Day 7 in Ireland

[tufbuf]

All right, I am kinda stepping in on JackGirlz series on her Ireland trip report. I thought I'd fill in day 7 since it's been a year since her tour. Hope that's ok, JackGirlz. Most of the itinerary is similar, except we went to Bunratty Castle for our medieval dinner.

We had the most wonderful time in our Ireland trip! The weather cooperated and we just had one rainy day which did not even interfere with our plans. It made it interesting, if anything. Our guides, Jackie and Kelley were awesome and we thought they worked extremely worked together.

So, on day 7 we visited a local farm and got a look on their daily activities.



This is their resident dog, Thor who seems very lackadaisical until he smells.... scones! The smell of baking scones really woke him up!



This is Frances, the farm's matriarch who showed us how to make scones. She is one tough lady!





We ate lots of scones during this trip. I prefer the Scottish ones though, but both are good!

After making the scones, which we will have for lunch, we toured the farm. They have a few sheep in the farm which is mainly raised for meat. When you see the little cuties, you probably would not want to touch lamb meat any longer.



This little one was born a few hours earlier. Most of us got a chance to feed the lamb with bottled milk which we thought was neat. How often do you get to do that?

They also showed us how they shear sheep's wool. Wool is not a big commodity in Ireland even if you see lots of sheep in the pasture.



This is how our baked scones looked! Not bad, don't you think?


This is the old family home which is a thatched roof house in the farm. Many Irish people lived in this type of home back in the day.



After lunch, we headed to the Cliffs of Moher. It was a very picturesque sight! Again, the power of Mickey called in the weather god and cleared the skies for us! We got off the bus with pouring rain, but as we walked our way up to see the cliffs, we only had blue skies. Pixie dust.



One of the scenes in Harry Potter (Dumbledore and Harry on the verge of entering the cave to get one of the horcrux), was filmed here.



I didn't have a big zoom on my camera but the sides of the cliffs are housed by puffins!





We headed back to Dromoland Castle for our farewell dinner afterwards.

Shannon airport is small and we probably did the easiest tax refund ever. Some of the stores use the Horizon card where they accumulate the tax amount. The card needs to be registered and then swiped in their kiosk before heading to your gate. They also have the regular paper which needs to be stamped upon leaving Ireland.

So there. Anyone who is considering taking this trip, feel free to ask questions. I'd be glad to help!

 

[Bobo912]

We were on the trip following yours and we went to Knappogue Castle for the medieval dinner. Do they alternate between the two or is one of them an exception?

We didn't see any puffins at the Cliffs of Moher, but we saw whales.

 

[mouselike-harrier]

Thanks for posting this! Ireland is one of the trips we are considering. The only thing that is holding us back is that we have 2 teenagers. Is there enough to do in the smaller towns with your time off?

 

[tufbuf]

Thanks for posting this! Ireland is one of the trips we are considering. The only thing that is holding us back is that we have 2 teenagers. Is there enough to do in the smaller towns with your time off?

We enjoyed Killarney and Dromoland Castle in Clare. The day you arrive in Killarney, you have enough time to grab dinner and maybe shop. The commercial area is very near the hotel. The hotel has a nice pool which your kids could enjoy. The next day is a late start to Muckross House and again, kids could go to the pool and the grown ups can do their last minute shopping in town since there isn't a good shopping place in Dromoland Castle. I thought Dromoland Castle would be slow and uninteresting. If you look at the itinerary, we have one full day on our own. There is a lot of things to do in the castle! That free day was actually quite special. We toured the grounds in the morning and went clay shooting and did the falconry tour! Soooo interesting and so much fun! There are bikes in the ground which you could use free of charge and row a small boat in the pond. You can also hike in the area or jog if you are a jogger. Most of us enjoyed our stay in the castle, I'm saying most since I didn't ask all but the ones we had a chance to talk to, enjoyed their stay.

 

[BrennaM]

Could you do something else if you didn't want to watch the sheep shearing? My MIL is pretty sensitive about animals and I know some shearing demos can be fairly rough with the sheep. She saw one demo once and was near tears.

Oh and do you have any restaurant suggestions that you found and loved? So looking forward to our trip! btw I broke down and read 1 day of trip reports...I gotta stay away from the rest. hehehe I was just wondering what was different from a year previous.

 

[tufbuf]

Could you do something else if you didn't want to watch the sheep shearing? My MIL is pretty sensitive about animals and I know some shearing demos can be fairly rough with the sheep. She saw one demo once and was near tears.

Oh and do you have any restaurant suggestions that you found and loved? So looking forward to our trip! btw I broke down and read 1 day of trip reports...I gotta stay away from the rest. hehehe I was just wondering what was different from a year previous.

Your MIL can hang out in the dining/kitchen area. The farm tour happens after we prepare the scones for baking. She can also stay by the sheep pen or check out the farm grounds (the paved area) where the thatched roof house is and take photos while the shearing is going on. Then she can go back once the shearing is done. The way they sheared the sheep in this demo is by using an electric razor. You still see the cuts on the sheep skin but not like the old way shearing they showed us in Greece! There they used old shears and you could see the cuts made by the scissors. But that's how it is and these farmers know what they are doing. If anything, it's probably causes a mild discomfort to the sheep.

Yes, Toscana in Dublin! My DD had a thing for seafood pasta and their seafood linguine is to die for!! Dublin is loaded with yummy looking restaurants and the desserts! Oooh lala! The one food I learned to enjoy is Guinness Beef stew, if you are not vegetarian. The food selection in this trip was wonderful, although if you notice there are a lot of meals on your own. Their soup is also pureed so expect thick soup if you do order them.

Based on JackGirlz itinerary, it looks the same as this year's. When are you going? If you are going this year, you'd have a great time with the guides!

 

[BrennaM]

Thanks for the reply! We leave in just over 3 weeks. The final countdown has begun. That is good to know when the sheep shearing happens. That way I can steer my MIL out of it. I've seen demos before so the rest of the family can stay and watch while we check out other stuff.

Great! Toscana is now on the list!

mouselike-harrier I have 2 teenagers as well and I can certainly let you know how they enjoyed their trip when I get back. I'll ask them what their favourite parts were and what they could have done without if you wanted. Both of mine are girls though so their opinions might be slanted a bit if you have boys.

 

[mouselike-harrier]

I have one of each! I will be looking forward to hear about your trip when you get back. Enjoy!

 

[BrennaM]

Thanks I'm sure we are going to love it! Only 3 weeks, 2 days, 11 hours and 31 minutes till we leave....not like I'm keeping track or anything...

 

[JacksGirlz]

Thank you tufbuf.
I am glad you took over. I have recuperated from our Backstage Magic tour but now I'm back to work so it may still be a few weeks before my report is up.

 

[tufbuf]

Thank you tufbuf. I am glad you took over. I have recuperated from our Backstage Magic tour but now I'm back to work so it may still be a few weeks before my report is up.

I'm glad you're ok with it. and you are very welcome!