16th to 31st July 2025
With Irish ancestry from both my mother and father, circumnavigating this Emerald Isle has long been on the bucket list and it definitely lived up to expectations. It is as green as you would imagine! It is also the home to some of the most inspirational writers in the Western literary canon, so meant I could finally follow in the footsteps of these literary heroes I have been reading and teaching for decades. There were a few sentimental tears shed in seeing some of these hallowed places around the country.
Stop #1: Dublin, County Dublin
16th to 22nd July 2025
Where we stayed: Zanzibar Locke, Ha’penny Bridge
After eight weeks in the very warm, sunny Spain and Portugal, it was some welcome relief to experience an Irish Summer where the temperatures barely cracked over 20 degrees and the sun shone intermittently between drizzling rain. Our hotel was right in the heart of Dublin across the bridge from Temple Bar where only fools and tourists part with their money at overpriced pubs. Dublin is a fairly small city so all the sights which looked far apart on a map turned out to be all within a 30 minute walking radius.
“You can never be overdressed or over educated”, Oscar Wilde
What we did in Dublin
National Museum of Ireland: all the national galleries in Dublin are free to visit so you can see some amazing art and artefacts on a budget (and you will need it as everything else is really expensive). There are a couple of different branches of the National Museum, so we went to the one that had a stronger focus on Irish archaeology and local history. The Kildare Street branch has fascinating prehistoric, medieval and Viking collections. The most gruesomely fascinating are their three “bog bodies” which are the Iron Age human remains discovered in peat bogs across the country. These have been incredibly preserved, including a striking red hairstyle on one of the bodies and some of their clothing. They each posit stories about who they may have been and how they ended up as human sacrifices during a very volatile period of Irish history where Kings regularly killed to retain their hold over key seats of power. There are also some beautiful illuminated medieval manuscripts dating from the 7th Century AD and lots of exhibitions on sites such as the Hill of Tara, the alleged Battle of Dublin at Clontarf in 1014 and the Vikings in Ireland. I also got to see that my surname from my father’s side was one of the original 100 Irish families.
National Library of Ireland – Yeats Exhibition: Literary geeks only may find this exhibition absorbing (although Glenn knew nothing about Yeats and enjoyed it too). This incredible collection of original drafts, letters, artefacts, paintings and journals from Yeats, family members and friends had me drawn in for hours. It is also really well organised by a balance of chronology and key aspects of his life (the influential women of his life and his obsession with Occult being the most interesting ones) and has some shortish documentaries you can watch to put it all in context. I have been using this online exhibition as part of my Literature teaching resources for Yeats for as long as I can remember so to see everything in real life was extra special.
Hugh Lane Gallery: This gallery is another Yeats’ connection as he wrote a poem about philanthropist Hugh Lane’s attempt to establish a modern art gallery in Dublin in the early 1920s which was initially rejected by conservative Catholic leaders. Today the gallery is firmly entrenched in Dublin’s artistic and cultural scene and is definitely worth a visit. It has a combination of Lane’s original collection which includes some beautiful Impressionist works as well as contemporary collections on rotation. The most interesting new exhibition is the recreation of Francis Bacon’s entire London studio – all 7000 items that were left in it when he died in 1992. It is glorious chaos to behold
See a show at The Abbey Theatre: this is the first National Theatre of Ireland (established by Yeats and Lady Gregory in 1904) with a vision to produce and perform only Irish written plays. The original building was burnt down and then rebuilt in the 1960s. My lovely children had bought a Mother´s Day gift of two tickets to see a play called “The Cave” which was hilarious and you could certainly see the influence of “Waiting for Godot” and the like on this weird and wacky story of two brothers holed up in a cave trying to make sense of increasingly fragmented selves and the world.
