August 2025: Our First Trip to Ireland: Day 6

Day 6: Thursday August 14, 2025

This morning started slightly later than recent mornings, but not dramatically so. The reality is most of us have to get up pretty early every morning, so early mornings are pretty habitual.

We all met for breakfast downstairs. This was by far the most comprehensive hotel breakfast of this trip. There was a pretty full hot buffet and a cold one too. I think we had all added breakfast to our rooms when we booked and it was definitely worth it.

Laura and Dad were pretty done with time in the car, but Nick and I were not going to not explore the area, so while Laura and dad took it a bit easier this morning, Nick and I headed for the car. Admittedly, I was also tired enough with car time that I had modified today’s plans. My original thought behind staying in Killarney was to drive the Ring of Kerry, but I had decided the night before to change things up to just see a few of the more local highlights, primarily within Killarney National Park.

Our first stop was about 10 minutes away: Ross Castle. We both really enjoyed walking around here, and we both agreed that next time we are here, we should do one of the boat cruises on the lake here. It’s a beautiful setting.

Next stop was a few minutes down the road. Or, at least the car park was. From the car park it was probably a 10 minute, beautiful (and slightly misty rainy) walk to Muckross Abbey. It was well worth it. It was pretty incredible to see the architecture, and the general scenery. And even more incredible to realize just how old that structure is.

From here, we headed further down the road. We tried to stop at Torc Waterfall, but the parking lot was completely full, so we continued a few kilometers further to Ladies View. Even in the rain, this view was pretty impressive.

 
We turned around here and headed back towards town, stopping for more scenery along the way.

Throughout this whole morning, we marveled at how narrow and curvy this road is, with the knowledge that tour buses drive it. This certainly wasn’t the only insanely curvy road I’d encountered during this trip, but by now, my nerves were pretty well shot. And on one of the very last really tight curves, I took the curve slightly too tightly, and scraped against the stone wall on the side of the road. Hearing that scrape along the back of the rental car was heart wrenching…and frustrating. I’d made it until the very last full day with the rental car…a car that was absolutely not designed for the roads we were driving. But…I’d joined the ranks of the many that damage a car in Ireland. We pulled over pretty soon after when we found a parking area. The damage wasn’t as bad as I’d expected, but it definitely wasn’t within the parameters of “expected” rental car damage. Bring on the paperwork.

We headed back towards the hotel, because that was legitimately our plan even before I had scraped up the car. Back in town, there was no open space in the car park across from the hotel, so we headed for another nearby car park. Even here, parking was extremely limited, and the parking spaces were really tight. Add in the very sensitive sensors on the car beeping at me, and parking was an incredibly stressful experience. Nick got out to help direct me, and eventually we got the car parked. But, the parking space was pretty narrow, so while Nick went to pay the meter, I climbed out the back passenger side. That was by far the most tense part of the trip!

We walked back to the hotel and actually found dad and Laura in the lobby. They were getting ready to go for lunch. We agreed to put our stuff upstairs and then meet them back in the lobby.

Once we met back up, we walked just a bit down the street to Tatler Jack. Much to dad’s joy, here we were able to sit AT the bar, a rare thing in Ireland. Lunch was excellent, even if Nick and I were not in the mood to be social. Nick had bangers and mashed and I had a steak sandwich that came with an amazing pepper brown gravy type sauce.

 
After lunch, dad and Laura went back to one particular store so dad could get himself an Ireland jacket that he’d seen earlier and Nick and I walked around some more, stopping in stores we hadn’t been in yet. I was able to get an Ireland t-shirt as well as a Killarney post card for our life skills program, which is collecting post cards. Then we went back to the hotel to nap, research the rental car damage claim process through my Chase Sapphire benefits, and start the nightly dinner debate via text.

We all settled on O’Donoghue’s and met down in the lobby before walking into O’Donoghue’s. Dinner here was very good. I know dad had shepherd’s pie (with chips…aka fries…because it’s Ireland) because he posted a picture of potatoes and potatoes and I’m pretty sure I had a ham and cheese toastie. Not sure what everyone else had, but there were no complaints.

After dinner, it was straight back to the Pigs Lane. We had a couple rounds of drinks and enjoyed the cocktails, chatting with the bar tenders, the atmosphere and the creativity with the cocktail garnishes. Seriously, this place is great. I’m pretty sure it was THE highlight of the trip for my dad.

Once we were done at the Pigs Lane, dad headed up to his room. Laura, Nick and I did some picture taking nearby and then heard music coming from the Scotts Bar Courtyard, so we went to listen. This ended up being a highlight for me. The music was good and the weather was perfect. But also, the name of the bar/courtyard connected to our grandparents, who were big on watching an Irish singer (Daniel O’Donnell) on some rural TV channel every Saturday night. They always said, as images of Ireland were shown during the show, that they wished they’d made it to Ireland. Grampa was so glad to hear we were going to be going to Ireland when we told him last fall. So, although there was no more connection here than a name, it sure felt special, and right, to stumble upon music in that courtyard, and stand there and listen to it.

