Who wants to talk to me about Ireland and hols....... you know you want to

[catinthehat2]

So, wise Eireophiles:

for our week's hol I am hoping we will stay for a few days in Dublin and stay the rest of the week ...

WHERE??????

Cork?

Limerick?

Galway?

Waterford?

SOmewhere else entirely?

(we want somewhere to stay and drive every day in a different direction IYKWIM)

I am having trouble with the spoilt for choice thing. I am very grateful for any recommendations.

Thank you

cornsilk - I really liked the causeway (smaller than you think, granted); had nice food in Bushmills too. Glens of Antrim also lovely.

maybe I went at high tide as well!

as someone further up said, I've really enjoyed this thread - I live in Ireland and it's good to be reminded/remember the good things about it instead of the doom and gloom and negativity - and to remember that lots of people have good memories of lovely holidays here

Aw, Kerry, the Burren is lovely!

One of my childhood memories is of camping near the Burren. We went to the Burren for a day and my Dad, who was a horticulture expert found a really rare flower which only grows in the Burren and gave it to my little sister to give my mother.

My sister ran and gave it to my mother but by the time she got to her, she had somehow lost the top of the flower. My Dad was soooo annoyed with her ( unreasonably IMO, she was only little)

We got books in the visitors centre about Irish clothes in history and the Burren flowers and they are still in my Mum's house. She never throws anything out.

Maam Valley in Galway is one the most
beautiful places on Earth.

Knockalla Beach in Donegal is stunning.

Wexford has some of the best beaches in Ireland and Wexford people never let you forget it.

drivingmisscrazy, one of my friends is from Wales but met an Irish bloke and lives here now. She loves holidaying in Ireland because she still feels like a tourist. Listening to her has made me more keen to holiday here, although have already booked a UK holiday this year for the second year running.

yes, we've been a bit misty-eyed about the weather prospects. Having said that, one of the most stunning days ever was spent on Inis Oirr - glorious hot sunny day, still blue sea, saw lapwings and loads of flowers. Also have had great weather in the Burren - and elsewhere - that's why I am suggesting to the OP that she tries to come the week the LC starts - the weather is usually glorious then :)

I also think trips to the islands are really good fun, especially with kids - almost all do-able in a day

Definitely yes to Cork and the Ring of Kerry - very very pretty, nice beaches, and Cork is a lovely small city. Kenmare and Killarney are lovely places to base yourself.

We went at Easter and we experienced every type of weather known to man in a five day period, from snow and hail and lashing rain and wind, to walking along the beach in the balmy spring sunshine.

yes maam valley is beautiful - I love that drive
I remember stopping in Leenane for a pint about 15 years ago and the silence of the place took my breath away - it's hard to explain really. Much busier there now though.

Westport is fab - really pretty

driving, you are so right about the Leaving Cert weather. When I did mine the sun was pelting down. When doing my German exam which was my last one, I was startled by the sound of thunder and a horrible storm. And yes, the rest of the summer was miserable.

BUT, mary, that road in Donegal which leads to Portsalon, when you reach the top of the hill and all of a sudden there's the sea! It is so, so beautiful. My little brother was only a year and a half when we went there one year, he had never seen the sea and when we got to the top of the hill and he saw the sea, his eyes went so round and he just gasped "All the waaaaaater!"

Well worth a bit of rain!

This conversation is reminding me of that Marian Keyes book Watermelon now, where the characters kept going on about how the new road from Dublin to wherever cut the journey down by hours.

FellatioNelson - sadly, that's one of the more realistic elements of the book! (it took us years to get over the fact that it no longer takes nearly 4 hours to cover about 200km!)

I had the biggest nostalgia trip ever today. Ate a Maxi Twist sitting on the fire escape stairs on my break in work today, with the rain beating down looking over at a misty view of the Atlantic. (oh and the car wash, but hey I won't add that in, doesn't sound half as good:) )

Still takes hours to get to Achill. You think you're nearly there because you're in Mayo but then you have to keep on going and going........

Does anybody want to wax lyrical about Curracloe beach in County Wexford?

Pure heaven..