Eat, drink whiskey and listen to music in an Irish pub (or three) in Temple Bar: we were staying literally across the road from the famous Temple Bar, home to countless pubs and restaurants so had to make sure we had at least a couple of nights out enjoying the convivial vibe of the place. We did a bit of a crawl to three pubs – The Brazen Head (because it claimed to be the oldest in Dublin), The Old Storehouse (because it had traditional Irish pub grub and trad music) and then one I can’t remember the name of where we drank too much whisky (the bartender thought I said three whiskeys when I only asked for two!) and listened to a great solo guitarist/singer who sang all the typical pub singalong hits. It was a fun night out where too much money was spent and I got a whiskey headache but definitely a quintessential Dublin experience.
See Dublin Castle and Chester Beatty Museum: We didn’t do the tour of Dublin Castle but enjoyed walking around the grounds and gardens then made the fantastic discovery of this unusual museum of the extraordinary collection of Sir Alfred Chester Beatty. He was a wealthy engineer with an interest in manuscripts, art and books from the ancient Islamic worlds, China, Japan and India. The collection is some of the best I’ve ever seen and is really well laid out so is well worth a visit.
Walk the Liffey and parks: Dublin is pretty compact so you can walk along the Liffey River, visit St Stephen’s Green, St Patrick’s Cathedral, Trinity College and a few of the other parks along the way to see stunning buildings, interesting sculptures and points of history all in a day or two if you break it up. It did seem that every second building was once the home or workplace of one of Ireland’s many famous writers so that kept me entertained on our walks.
Day Trip to Howth: this was one of my favourite days in Dublin. We caught the train out to the seaside town of Howth which is about 40 minutes outside of Dublin. It was a little drizzly to start with but we ended up doing a two hour hike along the Howth Cliff Loop which was just stunning. Amazing clifftop views across the wild and vast Atlantic and gorgeous heather surrounds along the way. There is something about the contrast between the purples, yellows and pinks against the green grey surrounds that draws you in and made me snap happy. Topped off with a great pub lunch and cider before we headed back into town on the afternoon train.
Stop #2: Trim and Maynooth, County Meath
On our last day in Dublin we hired a car and headed northeast into the Counties of Meath and Kildare. They are both only about an hour via the motorway so very accessible daytrips. We spent the night in Maynooth thanks to the lovely hospitality of Glenn’s friend, Tony and his family. It was so nice to catch up after many years and see another part of Ireland before we started the road trip proper. Trim is famous for its castle (which also served as the location for the film “Braveheart” back in the day) as well as a wonderful walk along the Boyne River stopping to see medieval ruins. Maynooth is a college and commuter town so pretty bustling and has some famous golf courses in the area
Trim Castle
The oldest Anglo-Norman fortification in Ireland built in 851 AD
The Old Bridge, Trim
Built in 1393 making it one of the oldest continuously working bridges in Ireland.
Carton House, Maynooth
Glenn and Tony
Once the ancestral seat of the Earls of Kildare for over 700 years, now it’s a luxury hotel and golf course.
Stop #3: Castleisland, County Kerry
The drive from Maynooth to County Kerry is around 3 hours, all along fairly uninteresting motorways but we broke up the journey with a stop in Adare which was very quaint with a street lined with thatched roofed cottages and hanging baskets in the windows full of colourful flowers. It was a great stop for afternoon tea.
The Ring of Kerry is a 179km scenic loop around the county of Kerry which takes about 5 – 6 hours to do in one day with a few stops built in along the way. It may look like it might only take 3 – 4 hours but you soon realise that while the speed limit for most of it is around 80km/h, the reality is these roads are narrow, winding and pretty breathtaking in parts so you can never really drive at that speed especially if oncoming traffic comes around the bends unexpectedly or you hit a one way bridge. We weren’t planning to do the whole thing in one day but realised there is actually no way to do half a trip because you are only going to drive the same amount of time going back anyway. It is not for the faint hearted but well worth the stunning views. With hindsight, I would have booked a stay in Kenmare so you could break the trip in half and feel less exhausted at the end of the day.
Adare is also home to the only Trinitarian Abbey in Ireland established in the 13th Century and then dissolved in the 1560s.
