This morning we drove through the bog lands to the small village of Moycullen where we visited a Connemara Marble workshop which produced a lot of jewellery and other knick-knacks. Then we continued to Kylemore Abbey where we spent a most enjoyable couple of hours. Originally known as Kylemore Castle, it was built in 1867 to be the home of a very wealthy man called Mitchell Henry. In 1920 it was acquired by the Benedictine Order for use as a boarding school. ...

After a quick loop around Limerick, our first stop was at Bunratty Castle and Folk Park where we inspected the well restored castle and a reconstructed village consisting of original buildings from the surrounding area.After that, we continued on through the towns of Ennis and Ennistymon to the majestic Cliffs of Moher. First, we walked to the edge of the cliffs and took plenty of photos before going back to the visitor centre for lunch. The visitor centre has...

We headed off through the towns of Milltown and Castlemaine before stopping for photos at the beachside town of Inch. We had a short stop at Dingle before going for a drive around the very scenic Slea Head.There was a bit of excitement when we encountered an oncoming car along the very narrow and winding cliff side road. There was a lot of shuffling in forwards and reverse for both the car and the coach. Eventually, Tom and a couple of others, manhandled the s...

Today, we did a round trip around The Ring of Kerry (or Iveragh Peninsula to give it its correct name). We started off with group photo at Fossa where apparently there should have been majestic views of lakes and mountains in the background. Unfortunately, the morning started with a heavy fog so there was nothing to be seen. After an overly long stop at a tourist trap a bit further along, the fog had cleared a bit. We continued on in an anticlockwise direction,...

This morning we headed directly to Blarney Castle to beat the crowds. Apparently, every tourist who comes to Ireland has to kiss the Blarney Stone. It wasn't exactly on my bucket list, but we did it anyway after climbing high up into the castle via the steep spiral staircase. The gardens and grounds were very nice and we also saw Blarney House where the current owners still live.Next it was on to the town of Cork. We were given a quick tour around the tow...