Our daughter, Dorothy, and her husband, Bill Senf, had bid on and won a stay in Ireland in the house of a Catholic priest. They invited us to go with them and their sons, Will and Thomas, and we had a delightful trip with them.
Monday, July 1--Our trip to Ireland was with Dorothy, Bill, Will and Thomas. They had bid on and won a stay in a house in Ireland at a charity function for the Art Museum in Laurel. The house belonged to a Father Pat O'Shanessy and was in Loghill, near Foynes on the Shannon River (or estuary). We spent the night Sunday at a Best Western Executive Inn in Memphis where we are going to leave the car during our trip. They are charging only $35 for the ten days with shuttle service both to and from the airport. Our plane didn't leave until 10:30 so we didn't have to be at the airport until around 8:00. There were no problems getting through security, and each of our bags weighed less than 40 pounds. After we got through security we did see Dorothy and family and actually left from the same area although they were going through Newark and we were going through Chicago. Their plane was delayed by weather for an hour or so. Our layover in Chicago was long--almost six hours--but uneventful. We had a good lunch soon after our arrival. The flight was also long but uneventful. We had the economy plus seats and the extra leg room is nice.
Tuesday, July 2--We arrived in Shannon about an hour early because of a tail wind. Dorothy and family were already there and we met at the baggage claim area. Customs were almost a non-even. We each retrieved our cars. Dorothy had to go on the shuttle to get hers, but ours was in the lot. We used the directions we had printed out and each made our way to the priest's (Father Pat's) house in Loghill where we are staying. It really is two separate houses. Dorothy and family have the larger one, and Tom and I have the smaller one. We have two bedrooms and a couch that makes a bed in the living room with a kitchen and bathroom. Dorothy has three bedrooms (I think), two bathrooms, a living room, a dining room, and a kitchen. We were all tired and lay down to rest for about three hours. Around noon we roused to go eat lunch at the Shannon Bar in Foynes, to see the Flying Boat Museum, to stop at the pharmacy for a hairdryer for me and some things for Dorothy and Bill, and to stop at the grocery store for some supplies. We were tired and didn't eat much supper. I've hard boiled some eggs and am eating them for breakfast and light suppers.
Wednesday, July 3--We said we'd get started at 8:30, but it was
nearer 10:00 when we finally left the house. Tom and I were going to follow Dorothy and family to Cahir to see the castle, but we lost her and spent almost an hour trying to get through Limerick since we missed the bypass. 
We finally reached the castle at Cahir about the time that Dorothy and family were leaving, so Tom and I explored the castle while they went off to do other things including lunch. When we finished at the castle, we went for lunch and I think ate at the same place they did--Shamrock Pub I think. I had a delicious open faced tuna sandwich and Tom had a chick salad sandwich. We tried to get iced tea, but ended up with a cup of hot tea and a glass containing a few ice cubes. While we were eating a man came to our table and talked for about 15 minutes about things we should see. He finally left when we finished eating. After that, we went to Cashel to see the Rock of Cashel. This was a huge religious complex built on top of a large limestone rock. The first buildings were built in the early 12th century and the later ones in the 15th century. There were five buildings--Carmac Chapel, a cathedral, a round tower, a dwelling for the archbishop, and a dwelling for the chorus members. We drove back and then ate with the Senfs at a different pub in Foynes.
Thursday, July
4--Even though we try to start early, we can't seem to do it. We did manage to get started around 9:30. 
Our day's aim was to see the Cliffs of Moher--which we did. Luckily, Dorothy's GPS told us to take the ferry from where we are across the Shannon, which probably saved us almost two hours of driving. However, once we reached the other side, we must have taken a wrong turn because the roads we got on were the one lane overgrown roads that are very, very slow. We didn't realize that we'd done "wrong" until the way back when we came on much better roads and in half the time and probably a fourth as much stress. When we reached the boat rides in Doolin, we found that there were three different lines, and Dorothy had trouble finding the one that she had reserved. It turned out that the one she had reserved had a small boat and was not going out since the water was so rough. We were able to get a place in a larger boat that was going out. Tom didn’t go on the boat.
It was a good trip, but the water was so rough that half the passengers were sick. Bill and Dorothy were both sick. Will was scared, and Thomas and I enjoyed it thoroughly. I sat outside the entire trip, and Will and Dorothy joined me outside for part of the trip.