From Adare, we drove onto Castleisland which is about 20 minutes outside of the bigger towns of Tralee and Killarney. We stayed at a cute BnB called Cloghan Lodge which was a great base for our big drive around the Ring of Kerry and away from the madness of Killarney which we discovered has clearly suffered from over tourism and feels a little like Disneyland Ireland.
Our first stop from Castleisland was the Mountainstage Viewpoint just outside of Kells. From there we headed to Portmagee and onto the Kerry Cliffs which was one of the main events. These Cliffs are considered some of the best in Ireland and it was a spectacular, clear day to see right out across to the islands of Great and Little Skellig. Great Skellig was the location for one of the Star Wars films and nearby there is another island home to colonies of puffins, named unsurprisingly Puffin Island; unfortunately it is a little too far way to see any puffins. You need to allow around 1 – 1 .5hours for a stop here as you really want to enjoy the walk to the top and relish the views. The photos below can do the talking of how absolutely beautiful this spot was.
From Kerry Cliffs we drove onto Sneem and then to Kenmare. We stopped for a while in each town to rest the eyes and stretch the legs. The driving gets tougher in this section as it is a lot more steep mountain passes and winding sharp corners; as well fatigue begins to set in too.
Kenmare is a lovely town and would have been worth an overnight stay but we didn’t realise this until we actually were doing the drive so hindsight… Kenmare has an ancient Bronze Age Stone Circle which, while not quite Stonehenge, was still fascinating and had a unique feeling to it.
After around an hour in Kenmare we powered onto Killarney National Park. Having lived in Killarney Heights in Sydney for many, many years it was wonderful to see the origin of the name. The views of Killarney Lake were very beautiful. The town itself was a huge disappointment with gridlocked traffic and huge resort style hotels dominating the streetscape. We were weary from our long day of driving so bypassed the mayhem to have dinner back in the sleepy village of Castleisland in its one restaurant that was open.
Stop #4: Craughwell, County Galway
We headed north from County Kerry towards Galway. After the previous day of driving the Ring of Kerry, we cheated a bit by using the motorway and also made the controversial decision not to go to the Cliffs of Moher along the way. Research had convinced me that these have become more of a tourist trap than other more spectacular cliffs around Ireland, with large crowds, a high wall making it hard to see and timed entrance fees which meant it was harder to be spontaneous on the day. Instead we headed straight to Coole Park and Thoor Ballylee (yes, more Yeats’ connections) and had a thoroughly wonderful day for it.
Coole Park
This is a 1000 acre parkland nature reserve which was once the stately manor home of Lady Gregory, Yeats’ longtime collaborator and mentor. While the huge estate was sold and demolished many decades ago, her legacy of the very beautiful woodlands and unusual turloughs (seasonal lakes) remains as a national park. Of course I had to come here when “The Wild Swans of Coole” is one of my favourite poems and to see the inspiration for those lines made for an incredibly moving day.
There is a museum dedicated to Lady Gregory which gives wonderful insight into her character and the many fascinating literary guests she regularly hosted at Coole Park. And from there you can do three different trail walks depending on time and fitness. We went with the 4.5km Seven Woods Trail which took around 1.5hours and took us down to the lake in search of the “nine and fifty swans”. Actually there were only two spotted as it was the wrong time of year. The migratory birds, including the swans return to the lake in Autumn so I’m not sure if these two got lost or couldn’t be bothered migrating. Whatever was the case the fact they made the effort to be there for my reveries was greatly appreciated.
Thoor Ballylee
This 15th Century Norman Tower house was bought and lovingly restored by Yeats and his family in 1916. It is one of the most special literary treasures in Ireland. I was surprised and disappointed to hear from the lady at the ticket desk that the whole place is run by volunteers because the Irish government no longer wants to invest in buildings of significance. Having spent so many years reading about Yeats’ time in this area meant the visit was like a dream. The building is impressive enough as a Norman structure but the fact that so many references are scattered throughout Yeats’ poetry, especially in his later collection “The Tower”, made every nook and cranny extra meaningful. It is a strange and magical house; the woodlands and gardens add to the charm.
