• Andrae Moore
  • Andrae Moore

Ireland Lap 2025

Et 30-dagers eventyr av Andrae Les mer
  • Reisens start
    25. april 2025
  • Hamad International Airport, Doha

    26. april, Qatar ⋅ ☁️ 25 °C

    2hr stopover... place is so big we haven't seen the half of it. We found the Kaw statue and the Garden... and had coffee from Ralph Lauren Coffee Shop. We will look for big yellow teddy thing on way home.
    Not suprisingly, no christmas ornaments here.

    Amazing how flat the landscape was and monochrome... buildings, landscape everything... light brown.
    The cameras mount on the planes are fun.
    Les mer

  • Arrived!!!

    26. april, Irland ⋅ ☁️ 17 °C

    Gary found a "new game" to obsess over... 2048.... he played it for over 2hrs straight.... Bit of a crosswind on landing.

    Checked into the same hotel we stayed in last trip and the owner remembered us and the 3 'really tall kids'... hehe.

    Early dinner and bed tonight.
    Les mer

  • Kilmainham Gaol

    27. april, Irland ⋅ ☁️ 16 °C

    Amazing gaol tour. The guide was brilliant and a direct decendant of a prisoner from Irish Civil War.
    Amazingly the youngest prisoner ever kept there was given a 14 day sentence for begging on the streets, with no family members with him, he was only 3 years old!!!
    The gaol has been used for many films including The Italian Job, Michael Collins and was the inspiration for the jail in Paddington.
    Les mer

  • Dublin Castle

    27. april, Irland ⋅ ☁️ 17 °C

    2 years ago, when we were here the line was too long so we didn't go in. I'm glad we did this time. The guided tour was great.

    Medieval ruins underground, remains of the moat and now underground river systems, a beautiful chapel that looks like stone but is actually made of oak (because stone would have been too heavy and would sink into the old moat) and then a beautiful castle!

    It is Ireland's version of Buckingham Palace. Beautiful!!!

    Still used to house international leaders and other important people... Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, Nelson Mandela, Queen Elizabeth II, Pope Francis, and most recently (2 years ago) President Joe Biden.
    Lovely portraits and room decors.

    A real life 'Bridgerton' ballroom too that currently displays the clothing for the Order of St. Patrick... Surprised that was sky blue and gold, not green
    Les mer

  • Hapenny Bridge and GPO

    27. april, Irland ⋅ ☁️ 17 °C

    Walked over the Hapenny Bridge because apparently that is what you must do when in Dublin.

    Found the GPO block where the 1922 Civil war mainly occurred.

    3 bus trips, 21000 steps, 16.2kms walked.

  • Lots of exploring.. and the zoo! Part 1

    28. april, Irland ⋅ ☁️ 16 °C

    Caught the bus to its terminus, which meant the eastern side of Dublin city.
    We walked our way back through the city to the Garda Museum and Dublin Castle, Coach House and Gardens.

    Then we caught the bus to the bottom of Phoenix Park and walked up to the Dublin Zoo... lovely zoo. Not a lot of different species but lots of each and really large open enclosures.

    Then we decided to walk through Phoenix Park back to the hotel... my hips and lower back don't really like me very much...

    24453 steps, 18.95kms.
    Les mer

  • Day trip to Howth (pronounced Hoe-th)

    29. april, Irland ⋅ ☁️ 12 °C

    Train ride out to Howth today... a seaside town still in County Dublin but sightly north.

    Had a look at the Church of Ireland and the Howth Castle... unfortunately in a bit of disrepair, which suprised me as it is still used as a culinary school.

    Walked out both piers. Watched the seals play around a crayboat as the fisherman checked all his pots... hopeful for scraps... which they got. Also watched 4 of them playing in the harbour later.. not as sucessful in begging.

    Had a lovely lunch at Crabby Jo's and then a 'gentle' stroll up the cliffs of Howth and back down. AKA feckin steep!

