WATERFORD TO DOOLIN

25 May 2023 – Doolin, County Clare
We usually have 4-5 hours between check-out time and
checking in time at our next destination, so I always do some
research to see if there are things of interest we might look
at along the way. That’s how we discovered the FOTA
Wildlife Park. We saw an adorable baby giraffe that was just
4 weeks old, an amazing Great White Pelican over 4 feet tall
and a clever way to exercise and feed the cheetahs—the meat was hooked to a fast-moving rope and pulley about 15 feet off the ground so they had to chase after it.

It was suggested that we stop in the charming town of Cobh
before going on to Cork. We ate at the Titanic Bar & Grill in
the old terminal where the last 123 passengers boarded the
Titanic. We also discovered that Cork has the deepest
natural harbor in the world. We stayed at the Imperial Hotel
in downtown Cork and it was quite elegant, hosting many
celebrities including Charles Dickens, JFK and Grace Kelley.
It also had the nicest breakfast we’ve had so far, with a “bird
cage” filled with pastries, yogurt and fresh fruit
accompanying our eggs and sausage.

We are great fans of Kerrygold Irish Butter so of course we
had to stop at The Butter Museum. We happened to catch
and join a tour for students from Brigham Young University,
got to watch butter being made by hand and even got to
taste it on my favorite brown Irish Soda Bread. Yum! Then
off we went from Cork to Killarney.

We took a day off to get laundry done and give Gary a break
from driving, because the following day we did the 111-mile
loop called The Ring of Kerry we’d read so much about, with
several little side trips to beaches, forts, castles and the
fascinating Skellig Ring. We passed through Waterville
where Charlie Chaplin spent many years, and then drove
through Killarney National Park with its beautiful lakes and
mountains. A very scenic day…and lots of driving, so, with a
quick stop at Ross Castle, we were glad to get back to the
Hotel Killarney that evening.

We then drove to one of our favorite stops so far, the little
seaside town of Doolin. For the first time, we stayed in a
local B&B and we couldn’t have felt more welcome. We had
to backtrack a bit that first night to take part in a wonderful
Medieval Dinner at Bunratty Castle. The food was delicious
(4 courses called “removes”) and the only utensil we had
was a knife. So we sipped potato soup from the bowl, ate
spareribs with our fingers, stabbed the chicken and
vegetables with our knife and finally were given a spoon to
eat a tasty apple dessert while listening to superb, costumed
singers accompanied by a Celtic harp and fiddle (video below). We had a
really good time!

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We slept in a bit the next day (as we often do), but we got
moving more quickly when we discovered we could take a
boat tour to see the renown Cliffs of Moher. They tower
some 702 feet above the wild Atlantic Ocean below. The
“weather fairies” have been very good to us most of this trip
and the day we chose to go was no exception. (The day
before the mist was so thick that one could not see them
from the top or the bottom.) The tide was coming in so we went through
some large swells and found we still have our “boaters’
legs!” We spent over a half hour hearing about the Cliffs
(formed 319 million years ago) and the various seabirds that
nest there (over 30,000 pairs), including fulmars, falcons,
choughs, ravens and puffins (which hadn’t arrived yet).

At the boat tour ticket office we picked up a brochure about a
“Music House Concert” and got the last tickets for that night.
We listened to 2 locals who’d been playing their fiddle and
flute together for over 50 years and told many stories about
the importance of traditional Irish music. It played a huge
role in the survival of the poor Irish countrymen. Their music
brought everyone together and they often danced all night
long. I later Googled the name of the man’s house we were
in…Christy Barry…and only then discovered he is “a
legendary Irish flute player” who spent many years in New
York, Chicago and Los Angeles, establishing the original
Irish music there. He’s been back in his native Doolin for
many years and has helped Doolin become a “mini-New
Orleans,” attracting musicians from all over the world to
come sit in on sessions. He is also quite a master at playing
the spoons (click on video below)! What a delightful evening it was!

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The joy and humor from that evening in Christy Barry’s home
and the heart-warming hospitality we felt during our entire
stay in Doolin was very contagious and we are still carrying it
with us.
In closing, here’s another favorite Irish blessing:
May the roof above us never fall in,
And may the friends gathered below it never fall out.
Thanks again for traveling along with us!