Day 1 – Dublin – June 26
After an uneventful car return in Iceland, we were off on the 10:30 am flight to Dublin, which lasted 2 hours and 20 minutes. In Dublin, we were meeting up with Tommy and Sara Madsen and Aaron Mansfield – all to celebrate Ryan’s 30th birthday. For slamming Guinness and raucously singing Irish folk songs in a dingy pub is a bucket list item for Ryan. The Icelandair flight was surprisingly nice, considering we bought the cheapest class of seats available and neither one of us had flown that particular airline before. After arriving, and unsurprisingly finding Aaron four pints deep at the airport bar, we ventured to get our next rental car. We were supposed to be covered for rental insurance with our credit cards, but they required an actual letter to prove coverage – so that led to some issues. But eventually we were off, with Ryan driving a stick-shift on the wrong side of the road. We arrived at our hostel, Isaacs Hostel, and found Tommy and Sara waiting for us. After a quick refresh, it was time to start drinking. Across the street from the hostel is a pub called Ryan’s Bar – obviously it had to be our first stop. We got Guinness and Bulmer’s Cider and cheers-ed to health and wealth, something we would certainly need! After a round, we realized we hadn’t eaten that day and ordered their finest “Nibbler” a platter of wings, sliders, fries, and spring rolls.
Our next stop was a small brewery: Urban Brewing and Stack, where we enjoyed locally brewed beers in a dungeon inspired dark basement. Beer is so much cheaper here than in Iceland, only costing around 5-6 euros a piece. After a few rounds there, we decided we needed an actual meal and meandered the roads and alleys to a restaurant called Thai Spice. Among a few traditional Thai dishes, we ventured out with a dish called Wonton Bags, which basically resembled chicken-filled pot stickers. Now it was time to find some traditional Irish music and we settled on a pub called The Celt only two blocks away. The bar was packed, but we managed to find a few chairs at the bar next to a man with an eyepatch and what appeared to be aluminum siding for a cane. We finished the night out here, Ryan and Aaron singing along to all the pub songs and everyone drinking Guinness and Carlsberg beer. Ryan asked for a half-and-half (half Guinness and half lager) and was immediately shunned as a tourist and pain in the neck, according to a local at the bar that’s a Northern Ireland drink. Or maybe the waitress just didn’t want to make it, because she properly messed it up – see the beers Aaron and Ryan are holding in the photo below. We made the short trip back to our hostel and the boys managed to sweet talk a few beers from a group of German girls chatting in the common area. We then all piled in to our 8-bedroom dorm (4 bunk beds) and slept soundly.
Day 2 – Dublin – June 27
We woke up and enjoyed what our hostel called a free breakfast, but consisted of nothing more than toast and off-brand cereal. Tommy called them unfrosted flakes – they were cornflakes. We split up for the morning having individual boys and girls dates. The boys went rock climbing at Awesome Walls gym while Sara and Elizabeth explored a bit of Dublin by foot.
The girls first stop was to Trinity College. Trinity College was founded in 1592 and is one of the oldest universities in Western Europe. It is home to the Book of Kells (Latin manuscripts of the Gospels from 800 AD) and a prized alum includes Oscar Wilde. We wandered the grounds, enjoying the green space and the ancient architecture. We popped into H&M and were amused by what the Europeans call fashion. Clothing that’s in right now consists of high waisted cinching shorts and crop tops. Next it was off to Dublin Castle. This castle was completed in 1230 and was the seat of British rule until 1922, but now hosts the inauguration of new Irish presidents. We wandered past Christ Church Cathedral which is designated as the local cathedral of the diocese of Dublin and Glendalough. It was time to feed Sara’s baby so we walked back towards city center to a restaurant called the Queen of Tarts. We split a delicious veggie burger (spinach and pea!) and drank tea under the warm and rare Irish sun. Everyone keeps telling us how good the weather is right now. It’s still high 60s low 70s but all the locals are topless or running around in shorts and t-shirts, what a difference from the south. After our delicious lunch it was time to get our steps in so we could eat dessert. We wandered a mile along the river to a restaurant called Lolly and Cooks. Sadly, our cupcakes were not as delicious as we’d been building them to be on our mile walk. At this point the boys were done climbing, so we met them back at the hostel.
