After breakfast and packing the car we headed off passing through many small villages stopping to take photos of the various colourful pub frontages and signage. We passed through the village of Castlemaine, which was made famous to us Aussies in the song The Wild Colonial Boy as Jack Duggan came from that town.
Stopping in Tralee, we walked around some of the shopping area taking photos and getting some food. As it was Sunday morning all the shops were closed and all the people were either in church or still hung over from last night.
Moving on we stopped at a few sites taking photos and then arrived at Tarbert which is a town where you can catch a car ferry across the Shannon River to Killimer.
This saves a two hour drive around the coastline to get to the other side. The ferry trip takes about 20 minutes. It was a strong and freezing cold wind blowing whilst we were on the ferry.
After driving off the ferry we drove up to Kilrush and stopped at a pub called the Johnson. Neil took one for the team by trying a pint of Fosters! He was not impressed.
When you think of Irish pubs you get the impression of a bar with a little old man sitting in the corner of the bar, half sozzled, singing songs to tourists so he could wrangle a free beer out of them. Well we met him, Paddy was his name and he was a funny bloke.
He was still half pickled from the night before and was drinking whiskey. He asked the publican for another whiskey and the publican said to him “I don’t think you should be having another whiskey Paddy” and Paddy replied “o.k. I’ll be having a Guinness then” So the publican poured him a pint of Guinness.
Paddy sang us a few tunes and we bought him another pint of Guinness.
He was great company. The rest of the bar was entertained by him also.
Neil presented the publican with some Great Aussie Beer Shed memorabilia for the bar, which he put up straight away on the walls.
Leaving the pub we took photos of the rest of the pubs in the town before moving on.
We next stopped in the town of Malbay where it was more photos of pubs and then into a pub for a refreshment. (Can you all see a pattern forming here?). The boys met the Publican and his wife who had just returned from doing a 10k charity fun run. The pub is full of football memorabilia and has a lot of different countries flags hanging on the roof.
We explained our trip to them and that we were chasing different brewing memorabilia. We were then given a lot of different items including a Guinness rugby ball and plenty of Guinness bunting flags and even more glasses and signs.
Leaving there we headed north via some very narrow roads to visit the Cliffs of Moher. The cliffs are a natural formation with drops from the top over 700 feet to the sea below. When I was in Ireland in 1989 we came here to look at the cliffs but there was a very thick fog and you could not see them.
We drove into the car park which is away from the cliffs and had to walk approx. 600 metres to get to the information centre which includes a large interpretive story of how the cliffs were formed and a story on the wildlife and the environmental works done to protect the wildlife. Then it was a short walk to the first vantage point in the centre of the length of cliffs. The cliffs are very impressive, formed by the natural erosion of winds and sea over thousands of years. We climbed the stairways to the northern end of the walk and took some photos looking south. It is quite a steep walk but there were hundreds of people doing it. The south walk was even steeper but we did not attempt it.
After doing some shopping in the gift shop, it was back into the car and we started heading inland towards or destination for the evening, Limerick. It was again a drive along narrow roads for the first part and then finally onto a very good divided freeway with two lanes in each direction. We reached the Radisson Blu hotel and were given two twin rooms for the night. I had booked this hotel due to getting a loyalty card last year when I stayed at the same hotel chain whilst being at the Brewery Collectables Convention in the USA. It was the best set out hotel of the trip and was very comfortable to stay at.
We rested for a while and unfortunately Barry was not feeling well so he decided not to join the rest of us for our trip to Bunratty Castle. We had booked for the Medieval Banquet and show for dinner.
The castle was built in 1425 and also has a heritage park set out to look like a village of the same era. Although we did not get to walk around the whole park it looked quite impressive.
The castle had been restored in the 1960’s and we were taken into a large room where there is a lot of furniture and tapestries from the 15th and 16th centuries.
We joined about 60 other people for the Banquet and were served by men and women dressed in medieval clothing and they provided entertainment and a history lesson whilst the Banquet was being served.They then sang a series of songs from the medieval period and some other Irish ballads us.
It was an enjoyable night’s entertainment. We then adjourned back to the Radisson for a few nightcaps before heading off of bed.
Stopping in Tralee, we walked around some of the shopping area taking photos and getting some food. As it was Sunday morning all the shops were closed and all the people were either in church or still hung over from last night.
This saves a two hour drive around the coastline to get to the other side. The ferry trip takes about 20 minutes. It was a strong and freezing cold wind blowing whilst we were on the ferry.
After driving off the ferry we drove up to Kilrush and stopped at a pub called the Johnson. Neil took one for the team by trying a pint of Fosters! He was not impressed.
When you think of Irish pubs you get the impression of a bar with a little old man sitting in the corner of the bar, half sozzled, singing songs to tourists so he could wrangle a free beer out of them. Well we met him, Paddy was his name and he was a funny bloke.
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| Lined Up At The Early Opener |
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| Three Wise Men |
Paddy sang us a few tunes and we bought him another pint of Guinness.
He was great company. The rest of the bar was entertained by him also.
Neil presented the publican with some Great Aussie Beer Shed memorabilia for the bar, which he put up straight away on the walls.
Leaving the pub we took photos of the rest of the pubs in the town before moving on.
We next stopped in the town of Malbay where it was more photos of pubs and then into a pub for a refreshment. (Can you all see a pattern forming here?). The boys met the Publican and his wife who had just returned from doing a 10k charity fun run. The pub is full of football memorabilia and has a lot of different countries flags hanging on the roof.
We explained our trip to them and that we were chasing different brewing memorabilia. We were then given a lot of different items including a Guinness rugby ball and plenty of Guinness bunting flags and even more glasses and signs.
Leaving there we headed north via some very narrow roads to visit the Cliffs of Moher. The cliffs are a natural formation with drops from the top over 700 feet to the sea below. When I was in Ireland in 1989 we came here to look at the cliffs but there was a very thick fog and you could not see them.
We drove into the car park which is away from the cliffs and had to walk approx. 600 metres to get to the information centre which includes a large interpretive story of how the cliffs were formed and a story on the wildlife and the environmental works done to protect the wildlife. Then it was a short walk to the first vantage point in the centre of the length of cliffs. The cliffs are very impressive, formed by the natural erosion of winds and sea over thousands of years. We climbed the stairways to the northern end of the walk and took some photos looking south. It is quite a steep walk but there were hundreds of people doing it. The south walk was even steeper but we did not attempt it.
After doing some shopping in the gift shop, it was back into the car and we started heading inland towards or destination for the evening, Limerick. It was again a drive along narrow roads for the first part and then finally onto a very good divided freeway with two lanes in each direction. We reached the Radisson Blu hotel and were given two twin rooms for the night. I had booked this hotel due to getting a loyalty card last year when I stayed at the same hotel chain whilst being at the Brewery Collectables Convention in the USA. It was the best set out hotel of the trip and was very comfortable to stay at.
We rested for a while and unfortunately Barry was not feeling well so he decided not to join the rest of us for our trip to Bunratty Castle. We had booked for the Medieval Banquet and show for dinner.
The castle was built in 1425 and also has a heritage park set out to look like a village of the same era. Although we did not get to walk around the whole park it looked quite impressive.
It was an enjoyable night’s entertainment. We then adjourned back to the Radisson for a few nightcaps before heading off of bed.
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