A few months ago I was browsing Kayak for flights (as I do regularly) and I found ridiculously cheap direct flights to Dublin. We had been talking about doing a Europe trip with Kennedy this year and figured this was our chance for an Ireland adventure. Delaney is as Irish as it gets so Nate was excited to see the land of his ancestors!
In our old life we were pretty spontaneous travelers, planning as we went, and barely stopped to sleep, but we knew that probably wasn’t the best plan with a 9 month old tagging along. We mapped out our itinerary for 3 nights in Dublin, 2 in Killarney, 2 in Dingle, and 2 in Galway. That would allow us to get a decent tour of the south, but at a nice leisurely pace incase the babe decided she didn’t like the 5 hour time change. Of course, she was a champ (even after a hellish trip over that ended up taking 16 hours instead of 8). We made sure to get a bassinet seat in a bulkhead row because we had a red eye on the way over. She slept awesomely in it and despite all the craziness she did great on the flights.
* For mamas who may be wondering about options for dealing with time change.* We kept her up late so we could stay out and about later and also so it wouldn’t be as big of a change from her normal home schedule. Huge perk to that, she slept in later so we could too! Everyone wins. We also picked places to stay that had food and drink options right in the hotel if needed.
Our first stop was Dublin and we stayed in the Conrad. I have ONLY positive things to say about this place. The place was gorgeous, food was awesome, and every single employee we came in contact with was more than helpful and happy to do it. This was our splurge for the trip, but we wanted a nicer place to stay to get adjusted and sleep well. Also, the location was great, we were able to walk to almost everything.
In Dublin we did lots of walking and eating. We toured the Guiness Storehouse and Teeling Distillery. Very different types of tours, but both great in their own way. The Teeling Distillery is apparently the only one still actively producing in Dublin. We toured Trinity College, but the Book of Kells was not on display due to “technical difficulties.” Not sure what that was about, I’ve seen it before so I guess Nate is going to have to go back another time!
We rented a car in Dublin to take us on the rest of our Ireland adventure. Our first stop was Killarney and it’s about a 3 hour drive from Dublin. We decided to take our time and a little detour on the way to the Ballymaloe House for lunch. This was the cutest house, restaurant, and cooking school set in the middle of beautiful countryside and fields filled with sheep. It was a drizzly day so it was the perfect stop for some coffee and soup and sandwiches. We checked out the scenery and stretched our legs before continuing on to Killarney.
In Killarney we stayed at The Lake Hotel, an Irish family run hotel right on Muckross Lake in Killarney National Park. We loved our stay there. It was a great location for exploring the cute little town of Killarney and some of the national park. This is where you would drive the Ring of Kerry if you wanted, but we decided against it since Kennedy was getting plenty of carseat time as it is. Instead we went to Muckross House and explored that area a bit.
From Killarney we continued on to Dingle. If I HAD to pick a favorite stop on the trip, this would be it. I have to keep myself from using the word “magical” constantly, but seriously this place was magical. Dingle is a small fishing town on the Atlantic Ocean. I loved the colorful streets and beautiful sunsets on the water. Surprisingly enough, there was some really good food here too. Our favorite place was this little cafe called, My Boy Blue. They serve breakfast and lunch and delicious coffee. Should you find yourself here, go!
There’s a smaller drive around the Dingle peninsula called the Slea Head drive. We decided to go for this one because we skipped the Ring of Kerry. I can’t compare since we didn’t do both, but this place did not disappoint!
We stayed in an Airbnb in Dingle. I’ve had lots of great Airbnb experiences, but this wasn’t one of them. We managed though and the place we stayed is no longer listed so not to worry!
From Dingle we headed on to our last stop in Galway. Per usual we just threw the address in the GPS and left. Before we knew it we pulled up to a ferry terminal. I guess a ferry ride was a part of our journey! It was nice to get out and take a break from driving anyways, and Kennedy loved it of course.
The Cliffs of Moher are situated between Dingle and Galway so that was a planned detour on our drive. I’m sure you’ve seen photos of this sight and I’m sure you know photos just do not do it justice.
We spent our last two nights of our Ireland adventure staying at the Forster Court Hotel in Galway. We enjoyed our stay there and it was an easy walk to all the touristy things while being just outside the old city walls so to me I feel like that means less ghosts! haha! I loved the history and Medieval feel to the city. We continued to eat and drink our way around the city and found some great places. One of our favorites was The Pie Maker. We were drawn in off the street because it smelled SO good!
During our Galway visit, we did a walking tour with Brian and loved it. We planned to do a lot more while we were there (like visit the Aran Islands), but I wasn’t feeling the best so we kept it simple. I love getting history from a local and Brian was funny and full of knowledge so we had a great time! He pointed us in the direction of some nice shops to get some gifts as well as the cutest wine and cheese bar. On our last afternoon we cuddled up in the wine bar tasting delicious cheese and wines. Doesn’t get much better than that!
Sadly, as they do, our adventure came to an end. We drove back to Dublin and prepared for our flight home. The flight was delayed a few hours so again, a trip that should have been relatively quick dragged out much longer. Such is life with air travel though and we eventually made it. Kennedy did wonderful on the trip back thanks to the good ol’ box bassinet. Nate and I even got a few minutes of sleep!
So there you go, our Ireland Adventure in photos as well as some rambling from me. We love to travel and thankfully have been able to do quite a bit this summer. Until next time, i’ll leave you with some assorted photos of Kennedy enjoying her time since there are no less than 500 still on my phone!
