The Emerald Isle: 7 days in Ireland

The last leg of this three country trip landed us in the land of the leprechauns.  Ireland.  In an effort to conserve energy for our last week, minimizing the number of cities and hotels was key.  At this point on a long trip, trying to relocate everyday or every other day drains you of that precious juice needed to enjoy your remaining time.  Plus it’s just a pain in the ass. So we planned to start in Dublin, where we would celebrate the new year, cross the country to Galway. and make one pit stop on our way back to Dublin before our return to the states.  Fewer cities also gave us a little extra time to take more in at each.

Dublin was the natural landing point from our departure in Glasgow on a literal one hour puddle jump.  Ireland’s largest city has changed a lot over the last few years, but was as lively as ever for our late arrival.  The choice of accommodations to ring in 2025 set us up at the 200 year old Shelbourne Hotel overlooking St. Stephen’s Green.  This luxury hotel offered a bit of tranquility away from most of the more boisterous areas, yet kept everything easily accessible by foot or short taxi ride. Being two centuries old, The Shelbourne Hotel actually opened before Ireland was even a country!  We made sure to sign their guest book solidifying our places as part of those first 200 years of existence.   Better late than never, right?

A little Guinness at Roe & Co

There was a lot of energy expended on our last day in Scotland so we took our time getting out the door and didn’t plan much for our first full day in the city.  A tour of the Guinness Storehouse and Roe & Co. whiskey distillery (covered in a previous post) filled up about all of the afternoon. By the time we closed down the Roe & Co. bar it was time for dinner.  Hidden in the basement of Pacino’s Italian lies Ireland’s longest running speakeasy.  The Blind Pig.  Lubed up with The Powerhouse Bar’s whiskey libations at Roe & Co. there was no need to slow down now so we let the drinks flow.  Delicious and unique cocktails served up nicely after the chilly walk.  Blind Pig crosses the atmosphere of an ancient Italian grotto and a swanky cocktail lounge without the excessive pretension, but still a hint of class.  Due to several rounds of mixology please forgive the lack of pictures.  Or even remembering everything we ate.  The arancini appetizer however left it’s imprint despite our haze.  A case of the munchies had us order at least two orders before dinner.  Luckily for us we had no plans until tomorrow’s New Year’s Eve dinner reservation.

Can you say “room service”?  We knew you could.  A huge perk to hotel stays.  Nothing like a huge breakfast platter, strong coffee, and being close to your bed after a good night on the town.  We lounged (translated napped) most of the afternoon and just plain took it easy.  The final dinner of 2024 would be served on the enclosed patio of Fire Steakhouse.  An elegant setting to kick off the evening’s festivities.  Their pre fixe menu filled us up on bread, soup, appetizer salads, hearty steaks, and sweet tooth satisfying desserts.  Add in the welcome champagne and a couple cocktails, and the night was underway.  Unfortunately, so was the rain.

Rainy NYE night

Our plans to ring in the new year were supposed to take place at Dublin Castle with massive celebration of live music, a light show, and the ball dropping at midnight.  Outside. In the rain.  With lots of people.  Way too many people. Despite a quick change into warmer clothes more suitable for the dreary evening, the closer we got to the action the more people surrounded us, and the wetter we got.  So we aborted these initial plans, went back to The Shelbourne, slipped back into our fancier outfits, and grabbed the two last seats in the 1824 Bar.  The roaring fireplace, velvet and leather seating, prohibition era drinks, and each other.  We were set!  2025 started there at midnight too. Certainly with less fanfare, but we were warm, dry, and only a couple floors away from our comfy bed when it was time to call it a night.  We made our annual calls and messages to friends and family back home, tipped the bottoms of our glasses up, and said goodnight to 2024.

2025 started early for our drive to Galway.  Maybe not the optimal choice, but we’d seen enough of the big city and were ready for some Irish countryside and less madness.  The straight shot would have only taken about two and a half hours from Dublin, but there’s more to see than highway lines, so we took the scenic route to Cliffs of Moher.  We would have loved to stop at every small town or village on the way as they look so inviting and quaint.  There’s only so much winter daylight though.  Despite the holiday, the cliffs were still busy with visitors.  Spanning over 5 miles, finding a good spot for a picture is easy.  So is getting your steps in for the day.  But be prepared for the coastal winds!  They can be incessantly harsh.  Even over 700 feet above you can feel the sea spray as the waves crash into the rocks of the craggy beach below.  We tried valiantly to find a way to see the cliffs from sea level, but during the winter there are no services offering boat rides.  Bummer.  A beautiful and worthwhile stop nonetheless.

