McCuistion Vacation to Ireland - 2006

After leaving Scotland, we visited Ireland.

Eventually, we went downtown. We made it just in time to see the Books of Kells in the Trinity College. They have some incredibly old books in Europe. I guess that's the advantage of being somewhere for 2000 years.

Lynn purchased a Family History book she was recommended. We were having a terrible time finding lodging in Dublin, and I didn't like being in such a big city, so we called a Bed and Breakfast about an hour out of town on the coast, who was happy to have us.

We promptly left Dublin. We drove down the coast to Arklow, a small town in Wicklow county. This was our first Bed and Breakfast, and it was a pleasant experience. The Hostess was nice, and the room was fine. We wandered around the town before turning in for the evening.

Monday we drove into the heart of Wicklow county. We stopped at the Meeting of the Waters, where Thomas Moore wrote a famous poem. Then on to Glendalough, a monastic settlement. Apparently, this place was a major pilgrimage site. Driving west, we crossed St Kevin's way, the trail that leads to Glendalough. We went to the Rock of Cashel, a big-old castle, and finally down to our B&B in Tramore. Tramore is a sea-side town, and we walked along the beach.

Wednesday we walked through Bantry and drove around the ring of Beara. It takes too long to do the Ring of Dingle, but we definitively wanted to see the peninsula areas. We did some window shopping at Kilarny and finally ended up at the "Teach An Phiobaire" B&B. This B&B is run by a couple and the husband makes and plays the Uilleann pipes. He had a gig that evening at the grand opening of the Folk Theater, so we followed him downtown and heard him, a whistle and a guitar player doing traditional Irish tunes.

We ran into the Elders. One of them had just been transferred from Dublin. He was amazed at the changes in leadership in the Dublin Ward which we shared with him. It's a funny small world.

Thursday the host gave us a tour of his workshop, and we left to drive up through Connors Pass on the way to Dingle. We walked around Dingle and visited a music store where the owner helped up pick some CDs with interesting Irish music. Especially Uilleann pipe music. We finally left the south to drive up to Limerick. We had dinner at a pub and stayed around for some traditional Irish music.

By now, we were getting very tired of traveling. It's exciting to see interesting things, but sooner or later, you just run out of energy. That was happening to us.