Ireland-Scotland 2013 - Ennis to Castlegregory (posted Nov. 2013, revised Jan. 2025 )   

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fall sunset at NYC

My flight from Sacramento to Newark arrived at sunset, and on the descent, passengers could see the recently completed World Trade Center, at 1,776 ft.  I met Paul & Doris here and we flew next to Shannon Airport, on the west coast of Ireland, where we met Mary and toured Ireland for a week, when Paul and Doris and I flew to Glasgow for a week in Scotland.   

The long flight over the Atlantic - when four of us compared notes upon landing - was mostly a sleepless journey. I glanced at the map-screen as we slowly crawled across the planet. With a window seat, each time the visor was raised, I looked down on an immense cloud cover, sitting atop the north Atlantic, illuminated by a full moon, a beautiful sight. 

Maximum flight values occurred about two hours from landing when the plane reached elevation 38,400 ft., was going 680 mph, plus it was 70 below outside. 'This is probably as close to being in orbit or breaking the sound barrier, as I'll ever get', I mused, in a half-awake, half-asleep state. 

On a Saturday morning in late September 2013, Mary, Doris & Paul (all from Colorado Springs) and I converged at Shannon Airport, around 6:30 am. The airport is near Limerick, a small city in southwest Ireland. 

On the walk to baggage claim, we noticed a large poster proclaiming 2013 to be an "Irish Homecoming Year".  Spring 2012 was the 100-year anniversary of the Titanic disaster, which supposedly drew in huge numbers of tourists.   

We drove to the nearby town of Ennis, in County Clare, and had breakfast on the 2nd floor of an old building with a lot of character, like ancient floor planks. Good food & coffee was just what the doctor ordered ! 

Destinations - below is a map of southern Ireland. Freeways shown were never used; it was all back roads for us.      

look for Shannon and Ennis, and then Tralee, which is near Castlegregory, our first destination.

Ennis is the largest city & source of Hurling players in County Clare. Hurling players ? I knew nothing about Hurling, but, in one week's time we'd be watching the nationwide final hurling rematch, at a bar in a Castle ! 

The first game between neighboring Counties Cork & Clare ended in a 24-point draw, on the afternoon of the day we arrived, while we were walking on the beach at Castlegregory, blissfully unconcerned.         

Each of Ireland's 32 Counties sponsor a hurling team, and none of the athletes are paid, nor are the coach & managers, nor are players or coaches allowed to do paid endorsements. Professional hurling teams require an immense amount of work & dedication by players, managers and support staff.  More about the game later....it turns out that Mary & I had an amusing final Hurling match-related experience, a week later, when we returned to Ennis.

As we walked the streets of Ennis, the intensity of local sports feeling was evident. County Clare's colors are blue & yellow. 

note - you can enlarge any part of a picture by left-clicking in and then out again.

	Ennis				winners 14 years ago
				the hand of fate ?
	sailboats at Killimer		ferry to Tarbert, note 1		the drive to Castlegregory, note 2
		Tarbert lighthouse

note 1 - Killimer and Tarbert ferry terminals are a mile apart, directly across the Shannon River from each other. We crossed from County Clare south to County Kerry. Using the ferry saved a lot of driving time in getting to Tralee, on the way to our first night's stay at Castlegregory.

note 2 - in this photo Mary, Doris and I are certainly 'out of it', after losing a night's sleep. (Paul took the photo.) 

From the B&B at Castlegregory, it was a short walk to a small beach, where we had an afternoon stroll.    

	Castle House B&B		short walk to the beach		lay of the land
		advanced rustication		recovering  from long flights
	warm enough to bathe

In the evening we drove to the far north end of the skinny peninsula for dinner at Spillane's Restaurant, highly recommended by the B&B owners & about to close for the season. The family-run place had great seafood & service

	at Spillane's Restaurant & Bar		across the street is the North Atlantic		Mary said "we finally made it to Ireland"
		locals

Near the end of our meal, a boisterous set of young lads arrived, followed by some girls, all high school age, so a Saturday night gathering of some kind was getting underway. I noticed a few hostile glances from the young men, essentially willing us tourists to 'get the hell out', esp. since we were the last ones there.   

Prominent among them were pale faces with ruddy cheeks & freckles, and pale blue eyes, healthy looking Irish lads and lasses ! We got the message & skipped dessert.

Approximately one nano-second after we vacated our seats, the boys began to re-arranged the tables, the restaurant morphing into a community center of sorts, for over-energized kids. I'd guess a lot of fish & chips, ketchup, and sodas are part of the ritual feast.        

The B&B was comfortable and above the bed was a crank-out window which let in cool coastal air, as well as the sound of waves breaking in the distance. All of us crashed around 9 pm & I slept like the proverbial rock.    

go to day 2 - Dingle Peninsula

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