Ireland recap

Over the past several months I asked for some travel advice for
Ireland. I got lots of help - THANKS so much, it really helped. So if
someone else searches up those old posts, here are some recap points
from my recent travel through Ireland.

The kinds of vacations I've taken lately orient around renting a car,
and travelling around all day visiting sites. This makes for very
efficient travel, if you are OK with driving all day. Some people take
it slowly, that vacations are for relaxing... well, not me. Where I
live in the USA is the most far away from anything the Germans call
"freizeitwert" (free time value) so I try to fit in as many of the
wonderful things my research shows up as possible, since it might be a
while before I return.

I flew into London Gatwick, and took a Ryanair shuttle to Dublin.
Turns out American Airlines (based out of Dallas, where I live) started
a schedule to Shannon recently, but only after I purchased my ticket.

I only spent a day in Dublin - a nice place but it's not a week-long
place like London, Paris, or Rome. To avoid driving in Dublin, I took
the bus from the airport to the city center, stayed the day (and a
half), and took the bus back to the airport the following morning to
rent the car from there. This is what I did last Fall when I visited
Sicily and wanted to avoid driving in Palermo.

That was the plan, anyway.

I wanted to visit the Guinness Brewery site, and my guest house said
that instead of coming in east from the M50, that since it was a Sunday
morning with little traffic, I should drive due south, cross the
Liffey, and head west along the river bank toward the western end of
the city center to visit the Guinness Brewery. Suffice it to say I got
lost and found myself driving *east* past Christ Church Cathedral!
Which is SOUTH of the Liffey and just EAST of the Guinness Brewery!
How I got there is beyond me. I'm just glad my long foot-trek the day
before brought me past Christ Church so that the ringing of the bells
caught my attention that morning. After numerous meanderings I found
the Guinness site.

The whole area around the the Guinness Brewery has a wonderful, woody,
molassassy, odor. The tour was reasonably interesting, but the pint at
the conclusion at the top of the museum was the highlight. It really
is much better "over there". I think its the water, I think the
Guinness is not all made there in Dublin and shipped world-wide, but
made "local". I even tasted a difference between the West of Ireland
and that pint in the "gravity bar" at the Guinness Brewery, which,
incidentally, is named the Storehouse.

I left Dublin and spent a couple of days in the Wicklow Mountains to
the south, passing through the Sally Gap in both directions and taking
in Glendalough. This was my introducton to peat cutting in Ireland,
which was far far more extensive than I imagined, far more than I saw
e.g. in Scotland where I only every observed in on the Lewis part of
the Isle of Lewis and Harris. The Glendalough monastic ruins were
swell, with an excellent setting. The stroll from the lower to the
upper lake was very scenic and nature-walkers should take note.

One of the things I wanted to see on my trip were church ruins, and
must have seen a dozen in Co. Kilkenny. Jerpoint Abbey was the most
extensive; however, I stress the special nature of finding someplace
particularly out of the way - really helps one connect to history.

I stayed in a placed called Leap in Co. Cork (or nearto), and saw a
swell map on the wall called Antiquities of West Cork, with a guide to
not only castles and abbeys, but especially stone age circles, stones,
stone circles, and tombs. I really really like this sort of thing, and
wish I'd had this as I performed my original research. I've seen lots
of this sort of thing in my Wales and Scotland trips, and as far as I
can tell there is much more of this sort of thing in Ireland than in
Britain. There isn't anything as massive as Stonehenge, or extensive
as the Ring of Brogar, or spectacular as the stones of Stenness, but it
does have the numbers.

This guide was made by a English transplant named Jack Roberts. (lemme
Google it...) http://www.megalithomania.com/show/review/29 Apparently
he makes things for Cork and Kerry and Beara, at least. Swell things.

I then saw some spectacular scenary visiting the pennisulas in the SW
of the island. I travelled a day each on the Mitzen and Sheep's Head,
the Beara Penninsula, and the Kerry/Skellig rings and Dingle. These
were action-packed three days. I was rather disappointed by the Ring
of Kerry, rather, as compared to my expectation. The Skellig Ring was
more impressive. On the whole I was the most impressed by the Beara
Penninsula, which ellicited my one and only spontaneous "wow!" in my
whole trip, namely, the Healy Pass. This is a high pass along the
mountainside, curving along the grade, looking down on the well-tilled
valley far far below, with a mirror-like lake crooked around the bend
of the valley floor, surrounded with the yellow of gorse and the pink
of rhodies. Beautiful. And it was overcast! I can only image in on a
sunny day. Seriously - this was Glen-Coe-like stunning.

I suppose my expectations for Connemara was also set too high, for
while it was pretty on the whole, some parts along the south and west
were just ugly. I understand how Ireland doesn't have the extensive
"quaint cottage" swathed through the outer lands, but e.g. out to the
Coral Strand was just bleak. The northern routes, and the national
park, were swell. After driving through Cong to visits some
megatlithics, I headed to Clare. Specifically, to visit the Burren,
and the impressive portal tomb there called Poulnabrone.

