For our last two nights in Dublin I was debating where to stay; the city center would obviously have been fun, but parking is a pain, and the hotels were expensive, small, and many were already sold out six months ago. We settled on Clontarf Castle Hotel, which is outside of the city center and closer to the airport. I wasn’t quite sure what to expect after booking it – there was definitely a castle on this site at one point, but I told Audrey as we were arriving in Dublin that it might be more like Medieval Times than an actual castle. As we entered the lobby, with suits of armor all around us and banners hanging from the ceiling, Audrey looked at me with a HUGE smile and said “it’s TOTALLY Medieval Times”; I had forgotten how much she loves that place.
Prior to our arrival in Dublin we had our longest driving day of the trip, as we traversed the country from west to east. Of course, on a day when we were mostly driving it was also the best weather of the trip, with sun almost the entire time. Leaving the amazing landscapes of the Connemara, we stopped at Joyce’s Craft Shop, where there was a massive and imposing statue next to a scenic lake with the following inscription carved into its base:
This is
CONNEMARA
(Conn Son of the Sea)
Built in 1999
By Joyce’s Craft Shop
For no apparent reason
For the long drive today we didn’t want to miss the landscapes of Ireland by taking the motorway the entire way, so we decided to put our lives on the line by taking backroads through the countryside. This route made our journey a bit longer, and there were plenty of moments where we passed another car on the tiny roads with about an inch to spare between mirrors, but the country is so pretty here that it was definitely worth it. The bogs of the Connemara turned into pastures lined with stone walls northeast of Galway, followed by rolling fields and pastures in central Ireland as we reached the River Shannon. Our first major stop for the day was at Clonmacnoise, a 1500 year old monastery complex on the banks of the Shannon that was abandoned over 800 years ago after repeatedly being pillaged by Vikings and local tribes. Of course, as soon as we arrived the sun dipped behind clouds for the first time all day, but such is Ireland, and it was still an amazingly pretty site next to the river.
We then hopped in the car and headed a short distance down the road to our last bog of the trip. Clara Bog Nature Reserve is one of the few remaining bogs in Ireland that hasn’t been extensively damaged by peat harvesting, and we hiked the one kilometer boardwalk through the sphagnum moss while (of course) it rained for the first time all day. Despite the weather it’s still always neat to be out on a spongy bog, knowing that you’re standing on top of twenty-foot thick layer of moss and decayed organic matter, surrounded by some of the planet’s weirdest plants and animals.
Today is our last full day in Ireland, and we’re off to explore Dublin’s city center with what the forecast suggests will be mostly good weather. Ireland has been a fun place to visit, and the incredible landscapes will be something we remember for the rest of our lives.
WOW!