    Also visited the graveyard... oldest I could find was 1777 and there was a family that lost 3 kids under 2 years old in less than 12 months and then another infant 8 years later... in 1914, 1915 and 1923... we asked a local and they said there was a lot of deaths due to Spanish flu and TB back then.

    Lovely little seaside town.

    Today was to be a 'easier' day walking... but that didnt happen... 27843 steps = 21.59kms... argh!!! Maybe easier tomorrow???
    Les mer

  • Dun Laoghaire (pronounced Dun Leary)

    30. april, Irland ⋅ ☁️ 18 °C

    Another day by the seaside today... southern side of Dublin Bay. Spent nearly 2hrs in a great Maritime Museum that was located in an old church. Our free guide has a son living in Perth and was an ex-engineer on ships.. very knowledgeable. They had the only rotating lighthose prism in a museum in the world.
    Then we wandered the town to their church... the bell tower is all that remains of the original church that was destroyed in a fire.

    Another stroll along a very long pier... and then fish and chips for late lunch.
    Icecream and then an early return to the hotel. Packing up our things in prep for getting our motorhome tomorrow. No idea where we will stay tomorrow night.

    15428 steps and 11.96kms.... much more reasonable day.
    Les mer

  • Let the real adventure begin.

    1. mai, Irland ⋅ ☀️ 19 °C

    Did some food shopping, checked out of the hotel, picked up the motorhome and hit the road. Motorhome is very basic... but it will do.

    Having trouble with phones and internet so it is making navigation interesting.
    Spent the night outside the Moone High Cross Inn... a little pub suggested to us by the service station owner. Met 2 Yorkshire gentleman, Dermott and Guy, and chatted for about 4 hrs on Australia, sports, families etc etc.

    Only 6700 steps... 5.4kms.
    Les mer

  • Castledermot to Kilkenny

    2. mai, Irland ⋅ ☀️ 17 °C

    Drove today from our little inn to Kilkenny. We found a discovery park near Castlecomer but unfortunately most of the activities were closed or booked out. We did visit the Irish Mining Museum there, about coal mining in the area and how they happened across some of the oldest fossils in the world in the peat.

    Back on the road again.

    In Kilkenny it took us a while to find the RV parking area which was made with 12 spots... there would have been close to 30 RVs there... the sign said to leave 6m between vans... there was lucky to be 1m between each...

    We went for a walk into town to explore and we took the long way around to visit the Kilkenny Castle... beautiful as expected.

    The we visited the St Marys Medieval Museum in the old St. Marys church. The tour included many, many headstones and crypts of various people inside the church as well as in the graveyard... very interesting.

    The town has parts of the original city walls or towers for the city entries. Quite interesting. We walked along most of the 'medieval mile' which has about 12 attractions along the way. It was late-ish so most were closing. Tomorrow is another day.
    Dinner at a nice pub around the corner from the RV site. The Roots Festival was this weekend (Bank holiday on monday) and there were bands due to play everywhere... we could hear them from the RV site but it didnt stop us falling asleep.
    11572 steps
    8.97km
    Les mer

  • Kilkenny to An Rinn /Dungarvan

    3. mai, Irland ⋅ ⛅ 12 °C

    We continued our exploring of Kilkenny this morning. Up to the Black Abbey that is celebrating 800years of community use this year. Beautiful windows and organ!!

    Then to see St. Canice's Cathedral and the Round Tower. We climbed to the top of the round tower... it is 30m tall, had 121 steps and was built in 1111 !!!
    Obviously built and used by little monks as the doorway was tiny... not even my shoulder height and as we got to the top it got thinner and thinner. Gary and I struggled to squeeze through the entrance to the roof. AMAZING 360⁰ view from the top!!!

    Back down and into the cathedral. Gorgeous stained-glass windows and organ again as well as numerous crypts with effigies on them.
    A priest from Rome offered to buy the main windows for the equivalent to £1mill to take them back to Rome and the monks declined. 2 years later Oliver Cromwell arrived and destroyed as much of the cathedral as he could... including the windows. He opened the crypts and threw the bones to the dogs and allowed his horses to drink from the baptismal font. He also knocked down the top of the tower. He was a nasty man.