As you would imagine, we went back across the street to Ryan’s Bar (foreshadowing – we’d go there every day) so the boys could eat lunch and start drinking. We took the boys on a similar tour of the city popping in Trinity and up and behind the Temple Bar area. We stopped in Murphy’s Ice Cream shop and continued bar hopping and sightseeing our way up to St. Patrick’s Cathedral. St. Patrick’s is no longer a catholic church because it was converted around 1537 to an Anglican Church of Ireland. We walked around the outside enjoying the greenspace and warm weather before we returned to bouncing from pub to pub, playing cards and the hidden coin game. Finally, we were hungry again and decided to get some Italian food at Bar Italia Ristorante. Being the loud Americans we are, and not having a reservation, we were placed in the basement to enjoy our pasta and pizza. The self-led pub crawl continued back to our hostel so we could freshen up and get some grocery store beers and snacks for after the nearby pubs stopped serving.
Aaron has some Irish friends he and his wife met on their 6 months abroad that we were able to meet up with: Colin and Eva. We went to their friends’ bar called the Big Romance and enjoyed chatting with them about life in Ireland. At this point it was after 11 and the countdown to Ryan’s 30th birthday was real. He enjoyed his last Guinness as a 20-something year old and we sang him into his 30th year. The bars close anywhere between 11:30 and never here, largely depending on how the staff is feeling. They started flicking the lights at us so we started the journey home – obviously picking up Doner Kebabs and French fries on the way. Doners are kind of like gyros in that they are slices of lamb in a wrap or pita with grilled veggies and different sauces. Arriving back at the hostel we played drinking games and enjoyed our doners before finally turning in for the night – the other three people in shared dorm must have hated us.
Day 3 – Dublin – June 28
The girls woke up bright and early to get the birthday boy doughnuts and milk– there were about a dozen shops within waking distance to choose from. With their bellies full sugar and bread, we piled into the rental car and headed to the coastal town of Bray, about an hour’s drive to the southeast. Ryan once again did a great job driving stick on the wrong side of the road. We pulled into town and found a parking spot right on the beach. The hike was about 7 km (4.5 miles) along the shore to the next town called Greystone. The hike was pretty easy along a well-kept gravel trail with great views on the cliffs and sea below. It took us about 2 hours to finish and we enjoyed two new Doritos flavors when we were finished, Chili Heat Wave (9/10) and Tangy Cheese (7/10). We wandered through the cute beach resort town towards the train station. We walked past a relator’s office and saw townhouses there were selling from 500,000 to 1.5 Million euros. Eva was telling us the night before about the housing crisis happening in Ireland. Apparently, the city of Dublin is unable to build vertically due to laws enacted to maintain the city skyline, but there is a new push to abolish that law, so affordable housing can be provided to its citizens. After walking through the town, we took the 10-minute train back to Bray, then piled in the car back toward Dublin.
As our law dictated, we had to pop back into Ryan’s Bar for a drink to kick off his 30th birthday celebration – and of course we couldn’t pass up on their Nibbler platter. After a round there it was time to head back into the city to a bar called Grogans, where Eva claimed they poured the best Guinness in town. The boys agreed that it was a particularly good Guinness. Unbeknownst to all of us prior to arriving in Dublin, the next day was Dublin’s Pride Parade. The whole town seemed to be out celebrating and there were rainbows adorning every flag pole and entrance way.
The bar hop continued until we decided we needed to eat dinner. We found a cool bar/restaurant called The Bankers Bar that had delicious bangers and mash, lamb stew, and sticky pudding to name a few. The drinking and card game playing then continued through the city back towards our hostel area. Along the way, we found a giant Irish gift shop that the girls had to pop in. In the meantime, the boys had to grab a pint at a bar called Cassidy’s across the way. There they found a bartender named Owen wearing a UNI women’s volleyball shirt. He said he found it at a local thrift store and knew it was a small college in the US, but had never met anyone from there.