Cliffs of Moher

Inside the Pullman Restaurant

We didn’t actually stay in Galway.  Just outside the city, Glenlo Abbey Hotel and Estate lied not far in the small town of Bushypark.  Built in the 1790’s, the previous church and Ffrench (not typo) family mansion are now a well appointed county Galway retreat.  Another unique place to lay our heads for a couple nights.  Even though it had been a pretty full day we couldn’t pass up the opportunity for one last fancy dinner.  They repurposed two railcars from the famous Orient Express and converted them to a fine dining establishment.  For the murder mystery buffs reading, one of these cars could have been the very same where Inspector Poirot solved the crime aboard in Agatha Christie’s Murder on the Orient Express! With a staff dressed as train bellmen and subtle railcar sound effects behind the music as we ate, we felt like we would be in Istanbul by the time we finished. Perhaps one of the most unique places we ate the entire trip.

The next day didn’t really offer much excitement.  We strolled around Galway, visited a couple churches, walked into a few shops in search of an authentic Irish sweater and gold cross necklace, and enjoyed a nice, warm Chai latte while walking along the beach until the sun faded for the day.

For our last day on the West coast of the island, we ventured a little more than an hour away to see Kylemore Abbey. A functioning abbey for Benedictine Nuns for the last 100 years, Kylemore sits beautifully on a lake in Connemara.  Built in the 1800’s by a wealthy businessman as a gift for his wife, the estate was well ahead of it’s time with innovations, The Victorian Walled Garden itself was over 5 acres of local and truly exotic trees, plants, and flowers.  One of the 20 greenhouses was all banana trees! In Ireland!  The mansion was beautiful and the grounds were stunning even in winter.  The church facade was under construction to repair the years of moisture degrading, but inside the small Neo-Gothic chapel was as well done as any of the other massive churches we visited.  Only much quieter.  Sadly, the famous Connemara horses of the property weren’t to be seen today otherwise we would have literally see it all.  But we hadn’t tasted it all yet.  The Kylemore cafe is probably just as famous as the mansion.  We didn’t think it possible, but our eyes turned out to be bigger than our stomachs.  Despite our best efforts, the

Outside The Kylemore Abbey

cafeteria tray piled high with beef stew and mashed potatoes, rolls, custard dessert, Irish teas made with the Nuns’ Country Cream was too much to poke in.  It would have been sacrilegious to leave without their famous chocolate, so we loaded up.  The drive back towards Glenlo may have been the prettiest we’d seen in Ireland.  With clear skies as the sun was setting, we stopped a few times for pictures.  Our attempt to squeeze in one last castle bummed out as they were closed for the season.

As we started our journey back to Dublin for departure home, we decided we needed to have a beer in the oldest bar in Ireland.  Sean’s Bar, Athlone.  Based on items found during a renovation in the 1970’, formerly an inn, Sean’s is documented to have been around since 900 AD.  So far there has yet to be proof of an older bar in the WORLD!  We should get travel bonus points for that one.  The place is a stereotypical dive bar, and a great spot to enjoy a pint or two if you’re in the neighborhood.

What might have been the most random stop of the trip (and another to add to the list of unique spots) was dinner at The Snailbox.  As the freezing rain fell harder, we drove from Tullamore to this hotel restaurant basically in the middle of nowhere, Ireland.  This tip for a “must stop” from our cashier at the distillery took us to another record-setting establishment, this time with delicious, home-cooked food.  Not completely sure what to expect when we arrived, the weather worked in our favor with many guests cancelling reservations for the evening, opening up the perfect table for two at the eatery, stated as

having over 960 hats stapled to the ceiling.  What began with a forgetful local leaving his cap and never picking it back up created a tradition of a cheerful, legal exchange of one hat for another.  If you’re willing to part ways with the hat you’re wearing, the owner will happily trade yours for one of his with a firm handshake.  As luck would have it, the exceptional host was also a former equestrian rider like Aly, so we were kindly given a small tour of the place and more of his history as they shared stories.  The warm smiles and handshake between the two also proudly placed one of our GoPlay hats as number 964 in the collection.  We couldn’t have planned a better way to cap off the trip if we had tried! (Pun intended of course ;p)

The impressive hat display at The Snailbox