UK & Ireland Trip Part Three: Kenmare and Western Ireland

Was he or was he not? That was the question on the news, as we woke up on September 15th, regarding the sobriety of Irish Prime Minister (called a Taoiseach - pronounced "Tee-Shock") Brian Cowen. Apparently the night before, the big fella was burning the candle till about 3:30am singing, doing impressions and downing who knows how many pints of Guinness. Not the smartest move when you have a live morning interview scheduled on national television. But, in the words of the Dublin cab driver who drove us to Budget to pick up our rental car, "give him a break, everyone needs a night out."

The Nissan Micra and BowlingWidow Pose in Front of the Kenmare B&B

We picked up our Nissan Micra, loaded it with our stuff and prepared for the trip to rural western Ireland. I had driven a small manual transmission Peugeot (a true piece of s**t) in England 25 years ago. Could I recapture the magic of sitting in the right seat and driving on the left side of the road once again? Let's just say that in my zeal to get on the road and out of crazy Dublin I immediately drove over a curb, scraping the undercarriage of the vehicle. A tough start but I did pay for wall to wall insurance a few minutes earlier. No harm, no foul this time. Renting a car in Ireland ain't cheap when you add it all up. Around 400 Euros for a week (over $500) but that's the going rate if you want to see anything on the coast without slogging around in a tour bus for days. Autonomy has its price.

After figuring out the exit system that leaves Dublin (pretty much what we'd call a beltway around here) we were on our way cruising at 120 kilometers per hour. We decided to stop for a water and snack break in a little town that's smack in the middle of the country, called Roscrea (pop. 5000). This was a pleasant find, with a castle that dates back to the 13th century. We wished we had more time to roam around this heritage town.

Roscrea: Scenic Little Town in the Middle of Ireland

Later in the day we made a wrong turn (or two) and ended up paying 6 Euros on toll roads that we never really needed to take. We shrugged off the mistake that cost us 45 minutes and moved on south to a town called Adare (pop. 2500), which is just to the south of the larger city of Limerick. Judging by the amount of traffic here, this was clearly a place where a lot of tourists like to stop. And once we passed a row of thatched roof cottages and restaurants, BowlingWidow wanted to take our late lunch break here. When it comes to "thatched roofs","cottages", "villages", "cobblestones"...you get the idea, she needs to be a part of it.

BowlingWidow Checking Out an Adare Thatched Roof

As we approached our destination of Kenmare, the roads became narrower and more challenging to navigate. Despite the beating that our left rearview mirror was taking from the vegetation that hung over the road, I was still up to the task. Let me stop here and say this about the roads of this part of Ireland: they almost always have a speed limit of 100 kph. That's around 60 mph. Seriously, you have NO BUSINESS driving even half that fast on these roads unless your last name is Earnhardt, Foyt, or Andretti. What are the Irish thinking???

We got to Kenmare (pop. 2000) tired but in good shape. I had no idea how to find the B&B as it was a short drive from town. Finally, I figured out how to use the Verizon Global Phone that we got for such instances and reached Sheila, our hostess, who managed to get us to Forgefield House without sending us tumbling into a sheep pasture. Sheila and her husband said that we were the last guests of the year for them and rewarded us with a spacious room with hardwood floors upstairs and an incredible view of the rural property.

Rested up, we headed for dinner at P.F. McCarthy's Pub in town where we enjoyed pizza and a pint of locally produced ale called Kenmare appropriately enough. This was the first microbrew we had on the trip and have to admit that, while it was a decent effort, what we brew in Washington and Oregon is superior. At precisely 7:15 pm local time, just after a nice slice of highly caloric pizza, my group exercise session back at home was starting at 11:15 am. Ha!

A Typical "Superhighway" in Western Ireland

The next day we saw a road sign that said something like this: "Drive Carefully: 52 people have died on the roads of County Kerry in the last four years". That's probably the truth. And I'm also betting that 46 of them were Americans whose last thought had to do with why those insane people are driving on the wrong side of the road.

Yes, it's on to the Ring of Kerry. A seemingly short and breathtakingly scenic drive of around 100 miles that in reality takes most of the day. And that's the biggest misunderstanding about driving in Ireland. What you need to do is estimate how long it will take you to get from point A to point B with a handful of stops along the way, double it and add an additional hour. Yes, even more if you wander off to visit an ancient stone circle or two as we did (Staigue Stone Fort).

Some Classic Irish Scenery on The Ring of Kerry

If you find yourself driving the Ring of Kerry, leave early and go a clockwise route to avoid being stuck behind tour buses. That's one of the many bits of great advice we got from Rick Steves' Ireland book. Another is to build in time to take the Skellig Ring within the drive. This consists of an even smaller road, but has the added advantage of not allowing tour buses or motor homes on the loop. Plus you'll be able to get one of the highest and most stellar views of the green rolling hills, cliffs, and other landscape by doing so.

BowlingJoe's Amazing Find: Way Better Than The Blarney Stone

Back in Kenmare via the Valentia Island car ferry, we had a Murphy's Stout (Finally something other than Guinness!), ordered some fish & chips, and caught some live traditional Irish music back at McCarthy's.

We left Kenmare the next day with the town of Galway the being the next stop for a few days. On the way, we took another short ferry ride (that holds 50 cars) from Tarbert to Killimer that spans the mouth of The River Shannon. Towns seemed to be few and far between on this stretch so we stopped at a place called Milltown Malbay for lunch. Malbay is obviously suffering the effects of the recession, as many places in Ireland are. Every other shop or restaurant was closed down, and this once-thriving place near the water reminded me somewhat of the state my hometown of Port Angeles is in these days.

Our final pre-Galway stop was at the famous Cliffs of Moher. Five miles of 700 foot cliffs caused my massive erosion. Again, amazing view and watching birds fly several hundred feet below us was a bit freakish. The cliffs were impressive, but my vote for best natural vast expanse of scenery that I've been to would still have to go to our Grand Canyon.

The Scenic Cliffs of Moher

We made our way through the rolling hills (and some really large ones at that) of what is known as The Burren. This is the rock-filled Ireland with stone walls that seemingly stretch for miles to keep sheep and cattle from wandering off. The Burren is not a lush green like The Ring of Kerry was but it spectacular in its own hilly and rugged way.

Next: Galway, Ireland