Holiday 2012 - Ireland: 04/10/12

Ok, the Aran Islands are simply not going to happen. We experience 3 seasons of weather within an hour, seas are rough and no boats are heading out. So, we set off to chase rainbows and kiss the Blarney stone.

Wow! What a day! After a 2.5 hour drive, we reached Blarney Castle and walked the grounds while dodging raindrops and sunbeams. Blarney may be a tourist mecca but it really is a nice day out. The grounds are beautiful, the castle is cool and well, who doesn’t want the gift of eloquence? After some of us kissed the stone, we walked the grounds climbing trees, exploring witch caves, looking for fairies in the forest and sacrificing CJ on a druid altar. Blarney castle also has a poison garden. Most notable is the absence of the cannabis plant due to a “licensing issue.” The plant was seized by the Guarda but they hope to plant a new one once the “issue” is resolved. Classic.

Next we had the best lunch of the entire trip! Proprietor, Duncan Blair at Blair’s Inn (Cloghroe, Co. Cork) gave us the most cheerful welcome, set us up with a few pints of a local brew and some outrageously yummy brown bread to start. The kids opted to share a few Shepherd’s Pies and a cold meat platter. Annie enjoyed the homemade corned beef. Chris and Karen opted for chicken and bacon salads and Lee went with the classic bangers and mash. The food was abundant, piping hot, and perfectly flavored. We ate every last morsel.
Blairs Inn Website
Blairs Inn on Facebook

With bellies full, we set off for a driving tour through County Kerry. Stopping at Muckross House and then Torc Falls. We were a bit late to make a full experience of Muckross but God smiled on us and gave us a gorgeous full rainbow to witness. It stretched perfectly over the house. We zipped down the road a few km and made a short trek up a muddy trail to shoot some family pictures at Torc Falls. The countryside in this area is absolutely stunning, a stark contrast to The Burren, which is the massive limestone landscape in which Doolin rests.

The sun was setting and since we had been driving all day, we wanted to start heading back to Doolin. Our plan was to catch the car ferry from Tarbert to Kilrush, knocking off about an hour of our drive home. We hauled it to make the 8:30pm crossing, arriving at the ferry launch by 8:15pm, only to discover that the ferry was NOT operating. From this point, we were facing a two-hour drive back to Doolin via some dark, very, very winding, country roads. Naturally, at this time of night, small town pubs are not open for dinner. Thankfully for us, the petrol station has some decent offerings. Annie made us some ham and cheese sandwiches, we bought some grapes, ice creams, yogurt and chocolate and had quite a little feast right there in the petrol station lot! It certainly couldn’t hold a candle to Duncan’s meal at Blairs Inn, but it did the trick. We are now 0 for 2 on decent dinners the past few nights—Chinese food Monday and petrol station delights Tuesday.