After the boat ride, we ate some lunch--everyone except Tom in a pub, and Tom in another cafe he found. After eating, I found Tom in the cafe which was also a craft shop, and he bought a very nice, Irish wool, made on the western coast sweater. We went to a cave that contained Ireland's largest stalactite.
We then drove to the tops of the
cliffs where we could look down on the area we'd cruised. We drove back to the
ferry on the better roads, and rested before going to bed. This driving is exhausting.
Friday, July 5--Dorothy and family went to take a Viking Tour in Limerick City, but Tom and I decided to drive to Adare and walk around and then meet them at The Mustard Seed in Ballingarry. We enjoyed toasted Brie and bacon for me and tuna for Tom for lunch and then walked around. We walked out to an old friary that is now used for a modern school (sixth grade). The church part is still in use by the Church of Ireland. It was an interesting church with the altar and what looked like choir benches set back from the nave and pulpits in almost a separate room. Another church had a large wedding that lasted just about the entire time we were in town. Some people arriving for the wedding stopped to ask us where the church was! Luckily we'd just passed it and could tell them. We bought ice cream while listening to an older man play the accordion and watching a mime. We sat at tables at the Tourist Information building where there was wi-fi and they brought us free water. We then went to the post office for stamps for post cards and where I mailed the first batch of cards. I then decided I wanted to buy an Irish hat I'd seen earlier so we walked back and bought it and then decided to return to the house to rest and to change clothes before dinner. I tried driving and did pretty well until I hit something with the driver's side mirror and lost the back of the mirror. We met Dorothy and family at The Mustard Seed and had a delicious meal.
Afterward we drove back and went to bed.
Saturday, July 6--We got a late start. Tom had decided to take a walk before we started, and Dorothy and I took her car to look for him. He was back by the time we returned. Tom decided to stay and rest so I rode with the Senfs to see the Burrens. It took about two hours to reach the area we wanted. It took us about two hours to drive to the Burren Center at Kilfenora where they had information and a video and exhibit of the Burren showing the history. After that we ate lunch at a pub suggested by the lady in the Center. It was very good and very crowded. In the crowd were several groups of women--one of which was doing some somewhat strange things such as one of them was spreading something on bread as fast as she should. There was a nun who seemed somewhat in charge of each group. I asked one of them what they were doing, and she said it had something to do with Father Ted--which seems to have been a very popular TV comedy series and is now immortalized in the public eyes. After lunch we visited the 11th century cathedral, where Thomas stepped in some still fresh cement that had been put over one of the graves. We then drove on to the Caherconnell Fort, which I think is a ring fort. It was several concentric rings in which a family lived. The rings were formed from stones. It was probably built in the 10th or 11th century, maybe not used for awhile, and then occupied again with new buildings in the 15th or 16th century. Our next visit was to the Poulnabrone Dolmen, which is a stone slab on top of vertical slabs and marked a burial place where over 30 bodies were found. This was placed in the midst of what seemed to be "typical" Burren landscape--stones with deep cracks between them. At the entrance to the Dolmen was an artisan making pendants and other things. We then went to the cave in Aillwee, which have only been open to the public since 1976. We started home, but it was late and we realized that we needed to stop and eat. We stopped in Kinvarra and ate at Keough's, which was top rated in my Lonely Planet. The food was really good, but everyone was quite tired and the light was beginning to go. Dorothy managed to get on some of the major roads for most of the way home and was able to get us back by about 10:30--just about full dark time. Tom was still awake, but had managed to get food with a big lunch. He had a chance to watch some hay baling.
Sunday, July 7--Our milk had soured, and Tom wanted to go get a
breakfast at the pub in Foynes so we could have an Irish breakfast. My
breakfast, which is shown, was a full breakfast with rashers, white and black
puddings, mushrooms, tomatoes, beans, and eggs.
Dorothy and family drove toward
Dublin--maybe to go all the way--while Tom and I went the other direction. We
took the ferry over the Shannon again and headed west. We probably droveabout 50 miles
each way, but we went all the way out to the lighthouse on the tip of the
peninsula.On the way, we stopped to ride a train pulled by a steam
locomotive. One of the men on the train told us that we were supposed to say, “Hello, Mr. Magpie" when we saw one. He also told us this: "One is for sorrow, two are for joy, three are for girl baby, four are for a boy baby, and five are for a story that is yet to be told."