    There were many slabs in the floor dedicated to different people... too many to remember the stories of. One crypt was of John Butler 9th Earl of Ossary had a huge tomb with a magnificent effigy... he died and was buried and only his heart was brought back to Kilkenny... a huge tomb for a heart.
    We wondered back past the last of the medieval mile to the RV... and off we set... to Waterford.... until we saw some vintage cars going in the opposite direction to us.. so we decided to follow them... of course. We backtracked and chased them for 30kms before they ended in Stoneyford. We said hello, showed them a picture of our cars and we were invited to join them for tea and scones... they were a mixed car club so there was everything for a 1926 Buick, a 1926 Austin 10 through to Mercedes, MGs, BMWs, Worsley, Fiat500, VW beetle, Morris 1000s and a Morris Traveller... up to about late 1980s cars. About 30 cars in total. This was their annual run.
    Tomorrow, we plan on visiting their car show in Clonmel. We may have even got another entrant for our 2026 rally in Albany (they aren't Model A owners but they are excited about it)

    We said farewell and headed to Waterford... did a tour of the House of Waterford Crystal and dreamed of the pieces we'd like to buy.... even duty free they were a dream.

    Decided to drive a little further down the coast to park up... Dungarvan... went to one RV site that has space for 10... there was over 30 already there... so we went to the lookout on the other side of the bay... in An Rinn... space for 5... only one other RV and the view was beautiful... sucked in other RV owners... you missed out.
    12509 Steps
    9.7kms
    Les mer

  • So... we found a car club run... hehe

    3. mai, Irland ⋅ ☁️ 15 °C

    So as we were heading to Waterford, we approached a T intersection that we needed to turn left at... but as we approached we spotted a couple of vintage cars going from the left to the right... so we do what every car enthusiast does... we turned right and followed them, hoping they werent going too far..
    At an intersection we asked a marshall who told us they were heading to Stoneyford which was only another 15kms away... so onward we followed. We spoke to the organiser of the run, who happens to have Model As but didnt have them today... he invited us to join then for their devonshire tea. Was great. They are on their annual run that lasts the weekend and has a carshow in Clonmel on Sunday... looks like we have plans for Sunday now... hehe.
    Les mer

  • An Rinn to Blarney

    4. mai, Irland ⋅ ☁️ 15 °C

    We had a little look around Havelic which is next to An Rinn and then headed to Clonmel where the car show was to be in the afternoon.

    Before lunch we visited the town of Clonmel, driving through the West Gate to the city... (It was a gated city in its day with gates on each side). The wealthy Normans lived inside and 'Irishtown' - the poor Irish people - lived outside the walls.

    Had some morning tea and visited the old Courthouse. Amazing story of the original building being completely remodelled inside from 2 story to 3 story without changing the exterior walls and then its restoration back to 2 stories in the 1980s. The guide was very knowledgeable and had lived in Clonmel her whole life so remembered it before it was restored. Our dear friend Oliver Cromwell also tried to take Clonmel, but they were clever, and it is the only city he did not defeat.

    Unfortunately, being Sunday, the Museum of Hidden History was closed. Gary was disappointed because he wanted to 'seek' the history.

    We headed out the Car show and caught up with new friends Tommy and Treasa and saw over 165 cars from 1926 through to 1980s. Even 1 Model A that was driven in by the owner's grandson (owner not very well) The Grandson was only 16 and didn't even have a learner's permit let alone a license... He did well.

    Mid-afternoon we headed off a long way... a long, long way to Tipperary...