Craughwell and Galway
Craughwell was our home for two nights at the Doonard Manor BnB; a very small village about 30 mins outside of Galway. It has 2 pubs, one service station/supermarket and not a lot else. We also soon discovered it is not particularly well serviced by public transport as we planned to spend a day in Galway without our car (so we could enjoy a tipple and some of the music which it is so famous for). There was one coach coming from Dublin Airport we could book a ticket on around midday and then one train stopping at Craughwell Station around 7pm so we had to be on that. There is no such thing as an Uber or taxi so these were well executed plans to say the least.
We had a fabulous day in Galway – it stands out as one of our favourite towns in Ireland. The vibe from the moment we hit the streets was vibrant and energising. There were buskers galore adding to the atmosphere and the main few streets were pumping with people happy to be out and about in the rare sunshine.
We wandered around the streets for a couple of hours. The city was extra jam packed with a Pro Palestinian protest as well as the local Saturday crowds.
By the late afternoon we were ready to hit a few of the bars and pubs so we could imbibe and listen to some trad music. We visited one pub and sat where Prince William and Princess Kate had once visited then found another pub for some Guinness (for Glenn) and mussels.Our final stop fulfilled the brief with a great local band before we had to catch our train back to our sleepy little village before turning into pumpkins.
Stop #5: Grange, County Sligo
Our drive from County Galway to County Sligo took us through some of the most beautiful landscapes in the whole of Ireland. We went from Craughwell to Clifden where the the misty winding roads would suddenly reveal fog covered mountains and wide navy loughs. Sheep seemed to precariously dot the steep craggy hills.
We stopped at Letterfrack so we could hike the Lower Diamond Hill trail overlooking Ballynakill Bay and beyond across the North Atlantic Ocean. We realised from where we stood the next closest land mass was Greenland so probably the closest I’ll ever get to there! The trail is pretty easy and most of it has wooden boardwalks so stops your feet sinking into the soggy peat after the regular rainfalls.
The view from the top of Lower Diamond Hill hiking trail, Connemara.
The landscape slowly changes as you drive through the loughs and high passes of Connemara into County Mayo. The hills flatten out a little and the town of Westport seems to burst out of nowhere with its Georgian terraces and bustling streets after what feels like miles of nothing much. It was a long drive to Grange in County Sligo but I’m so glad we did the longer picturesque route as the verdant green, rolling rain, misty hillsides and loughs were a sight to see.
Now they ride the wintry dawn
Under Ben Bulben, WB Yeats
Where Ben Bulben sets the scene.
Drumcliff Cemetery
The final stops in my Yeats’ trail were in County Sligo. Drumcliff Cemetery is his resting place as predicted in his poem “Under Ben Bulben” written in 1938. The cemetery was significant as his grandfather had been rector of Drumcliff Church. His wife Georgie is also buried with him and there is a moving memorial sculpture next to the cemetery.
Yeats’ Grave
The final lines of “Under Ben Bulben” are engraved on his grave, “Cast a cold eye/On life, on death/Horsemen, pass by!”. Over the stone wall of the cemetery you can certainly see the imposing rugged table top mountain of Ben Bulben so he wrote his own reality even in death.
We also took a long walk along Streedagh Beach which is famous for the shipwrecks of three of the vanquished Spanish Armada ships in 1588 who were attempting to return to Spain. The sailors that didn’t drown were brutally murdered by English troops stationed in Sligo. The beach today was full of young laughing kids learning how to surf from an Australian so it was a bit of surreal contrast to the tragic past recounted on the memorial.
Ben Bulben
The mountain of Ben Bulben follows you around County Sligo like Mona Lisa’s eyes. Everywhere we went, it loomed in the distance with a constantly changing face as the clouds and mist moved across and over throughout the hours. It is such a striking force in the landscape formed by shifting glaciers during the Ice Ages. Like Cape Town’s Table Mountain it provides a mesmerising, magnetic draw card to every vista in the area. There is a fantastic walk that goes around the base of the mountain and into the forest so we spent around 1.5 hours hiking the trail.