The lighthouse was on the tip of a peninsula that was bordered by the mouth of the Shannon River on one side and the Atlantic on the other side. It was called Loop Head. From the top we could see the buildings of the lighthouse keepers--now used only by a caretaker--the Atlantic Ocean, and the mouth of the Shannon River. It was possible to see where the Shannon water and ocean water met. The Atlantic side was much louder, and the cliffs were at least as beautiful as the Cliffs of Moher. We drove back to the ferry and had supper at Taste, a restaurant in Glin, which is right before Loghill where we are staying. Dorothy came in late, and they had gone all the way to Dublin.
Monday, July 8--We were all going to make a drive around the Ring of Kerry, but Dorothy and family started about 30 minutes before we did because Tom wasn't ready and didn't want to hurry his shower. We drove to Tralee and then to Killorgin to begin our circle. The roads were pretty good the entire time. We stopped once to use the rest room and couldn't resist some delicious looking lemon tarts made locally and just as good as they looked. Our first stop on the Ring was not really a stop, but we drove out to the Cromane Peninsula to see a restaurant that was an old Coast Guard station. There really wasn't much to see and the restaurant was closed. We next stopped at the Kerry Bog Museum, which was a recreation of a bog village and very interesting. There was peat stacked against the sides of the houses. There was also a Romany wagon on display. We tried to find a beach that was supposed to be pretty, but missed it and saw some other also pretty beaches.
We then went on to Ballycarbery Castle, which is a ruin, where I enjoyed climbing up in it.
(For more pictures of Ballycarbery Castle click on the image.)
Near the castle were two ring forts, and we visited the smaller one (Leacanabuile), but only saw the larger one from a distance.
From the ring fort we could see the Castle.
There was a group of American students from Virginia, New Jersey, and North Carolina there. It was more complete than the ring fort I saw with the Senfs and the first one Tom had seen. We didn't even try to visit the other one (Cahergall), which was larger, but newer--10th century rather than 9th century because it was farther away, and we didn't see a clear path to it. They seemed to be renovating it. We decided not to try to go to Valentia Island, but turned south and enjoyed some beautiful seascapes. We had thought we'd eat a late lunch at Scariff Inn, which was said to have a really great view, and did, but it was closed so we went on to Sneem where we had open-faced smoked salmon sandwiches. It was good, but not outstanding. From Sneem we drove on toward Killarney through beautiful lakes and woodlands--some of which was in the Killarney National Park--and then to Glin and back home. I really wanted ice cream so we went to Shannon Bar (Pub) in Foynes for ice cream, wi-fi, and orange juice in the grocery store. We came back to wait for Dorothy and Bill.
Tuesday, July 9--We all drove down to Cork to see the Blarney Stone and Blarney Castle. Tom and I had not really been sure that we wanted to go, but it did seem a pity to be in Ireland and miss the Blarney Stone.
(Click on the picture to see more pictures of our visit to Blarney Castle and the Blarney Stone.)
We got to the castle before noon, and spent an hour in a crowd climbing very narrow and steep stairs to the top of the Castle where the stone was. Once at the stone, two men were there to help. One took pictures and the other helped people lie down and then maneuver to kiss the Blarney Stone. It was necessary to lie on one's back and lean backwards with the head leaning back to reach the stone. Tom, Dorothy, and I all tried it, but Tom and I didn't actually reached the stone to kiss it! We had heard things about how dirty it was and just kissed the air. After walking around the Castle grounds for awhile (Senfs and I did--Tom went to the car to rest) Tom and I went for lunch. We decided that it would be better to separate so the Senfs could do what they wanted. After lunch we went to the Blarney Woolen Mills where Tom had hoped to buy some wool shirts, but found that they did not make them. He did buy a cap. We went back to the house and packed for going home. We ate our supper at the Shannon Bar in Foynes since we had sort of come to think of it as our "home pub."
Wednesday, July 10--We left the house at 5:30 am and it took about an hour to get to the airport. It was after 7:00 by the time we'd all turned in our cars and taken the shuttle to the airport itself.
Our plane left a few minutes after 9:05, when it was scheduled to leave, but we had no problems at the layover in Newark or in picking up our car. We were all on the same flight. We had left our car at the motel, and the shuttle only took about ten minutes to pick us up. Dorothy had left her car at the dealership for some work and they brought the car to pick her up.