Ireland 2023

Ireland - Spectacular Nature on the Green Island

  The first holidays in 2023 brought me to the beautiful Green Island of Ireland. I planned it for a long time and finally, I could make it happen. Since I only could spend a week in Ireland, I booked many bus tours from Dublin and also rented a car to drive the Ring of Kerry. So it was kinda packed during the week, but nevertheless, I really enjoyed to see many places around the whole Ireland and Northern Ireland.

  When I arrived in Dublin, I took the bus 782 to the downtown of the city. Luckily, the Dublin Aston Quay Stop was close to my hostel, so I could check-in, unload the luggage and still had half a day to explore Dublin on a wonderful sunny day. It was actually really surprising, that the weather was nice during the whole week, so I had the perfect travel week. I started my walk around at the Ha'penny Bridge, which is officially called Liffey Bridge and connects the Temple Bar district with the Bachelor's Walk. The bridge is one of Dublin's most photographed attractions and is often considered the city's landmark, while I need to say, that I found the Samuel Beckett Bridge with its harp shape even more impressive. On the way to the Samuel Beckett Bridge, I also passed by the Famine Memorial. The monument was erected in remembrance of the Great Famine from 1845 til 1849, which saw the population of the country halved through death and emigration.

  Then, I started to explore the other side of the city while crossing one of the bridges crossing the Liffey river and funnily, the first thing I saw - in the middle of all the fantastic pubs - was the Irish Whiskey Museum. Since I still wanted to see more of the city on that day, I decided against the whiskey tasting, but I took a whiskey bottle for bringing it back to Germany. I had a short visit of the Trinity College then, but since I had to buy the ticket for the library online for another day, I decided to walk on to the Dublin Castle. Also the castle tours were already sold out for the day - such a pity. But then, after I just took a couple of photos, I went over to the famous St. Patrick's Cathedral. The cathedral was founded in 1191 as a Roman Catholic church and is nowadays the national cathedral of the Church of Ireland.  

  While St. Patrick's Cathedral is known as the national cathedral, the Christ Church Cathedral is designated as the local cathedral of the Diocese of Dublin and Glendalough. The cathedral is also known as Cathedral of the Holy Trinity and is the elder of the two cathedrals, founded in the early 11th century under the Viking king Sitric Silkenbeard. Many reconstructions and a rebuilding sanction in the 19th century brought the cathedral to its today's form, including the tower, the flying buttresses and the footbridge to the Dublinia Museum.

  Luckily, I had another morning in Dublin on the Saturday before leaving Ireland. So I decided to book a ticket to visit the Library of the Trinity College. The college itself was founded in 1592. It was modelled after the collegiate universities of Oxford and Cambridge and is one of the seven ancient universities of Britain and Ireland, as well as Ireland's oldest surviving university with the famous alumni which include Samuel Beckett, Ernest Walton, Oscar Wilde, Bram Stoker and Jonathan Swift. The Trinity College has repeatedly been rated as Ireland's highest ranking university and is ranked in the top 200 universities worldwide. Moreover, the campus in the city centre is considered as one of the most beautiful in the world - with the old library as the main attraction. The library was built in 1732 and is the repository of the famous Book of Kells, the oldest harp in Ireland from the 15th century and a rare copy of the 1916 Proclamation of the Irish Republic, which are stored in the Long Hall of the Library. The most fascinating thing for me was the Harry Potter kind of feeling, I had, when I entered the library. But all that glistens isn't gold: Even if it was expensive, the library was really overcrowded with tourists. So when I would go again, I definitely wouldn't decide to go on a weekend day. 

  In addition to the Trinity College, I also wanted to visit the Dublinia Museum, because I'm really interested in the Viking Age. The museum is located next to the Christ Church Cathedral in the heart of the medieval city centre of Dublin. It was possible to see Dublin from a different perspective in the Viking and Medieval history of the city. The exhibition was opened in 1993 and it consists of three floors. The ground floor tells the story of the foundation of Dublin in the Viking period, the middle floor shows the city's development in the Middle Ages and the upper floor shows the possibilities of archaelogy and science to reconstruct historical facts.

 One of the biggest highlights - except of the beautiful nature and the landscapes - was the pub culture in Dublin. One pub here, one pub there and another one at the next corner. The best moment, I had, was definitely on the first day, when I went to the Temple Bar to order a Guiness. I don't need to mention, that the live music was absolutely brilliant, but when the singers started to sing "Wonderwall" and the whole pub and even the people outside on the street joined, I got the goosebumps of my life. During the pub crawl of the hostel, I also visited the Temple Bar again, but also Ireland's oldest pub - The Brazen Head. In general, I loved the atmosphere in all of the wonderful pubs, only the food could have been better. I'm probably not made for the typical Irish and British food like Fish 'n' Chips.  

