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This is a shot I took flying from Chicago to London but over Ireland. I was so excited I had to take a bird's eye view of our vacation spot. You can kind of make out the shoreline of the western portion of Ireland.
This is our room in the Hiberian Hotel in Dublin. It had two twin beds. That was a great way to start an anniversary. We stayed here 3 nights before going on to Cappoquin.
This is the view out of one of our windows. The hotel was 8 blocks away from the heart of the town. The weather was sunny the whole time we were in Dublin.
This is a bar we wanted to eat at but was too full. They recommended another place for us about 2 blocks away and the food was incredibly good.
Horse carriages everywhere. I don't get it. Don't cars go faster ?
This is a government building in Dublin.
Lots of pubs have very secluded rooms for small groups. It's kind of nice to have your own space separated from others, especially with all the smoking.
Same government building at night. I thought it looked cool with the lights.
This is just some church in Dublin. There are a lot of buildings that I took photos of but don't know what they're named.
Case in point. It sure looks cool, but I couldn't tell you its name if my life depended on it.
This is Grafton street. Grafton and Nassau are probably the most touristy streets in Dublin. If you can't find it here, you can't find it in Ireland.
This is Grafton street again. Notice no cars. Lots of streets in this area are pedestrian only.
Here is Ron Black's Pub. The smallest pub in all of Ireland. It only seats 15 people.
Here Lisa and I are on a tour bus driving down the streets of Dublin. It was such a nice day to tour Dublin from on top of the bus.
Here is a former church that was converted into offices, including the tourist information office.
Here is Christ's Church Cathedral in Dublin. It almost seems that where ever you are, there is another building that is photo worthy.
To this day, I'm still not sure why I took this photo. I guess it was to document a street in Dublin and also catch other passengers on our tour bus.
This is another church. I kept this photo cause I think it's cool how the sun's rays are captured in the picture.
Another church. This is getting a little ridiculous. How many churches do you really need?
This is Heuston Train Station. Lisa and I took a train from here at 7:30am to Kilkenny where we spent the day. There are 4 train terminals here.
This is a monument for some guy who still refuses to admit that he was born in Dublin.
Here is the house of the President of Ireland. This is very close to Dublin zoo. Coincidence ? I think not. It is also very close to the American Ambassador's house.
You guessed it. Another church.
This photo didn't turn out that good. They have so many statues of people at major intersections in Dublin. They must have a lot of birds. ( birds always poop on statues )
Guinness owns a lot of land and buildings in Dublin. This is one of their main office buildings. I wonder if Irland would trade Guinness for Microsoft.
Here is another angle of Christ's Church Cathedral in Dublin. You gotta admit it looks pretty dog-gone cool.
Here I am enjoying a beer at the Guinness Hopstore.
Here Lisa is enjoying a beer at the Guinness Hopstore.
This guy didn't talk much but at least I found a local that would hang out with me.
At the end of the tour at the Guinness Hopstore, we had a couple of complimentary pints. I don't know why they called them complimentary ... they didn't give me one compliment the whole time.
I'm just hanging out waiting for them to open the doors.
We toured Jameson Distillery and had a couple complimentary shots of whiskey at the end. That stuff will sure wake you up in the morning.
Here is Lisa after the tour and on our way out.
This is Dublin castle. It is one of the very few castles that will let you take photos inside. The castle is located right in the heart of Dublin.
The interior was amazing. This is one of the hallways in the castle.
This is a room inside Dublin castle. They had most of the rooms ropped off and you could only look in from the hallways.
This was another very nicely done room. I should have brought my Burger King Crown and sat on the chair. Then people would respect me.
Another large room inside Dublin castle has lots of paintings on the ceilings and walls.
I grew up in Olympia Washington, so when I saw this ... well you get the idea.
Here is the Hiberian Hotel that we stayed at while in Dublin for 3 nights. It was very nice and the service was remarkably good.
Here is Trinity College where we did the tour of the Book of Kells and walked through the "Old Library". This was one of the most incredible tours in all of Ireland.
This is Lisa as we try to pick our seats on the train from Dublin to Kilkenny. It was a 3 hour tour, a 3 hour tour ... with Gilligan, the .. ah oops.
