Moneyguyneen Country House Birr

On Saturday, we went for a brief shopping trip with Kevin to the supermarket called SuperValu, which is very close to his house. Kevin and Anna asked if we could drop Kevin off in his home town of Athlone (central Ireland) on our way to Doolin.

We got a rental car (Opal Corsa) from Naas, a town near Sallins. The man at the rental car agency was very nice and threw in a few free extras for us. It turned out ...

Founded in 1620 - best known for the family's contribution to astronomy. In 1845, the world's largest telescope at the time was built here. The 56 ft wooden tube is supported by two walls.

In the gardens, they apparently also have the world's largest hedge-row.

A medieval monastery in a remote spot along the River Shannon. Founded in 545-548. A group of stone churches, a cathedral, two round towers, and three high crosses remain. The Pope also held a mass here.

Nearby, there also is a ruined castle just outside the grounds.

hello all,
i could not bring my netbook due to luggage weight limits so i just got to internet today...saturday. we are in galway which is a lovely city and we're about to eat the the best fish and chips place of all ireland we're told. dublin is a big city with lots of exciting things. we had great weather ...

Bonjour Le Web,

Welcome to my very own travel blog. I will be using this to document my travels across Thailand and Australia and wherever I may end up. I have decided to get the swing of things before i depart so I will start with this coming Saturday's Parachute Jump in aid of National Council for the Blind Ireland.

I have raised €650 for this and those of you who have sponsored me thank you.

I will report back on how it goes ...

Monday, June 22
On checking out of Smarmore Castle Hotel, not only did I get the discount for being a member of the IrelandYes forum, but Eamon insisted that the price had gone down since I had booked so got a very good deal.
Off to Newgrange where we caught the 10:45 tour. The boys were highly impressed. I had visited twice before so rested in the shade until the boys came ...

... we could have been anywhere - or at least anywhere in the temperate zones. Eventually, we were on the basic highway, with views of sheep and farmland ... which soon gave way to peat farms (basically large tracks of mud - not very attractive ... and lots of pent up carbons). We stopped in the town of Ferbane for lunch - just a quick bite. The sun had disappeared and the wind came up at this point, but we still decided to go to Clonmacnoise. This site is a monastery ...

... great to get a tour from the master! After such a relaxing time I headed off on the bus to Galway on the west coast. Toured around the Connemara and had fun despite the rain. Then headed up to Donegal, further up the west coast. I stayed out by Kilcar and had a great all day hike on the Slieve League, some giant cliffs, and it was actually sunny! I was so used to the gloom that I wasn't prepared and actually got a ...

... like you could have been in the Alps. The evergreen trees were frosted with snow and at one stage the road looked unpassable. Once we got to the base of the mountain the walk was relatively easy and it was such a clear day we had amazing views of the heart of Ireland.

... than Dun Laoghaire. With out transportation set, we then set off for our trip across Ireland.

In planning the trip across Ireland, I was trying to take into account the stories I had heard about the poor condition of Irish roads. I was imagining mile after mile of narrow, curvy two lane roads with barely enough room for two cars to pass each other. So, I decided to follow the model set by the tour groups. In studying their itineraries, I found that ...