Crossing back North of the River Liffey we caught the end of the women’s world cup against France at The Flowing Tide then found a bar with some traditional Irish music: O’Shea’s. O’Shea’s was a huge bar with a garden patio and large wooden interior. Once the band was playing, we found a table and enjoyed the musical duo: a woman on the flute and a man on the guitar. They were playing all of the hits and finally asked around where people were from etc. We revealed it was Ryan’s 30th birthday and they played a special song for him – Frank Sinatra’s I love You Baby. The whole bar sang and wished him a happy birthday. Ryan’s memory is pretty fuzzy at this point. The Jameson shots were flowing and around 12:30, it was time to clear out and head home. We detoured to another Doner shop while Aaron and Ryan tried to grab a last drink at the Celt. Back at the hostel a very drunk birthday boy attempted to eat his meal but ended up violently puking in the shared hostel bathroom. All in all, I’d say he had a pretty good birthday.
Day 4 – Dublin – June 29
A few members of the group were struggling a little more than others this morning. The girls enjoyed a nice coffee date at a nearby café while most of the boys still nursed their hangovers. Eventually the girls and Aaron grabbed breakfast at the coffee shop next door to the hostel while Tom and Ryan purged their bodies with a jog around the city. By one o’clock, everyone was mostly functioning again and we headed to the river to catch some of the parade. The gay community of Ireland should feel very loved as the entire city and businesses were out to show their support. The boys were still hurting so we found them a full Irish breakfast and a beer to reset the bodies. spa
At this same restaurant we also found a heavenly warm lava chocolate cake which reset our souls. After some fuel we spent an hour or so window shopping and wandering the streets people watching the aftermath of the parade. All the parade walkers had liquor bottles hidden up their pants or whatever article of clothing that was fun to watch them wiggle out. We also popped in the Natural Science Museum of Dublin – maybe more accurately described as a taxidermy museum. We then headed down to the Dublin Science Gallery. The theme of the science gallery was Perfection, which seemed to mainly consisted of them focusing on people and beauty. They had several interesting exhibits where you could talk to robots (i.e. AI building the perfect robotic partner), have a machine gauge your happiness level by scanning your face, and see a model of the perfect human to survive a motor vehicle accident. The coffee/gallery area had these amazing chairs that spun and were attached to a half desk that you could join to your neighbor’s half desk and chair. Obviously, we were there for a while just enjoying chatting and being off our feet. As the afternoon pressed on, we all began drinking again and presumed our typical self-guided pub tour.
The bars were pretty packed with drunken pride goers, everyone was dressed in shawls, glitter and rainbows. We headed back towards our hostel around 6:30, so we could have our last meal at Ryan’s Bar before Aaron left for Germany and we headed to Galway the next day. In the Iceland airport we ran into a UNI alum, Maria, who we knew from St. Stephens. She wanted to meet up with us Saturday night and she found us at Ryan’s. After a delicious meal and a few Guinness’s, we got Ryan a t-shirt from Ryan’s and headed back out on the town.
We stopped in a sketchy dive bar to play pool and hidden coin game. Then Tommy, Sara, Maria and Elizabeth went to get a bubble waffle (a waffle wrapped into a cone filled with ice cream and other chocolate candies) it was delicious.
We found Aaron and Ryan at a bar called The Confession Box, where live music was playing and there was a small outdoor area. Maria, Tommy, Sara and Elizabeth left the bar at 11:30 with Aaron and Ryan claiming they were right behind us. After the split a local informed Aaron and Ryan that they were in probably the most republican bar in Dublin. After playing increasingly pro-IRA songs, the band locked the front door and patrons started calling for ‘one more tune’. They didn’t join the organization and headed back to the Celt – our bar from the first night to close it down.
