Ireland, Day 4: Ennis to Galway

On Wednesday we headed to the famous Cliffs of Moher.  First, however, we passed through some very picturesque areas

and a castle with a very interesting story, about a woman named Maire Rua ('red-haired Mary', I think) who supposedly went through 25 husbands, all of which she murdered in various ways in this castle. *insert creepy music*  It explains why the locals are suspicious of red-haired girls....

Then through a place called the Burren, which has a 'lunar landscape', which was pretty cool.  Oh yeah, and a really really old stone portal tomb called Poulnabrone.

We made a quick stop to see a fairy circle:

Then to the cliffs!

Finally, before heading to Galway, we stopped at some cliffs along the Black Head Drive

Ireland, Day 3: Killarney to Ennis

Our first stop on Tuesday morning was Aghadoe, only a few minutes outside Killarney:

Next we stopped by the Inch Beach for a minute, just to take pictures. (it looks like I'm on the beach taking these, but I'm actually on the road above it)

Then on to Slea Head....

There was a traffic jam along the way.... :D

We did actually go onto this beach: (Coumeenole beach)

Then to Dingle for lunch! (it looked nothing like in Leap Year....)  Apparently there was a big upset over the name of the town in the past few years -- they've been called Dingle for a long, long time, but the government decided that since they are a Gaeltacht area (a recognized Irish-speaking region), their name should be in Irish, not English.  So they changed all the signs to "An Daingean".  Unfortunately, after that none of the tourists could find it anymore!  So they petitioned to have it changed back, and after much debate, settled on the name "Dingle An Daingean Uí Chúis", or "Dingle Dingle by the Sea", to incorporate both the Irish and English names.

But then there was another problem.... the government couldn't afford to change the signs again.  So the towns people vandalized all the signs that said "An Daingean" to say "Dingle".  Well, most of them... one of them now says "Dingey".  Anyway, some of them were quite well done -- you can hardly tell that it was painted/taped/glued on.  Others were probably done with a sharpie...

At any rate, we found a number of exciting things there.  Like Fungie the dolphin (or his statue, anyway).

 and that Guinness is good for you.

Not to mention fish that is "so fresh it practically jumped out of the sea onto your plate" (or something along those lines).  And of course yummy chips to go with that.

 and the lovely Craic House. (yes, that's pronounced "crack")  .... a souvenir shop. :D

Ice cream!!  (I got brownie and peanut butter... it was delicious.)

Anyway, after experiencing the delights of Dingle, we got back on the road to Ennis.  But  first we stopped in Adare, where they still have some cottages with traditional Irish thatched roofs:

Finally, we arrived in Ennis for a relaxing evening.  We ate at the hostel's restaurant (it was more like a hotel... voted "best hostel in Ireland") alongside the river.

Well, that's all for now folks!

Ireland, Day 2: Dublin to Killarney

Monday morning, we left Dublin and headed to Tipperary.

where we saw the Rock of Cashel:

and a very random, happy statue....

Then we headed to Blarney, where everything seemed to be in bloom

(very professional 19th century vandalism, don't you think?)

I want this view from my bedroom.... :D

Then we finished the day in the little town of Killarney.

Killarney National Park, about a five minute walk from where we were staying, was absolutely beautiful: