By this point in my week-long series about Ireland, in honor

of St. Patrick’s Day, you’re getting the hint that I loved Ireland. I certainly did. Ireland has almost everything I look for in a vacation spot: good food, friendly people, stunning scenery, lots of things to see and do, and of course, excellent shopping. The shopping in Ireland was so good we had to buy a cheap extra suitcase to get it all home (much less expensive than shipping it — read my piece about getting your vacation treasures home).

One of the best places for shopping and for simply soaking up the ambience of an adorably quaint Irish town, complete with its own castle, is Kilkenny. Kilkenny is in southeast Ireland and was our first stay outside of Dublin. You pull into town and you’re on a narrow, winding village road, flanked by tiny shops on each side. It is exactly what you might imagine a small town in Ireland to look like. The sidewalks are busy with people and the road goes over a river and past a

castle.

We stayed at the Kilkenny River Court Hotel, situated directly across the river from Kilkenny Castle. The location was perfect, but  the rooms left a little to be desired. Our rooms looked out over the parking lot and were a bit old fashioned and

dated. There is no air conditioning and signs warn you not to open your windows due to black flies from the river. Which leaves quite a conundrum when it is a warm summer day. There was one tiny window with a screen in each room that we opened, but we were uncomfortable all night. The beds were tiny and quite hard. The lobby, in comparison, was beautiful.

The hotel’s restaurant looks out on the river and the castle, as does an outdoor patio, so you can get your fill of the view there if the one from your room is lacking. We enjoyed dinner at the hotel one night and were pleased to find they easily accommodated our gluten free diet, even bringing gluten free bread with dinner. We each had a three course meal for 21.95 Euros. Greek salad with roasted vegetables, tiger prawns, fried goat cheese salad, mushroom and courgette (zucchini) soup, pork saltimbocca with apple and sweet potato, salmon with fennel, steak, and a lovely lemon posset (mousse) left us very content and pleased. The breakfast in the morning was also well done.

Kilkenny Castle, built in 1195, is open for visitors and is a very nicely kept castle (compared to the

ruins of Blarney Castle) and just across the bridge from the hotel. The real reason to go to Kilkenny is the shopping. Kilkenny is an artisan hub. The Kilkenny Shop has its home base here (with outlets all over Ireland) because so many artisans live and work in this area. You can pick up a map at your hotel or at the local tourism office of all the artisan workshops and stores in the area – there are many.

We visited two such artisan shops. Jerpoint Glass sells gorgeous artisan glass in many colors. I knew about this gallery because my parents visited when they were in Ireland and brought me a few pieces. I was able to add to my collection while there, bringing home a beautiful bowl and vase. We also visited Nicholas Mosse Pottery, but nothing there spoke to me. It’s worth a visit since you can watch the potters in action and there are two floors of goods to choose from, including a large room of seconds.

The best shopping was at The Kilkenny Shop itself,

directly across the street from the castle. I bought many wonderful things here, including my Irish fisherman’s sweater (something you’ll see all over Ireland, but I had trouble finding one designed for a plus-size woman that didn’t just look like a big man’s sweater), some crystal and jewelry. The Kilkenny Shop ships so we had most of it shipped home. We also visited the Kilkenny Shop in Dublin before we came to Kilkenny. While that shop is bigger, I preferred the one in Kilkenny. The Dublin shop emphasizes Waterford and other high price items. I found more unique items in Kilkenny.

We happened to be in town the day before the big Kilkenny Arts Festival, so some artists were already setting up near the castle and the Kilkenny Shop and I found a few treasures there as well.

Wandering around town, we saw a wedding party taking photos at the castle and another taking photos by the river. It was a lovely town to stroll through.

This lively little town is the perfect place to do some shopping and experience a well-preserved castle.

 

 

By this point in my week-long series about Ireland, in honor of St. Patrick’s Day, you’re getting the hint that I loved Ireland. I certainly did. Ireland has almost everything I look for in a vacation spot: good food, friendly people, stunning scenery, lots of things to see and do, and of course, excellent shopping. … Read more →

My celebration of Patrick’s Day continues with a week-long series of posts. Adare, in County Limerick, is said to be the prettiest town in Ireland. Given this moniker, we couldn’t resist a visit.  We fit it into our itinerary after our stay near the Ring of Kerry and on our way to Dromoland Castle. Adare felt more like a small city than a town. We visited many towns in Ireland that truly felt like towns with very narrow streets, tiny shops all tucked together, and a feeling that they were home to locals first and a tourist attraction second.

Adare’s claim to fame is its thatched roof homes. Everything I read used the plural for “homes.” I pictured a tiny little village with quaint little homes with thatched roofs, little traffic, and a cozy feeling. Adare didn’t fit my fantasy.

The center of town is a very busy street with numerous intersection and lots of traffic. It’s a wide street, not narrow and cute. The town has very plain looking buildings with businesses at street level. Most of the buildings are not shops that would interest tourists and none were very welcoming looking. Just as you pull through the town, there is a small park on one side and a row of about 3 thatched buildings all together. If you pull into the park, there is a huge parking lot and a visitor’s center. The visitor’s center has absolutely nothing worth buying and is useful simply for its restrooms, to be frank.

We parked and walked across the street to the thatched buildings. They are quite cute, with a little gate in front and some have beautiful little gardens in front of them. We stopped and had lunch at The Blue Door, inside one of the buildings. It was fun to dine inside one of the buildings. Our lunch was nice – not stupendous, but very good. We enjoyed fettucine with smoked and fresh salmon, a burger on a gluten free bun, and a chicken caesar salad. The interior was quite quaint and we enjoyed ourselves.

We took our time to look at the thatched houses. There was a handful of shops amongst them. Inside an antique shop we discovered some dusty stacks of paintings and I came away with a small print of Blarney Castle, already framed and a quite lovely watercolor that seemed to me that it could have been of the Ring of Kerry area. There were no shops elsewhere in town to visit, other than those in the thatched buildings. We drove around a bit, hoping to stumble on something else but there just was nothing else in the area. There is an old church next to the visitor’s center which didn’t excite us.

If you’re driving in the general area of Adare, it’s worth a quick stop, but don’t plan to spend a lot of time there and don’t detour far out of your way. The prettiest town in Ireland? Well, no. It’s cute for sure. My vote for the prettiest town in Ireland might go to Kilkenny or any of the towns on the Ring of Kerry.

My celebration of Patrick’s Day continues with a week-long series of posts. Adare, in County Limerick, is said to be the prettiest town in Ireland. Given this moniker, we couldn’t resist a visit.  We fit it into our itinerary after our stay near the Ring of Kerry and on our way to Dromoland Castle. Adare … Read more →

When you plan a trip to Ireland you soon learn there are a wide variety of accommodations to choose from, and often it’s hard to evaluate them if you’re used to US chain hotels. During our stay in Ireland we stayed in a US chain hotel (the Radisson Blu in Dublin), a castle (Dromoland Castle), a luxury Irish spa hotel (Aghadoe Heights), and also at a country home.

I had grand visions of Irish country homes and was eager to stay in one and experience it for myself. A country home may not sound impressive, but actually Ireland is brimming with these huge, over the top homes the wealthy used to live in and they are must-do experience. They aren’t exactly mansions and they certainly aren’t palaces, but are more like an upscale retreat in a country.

We stayed at Gregans Castle Hotel which is located in the Burren in Ballyvaughan. Never heard of the Burren? I hadn’t either before I began planning our trip. The word burren in Irish means a rocky place and that’s an apt description for this very strange landscape that is technically what is called a karst. It’s almost like a moon landscape – all rocks with big cracks in them. There is some grass that grows among the cracks – no trees. It’s rather eerie. There

are interesting sites however, including the Poulnabrone Dolmen Tomb. This  is a small stone shelter smack in the middle of the desolate Burren. It’s eerie and moving to think it was created for a body and that it has stood since between 4200 and 2900 BCE (basically a long-ass time).

The Burren is fascinating when you first encounter it but soon it becomes a very dull landscape to view. It’s definitely worth a visit as you are passing through the area (western mid-coast Ireland, south of Galway), but unless you are excited about hiking it, I wouldn’t plan to stay here. But of course, we did exactly that! Gregans Castle Hotel is neither a castle nor a hotel. It’s a large home, situated on the edge of the Burren and indeed there is a rather remarkable view of the Burren from

the backyard, where you can clearly watch the sun and the shadows from clouds move over the bare hills.  It’s situated on a winding road (note: back Dramamine if anyone in your group has carsickness issues: I had two kids in the back seat moaning all the way there) and does not look impressive from the road. In fact, it’s rather hard

to find.