I eventually found myself in Mayo and Sligo, where my interest in the
neolithics histories was greatly fulfilled with the Ceide Fields and
Carrowmore. The Ceide Fields are stone-age drystone walls/homes/tombs
built thousands of years ago, and due to the growth of the ever-present
bog, were covered over and preserved. They are found by probing the
bog to a depth of 2-4 meters with a long iron rod. The rod goes down
to the original ground level, pre-bog, where there is no wall, but a
half-meter shorter where there are fallen-down remains of the wall.
Neat, eh? The Carrowmore site is a huge neolithic cemetary with lots
of portal tombs, like Poulnabrone, but smaller on the whole. Anyone
interested in this sort of thing needs to visits both sites, without a
doubt.

My visit in Northern Ireland was brief, but I can definitely commend a
visit to the "Giant's Causeway", a drive along the coast road around
the Antrim Mountains, and a visit to Carrickfergus Castle.

My tour finished with visits to the neolithic tomb sites (MOST
impressive!) of Knowth, Newgrange, and Dowth. These sites are
extensive like at Carrowmore, and generally larger, but not as old as
at Carrowmore (up to 7000 years old).

I'll finished up this lengthy post with a few other stray comments.

o The beer selection in a nation with such a reputation was quite
narrow. I'm accustomed to the variety, from place to place, that I saw
in places all over Britain. In Ireland, these are the only beers I
saw sold, ever: Guinness, Murphy's, Carlsberg, Heinekin, Bulmer's
Cider, Smithwick's, and Budwiser. Pretty pathetic, eh?

o In Leap I did a Murphy's / Guiness taste test, side-by-side with
half-pints. I liked the Murphy's more - it was more like the pint of
Guinness I had in Dubline.

o There are "Gaeltacht" areas in the more remote arounds of Ireland. A
"Gaeltact" area, as far as touristis are concerned, translates to "a
place where the signs list names that aren't on your map". I strongly
recommend that when you see a travel sign coming up to look for a place
to pull over to scrutinize the strange words on the sign. On several
occaisions I, umm, sat in the middle of traffic trying to figure things
out. Fortunately the locals seems to be used to tourists stopping in
the middle of the road in front of a Gaeltacht Sign with a map over
their steering wheel, and get by well enough. But to be on the safe
side, trying to keep an eye out for a pull-over spot.

o The non-main roads in Ireland were much worse than the outlier roads
in rural Britain, in my experience. I'm pretty sure this isn't just a
matter of upkeep, but I'm guessing some roads are built on the bog?
and so have a constant undulating feel to them.

o I was also amazed at how many places post 100 km/h speed limits in
places back home that would be set to 60 km/h. It is unimagineable to
go 100 km/h on these tiny and twisting and very bumping roads!

o My biggest regrets were not visiting Great Skellig, the Rock of
Cashel, or any of the Aran Islands. They're on my Followup List.

In summary, I had a wonderful time in Ireland, with nice scenery, old
ruins and stone age sites, and recommend it to someone who is keen for
such things.

--
Dan Stephenson
Photos and movies from US Parks and all over Europe:
http://homepage.mac.com/stepheda

Dan Stephenson wrote:

Glad you enjoyed your trip, and thank you for the feedback.

Some comments:

The whole area around the the Guinness Brewery has a wonderful, woody,
molassassy, odor. The tour was reasonably interesting, but the pint at
the conclusion at the top of the museum was the highlight. It really
is much better "over there". I think its the water, I think the
Guinness is not all made there in Dublin and shipped world-wide, but
made "local". I even tasted a difference between the West of Ireland
and that pint in the "gravity bar" at the Guinness Brewery, which,
incidentally, is named the Storehouse.

All the Guinness in Irish bars is brewed at St. James' Gate. The
storage temperature and the method of drawing the pint are considered
significant. I infer that a gravity bar means that the beer is not
pumped under pressure, which probably makes a difference.


I suppose my expectations for Connemara was also set too high, for
while it was pretty on the whole, some parts along the south and west
were just ugly. I understand how Ireland doesn't have the extensive
"quaint cottage" swathed through the outer lands, but e.g. out to the
Coral Strand was just bleak.

Some years ago an enterprising architect here published a work
entitled "Bungalow Bliss", and sold plans of the houses illustrated.
Not long afterwards, the term "Bungalow Blitz" became established
here. For about 20 miles west of Galway the infestation is
particularly severe. But if you look around, and get off the main
roads, there is still much to see and enjoy in south Connemara,
especially the coast.


I eventually found myself in Mayo and Sligo, where my interest in the
neolithics histories was greatly fulfilled with the Ceide Fields and
Carrowmore. The Ceide Fields are stone-age drystone walls/homes/tombs
built thousands of years ago, and due to the growth of the ever-present
bog, were covered over and preserved. They are found by probing the
bog to a depth of 2-4 meters with a long iron rod. The rod goes down
to the original ground level, pre-bog, where there is no wall, but a
half-meter shorter where there are fallen-down remains of the wall.
Neat, eh? The Carrowmore site is a huge neolithic cemetary with lots
of portal tombs, like Poulnabrone, but smaller on the whole. Anyone
interested in this sort of thing needs to visits both sites, without a
doubt.

