Ireland with the kids Sept 18-24

9/18 We arrived in Dublin midmorning, then picked up our car and hit the road.  We arrived at our house in Newcastle, Northern Ireland. We had a moment of terror when we realized we didn't have wifi and our phones still hadn't connected to cell internet yet, luckily the AirBNB app still displayed the most recent message and we were able to get in.  The house was nice, had kids toys and books and a handful of outdoor toys.  

There were a handful of neat places to visit within just a few miles.  This is Dundrum Castle, the kids loved that they could climb the stairs and explore. See all three kids at the top? 

Just a few hours later we walked 10 minutes from our house to the sea.  Finn found this tiny sea star.  It was fun to play with for a moment. 

We spent plenty of time at the sea, and tried not to shout "stay dry" too many times.  The kids loved playing in the water, even if it wasn't very warm. 

9/19 After a good night's sleep we went to visit the Castlewellan Forest Park. It has a fun hedge maze, it was challenging, but also full of blackberry bushes.  Eventually we gave up, left through the entrance, then Hannah and I re-entered through the exit and found our way out.  We spent a while playing on the playground outside the maze. 

Here's Castlewellan. 

We had a wonderful lunch at Maginns. 

The kids shared a couple of fish and chips plates, but Melissa and I enjoyed amazing dishes.  A Thai beef and vegetable plate with naan and Melissa a fried chicken breast on mashed potatoes drowned in a cream and leak sauce.  We both couldn't believe how great these meals were. 

That evening we went to Tollymore Forest Park

We spent an hour walking the park and river bank

The trail passed over this series of stepping stones. 

and ended with a colorful sunset. 

9/20 Happy Birthday! After a lazy morning we went to Cú Chulainn's Castle. This ruin castle was a bit of trouble to reach.  There wasn't any carpark or entrance, we just stopped at the side of the road, climbed a wall (see Melissa climbing back down in the next picture). It is an ancient site, inhabited since the 1300's, but the tower is from the late 1800s. It is a folly left from a landowner who hoped to make his home much fancier.  

There was a school group visiting the site at the same time we did, a bunch of teenagers and their teacher running all around.  It was funny to see a group their age on an outing like this. 

That afternoon we went up the Hill of Slane, County Meath.  We wandered around an ancient cemetery and Franciscan College Ruins from the 1500s. It was shuttered by King Henry VIII, then it was restarted and again shuttered by Oliver Cromwell, due to its place of honor amongst Irish clergy history. 

It is so wonderful that you can climb and explore these sites. 

If only we could have left the kids locked behind those cages for a few minutes of quiet!

Cutie

We ended the day in County Galway at a nice little AirBNB.  The house used a fireplace as water heater.  It was neat, but what I thought was really cool... it burned peat.  It was such a challenge to keep the fire burning to heat the water and the room.  I've never tended a peat fire, fun experience. 

After checking in we headed a few miles away to Castlerea, County Roscommon, to visit a fairy garden suggested by our host.  Melissa and the kids fell in love.  We walked 2 miles around the park and town that evening.  It was all a lot of fun, preceded by a slightly awkward moment. The entrance to "town park, fairy village" shares a parking lot with Gaynor's Funeral Directors.  Mrs. May Creaton's (died: 17, Sept. 2024) viewing was very well attended that evening and we had to make our way around the line of mourners waiting to enter the building. We approached the line quietly, shushing the kids.  I touched a man on the shoulder and begged his pardon.  He turned to ask what the matter was and I told him we were trying to visit the Fairy Garden.  He laughed and told me he thought we were trying to jump the line to the viewing. 

The kids enjoyed finding all the doors and decorations around the garden. 

We picked up carry out from an Indian restaurant, and after dinner the kids presented me with my caterpillar cake and we watched a little Bluey. It was the oddest birthday ever. 

9/21 We left our AirBNB and drove to the Cliffs of Moher.  It was quite a walk up and the views were pretty, but it was more restricted and busy than all the other places we'd visited.  The kids weren't as impressed as they were climbing on castles. 

Melissa would've enjoyed walking further along the cliffs, but the kids didn't want to go any further.

9/22 We attended Sacrament meeting in the Tralee Branch, County Kerry.  The branch was very small, but fun.  The kids wouldn't stay for primary this time, so we said goodbye to lots of very friendly members and visitors.  They'd spoken at length in their talks about the desire for a temple on the island, with their prayers answered just two weeks later as President Nelson announced the Dublin temple.  We left church to have lunch and play at the Tralee Town Park.  Lily fell in love with black birds on this trip and was very excited to get this close. 

We were headed southwest across the Dingle Peninsula and the only way was Conor Pass.  It was foggy, narrow and steep.  We had to cross the pass twice that day, later in the afternoon it wasn't as foggy.  The first crossing (2 PM) was only a few dozen yards visibility and Melissa was not happy about it.  The kids opened their windows at one point and the fog fell into the car.  

We drove the Slea Head Drive and stopped every few minutes/miles at historic and tourist traps. This was a petting/feeding zoo at a Fairy Fort/Ringfort.  Their were multiple thousand year old house foundations to explore plus sheep, alpaca and ponies.

Finn lead poor sheep all around the area with his pot of feed.  He kept trying to get them down into these dugout holes which were the remnants of the house walls. 

A few miles down the coast we came upon these famine houses. Melissa and the kids had listened to books about the Potato Famine, so it was meaningful to see the place.  

Melissa atop the wall surrounding some of the Bee Hive Hut structures. 

After exploring the south side of the peninsula we drove back over Conor Pass to our hostel in Mount Brandon. This is O'Connor's Bar where we had a very fine dinner.  I had the Sunday roast, beef, yorkshire pudding, potatoes and vegetables.  It was wonderful and big enough I could sneak bites to Lily who didn't eat whatever she'd ordered. 

Our hostel was right on the water so we walked down and hopped on the big rock which made our shoreline. 

9/23 Monday morning had us back on the road with a stop in County Waterford at Ballysaggartmore Towers. The towers are only 200 years old, they are remnants of the land owner's hunting lodges. 

There was a small creek with a waterfall in the Ballysaggartmore wood so we followed the trail and played in the water a while. 

That evening ended in Ardmore, County Waterford on the beach.  The kids enjoyed collecting shells, seaweed and sticks to build sandcastles. 

9/24 Tuesday morning was our last day in Ireland.  We drive up the coast to catch lunch in Bray and visit Uncle Brendan's childhood home.  Well, this isn't it.  We had the house number wrong, essentially we needed to turn around and look at the other side of the street. Coincidentally, Auntie Glynis would inform us at the end our our holiday that this house... belonged to Brendan's older brother. 

But lunch at Finnbee's Coffee House was delicious. Just sandwiches and crisps, but with a great view. 

Boarding out flight to Portugal... mainland Europe, here we come!