Stop #6: Belfast, Northern Ireland
Our final stop on our Irish Road Trip was the capital of Northern Ireland. Strange to suddenly be back in the United Kingdom when we crossed the “border” just before the town of Omagh and saw the Union Jack fluttering off every street light and our car automatically turned the speedometer to miles. Northern Ireland has many scenic areas but we didn’t have time to visit any of those and went to straight to rather unattractive city of Belfast. You don’t go for the views but rather for the recent history which has defined this part of Ireland. It is a port town and dominated by the shipyards of Harland and Wolff. The yellow crane over the harbour is an iconic symbol of the city.
The city centre
Belfast city centre is pretty small so you can walk around the whole area is about an hour. There is a big town hall, a wonky clock tower and a busy pedestrian shopping strip. The Cathedral Quarter had lots of bars and restaurants built in old workers factories and warehouses which gave them an authentic grungy feel. We stayed right in the heart of the city at a cool boutique hotel and bar called the Bullitt Hotel which strangely had bullet holes in our windows as a “decorative feature”. Apart from that it was the perfect base for our three days.
Titanic Experience
The main attraction in Belfast is the Titanic Experience because the Harland and Wolff shipyards built the famous ship that sunk on its maiden voyage. The museum is set in the Queens Quay area which is a nice waterfront region which has been dramatically transformed from an array of shipyards into a commercial and residential area. It is also cashing in on having the film studios where “Game of Thrones” was filmed so there is some amazing stained glass panels representing the show set up across the quayside. The Titanic Experience started a little chaotically with so many tourists all being crammed into these small rooms at the beginning but by the end I found it incredibly moving and respectful of the tragedy of this devastating historical event. The final rooms provided personalised histories of many of the victims and survivors and the search for the submerged wreck was fascinating.
Falls Road and Shankill Road
These are the infamous roads that became representative of the Troubles in the 20th Century. It is crazy to think how many innocent lives were lost over this political and religious conflict but when we walked these roads for a couple of hours on our last day in Belfast, the tensions still felt palpable.
We started on the Falls Road which is the Catholic side of the neighbourhood. There are many murals and gardens memorialising the years that consumed Irish history. It wasn’t until we walked along the Shankill Road on the Protestant side and towards the so called “Peace Wall” that it really hit home how divisive this war was and to be honest still seems to be. They might have struck a peace agreement but the whole area felt very tense and strongly shaped by many years of terrorism and violence.
I was shocked by the length and height of the wall which remains today. It is over 20kms long and while the curfews have long gone I’m not sure why the wall and gates still remain. There was one memorial hidden away of the Shankill Road which was bitter in its descriptions of the atrocities wrought by the IRA. It also had a lot to say about the peace accord and Tony Blair’s Labor government betrayal of the people. I was naive to how deeply these wounds were still felt.
Final thoughts on our Irish experience
It may be small but Ireland packs a mighty punch in terms of scenery and experiences. The opportunity to stop or at least pass through many of the combined 32 counties of Ireland and Northern Ireland meant we got to see lots of the unique landscapes and villages across the island. With hindsight we could have taken another week to include more of the southern counties of Ireland as we missed Cork, Waterford and Wexford as well as not getting enough time to include some day trips to the Aran Islands, the cliffs of Slieve League or the Giant’s Causeway. We also learnt that the most interesting drives are also the hardest so pretty exhausting to be doing every day. It is good to build in some ‘rest days’ where you can just do some hiking, walking around towns or joining in some tours where someone else does the driving and planning. My favourite days were those spent in nature – Howth Cliffs, Kerry Cliffs, Coole Park, Thoor Ballylee and Ben Bulben. There is something so replenishing being surrounded by so many different shades of green. I also could never get enough of the beauty of the heaths – the low carpets of purples, yellows, pinks woven through the green gorse and rocky outcrops made the vistas fill my heart. To trace the footsteps of one of my favourite poets across country was also so special and brings an even greater understanding of his words.
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