    Continued the drive to Blarney, just north of Cork and have got a camp site for a couple of nights.... lots to see in Cork and Blarney.
    Les mer

  • A day around Cork. Part 1

    5. mai, Irland ⋅ ⛅ 14 °C

    So we went to Blarney Castle first up and kissed the Blarney Stone.... spent 3hrs in the castle grounds... and didnt see everything. They have a garden full of poisonous plants, a garden full of carnivorous plants and lots of beautiful normal gardens too. Horse stables and coach yards, and a Mystical Garden, which we forgot to go to until it was too late... I wanted to see the sacrificial alter and witches' stones.
    Discovered the old Mahony clan built and ran the Woollen Mill in Blarney for quite a number of years. It was mentioned on two info boards.

    In the poisonous plants garden there were 2 plants from Harry Potter... the Madrake which has poisonous roots and stems and legend says a scream is heard if pulled from the ground. There was also Wolfsbane which is used in the Potions class.
    Les mer

  • Jameson Distillery Midleton.

    6. mai, Irland ⋅ 🌙 9 °C

    Gotta love morning drinking!!!
    We had to wander for a bit after the tastings so Gary could legally drive... hehe

    Just realised they make their drinks stronger than ours... my jameson and gingerale had a 50ml shot of whiskey.... after a tasting session of 3 whiskeys.... glad I'm not driving.Les mer

  • Drive to Kinsale and slightly beyond.

    6. mai, Irland ⋅ ☀️ 15 °C

    Finished at the Jameson Distillery and we headed as close to the coast as we could to Kinsale. They are one of the colourful towns in Ireland. Nice lunch (3pm) at Kitty O'Sè's bar.

    We couldn't find a park up near town so we headed to Sandy Cove but that was busy... kept going and ended up parked outside the Golf Course at the Cliffs Old Head of Kinsale.
    Views on both sides were incredible!

    Went to watch the sunset, were joined by 2 irish seagulls (they are over 2 times the size of ours) and also spotted a large pod of dolphins crossing and feeding.
    8740 steps
    6.78kms
    Les mer

  • Afternoon of hunting ' Mahony' Castles

    7. mai, Irland ⋅ ☁️ 9 °C

    Started with a drive around and found an old Friary in Timoleague which was full of graves, inside and out... even O'Mahonys.. but too recent for us. Very interesting.

    Then we found a little Town well which I didn't take phots of... hehe. But the videos is across the road where we parked.

    Then the Drombeg Stone Circle and two small hut remains. Similar idea to Stonehenge with sunrise lining up on the winter solstice. Built between 1100 and 800BC!!! About 3000 years old.

    And then onto hunting Castles built by my Mahony Ancestors. We found all 5 castles Mum told us of. Only one we couldn't get really close to.

    First was Rossbrin Castle.... couldn't get close as its on a private property with gates and signs and all... but we could see from the other side of the bay and there was an info plaque.

    Second was the Ardintenant/ White Castle.... we kept driving till we were at it... there were no gates, so we kept going.

    Third was Leamcon/ Black Castle which is currently for sale... took a bit of driving and after speaking to a German guy at the nearest house, we had a 20min walk along a road, through a cow paddock and then across a bridge to get to it... but we got there. The end of the peninsula where it is has completely broken off from the mainland now, hence the bridge. Beautiful... close to the most southern point in Ireland

    Forth was Dunlough Fort/ Three Castle Head... and the one that made me question if I wanted to know my ancestry... hehe.
    The 30min hike to it was challenging. Rather steep through sheep paddocks this time. According to the internet it is the oldest castle in Ireland built in 1207. Well worth it in the end.

    Then finally Dunmanus Castle.... easiest to get to as it was on a roadside but.... it was fenced off and had locked gates. Still got a picture.

    One thing we did notice of all the castles was how perfect the corners were... no rounded stones for the Mahonys... perfectly sharp cut corners and annoyingly straight.

    Up to Ballylicky for the night.
    14393steps
    11.16km
    Les mer

  • Ring of Kerry

    8. mai, Irland ⋅ ⛅ 17 °C

    Did most of the Ring of Kerry today. Started in Kindare and went clockwise.
    Staigue Fort was nice and then we went to Portmagee and onto the nearby island, Valentia Island. Bigger than I expected. They have Puffin birds breeding on the nearby Skellig but we didn't go on a trip out there.