  The Sunday after the arrival in Dublin, I had my first booked bus tour from Dublin to the West coast of Ireland, including the Cliffs of Moher, one of the main sightseeing places and highlights while being in Ireland. The bus tour started around 6:45 am, so since it was a long ride to go, I took another nap in the bus, until we reached the parking area at the cliffs, close to the O'Brien's Tower, the highest point of the Cliffs of Moher. Before I went up the tower, I decided to have a little hike. Since we only got two hours there, it was kinda a rush with hiking, taking pictures and enjoying the breathtaking nature. But luckily, with the good weather, I could at least see the cliffs in its stunning magnificence. All my friends, who went to the Cliffs of Moher before, always had bad luck with rain and foggy weather, so I didn't really expect much at the beginning, but was positively surprised at the end.

  During the little hike in the southern direction, I almost missed the time to go back, because I was so fascinated by all the amazing views and landscapes. I also could see some seagulls in their breeding ground, when I dared to look carefully over the abyss of the cliffs. Then, I took to my heels to go back to have at least a short period of time at the top of the tower, before leaving to the bus. The next bus stop on the way in the direction of Galway was the arrival at the so called Baby Cliffs in the Burren, a glaciokarst landscape, which was also really beautiful and less touristy then the Cliffs of Moher.   

  Approximately 40 minutes away from Galway, we reached the Kilmacduagh Monastery, a ruined abbey, which was reportedly founded in the 7th century by Saint Colman, son of Duagh, which also explains the translation of Kilmacduagh as "church of Duagh's son". During the history, the cathedral replaced a wooden church in the 11th century and the leaning round tower was erected around the 12th century. Nowadays, the round tower is one of the best preserved in Ireland and with its almost 35 metres, it is the tallest tower that is still complete. After a short photo break, we continued our bus tour to Galway, the last destination of the trip.

  Arrived in Galway, I was directly fascinated by the street art and the colorful city itself. Galway is a tourist destination known for festivals and events and therefore, the city is also known as "Ireland's Cultural Heart". On the way through the Latin Quarter with its bars, restaurants and shopping areas, I could listen to many busker, while enjoying the atmosphere of this cute little place. After getting a green Galway sweater as a proof that I stayed there, I got something to eat for takeaway to relax a little bit around the Corrib river, near to the Spanish Arch, which was built in 1584 as an extension of the 12th century Norman-built town wall, which stretched from the Martin's Tower to the riverbank. On the way back to the bus, in front of The Quays pub, I also found a "Galway Girl" statue, sitting on a bench.

  The next morning, I had to wake up early again to get the car, I rented for three days to explore the Ring of Kerry and the Western coast of Ireland by myself. I have to say, that it was really strange at the beginning to drive on the left side of the road. So I was happy that I could orientate myself by the cars driving in front of me. When I left Dublin and entered the motorway in the direction of Killarney, I already felt safe to drive on the left side luckily. Everything went on smooth and so I decided to explore parts of the Killarney National Park, before checking-in in the hotel a bit outside of the city of Killarney. 

  The Killarney National Park was the first national park in Ireland and has many beautiful sights to visit. One of the oldest of Ireland's remaining oak forests can be found here, but the variety of the flora can be additional seen in yews, mosses, lichens and ferns. Due to the influence of the Gulf Stream, there are numerous flowering plants in the national park, which are otherwise only known from the Mediterranean region, such as the shrub-like strawberry trees and tall-growing rhododendron bushes, which are threatening to overgrow large parts of the park because of the mild and humid conditions.    

  So I parked the car and started a hike around the Lough Leane Lake, the biggest of the three lakes in the national park. After a short while, I reached the Muckross Abbey, which was founded in 1448 as a Franciscan friary. The ruins of the abbey itself are still quite well preserved. Its most remarkable feature is a central courtyard, which contains a large yew tree and is surrounded by a vaulted cloister. Another highlight was the Muckross House, which can be described as the tourist centre of the Killarney National Park. It's situated on the shores of Muckross Lake, surrounded by manicured lawns, a beautiful flower garden and a rock garden. Here, on the scenic shores of the lake, I also made a little lunch break by enjoying the beautiful view.  

  Even if I was getting a bit tired, I decided to continue the hike for another 2.5 kilometres - and I shouldn't regret it. Not only because of the fascinating Torc Waterfall, also because of some wild orchids. I was actually really surprised to see orchids in the national park, so I really enjoyed the magnificient flowers. While still being surprised and excited, I got to know a Dutch girl called Lieke. We took the same way going back and then arranged to spend the next day together for exploring the Ring of Kerry.

  The next morning, I picked up Lieke in Killarney and we started the adventurous day together. But before we really started our tour, we decided to have a breakfast together around Muckross Lake before heading on to the famous Ladies' View in the heart of the Killarney National Park. This panoramic vantage point on the N71 national road overlooks the three lakes in the centre of the park. The panoramic view was simply breathtaking and scenic. 

