Ireland 1999
July 14 - 29, 1999
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Linda and I along with friend Joyce Kirby ventured on a two week driving tour of
Ireland in 1999. We left Columbus on July 14 and flew to Dublin by way of
Newark, NJ. We spent the next couple of weeks traveling by car and staying in
B&Bs.
Reservations at B&Bs were made ahead of time. While it might have been early for
much of the internet, many did have email addresses available in the B&B
directory that I had. The rule was they had to take credit cards and they had to
have an email address for communication. Only one B&B asked that I phone them as
we got closer to arrival.
The owners/managers of the B&Bs were awesome. In my initial contact seeking
availability for specific dates, I asked them to provide an alternative if they
were full. Maybe they had a friend who had a B&B that was available and could
refer me to them. I think for the most part, every one accommodated our needs.
Since there were three of us traveling, we did not want to risk not finding a
B&B in real time as Linda and I had done a few years earlier in England. So we
had reservations for each location.
We stayed three nights in each location except for the last one. We picked up
our rental car at the Dublin airport and traveled to our first B&B in Kilkenny.
That first day was very tiring. We explored many places while traveling between
each location. Once we arrived at a B&B we’d spend two more days exploring the
area around our B&B by taking interesting day trips before heading on to our
next B&B. We had roughed out the roads but adjusted the specific route when we
encountered interesting places along the way. Some days felt rushed. But given
we had overnights planned we could return to the B&B late if need be.
All B&B’s were excellent. Some were homes that rented rooms. Some were more like
miniature hotels. One was an old farm house where horses were being born as we
stayed. And it turns out is still in business as a B&B in 2023.
We always ate well! It was our first night in Tralee that I had probably the
largest scallops I had ever eaten. The menu labeled them as Portmagee scallops.
They were huge! They were tasty. I had to find Portagmagee. So on one of our day
trips we found it - along with many other places. One other location that brings
back fond food memories was a little place in Cong where we had lunch. It was
simple smoked salmon and toast along with potato leak soup. One of the best damn
lunches. Some days we’d pack lunch in the car and eat along the way. Other times
we’d find a nice restaurant. The evening meal was always a sit down event.
The order of the images pretty much present the order of the trip. Some days
were a bit damp. Others were bright and sunny.
The order of B&Bs and basic travel is: Dublin to Kilkenny and then on to Tralee.
From there to Galway and on to Ballyshannon and the farm before ending at a B&B
in Skerries before heading back to the Dublin airport on July 29. Each overnight
produced two day trip loops except for Skerries. That day loop was a train trip
into Dublin and back.
Enjoy the images and note that most are labeled with location information. Most
of the information was in my diary notes from the trip. However, one never knows
how accurate due to spelling anomalies. What’s fun these days is that when I get
close to the location scene, usually I can find it on google earth and nearly
pinpoint where I was standing when I made the shot. It’s a great way to confirm
many of the locations. However, some locations are simply approximate due to
lack of recorded legible details. And it appears sometimes local names vary
according to local customs and do not necessarily match official/public maps.
Happy Travels! (it only took 24 years to get these images out in public)
.