This is Lisa and me sitting on the train. The seats were very nice and the train was much better than I thought it was going to be.
This is the back side of Kilkenny Castle. They did not allow any photography inside the castle so I compensated by taking a lot outside. I'll show them.
My back was a little sore so I streched it out a little and some guy made of rock was making fun of me. I told him to get down and fight like a man, but he just put his hands on his hips and wouldn't move.
Here is the front of Kilkenny castle from the lawns in front. The castle originally was a fortress and had a wall in front to fully enclose a courtyard.
Here is Westminister Abbey. This church is still in use today and when we went in there were some people praying.
Here is a photo of Westminister Abbey from the inside. The photo really doesn't do the church justice. It was very breath-taking inside.
This is a photo of St. Cancis Cathedral. We also visited Black Abbey but I didn't get any photos of that church.
See the tower on the right in the photo above. This is a photo climbing up the stairs. It was very tight and I had to squeeze my big belly though the holes sometimes.
Here is a photo of the city of Kilkenny from the top of the tower. This must be the Kilkenny version of the space needle.
Here is another photo of the city of Kilkenny showing some of the homes that are connected down below. The homes are actually very expensive.
Lisa got in the way of this one ... You just can't take her anywhere.
In Waterford, we toured the waterford glass factory. Here are some show offs blowing glass in front of us. If you ask me, it doesn't look anything like a vase. Just a blob of melted glass. How hard can that be?
Here are some waterford glass factory workers cutting the glass. I asked one of them if he ever cuts the cheese. I was asked to leave shortly thereafter.
This is a photo of The Richmond House. It is the second place we stayed and Lisa and I both really liked staying here. The dinner was incredibly.
At The Richmond House, Lisa and I walked around the grounds enjoying the nice quiet environment. The gardens in back are very impressive as well.
Inside the Richmond House, we enjoyed the very nicely decorated interior. I took this photo on the top floor looking down to the first floor.
Lisa and I enjoyed hanging out at The Richmond House so much, that we decided to stay and eat dinner here instead of going into Cappoquin. The dinner was remarkable.
Leaving Cappoquin on our way to Cahir, we ran across a Monestary that is still in use today. It was very impressive on such a foggy day.
The monestary was so impressive that Lisa and I decided to get a closer look. We actually saw the monks doing their morning walk around the monestary.
We ran across these ruins on our way to Cahir and were just in awe with how it looked. We stopped the car and looked around for a little bit. We loved the fog that was in the air..
What a day, first the monestary, then the ruins, now an ancient burial ground. This place really is old.
We walked into the graveyard to look at some of the impressive headstones. Some are so old and decayed that you can't read the words on them anymore.
There was one area that was completely walled off for one family.
We went in and saw husband and wife buried side by side with children and other family members close by.
This is the chapel that is on the grounds. I guess they didn't believe in ceilings back then.
We finally make it to Cahir castle which is the most defensively built castles in all of Ireland. This was a very impressive castle to tour. They actually shot parts of Excalibur and Braveheart here.
If you look close you can see a cannonball that is stuck in the side of Cahir castle to this day from one of it's early on attacks.
Here is Lisa looking over on Cahir from one of the castles lookout points. To get here we had to walk through a four foot tall halway and stairs that was very dark and wet.
We stopped off at the Mitchelstown caves that go on for two miles in the rocks. Photography is prohibited inside so I took a shot of the entry way. Some of the caverns are very tall and wide formed from powerfull whirlpools.
In Kinsale, we ate at Crackpots which was a very nice dinner. We met a group of Americans touring Ireland on a golf tour here.
This is Kinsale and the pink building in the center is the Perryville House, our third place of lodging. Kinsale is a very nice town and is considered the gourmet capital of Ireland.
Here is the main area of downtown Kinsale with it's shopping stores and restaurants.
Here is Lisa in front of Blarney castle. This is a very tall and impressive castle. There are many small caves that wind underneath the castle.
Here I am showing how narrow the castle is. If you compare my arm span to the width of the castle, you can see that it's really only about 5 to 6 feet wide.
