Ireland - June 2025

In early June, Jim and I went to Ireland to celebrate our 20th wedding anniversary.  We were joined by friends Beth and Brady, who were celebrating their 25th anniversary.  We had planned to fly to Shannon, but due to storms and a tornado in the St. Louis area, our flight to Chicago was delayed and we would miss our connection to Shannon. We were bummed and considered going home and trying again the next day since there were no more flights to Shannon that day. Then, we looked in to flights to Dublin and were able to take our delayed flight to Chicago and then get a flight to Dublin.  Hooray! We were on our way!

We got to Dublin and were a little tired, but needed to cover a lot of ground to get to the other side of the country for our planned itinerary.  Our first stop (after coffee) was Killarney National Park. Here is a picture of me in front of Muckross House.

We hiked a little in the rain, and came to this beautiful waterfall.

We drove along the Ring of Kerry, making our way to our BnB for the night. The views were beautiful! 

We stayed in Portmagee near the Kerry Cliffs and hiked up them that evening.

Spectacular views!

It was really windy.  Jim went up ahead of us. When we got to the top, he told me he was amazed the birds could stay on top of the stone structure below.  I had to take a picture to show him they were fake birds.

The next morning, three of us slept and Jim went for a run.  He ran across this bridge to Valentia Island.

Here is a picture of our BnB from the first night.

After breakfast, we explored Valentia Island. We visited the Eighth Wonder at the Valentia Cable Station, where we learned that the first successful transatlantic cable was laid between Valentia Island and Canada. 

We drove around the island, stopping to admire ruins and the scenery. 

The roads were narrow and curvy.  A local stopped us and told Jim that if he kept driving as he was, there would be an accident.  

We saw the tetrapod tracks that are over 385 million years old!

Then, we went to the slate quarry that had a grotto with a statue of Mary built in the cliff. It was erected in 1954, the Marian year.

After Valentia Island, we continued driving around the Ring of Kerry, stopping at cool sights along the way. We explored this stone fort, Cahergall Cashel.

We came back from seeing the stone fort and their was a gentleman in the parking lot with a lamb. I politely declined holding the lamb, but he was adamant. 

After a we held the lamb, he solicited money from us and was not satisfied with our initial offerings.

Then, we drove to the Gap of Dunloe.

We drove along the road because we were short on time and it was raining off and on.  The Gap of Dunloe provided some of the best scenery on a trip filled with lots of stunning views.

Just look at that! Incredibly beautiful! 

The sheep are painted bright colors to identify ownership. 

It seems the right half of the road is missing.  

The second night we stayed at a BnB outside of Adare.  We went into town for dinner and drinks. Jim looks right in place with his Guinness. 

Our first stop the next day was the Cliffs of Moher.

We enjoyed the views, listened to a choir, went up O'Brien's Tower, and walked along the coast.

We then made a stop at St. Bridget's Well.

That night we had dinner and watched the Limerick vs. Cork hurling match at McGann's. Later in the evening, the host found us a spot at a table near the live music. The musician was great and got everyone singing along. At one point he asked Jim if he wanted to play a song, and Jim took the mic and played "Norwegian Wood."

Later in the evening, the host found us a spot at a table near the live music. The musician was great and got everyone singing along. At one point he asked Jim if he wanted to play a song, and Jim took the mic and played "Norwegian Wood."  You can see the video here.

The next day, we took a ferry to the Aran Islands.  We went to the closest island, Inis Oírr.

Check out the local boy playing an accordion outside the ruin.

Jim and Brady really enjoyed climbing on the ruins.

We explored a cemetery and saw this sunken church from the 10th century.

A view of the sunken church from above.

We spent two nights in Galway, the biggest city on our trip.

We saw the Spanish Arch by the Corrib River.

We found a sign that let us know we were 6,125 km from St. Louis.

We were treated to some live music as we walked by this pub on High Street.

We came across a place called Molly's on our way to Connemara National Park and had to stop for a photo.

We went on a hike in the National Park.  The weather quickly turned and we were being pelted by rain and fighting harsh winds.

It was pretty miserable.

We came to a sign that suggested we turn around if the weather was bad. Beth and Brady heeded the warning.  Jim and I continued up the mountain.

We reached the summit!

After the hike, we went to Kylemore Abbey.  We did not tour it, but walked around the outside.

There is a picture of Jim and a group from SLUH in just about this same spot from years before.

The next day was beautiful and we climbed Croagh Patrick.

It was a picturesque hike.

We made it to the top!

I was so happy we had good weather because the views were spectacular! 

After we had been at the top for a bit, a group of musicians reached the summit. They had brought their instruments with them and began to play.

Here is a short video of the musicians. 

The hike down was just as pretty. 

We stayed in Westport that evening. 

It was a cute town. 

This was the view from the front porch of our bed and breakfast. 

We loved our stay at the Ardmore Country House.

Here is the view of sunset from our room.

We went into town that evening.  The musicians we met at the top of Croagh Patrick told us to come to Matt Molloy's that night.

We had the Irish experience we were looking for.

Jim met Matt Molloy, a former member of The Chieftains.

The next day we explored Achill Island. We drove around and stopped when we saw things that interested us.

We made our way to the beach at Keem Bay.  It was beautiful!  We walked along the sand and saw several jellyfish.

There are sheep everywhere in Ireland! Even at the beach!

That night we stayed in these cute yurts outside of Ballycastle.

We had a great view of Downpatrick Head from our door.

Jim's family is from Ballycastle. We visited Healy's Bar, which used to be owned by a relative of his.

We found a restaurant called Mag's Place and took a picture to show our favorite Mags. Unfortunately, it was closed.

We went to nearby Killala for dinner since there were no places in Ballycastle to eat.

After dinner, we explored the area by our yurts.

In the morning, we got coffee and treats from Mary's Bakery in Ballycastle before exploring the 

Céide Fields Neolithic Site and Visitor Centre.  The woman at the bakery remembered one of Jim's relatives named Molly.

After the Céide Fields, we went to Ennis where we had dinner at this old bar and restaurant.

We checked out the famous Durty Nelly's Pub in Bunratty, near where we stayed our last night.

We explored an old cemetery in Bunratty. 

This was our final picture, in front of Bunratty Castle, before going home.

It was a fantastic trip!  Jim was an excellent planner and tour guide.