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Brian Charlton |
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Holidays in Ireland |
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We hadn't been away on a holiday for several years - well you live
in the countryside and by the sea and you sort of don't want to. But a few years back we took the decision that a break,
a holiday was quite important. First of all we went to Scotland then we rediscoverd Ireland. We'd only ever been to Dublin on a day trip and had a week in Co Carlow. We hired a "cottage" on the Western
Way near Maam ................
Galway - Joyce Country - Connemara (2003)
This area is so beautiful and has so much to offer. Our cottage
was very comfy and very homely. The owners lived in the house next door and were very friendly. The dogs
settled in well and like us started to relax. The whole area is extremely picturesque and the further west you go in
Ireland the more relaxed and easy going people are. People stop for a talk - the Crac and I hadn't heard that expression
since I used to live in the North East of England.
Our cottage was right in front of the Mountain of the Cats with magnificent views. We had a good walk
up Maumean as the house was right on the Western Way and saw St Patrick at the top (well his statue at least) and of all things
a Man U shirt. Considering one of our dogs was very old she kept on going and going. As it was warm she decided
to cool off by sitting in a mountain stream near the summit.
But we did not just walk, we toured as well. Up North to Sligo. West to Clifden and Westport
and down to Galway and The Burren. We enjoyed Lough Corrib so much that we will go back one day.
One fascinating place .... called Recess .... little more than a truck-stop of a village. There are
several tablets and statues in the village erected because absolutely nothing ever happened here. Apart from a bar,
petrol station and a few shops there's absolutely nothing to see and it's entirely up to you whether you go to this pretty
village or not. Absolutely no one will be worried.
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Co. Kerry and the South West (2004)
When we arrived there was snow on the tops and lower down too and we had rented a house - the last house - on the mountain
road between Kilgarvan and Kenmare. Super location but it was very cold when we
arrived.
The dogs settled in well but it took a while to get the house warm. Then the central heating stopped and we called
the owner. Give him his due he came straight away to try to sort it out. Eventually he discovered someone had
drained the heating oil tank outside. We couldn't put an open fire on because there wasn't any - just a builder's opening
where the fire should be. He had a delivery of oild made on the Monday morning and the house warmed up.
The are is lovely for walking - even just walking along the road - nothing for miles except woodland and superb views.
We visited quite a few places around and about including Ross Castle and Bantry Bay. I never realised that this part
of Ireland was so mountainous then of course I realised those old geography lessons about the fjord coastline.
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Galway - Joyce Country - Lough Corrib (2006)
This area is so beautiful we just had to come back. We chose
an isolated house on an isolated road on an isolated shore on Lough Corrib - in fact we didn't see anyone along our road for
about 3 days. The owners lived in a nearby village and were very friendly and helpful. Tuppence
took a while to settle in and relax but after a while he was wading in the lough and enjoying himself. Lough Corrib
is the big lake to the north of Galway City and Galway City itself is an easy city to walk about in and relax. We also
took a trip down to Limerick and spent the last afternoon shopping in Dublin - me - I went to Sinnotts Bar and watched
the golf on the big screen.
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