As we approach the castle, we realize how tall this thing really is. I hope those knights installed an elevator, cause that's a long way up there.
Once we made it to the top, we saw a really nice chateau in the background. You wont find something like that in Kirkland.
Here is Lisa kissing the Blarney stone. The Blarney stone is at the top of the castle and is called the Stone of Eloquence.
Here I am kissing the stone. I don't look so happy, but neither would you if you'd just placed your lips on a rock that a million other people had just slobbered on.
Here I am at the top of Blarney castle looking down inside. The wooden ceilings had long rotted out and just the empty interior is left.
This is a shot of one of the Blarney walls from the exterior stairs coming down from the castle.
Here is another shot of the trail leading up to the castle. Down there is where I took the first shot of Blarney castle.
Here is the entrance to some of the caves that run underneath the castle. They are very short, dark, and wet.
Here is the Fuscia House in Killarney which is the fourth place we stayed. Upon checking in, you are greeted with coffee or tea and ginger bread. It is a very nice and friendly Bed and Breakfast.
There is downtown Killarney at night. The city is very alive with young people and music.
Lisa and I had dinner at the Royal Plaza Hotel in downtown Killarney. The food was excellent.
After having dinner at the Royal Plaze we walked back to the Fuscia House and ran across a concert in one of the courtyards. The band is The Pottbelly Folk and they were so good, I bought their CD.
This is the front of the Mucross House that is by the Killarney National Park. The house is very nice inside and Lisa and I were very impressed with the tour.
Here is a small sturcture by the road in the Killarney National Park.
Across the street from the above photo is a stream with a bridge over it. A lot of tourists were stopped here taking photos even though it was raining because the area was so nice.
Lisa and I stopped at one scenic spot along the Ring of Kerry. The photo didn't turn out that well, but I assure you that the view is very nice here.
Another shot of the landscape while driving around the Ring of Kerry. I thoroughly enjoyed driving around the landscape because it was so incredible and nothing like I had ever seen before.
Close to Killarney in the Killarney National Park.
Close to Killarney in the Killarney National Park.
As we drove around the Dingle Peninsula, we stopped off and walked along the beach. The beaches are very similar to what you'd see on the beaches of Washington and the Pacific ocean.
I took another shot because I wanted to make sure that I got the mountains in the background. Lisa picked up a couple of shells that she found on the beach to take home.
Here is another photo of the beaches on the Dingle Peninsula. This one shows some of the houses that look over the water.
We visited a museum out on the Dingle Peninsula and saw a skull of a Wooly Mammoth that roamed the earth 30,000 to 40,000 years ago. Now that's a big mustache.
Here is a scenic spot while driving around the Dingle Peninsula. Not everybody knows, but I guess Poodles are part of the wildlife here in Ireland.
Here is the same spot as above, but showing the landscape more.
This is further up the road on the Dingle Peninsula and I thought the water and shore looked pretty cool here.
The landscape on the Dingle Peninsula is so cool, I just couldn't stop taking photos. I guess I was a little excited with how great everything looked.
Here we are on our way up Connor Pass on the Dingle Peninsula. I got a shot of how small the road is compared to the cars. It was pretty interesting driving on such narrow roads.
The amount of rocks in the ground amazed me the whole time. Here you can see some of the rocks that are on the surface where grass has just grown on top of them.
In the car, I turned on the music from Flashdance and Lisa started to boogey. She's quite the dancer when the right music is playing.
Here is the top of Connor Pass on the Dingle Peninsula looking over on the small lakes below.
Another shot of Connor Pass.
Another shot of ... you guessed it ... Connor Pass.
Comming down the other side of Connor Pass we saw a waterfall and Lisa got in the way as I was taking it's picture.
When the sun hits the waterfall just right, a greek-like god appears in front of it.
We enjoyed Dromoland Castle so much we didn't want to leave our room, so we had room service bring us up food for dinner.
Here is the front entrance to Domoland Castle and the new addition to add more rooms to the hotel.
This is one of the hallways in Dromoland Castle.
Lisa and I climbed out a window in Dromoland Castle and this is the roof of one of the sections.