  Queen Victoria, who was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 1837 to 1901, was known to have fallen in love with Ireland, when she was a young woman visiting the County of Kerry in the south-west of Ireland. It was Queen Victoria, who determined that Killarney should be placed on international maps, so that the small town became one of Ireland's most popular tourist destinations. During the monarch's stay in Killarney, the ladies-in-waiting, who had traveled with her, were also very active by exploring the beautiful nature and they were so enthusiastic about a viewpoint which is nowadays still known as "Ladies' View".    

  Then, we continued our tour by driving on narrow pass roads to reach the Ballaghbeama Gap. This route impresses with its scenic beauty. Again and again you can enjoy the view up to the almost 800 metres towering Mullaghanattin. Between boulders, the road winds more or less gently uphill through a seemingly deserted area. Only a few sheep line the path and they actually didn't want to go out of the way, while they lie on the roads. They just went away, while we wanted to take pictures of them. Nevertheless, we got some cute sheep pictures and also reached the Ballaghbeama Gap. Since the road was really narrow, I was happy, that no one came towards us.  

  On our way to Cahersiveen, we crossed by a Charlie Chaplin Statue in Waterville, a little village on the Ring of Kerry route on west coast of the peninsula. It turned out, that Charlie Chaplin and his family chose Waterville as their summer vacation destination for over a decade, which pays tribute to how much they enjoyed the time they spent there. We just made a short photo stop before we went on to Cahersiveen to see the two stone Ringforts of Cahergall and Leacanabuaile. Unfortunately it was only possible to enter the Cahergall stone fort, but it was really interesting to see the architecture from inside too. Inside the fort, which is about 25 metres in diameter, the inner wall consists of terraced steps and stairs, so we climbed up the walls, even if I felt a bit uncomfortable with my fear of heights. But for the view, it was absolutely worthwile. We both decided then to drive back to Killarney for having a dinner together, since it wasn't possible to see all the amazing places around the Ring of Kerry only on one day.

  The next day, I had to bring back the car to Dublin and I also offered Lieke to bring her to Cork, where she wanted to stay for the next days. So I picked her up again in the morning, but before taking the route back, we decided to make another road trip in the west of the Cork County. When we were enjoying the view on the Ballaghbeama Gap the day before, two motorcycle drivers told us, that we have to visit Mizen Head and the coast area of this county. So we took another road along the Ring of Kerry, crossing the Priest's Leap, a steep and nearly straight single-lane mountain pass. I was happy again, that we were the only car on the whole pass road, because the road was even more narrow and gravelled than the way up to the Ballaghbeama Gap the day before. Moreover, there were some stunning panoramic views to see - and of course more sheep.      

  When we arrived at the Mizen Head, which is traditionally regarded as the most southerly point of mainland Ireland, we were kinda impressed by the beautiful cliff scenery. Even if they are not that famous like the Cliffs of Moher, they don't need to hide and I liked, that it wasn't too crowded over there. The tip of the peninsula is almost an island, cut off by a deep chasm, now spanned by a bridge, which gives access to an old signal station, a weather station and a lighthouse. The signal station is nowadays a museum, housing displays relating to the site's strategic significance for transatlentic shipping and communications. After spending almost two hours going around, we went on a coffee break and then started the way into the direction of Cork.   

   During our way back, we also stopped many times, for example to explore some beach areas on the coastal side. Coincidentally, we also saw a sign to follow a route to the Drombeg Stone Circle, which is also known as "The Druid's Altar". With it's 17 stones made out of sandstone, it's one of the most visited megalithic sites in Ireland and is protected under the National Monuments Act. About 40 metres to the west of the stone circle are the remains of two round stone-walled prehistoric huts, which probably date from the 5th century AD. From here on, I brought Lieke to Cork and then returned the car in Dublin, where I went to my hostel and directly fall asleep after a long tour.

  Being back in Dublin, the next adventure started directly in the next morning with a bus ride to Northern Ireland. For me, it was the first time to enter the United Kingdom in general, so officially with entering Northern Ireland, I already entered the second new country in 2023. The first destination was located on the Northern coast of the island - the Giant's Causeway, an area consisting of basalt columns, which results of an ancient volcanic fissure eruption. 

  But, according to a legend, the columns are the remains of a large causeway, built by a giant. The Irish giant Fionn MacCumhaill was challenged to a fight by the Scottish giant Benandonner, so Fionn accepted the challenge and built the causeway across the North Channel so that the two giants could meet each other. In one version of the fairytale, Fionn realised, that his Scottish foe is much bigger than him, so that his wife disguises Fionn as a baby. When Benandonner saw the size of the "baby", he reckoned that its father Fionn must be a giant among giants, so he went back to Scotland in fright, destroying the causeway behind him.   