When the set ended, we continued wandering, enjoying the weather and the buskers around town. We checked out a couple more pubs, looking around, but not actually sticking around, and then we got ice cream at Murphy’s. I know I got strawberry and that sea salt ice cream I’d tried in Galway. Not sure what Nick and Laura got. But we all enjoyed.

 
Then it was back to the hotel to pack and call it a night.

August 2025: Our First Trip to Ireland: Day 5

Day 5: Wednesday August 13, 2025

Today started pretty early. It’s the halfway point of the trip, AND it’s moving day again. We got up and finished packing, and then met downstairs for breakfast when it opened at, I think, 7:30.

Breakfast here was…more comprehensive than the hotel breakfast in Donegal, but still a bit lacking, and they were kinda unorganized for those who decided once they were already at the hotel that they wanted to eat breakfast there. But, we paid up and found some food. This was also a buffet, with some cold items, some sausage and bacon, some potatoes, and some poached eggs. I’m sure there were baked beans and tomatoes on the buffet line too (as two separate items), because that seemed to be standard.

Once we had eaten, we headed back upstairs to get luggage, and then met back in the lobby. While we waited for Laura, dad and I checked out and Nick headed to the parking garage to get the car so that we wouldn’t have to listen to dad whine about how far away the car was parked. We did get a parking coupon from the front desk that cut our parking cost for that particular garage by more than half. Pay attention to your hotel website folks!

Laura emerged eventually, having been on the phone with her boyfriend back home. She checked out and then we headed out in front of the hotel to wait a few more minutes for Nick. Of course a delivery truck pulled up in front of the hotel just before Nick did, but Nick was able to figure out a spot to stop the car. We loaded it up, programmed the GPS, and we were off!

It took a little over 90 minutes to get to our next destination, and the drive was reasonably uneventful. We got to the Cliffs of Moher around 10 am, which was definitely the goal. Everywhere I had read said that peak visitation is between 11 and 4. When we got there, the line to get into the parking lot, which is where you pay, was pretty short, and in really just a few minutes we were being directed into a parking space. We got situated, and then crossed the street and started taking pictures.

The Cliffs of Moher are definitely impressive. I know I’ve never seen another landscape like that. However, after seeing the cliffs along the Northern Ireland coastline…well…Northern Ireland won! But, the Cliffs of Moher was definitely a worthwhile stop. After exploring the cliffs, we explored the very chaotic visitors center (which, just like at Giant’s Causeway, was built into the hill), and even my dad bought himself a Christmas ornament. Woah!

By the time we were done exploring Cliffs of Moher, peak visitation time had started. Dozens of tour buses had descended, and the line to enter the car park stretched for probably a mile down the road in either direction. GET THERE BEFORE 10:30!!!!

Minds blown by the lines of cars and where they were directing people to park, we got ourselves situated in our car and had zero issues leaving the car park. We then settled in for the approximately 3 hour drive to our next hotel.

It was a pretty uneventful drive, and we were actually able to pull up in front of the Killarney Towers Hotel. WOAH. After unloading the car, Nick hopped in the driver’s seat and took the car over to the car park across the street while the rest of us hauled the luggage in and got checked in. Our rooms were all ready and check in was fast, so dad and Laura headed upstairs while I waited for Nick, who appeared a couple minutes later. We then wrestled the luggage over to the lift, and while waiting for that, Nick told me “you are doing a phenomenal job driving that thing. That car is WAY too big for this country and it feels 80 feet wide from the right side”. Apparently finding a parking spot had been an adventure, but he had, in fact, docked the boat…I mean…parked the car.

We found room 240 and…this room was nice! Definitely the most modern and upscale room (and, honestly, hotel) we stayed in this trip.

Once settled, the dinner debate began, and pretty soon everyone had settled on Murphy’s. We met up in the lobby and made our way to Murphy’s, admiring the adorable town we were staying in along the way.

Murphy’s was great. I had an excellent Irish stew and tried a Cronin’s cider (better than Bulmar’s, but not as good as Rockshore and Orchard Thieves). I think Nick had some fish and chips. No clue what anyone else had. But we all enjoyed Murphy’s.

 
From here, we continued our pub crawl of Ireland at Jimmy Briens. Dad picked it. This place had more of a sports bar feel to it, but was still really unique. I mean, how many bars in the States have tartan carpet on the floor?

From here, it was off to the “underground speakeasy” style bar that was basically connected to our hotel. It was called Pigs Lane. And we all loved it from the moment we walked in. Fun vibe, and all the staff were great. Unique drinks too. We were here for awhile and thoroughly enjoyed it.

 
When we left Pigs Lane, we wandered a bit more. Dad led us into a bar that had music live playing but…it was the music we heard at middle school dances and the bar was pretty grungy so while Dad and Laura (I think) stuck around, Nick and I headed out to explore town a bit. We did some shopping and both just enjoyed this cute town.

Eventually we headed back to the hotel, where we went to the other bar associated with our hotel: O’Donoghue’s. We had been told there would be live Irish music here. We grabbed a table and drinks (a rum and coke for me, a…something with alcohol for Nick). There WAS music. And while it wasn’t quite what either of us were looking for, it wasn’t terrible. And the drinks weren’t either. We stuck around for a few songs before calling it a night.