Day 5 – Cliffs of Moher- June 30
We all woke up early to take Aaron to the airport then onward to the Cliffs of Moher and Galway. However, the parking garage holding the rental doesn’t open until 10 on Sundays, so we put Aaron in an uber and hung around the hostel, getting coffee and napping until we could retrieve the vehicle. At 10 we were on the road towards Limerick, about a 2-hour drive from Dublin. While driving, we needed a bathroom break and luckily were able to pull into the Barack Obama Plaza. Apparently, Obama’s great-great-great grandfather lived near this area and they have a whole plaza with conference center, gas, and restaurants dedicated to him. It was hilarious to walk around and see the bronze statue of him and Michelle and the machine where you could smash his face on a euro. We got some snacks and tried a new Doritos flavor: Flame Grilled Steak (3/10) easily the worst Doritos I’ve ever tasted.
When we arrived in Limerick the streets were packed with people heading towards the stadium, apparently there was a Hurling game that day. We found a brunch restaurant called The Buttery and enjoyed friend chicken sandwiches and breakfast food, then wandered through some of the shoe and clothing stores on the strip. We decided to walk across the river to King John’s Castle. We kept seeing beautiful spires in the distance and were a little disappointed to find out those were just different church towers and the actual castle looked like a squat fort. The castle was built by King John in 1200 and we read lots of plaques about the sad, bloody battles that took place there along the Shannon River.
After our quick break, it was another 1.5 hours onto the cliffs of Moher. Ryan did a great job driving through Ireland, but it started getting stressful on the narrow side roads. Ireland has built up stone walls that run along the road less than 6 inches from the edge of the road with narrow lanes. When passing a car if they are slightly over the middle line, you’re tempted to veer to the side, but if you do, you’ll hit the wall. Locals were whipping around corners and driving down these roads at over 50 mph so it was more than slightly terrifying. We drove pass the Irish Open accidently. The large golf course is right south of the cliffs along the coast. It’s so windy there we couldn’t imagine trying to golf. Finally, we arrived at the Cliffs of Moher visitor center.
We poked around the visitor center and exhibition, before finally walking towards the hike and cliffs. There were a bunch of people and they have beefed up the walkway even since Elizabeth was there in August. There are now larger stones to stand behind so you don’t fall off the cliffs and you don’t get nearly as close. Apparently, this is a sight for a lot of Irish suicides and the winds are so strong that people have literally been blown off the side. We walked around – at a safe distance – and admired the geology and grazing cattle. There were also puffins on the small islands below.
After an hour of being blown around we decided it was time to head to Galway trying to get to the highway and off these back roads as soon as possible. It took us longer than anticipated to get there and instead of making the 6 pm mass at the Galway we arrived after 7 pm. Our hostel was called Kinlay House and was the nicest hostel Elizabeth and Ryan had ever stayed in. We were in a 6-person bunk room and the bunk beds all had power outlets, lights and curtains you could close around you. The kitchen, reception, and lounge areas were also huge.
We headed the couple blocks into the heart of the city to McDough’s fish and chips. We arrived just after 8 and they closed at 9. Our timing was perfect, as soon as we grabbed our cod and French fries and found a table, we watched the line fill up out passed the door with locals trying to grab a bite before they closed. The food was delicious. Next, we wandered around the downtown area looking at shops and bars. There are quite a few buskers (street artists and musicians) in Galway and it was fun to hear all the different musical talent. We stopped in two bars that night, both with live music and beautiful wooden interior. We called it an earlyish night and were in bed by midnight. At this point the tiredness from drinking too much and sleeping too little was starting to get to us all.
Day 6 – Galway – July 1
We woke up after 8 the next morning to head to the Galway Cathedral for daily mass. We arrived about 8 minutes late and had already missed nearly half the service – they go fast over here. We finished up mass and walked around the cathedral. The church is fairly new finishing construction in 1965 and was absolutely beautiful; a lot of the wall art work was mosaics and the stain glass windows were lovely flower shapes. We headed back to the hostel to enjoy our free breakfast of Nutella toast and Coco Pebbles. After packing, we wandered around town more in the daylight to finish souvenir shopping and get Sara her daily cup of coffee. We found a very hipster coffee bar run by all men who took their barista craft very seriously.
