exploring. We started the day at Brother Hubbard for brunch. The place was surprisingly huge inside but still cozy. We all enjoyed our food there but for me what was most memorable was the walnut cinnamon scrolls!

After brunch we wandered all around Dublin checking out various sites like Christ Church cathedral, St Stephen’s Green and Grafton street.

Gallagher’s Boxty House

For dinner we went to Gallagher’s Boxy House, which I saw on Somebody Feed Phil. A boxty is a potato dish (I am still not 100% certain of it) so much of the menu was based around potatoes. We got some Boxty fries which were so crispy and delicious. For my meal I got a corned beef and boxty dumpling meal which was honestly life changing.

Day 3

The next morning we had a quick breakfast near our hotel and then headed to the airport to pick up our rental car. I was a little bit nervous about us driving on the left side of the road (even though I planned not to do any driving at all) but it was not too bad in the end.

Rock of Cashel

Our first stop for the night was Cork but we decided to stop on the way at the Rock of Cashel. This is a historical site with an old castle/fortress built on top of a tall rock. It was beautiful being out in the country with the rolling green hills and super cool to see the history of this place. The oldest of the building began building around 1100!

After exploring the grounds and the buildings we continued on towards Cork. We decided to stay at a hotel a few minutes walk on the hill above Cork as it seemed easier for driving while still being accessible. This turned out to be an amazing decision as we immediately fell in love with our hotel! We pulled up to the Montenotte and got a tour from a wonderful doorman named Ken who was so helpful in explaining everything and giving us recommendations.

After quick rest we decided to enjoy a drink at one of the beautiful bars on the property.

After our drink we walked into Cork city to check out the city before dinner. We looked in a few souvenir stores and had a decent but fairly underwhelming dinner before catching a taxi back up the hill (though Austin decided to run up because he wanted some exercise!!)

Day 4

Blarney Castle

The next day we woke up early to arrive at Blarney Castle by opening time so we could see it without the crowds. Unfortunately it was an extremely rainy day, so we missed out on a lot of exploring the beautiful grounds because it was just miserable. The castle was cool, but none of us were interested in kissing the Blarney stone. Everything is very narrow so I can’t imagine what it’s like when its really busy!

English Market

After the castle we went to check out the English Market, which my mom had read a lot about. I was not so convinced but it turned out to be really cool! We got food from a few stands and then picked up some cheese, salami and crackers to snack on later. My favorite was a breakfast pastie that I shared with Austin. I was a little overstimulated at the market so I totally failed to take any photos!

After getting our snacks it was time to head to our next stop, Cobh. We found a nice looking Airbnb here and were super excited to spend a few days there. It was pouring rain for most of the drive and by the time we got in it was just dumping buckets of rain. They luckily let us check in early so we got in and got settled.

Titanic Experience

After a bit we decided it would be nice to see Cobh while we had the chance, so we got umbrellas and ventured out. We figured out pretty quickly that we had made a mistake. The rain was so intense that it was blowing sideways. We were instantly soaked. We stopped in a pub to figure out our next plan and after getting stared at by the locals, we decided to walk another 3 minutes to the Titanic Experience, where we had booked tickets online and where we also planned to eat dinner. We would wait in their bar until it was our turn.

Even that 3 minutes had us absolutely soaked through. I felt like I had fallen into a swimming pool. We enjoyed a drink before heading into the Titanic experience. This was pretty cool, as Cobh was the last stop the Titanic made before heading off on its fateful voyage. We were all assigned a character and got to learn the history and also the fate of the person who’s ticket we had.

After an early dinner we settled in to get dry and warm again!

Day 5

Seasalt Cafe

The next morning we woke up to a mostly clear day in Cobh. We got breakfast at the Seasalt Cafe which had great coffee and nice breakfast. Then we walked up the hill to see the famous view of the cathedral in Cobh with the colorful houses. It turns out it’s quite hard to get a photo of though! We ended up taking these photos by holding our phones up above a wall (I couldn’t even see the photos I was taking!)

After our trek up the hill it was time to get in the car and head to a few smaller stops. First up was Kinsale.

Kinsale (& Fishy Fishy)

Kinsale turned out to be such a beautiful town. I would love to spend more time there. It was very colorful and quaint and had lots of beautiful shops and restaurants. We ate at another restuarant that I learned from Somebody Feed Phil which was called Fishy Fishy. We all think it was the best meal we had in Ireland! Austin got fish & chips and I got stir fried mussels. My parents shared an ahi tuna which they loved. It was all so lovely and high quality and the weather was nice enough to sit on the terrace which was extra appreciated after the previous day’s monsoon.

Clonakilty

Next up was Clonakilty, where my great grandmother was from. This town was even smaller than Kinsale but still pretty cute and colorful (though not quite as charming as Kinsale). We wandered around for a bit before heading to Duneen Bay.

Duneen Bay

Duneen Bay is where my great grandmother was born, or at least we think - her birth certificate said she was born in Duneen mines but these no longer exist, nor does a town called Duneen - all that is left is the beach.

We met some Americans on the beach who lived in the area who directed us to a local pub where we could meet some people who might have more ancestry information for my mom. It was a pretty cool coincidence! After our long day of excitement we decided to eat our cheese & crackers and have a chill dinner in our Airbnb.

Day 6

Ballinacken Castle Hotel

The next day we made the long drive to Doolin. Doolin is a very small town but is near to the Cliffs of Moher. We had a night booked at the Ballinacken Castle hotel to get as close to the cliffs as possible for the next day. We checked out the town of Doolin and got a drink at a neat little pub there.

The hotel has a small old castle on the property which they took us on a tour of. We even got to go up to the top!

Afterwards we had a beautiful dinner, also at the hotel. It’s a very small old property and it was all family run. The rooms are very historical and there was a cool small bar as well. During dinner we also went outside to catch some pictures of a really beautiful sunset.

After dinner we took a small sunset walk outside just to admire the peace of the place.

Day 7

Cliffs of Moher

We woke up early again the next morning to head to the Cliffs of Moher before they got crowded. We had read about Guerin’s Path on an Ireland travel group, where it costs €5 per person to park the car and the walk is a lot shorter. At the visitor’s center it is much more expensive!

We walked about 5 minutes to the view of the cliffs from a small parking area. They were absolutely extraordinary! I knew they would be beautiful but I underestimated just how beautiful they would be. It was really awe inspiring. We even got lucky enough to see the clouds clear up and see a few minutes of sun! It was windy but we walked along the paths both ways from the parking lots for a few minutes. I could have looked at them all day!

After admiring the cliffs we started the long drive back to Dublin for our flight the next day. We stopped about halfway at a convenient rest stop to devour some McDonalds and then stayed in the Clontarf Castle Hotel which is not too far from the airport. It was a very nice hotel to end the stay at. We were too tired to do much but ate dinner in the Knight’s Bar for our last night.

Ireland was even more beautiful than I was anticipating. The people were lovely and there was a lot of history and nature to explore. There is still so much to see and I look forward to going back again!