The final leg of our Ireland adventure brought us from our idillic “home” in Killarney National Park to Kinsale, with a stop along the way in Bantry. With one night in Kinsale, then one final night in Kilkenny en route to the airport, we were finally winding down to our last few days, and we definitely made the most of them. Scot was really excited to explore his roots in the beautiful seaside town of Bantry. We followed the history trail through town, and stopped into the visitor’s center, where he was able to pick up literature that would help him continue digging deeper into his family’s history there after we left. Our next stop, Kinsale, is known for great shopping, and some of the best seafood in Ireland. We spent a beautiful afternoon there enjoying the ocean views, and of course…a few pints. Historic Charles Fort stands proudly along the water in Kinsale. Built in 1678, it continued in military use until 1922. With sweeping views (as a fort should have) across the bay, we soaked up some history and fresh air before hitting the road to Kilkenny. This was actually our second stop in Kilkenny, truth be told. We had come here on a day trip from our mooring in Athy while on our barges a couple of weeks earlier. It was fun to already be a bit familiar with the town, because we only had one night here. Our final night in Ireland! From Kilkenny, it was on to Dublin for our return flights home. Speaking candidly, there were tears in my eyes as we flew away and watched the emerald green landscape disappear below the clouds. We left Ireland with our hearts full of incredible memories, and plans to return again someday! See the rest of my highlights from our Ireland adventures: Part 1 of 6: Dublin Part 2 of 6: River Barrow by Narrowboat Part 3 of 6: Cork City, Cobh, and Spike Island Part 4 of 6: Galway and Cliffs of Moher Part 5 of 6: Dingle Peninsula, Killarney, and Ring of Kerry Part 6 of 6: Bantry, Kinsale, and Kilkenny

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Landing in Galway’s Latin Quarter, we were psyched to find our AirBnB on a quaint side street of this mostly pedestrian area. View On Airbnb2 bedroom apartment on Kirwan Lane So many unexpected treats were waiting for us here. A surprise run in with a good friend from the US, a really great apartment (thank you AirBnB!) just doors down from a killer little restaurant, the Pie Maker, and my favorite, happening upon the Galway Street Club. This energetic band of musicians from all around the world seemed morphed into a larger group, and drew larger crowds as the evening went on. They seemed to truly love playing music, and their energy was infectious. I’m not going to lie…I kind of wished that I could join them. If you’re intrigued by these guys, be sure to check out this documentary over on YouTube too! As a day trip from Galway, we had originally hoped to make it out to the Aran Islands, but Mother Nature had other plans for us. The second big rain storm of our Irish adventure was barreling through, and all planes and ferries were canceled on the day we had carved out for this particular adventure. We opted, instead, for a great consolation prize: The Cliffs of Moher. Driving from Galway to the cliffs included lots of castles and ruins of ancient buildings. We pulled over next to the ruins of Lemaneh Castle because “it looked kind of old and cool” only to look it up later and learn it was built circa 1480-90, and in the mid to late 1600’s was inhabited by one of the most famous women in Irish Folklore: Red Mary. Other stops included lunch in Doolin, and a stop to gawk at the beautiful Doonagore Castle, which overlooks the Atlantic ocean, and is apparently private residence at this time (whaaaaaat?!) The rain and wind were brutal at the Cliffs of Moher, but we trudged out into the weather, and still managed to see just how beautiful they really are. With our bellies full of pie, and memories full of spectacular sights and music, it was time for the next leg of our adventure: Killarney National Park, via the Dingle Peninsula. See the rest of my highlights from our Ireland adventures: Part 1 of 6: Dublin Part 2 of 6: River Barrow by Narrowboat Part 3 of 6: Cork City, Cobh, and…

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After having finished our narrowboat trip a bit early due to river water levels, we had a couple more days in our Ireland agenda than originally planned. We set our sights on Cork City, where we spent some quality time exploring the city on foot, including a visit to the Franciscan Well Brewery, and the Irish Butter Museum (which was more interesting than expected for marketing & product development geeks like ourselves!) We also got a great tip from a local to check out the Liberty Grill for breakfast. It did not disappoint! While in Cork, we took an afternoon to visit the beautiful seaside town of Cobh, which like the rest of Ireland, is steeped in interesting history. More recent and notable history includes the fact that it was the last port visited by the Titanic, as well as the town where many bodies (surviving and dead) from the RMS Lusitania disaster were brought in 1915. Just off shore from Cobh is Spike Island, which was compared, by many, to Alcatraz in San Francisco. While it had some historical similarities (its use as a prison up until 2004, and famed prisoner riot in 1985), the history of this site dates back much farther. Spike Island is believed to have been the site of a monastic settlement as early as the 7th century, and has since been used as a military fort, a prison, and now, “Europe’s Leading Tourist Attraction”, an award bestowed on the site the day before our visit. We only had a couple of hours to spend on the island, so we opted for a short non-guided exploration, which left me wishing we had more time there. See the rest of my highlights from our Ireland adventures: Part 1 of 6: Dublin Part 2 of 6: River Barrow by Narrowboat Part 3 of 6: Cork City, Cobh, and Spike Island Part 4 of 6: Galway and Cliffs of Moher Part 5 of 6: Dingle Peninsula, Killarney, and Ring of Kerry Part 6 of 6: Bantry, Kinsale, and Kilkenny

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Cruising the River Barrow on a narrowboat has been on my bucket list for several years. After much planning and anticipation, a group of 9 of us were finally in Ireland and embarking on a week long river trip through the Irish countryside between Rathangan and Carlow. Where??? you might ask… That was precisely the point. Traveling through canals in the Irish countryside means visiting towns that tourists don’t normally see. Here’s a taste of what you see traveling via narrowboat on the River Barrow: We rented our narrowboats from Barrowline Cruisers, and divided into three boats, five of us on the largest (50′ x 10′), and two each on the two additional “smaller” boats (50ft x 6′ 6″). All boats were fully equipped with beds, bathrooms w/running showers, fully equipped kitchen, and of course, peat burning stoves, which came in useful one very rainy day. The weather was otherwise unbelievably sunny and warm for late September. The locks along the River Barrow are typically attended by a lock keeper. If you’re traveling the river via narrowboats, it’s important, however, to know how to work them yourselves as well, in case the lock keeper is not available (days off, after hours, holidays, etc). This time lapse shows our experience at the first of many locks we encountered. Our Lock Keeper, Joe, was a great teacher, and thank goodness for that, because we did, indeed, encounter many locks along the rest of our journey that we had to work ourselves! Our trip took us north toward the Grand Canal, visiting Vicarstown, Monasteravin, and Rathangan, where we turned around, and headed south to see Athy and Carlow. We had intended on traveling much farther south, but one heavy rain day mid-trip caused the river to rise several inches, which could have potentially made pushing our huge boat back upriver with its relatively small engine a huge challenge (never mind the difficulty of seeing weirs, which you never want your boat to go over, when the water is high). We ended our trip after 7 great days, though we had originally intended on 10. We were sad to cut our river trip short, but it did mean a couple of extra bonus days we didn’t intend to have free, and we decided to head to Cork City to begin the next leg of our adventure, which would eventually bring us back to Dublin,…

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