  The Giant's Causeway were really impressive and definitely worth it to be one of the nature wonders of the UK. When we continued our bus tour, we had a short stopover to take some pictures of the Dunluce Castle. Unfortunately, we could only take a few photos from a viewing point, but couldn't go closer to the castle on the edge of a basalt outcropping. The last part of the tour - before driving to Belfast - was a visit of the Dark Hedges, well known for the "King's Road" in Game of Thrones. The trees in this avenue form an atmospheric tunnel, which would be probably even more breathtaking in the dusk. But at least I somehow had luck to get some photos without too many people. Here, around the Dark Hedges, I also got to know a German girl called Lena, who was also taking the same tour as me and we just walked around the area together a little bit. 

  As final destination of the day trip, we reached Belfast. Unfortunately, the tour guide told us, that we don't have more than two hours to explore the city. So I had to ask myself the question, if I should run through the city, or just go to eat dinner and visit the close by sightseeing places. Luckily, I wasn't the only one, thinking about this difficult question and so, I decided to follow Lena's idea of first having a nice dinner and then going around a little bit. So we walked a little bit and coincidentally found the famous Crown Liquor Saloon, also known as Crown Bar. The pub itself looked really fancy and the restaurant in the first floor was awesome. We ordered a chicken & portobello mushroom pie and a wild boar & chorizo pie and shared the portions.  

  Not feeling hungry anymore, we made a little after-dinner walk, exploring the hood. Therefore we started with going around the Belfast City Hall, which was a quite impressive building in the centre of the city. But my highlight was definitely the Albert Memorial Clock, a 1869 constructed clock tower situated at the Queen's Square. Even if I've never been to London, it gave me a little feeling like staying in front of the Big Ben. On our walk back to the City Hall, where the bus was waiting for going back to Dublin, we also found an incredible amazing street art, called "Belfast Romances" and while being back in Dublin, I was thinking of visiting Belfast again in the future, for example to see the famous Titanic museum or the Belfast Peace Wall.

  The last day trip, I planned, was a bus tour to the Wicklow Mountains. More precisely, the main destination was Glendalough, the "Valley of two Lakes". The valley is famous for its Early Medieval monastic settlement founded in the 6th century by St. Kevin. After exploring the ruins of the monastery and the cemetery, we still got some free time, so I made a little hike to the two lakes. I also continued the way up to the waterfall and the forest hiking trail, by hoping to reach a viewing platform to see the two lakes from above. But the time was running out, so I needed to go back to the starting point to not miss the departure of the tour bus. During our trip to Kilkenny, the landscape was simply breathtaking. So I was a little bit disappointed, that we just had one five minutes photo stop on the way.      

  From Castle to Cathedral and everything in-between - that's how the city of Kilkenny is described as one of the top heritage and cultural destination in Ireland. Kilkenny, which means "Church of Cainnech", isn't only well known for its historic buildings, but also for its craft and the large amount of breweries which gave the city the surname "Brewing Centre".

  The bus stopped close to the Kilkenny Castle, where we had to decide, if we want to follow the guide to go inside the castle, or if we wanted to explore the city by ourselves. So I wanted to walk around by myself to have more time to discover all the medieval and historic buildings in the city. Nevertheless, I had a short walk in the parc around the castle to take some pictures and enjoy the rose garden. Walking along the city walls and the city centre, I realised, how many churches and cathedrals the city of Kilkenny has. Since I didn't have time to visit all of them, I just decided to visit the three most famous ones - the Black Abbey, which was established in 1225 as one of the first houses of the Dominican Order in Ireland and still remains a series of monumental slabs and stone coffins dating from the middle ages, the St. Mary's Cathedral, a 60 metres cut-limestone structure of Gothic design, built by the people of God during the famine times, and the St. Canice's Cathedral with its Round Tower, where I climbed up to look around the city from the top. The St. Canice's Cathedral is considered one of the most important medieval churches in Ireland. On the way back to the castle, I also passed by the Green's Bridge, a Palladian-style, limestone arch bridge, crossing the river Nore. At the end, I definitely didn't regret, that I took the chance to walk around by myself to see more of the city than just the castle.                  

  The last activity was a bus ride to Howth, a peninsular village and outer suburb of Dublin, approximately 15 km outside of the centre. Before we entered the village, we enjoyed a spectacular view of the Dublin Bay and the coast road to the Baily Lighthouse. Unfortunately, the time was too short to explore more of the area, because I assume, there would have been much more to see. The next destination was the Harbour of Howth. I really enjoyed the hour around the water and since the tour guide recommended eating fresh fish 'n' chips in Howth, I treated myself to a delicious dinner. After the food, I also got surprised by three cute seals, swimming in the harbour, which has been fed by a local with some fish. It was the perfect end for a wonderful trip to the Green Island.