We piled back into the car around noon and made the hour’s journey east to Tullamore. We ate in a pub called the Bar Tap which was delicious and rustic. The interior was decorated to show the history of the local distillery: Tullamore D.E.W., our next stop. Ryan won the award for most delicious dish, a chicken and bacon pie with a crispy piece of pastry on top. After lunch we walked five minutes down the street to the distillery. The actual distillery is now located a few miles outside of the city and opened in 2014, but here they offer an ‘experience’. We decided to take the tour and our guide Tony lead us through the 6 steps in making whiskey. We got to play with the different grains used to make whiskey; malted barley, barley and wheat and then see the machines they use to process the grains, boil them, and distill out the liquid. A fun fact we learned is that when the men had to carry all the barrels and sacks of grain themselves, they’d slip a small bottle on their scapulars to dip into the barrels, and ‘test’ some whiskey as they worked. Tony called it Irish quality control. Before our tasting, we stopped at the aroma station to test our sense of smell. You squeezed a rubber ball that resembled a perfume pump and put your face in what looked like an old record player speaker then tried to guess the smell. I don’t think anyone did well. Next it was time for the tasting. Sara couldn’t drink and Elizabeth could only take the smallest of sips, since she hates whiskey, thus Tommy and Ryan got a good pour. We tried the original Tullamore D.E.W. triple blend, then a brand they only sell there called the Old Bonded Warehouse, and finally a 12-year special reserve. The whiskeys can have 3 different flavors depending on how they mix the barley, malted barley and wheat: spicy, sweet, and fruity. The boys then split another flight at the bar with a 15-year blend, a 14-year single malt, and a 18-year single malt.
Next it was time to walk back to the car and drive to Charleville Castle. There wasn’t a ton of information online about visiting, but we figured they would be an obvious visitor center when we arrived. The whole castle visit was a unique experience. We pulled down a private gravel drive through the forest and drove up to the front door of the castle. We parked and walked up to the front door where a sign said ring for a tour. The massive front door swung open to reveal a vampiric looking Frenchman. At this point it was a little after 4:30, and he asked us to come back at 5 for a tour and promptly closed the door. We walked around the outside of the castle and the attached chapel before finally being let in. The interior was very dusty and a little hard to breathe at times. Our tour guide spoke less than perfect English with a heavy French accent. He brought us through the house explaining the complicated and sad history. The castle was completed in 1814 after beginning construction in 1798 and is considered one of the finest Gothic-style castles in the country. Since it’s construction, the castle has not been continuously occupied. A rule stated a man needed to be 21 to own the castle within the family and countless men died at 22. Several children also died in this castle and our tour guide informed us that it was haunted by the good ghosts of these dead children and other dead relatives. The castle is associated with the Freemasons and there were several masonic symbols and stars in each room. We learned several interesting facts about the castle and a few are listed below:
- The castle was purchased in the 1900’s by a flamboyant man who painted everything in purples and pinks even painting over gold leaf paint that now can’t be removed.
- The castle is currently owned and occupied by an American woman who lives on the second floor.
- The formal dinning room had a pot the men would pass around under the table to relieve themselves after dinner during business discussions.
- It is now most definitely inhabited by ghosts and French, Freemason vampires now and we were lucky to have survived.
After the tour we were on the road back to Dublin and arrived at our final hostel the Kinlay House in Dublin. We ate our last meal at the Red Torch Ginger enjoying pad Thai and Panang curry before hitting the hay.
Day 7 – Dublin – July 2
We got up early to get Sara and Tommy to the airport for their flight back to the US. Then we headed to the train station to catch a train for Belfast. We ate lunch at a restaurant called Boojum – Irelands first burrito restaurant.
Things we’ve learned in the Republic of Ireland:
- Everyone loves Garth Brooks.
- There is no such thing as too much Guinness.
- A heat wave can be 70 degrees Fahrenheit.
Ryan and Elizabeth Goss 