Our room in Dromoland Castle was the full very top of the tower. We had greater than a 180 degree view of the grounds. The room was huge and very elaborate. It was the Deluxe Suite in the Castle.
This is one of the lookout points of Bunratty Castle. This castle is very large and overlooks a lot of land.
This shows a portion of Bunratty Castle that we weren't allowed to go on. I really wanted to jump over and walk up those steps, but Lisa didn't think it was such a good idea.
This is going back down from the tower in Bunratty Castle. I took this photo to show how steep and narrow the stairs are in these castles.
Here is one of the rooms in the Bunratty Castle that has been furnished to the way it would have looked when it was last occupied. We were not allowed in the room, so my photo is from the doorway.
This is the outside of Bunratty Castle. My camera was set for 8 second delay photo and sat on one of the courtyard walls.
Throughout western Ireland, you're bound to see large blocks of land that are covered with nothing but rock.
You can see that there is not shortage of rock here. Ireland use to be one big block of limestone before vegetation grew on it. No wonder the castles are so big - lots of resources.
The water was so blue and the grass so green at this point, I had to take a photo of it.
This is a small castle in a small town. We couldn't tour it because they were having a banquet here.
We drove past some marshy areas and there was so much of that orange stuff.
In the area of Connemara, we saw an old fishing boat that I think with a little work and set sail again.
Here you can see Kylemore abbey built at the bottom of a large hill. This use to be a place for nuns, but is now a girls prep school.
The abbey was pretty cool, but the chapel here was much more impressive.
You can see the detail on the outside of Kylemore Chapel is very impressive.
Inside the Kylemore Chapel, you can look at the incredible stained glass window art.
Colored marble fills the interior of Kylemore Chapel.
Downtown Gallway is very touristy, but still very nice. I enjoyed walking down the streets looking at all the stuff there.
Here I am at a Y in the street in downtown Gallway.
Our second night in Gallway, we ate at Cooke's. The food was excellent.
As we left Gallway, I took a photo of the hotel that we stayed in, The Gallway Bay Hotel. It wasn't that great of a place, but I did enjoy the scenery while I was here.
Lisa stands next to an award winning peice at the Belleck Factory.
Here is our room at the Jackson Hotel in Ballyboofey. The city is very close to the large city of Donegal.
Here I am leaning out of our room window at the Jackson Hotel. We had a view of the woods and river that flowed by.
This is the bathroom we had at the Jackson Hotel.
Near Dunfanagy is Horn Head Drive that goes out the very scenic peninsula.
Standing in the same spot as the above picture but rotated to the right.
Standing in the same spot as the above picture but rotated to the right.
Here are the city streets of Dunfanagy. The city looks much better when the sun is out so this photo really doesn't do the place justice.
Here is a shot as we drove out on Horn Head. This is northwest Ireland.
Here is a shot as we drove out on Horn Head. This is northwest Ireland.
Here is a shot as we drove out on Horn Head. This is northwest Ireland.
Driving out on Horn Head Drive, we were lucky enough to view a rainbow.
I took two photos of the rainbow to make sure that I would get it.
This is the tip of Horn Head. I think this is the northwestern most portion of Ireland.
Close up of the photo above.
Here is an island that can be seen off the coast of northwest Ireland.
This is yet another shot of the tip of Horn Head in northwest Ireland.
Killybegs, a major fishing village, smells like fish and yet has a nice atmosphere.
Not only are there a lot of fishing boats here in Killybegs, but there are a lot of nice homes here as well.
Here is the outside of Donegal Castle.
Here is the Old Castle Cafe in Donegal where Lisa and I had dinner.
This is the outside of The Jackson Hotel.
This is our room inside of the Belcamp Hutchinson Bed-n-Breakfast that is just north of Dublin. The furniture was incredible here.
This is the view of the grounds outside our room at Belcamp Hutchinson. The woman working here is extremely nice and pleasant.
Here I am drinking my very last guinness in Ireland. We are ate Smyth's in Malahyde just north of Dublin.
Here is Malahyde castle from the entrance. I took this photo to show the amount of land the family once owned. It is in public ownership now and open for tours.
Photography is not allowed inside during the tours, so I took a photo of Lisa coming out the back door.

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