We pulled in the gravel drive and entered through the very unassuming entrance. The reception area is a tiny spot and immediately the whole thing felt very weird. The gentleman at the front desk (who I am certain is a lovely, lovely man) gave us a bit of a Hotel California feel – as if we might never leave. He did help haul in our ridiculous amount of luggage for a one-night stay (two weeks in Europe leads to plenty of luggage) but was rather unfriendly.

The home is a huge, sprawling place, yet it does not feel grand or luxurious. It truly feels like a place where rich people went to feel rustic. There are hallways that twist and turn with plenty of

old, old portraits of horses and people and country scenes gracing the walls. There are unexpected rooms with bookcases, sofas, TVs (since there are none in the rooms), fireplaces and little nooks with chairs everywhere you turn. There are several staircases (and no elevators which made our luggage mountain even more outrageous). Finally we arrived at our two rooms which were not adjoining, but one room away from each in a separate upstairs hall. Each room is named and has a giant key on a huge plaque. We had a LOT of trouble getting the keys to work.

Once inside, we were shocked by the size of our rooms. They were huge. One room had a separate seating area through some French doors. They were furnished with beautiful antiques, floor to ceiling draperies, and lots of books, china, and knicknacks. It truly felt like you’d been invited out to the country for a spot of fox hunting and some family drama circa Downton Abbey. The rooms were a bit of a trip back in time. The bathrooms certainly felt dated, but dated in a luxurious kind of way – sinks with separate hot and cold taps; long, narrow tubs and ancient tiled floors.  The beds were comfortable and the rooms fun to explore.

The hotel has grounds to explore, which include some farm animals, lawn croquet (I kid you not)

and some chairs set outside to enjoy the scenery. The entire hotel was freezing cold in August. The heat was not on in the hallways and common rooms and if you were cold, you were best to find a fireplace and huddle. Our rooms were also cold but we had space heaters we turned on. Our stay included breakfast which was part buffet and part made to order. We again had that creepy Hotel California feeling with staff that was unfriendly (a rarity in Ireland) and stand-offish.

Another problem we had with the hotel was a dinner recommendation. As we were heading out for the evening, we had to turn in our keys at the desk (something American travelers may find annoying, but which is still common in Europe). A very friendly woman behind the desk asked where

we were headed. We told her we were going to dinner and she asked where. She dissuaded us from our choice and instead highly recommended a different place (the Pier Head in Kinvara), saying she ate there often and loved it and added that it was on the waterfront. She said she could call and get us a table with a view since she knew the owner. We usually have great luck with hotel dinner recommendations and so we agreed. We arrived to find a tiny restaurant with gaggles of people (clearly locals)  sitting and loudly drinking at picnic tables outside ( a little intimidating to walk through). Our table was not ready and we had to wait. Once we were served, it ended up being the absolute worst meal we had in all of Ireland. I was absolutely shocked that someone at a such a very fine and expensive hotel could send guests to such

a truly terrible place that clearly was in no way up to the standards the hotel had set.

Despite this and the creepiness of most of the staff, the hotel was a lovely place to visit and would be a nice place to come and just sit, if that’s your ideal vacation. There are a number of small towns scattered across the edges of the Burren. Stop in at the Burren Visitor Centre in Kilfenora and pick up a map. The volunteers will mark the highlights of the Burren on it for you and you easily see where you might stop for a bite or a bit of shopping (I bought my best find on the entire trip in a tiny shop across the road from the

visitor’s center, so it pays to poke around!).

I’m glad I got to see the Burren, since it is one of the biggest natural features in Ireland and I’m also happy to have been able to experience a country house. If you have time, both should be added to your itinerary, but if you are looking to hit the hot spots in Ireland I would skip both. The Cliffs of Moher is in the same vicinity and gives you more bang for your bucks when it comes to natural beauty.

When you plan a trip to Ireland you soon learn there are a wide variety of accommodations to choose from, and often it’s hard to evaluate them if you’re used to US chain hotels. During our stay in Ireland we stayed in a US chain hotel (the Radisson Blu in Dublin), a castle (Dromoland Castle), … Read more →