    Into Calhersiveen for the night.
    Had a few pints in a local traditional pub, where we struggled to understand the locals.. particularly when They spoke Gaelic to each other... and then moved onto the County Kerry Hotel and Franks Bar for dinner... brilliant Spareribs!!!
    I see a food coma coming on.
    Nice easy day after yesterday steep hills.
    6189 steps
    6.4kms
    Les mer

  • There was a man from Nantuckett....

    9. mai, Irland ⋅ ⛅ 15 °C

    Guess where we ended up???.... Limerick!!

    First signs of possible bad weather... but it was all a ruse... still 20⁰ when we got to Limerick at 530pm.

    Nice drive up. Beautiful views. Went to Killarney first... big city, nice lake, nice parkland but not much else. Visited the Killarney House... which is 90% gone. Its actually only the old stable house left which has been done up as the house.

    Visited the capital of Kerry, Tralee... tiny town really, not a city. 21000 people so technically bigger than Killarney... Killarney just gets the money to make it pretty for tourists.

    Visited the Tralee Museum which had history of the area from Middle Ages through the Vikings and onto present day. The bottom floor was a walk-through creation of medieval Tralee... none of which still remains. Very good display.

    On to Limerick. Had a couple of drinks at Flannery's Bar on Shannon.... really nice. Dinner at the sports bar... watching the local ruby in Limerick on TV at the sports bar... and into bed.
    12129 steps
    9.39kms
    Les mer

  • Limerick, Bunratty, Cliffs of Moher

    10. mai, Irland ⋅ ☀️ 12 °C

    Visited the Treaty Stone and King John's Castle in Limerick. Very interesting castle. Fun character actors.

    Then Bunratty Castle and Folk Park. Recommended by a couple of locals in the Flannery's Bar last night. Really good. Could have spent hours there. It is the castle itself and a reconstructed village.

    Onto the Cliffs of Moher. Gary 'chatted up' the parking attendant and HE gave us free entry to the cliffs, the cliff experience centre and overnight camping. Gary's ticket does say 'Disabled Guest' and mine says 'Carer'... hehe.
    16657 steps
    12.92kms
    Les mer

  • The Burren and Doolin Cave

    11. mai, Irland ⋅ ⛅ 14 °C

    Drove out to 'The Burren' today. An area that is made of limestone and shale... similar result as WA's southwest.... lots of erosion and caves.

    Went into Doolin's cave. It was discovered by two 18/20-year-olds from England in 1952. They were on a day off from studying caves etc with a group in the area. They found a stream and wanted to see where it went... found an opening and went in... on their bellies and knees with only cotton overalls and helmets with gas lights. No shoes and no spare gas for their lights.
    After about an hour they decided to turn their lights off to conserve gas so continued on their bellies. About 30mins later when their voices started echoing, they knew they had reached an opening, so they turned their lights on to have a look.... and what a sight they found... A 7.3m stalactite hanging from the ceiling!!!

    It is the 3rd largest stalactite in the world and the largest in Europe. It is the most easily accessible though... in the 70 years since it was discovered, it has grown 7mm. It is on its 4th evolution of stalagmite... the stalagmite is laying on clay and the previous 3 have slipped/been washed down the cave floor.

    As if this wasn't enough, they wanted to see what else there was so continued to follow the stream, again on bellies and found another opening... no stalactites or stalagmites but it is known as a bell cave because of its shape. In the walls there is a coral fossil. They did continue further but the crevasse closed up to only an arms width so they turned around and went back.

    They had been gone for 9hrs but decided not to tell anyone. Dinner with their colleagues and a few Guinness's meant that pact didn't last long... they all came back the following day.

    3 years ago they had a 'birthday' and unveiled a plaque. One of the founders attended and wanted to do the crawl again but due to changes for easier access and protection, he couldn't do the original crawl... he was 90 years old!!! He did do the tour down the 200feet.

    14032 steps
    10.89kms
    Les mer