The Ceide Fields are the more heavily promoted, but I think Carrowmore
is more interesting. You have opportunity to see archaeology in
action, and a chance to engage with archaeologists.


o There are "Gaeltacht" areas in the more remote arounds of Ireland. A
"Gaeltact" area, as far as touristis are concerned, translates to "a
place where the signs list names that aren't on your map". I strongly
recommend that when you see a travel sign coming up to look for a place
to pull over to scrutinize the strange words on the sign. On several
occaisions I, umm, sat in the middle of traffic trying to figure things
out. Fortunately the locals seems to be used to tourists stopping in
the middle of the road in front of a Gaeltacht Sign with a map over
their steering wheel, and get by well enough. But to be on the safe
side, trying to keep an eye out for a pull-over spot.

New this year. It can be difficult for those who don't know Gaelic
place-names (which includes many Irish people). Bad idea. We now hear
mention of "the town formerly known as Dingle".


o The non-main roads in Ireland were much worse than the outlier roads
in rural Britain, in my experience. I'm pretty sure this isn't just a
matter of upkeep, but I'm guessing some roads are built on the bog?
and so have a constant undulating feel to them.

Bog, yes. Also bad foundations. Many of the roads were made by
applying a dressing of tarmacadam to country lanes and old dirt roads.
They go back to the days when Ireland was impoverished.


o I was also amazed at how many places post 100 km/h speed limits in
places back home that would be set to 60 km/h. It is unimagineable to
go 100 km/h on these tiny and twisting and very bumping roads!

It's transitional. In changing to limits expressed in km/h, the "no
specific limit" signs were replaced with signs indicating 100 km/h or
80 km/h, depending on the class of the road. Nobody is compelled to
drive at those speeds. Over time, you can expect to see some
refinements.


o My biggest regrets were not visiting Great Skellig, the Rock of
Cashel, or any of the Aran Islands. They're on my Followup List.

You can't do everything, and you managed a lot. It's good to have a
follow up list.

--
PB
The return address has been MUNGED

In article , Padraig
Breathnach wrote:


The whole area around the the Guinness Brewery has a wonderful, woody,
molassassy, odor. The tour was reasonably interesting, but the pint at
the conclusion at the top of the museum was the highlight. It really
is much better "over there". I think its the water, I think the
Guinness is not all made there in Dublin and shipped world-wide, but
made "local". I even tasted a difference between the West of Ireland
and that pint in the "gravity bar" at the Guinness Brewery, which,
incidentally, is named the Storehouse.

All the Guinness in Irish bars is brewed at St. James' Gate. The
storage temperature and the method of drawing the pint are considered
significant. I infer that a gravity bar means that the beer is not
pumped under pressure, which probably makes a difference.

I think it was under pressure, and the term "gravity bar" spoke to the
fact that it was at the top of the tall building museum, with a
panoramic view of Dublin. While my travels in pubs was non-exhaustive,
I never once saw a hand-pump mechanism.

Thanks in particular to you, Padraig, for all your advice.

Know anything abou Venice? :-)

--
Dan Stephenson
Photos and movies from US Parks and all over Europe:
http://homepage.mac.com/stepheda

Dan Stephenson wrote:

[]
Thanks in particular to you, Padraig, for all your advice.

Know anything abou Venice? :-)

Both places are quite wet, aren't they?

--
David Horne- www.davidhorne.net
usenet (at) davidhorne (dot) co (dot) uk

Dan Stephenson wrote:

Know anything abou Venice? :-)

As much as one can learn in five days of idiosyncratic field research.

Forget your preference for hiring cars and driving long distances. And
don't bother with the Guinness.

--
PB
The return address has been MUNGED

In article , Padraig
Breathnach wrote:

Dan Stephenson wrote:

Know anything abou Venice? :-)

As much as one can learn in five days of idiosyncratic field research.

Forget your preference for hiring cars and driving long distances. And
don't bother with the Guinness.

For Venice, if course!

--
Dan Stephenson
Photos and movies from US Parks and all over Europe:
http://homepage.mac.com/stepheda

Dan Stephenson wrote:

The whole area around the the Guinness Brewery has a wonderful, woody,
molassassy, odor. The tour was reasonably interesting, but the pint at
the conclusion at the top of the museum was the highlight. It really
is much better "over there". I think its the water, I think the
Guinness is not all made there in Dublin and shipped world-wide, but
made "local". I even tasted a difference between the West of Ireland
and that pint in the "gravity bar" at the Guinness Brewery, which,
incidentally, is named the Storehouse.

I'm glad you enjoyed your trip to Guinness. I found the place a
complete waste of time. I've toured a lot of wineries and breweries,
usually for free, because it's fascinating to see the stuff being
made. That's what I thought I'd see here.

Well, it isn't a tour. It's a bunch of exhibits, overdesigned by
graphics artists, targeted at a relatively low level of literacy, with
a high content of advertising puffery.

That's why they call it a Storehouse, not a Brewery. You don't see
anything being brewed. Unless you count the gravity bar where you see
your pint being served. I will give you that the view is great.

At 14 euro I don't think the Guinness Storehouse is worth the time or
the money.

Just my opinion - YMMV.