Seeing the Hertz courtesy bus stop, we walked over to it and waited for the bus. It didn't take long to arrive and picked us up along with 2 or 3 other hirers. We drove out of the airport precinct and to Hertz yard, where I was happy to see a large selection of cars. I walked in to arrange the car, while Mrs QF WP organised our bags - we just wanted to get on the road, as we were hapy to see the back of an aircraft for 10 days.I'd spent much of my waking hours on the flights reading Lonely Planet's Ireland to check where we'd be going and what there was to see.
We had organised a prepaid reservation over the Internet (AUD$741 for 7 days for a standard car, auto with unlimited miles, Theft Protection, CDW, VLF & Tax). This was my first rental car for 2 years, so I was a bit green about all the rigmarole that went with the booking. The staff were busy and quickly found the booking (after i handed over the prepaid voucher and my CC). We were given an Almera 1.8 with only 2,603 miles on the speedo, so we were happy.
After fixing up the mirrors, seats and putting the luggage in the boot (sorry, that's Aussie for trunk), we set off to find our way towards the N3...we were heading to Navan, Kells, Virginia (for lunch) and Cavan with our final stop Clones for the night. I had some initial problems with which way I was going on the N3, but finally headed in the right direction.
Part of the reason we chose Ireland for our honeymoon is my heritage - my father was born in Dublin and my grandmother (we believe) in Clones, Co. Monaghan - birth records weren't that good in 1892 and were mostly done by the Churches of the time. Being a Protestant in Southern Ireland also didn't help my earlier geneology trips to try and find those elusive Church records. I have always had a pull towards Ireland, particularly after I read th family history compiled by my grandmother before her death. Thus the reason for dual passports I suppose - to continue that link into the future.
Sorry, I digress. We stopped at one of the pubs on the Main Street in Virginia (where my great grandparents' family owned shops) for a truly Irish fare...a pint of Guiness and fish from the nearby Lough Ramor. That holds one of my grandmother's bracelets, dropped when she and her sister were being rowed around it in the early years of the century...I had to stop the car and get out to stand at the edge and tell my (now deceased) grandmother that I had visited again...I think my wife understood my need to do this as I had shared the story with her previously.
We had just purchased a Sony Digital Handicam DCR-TRV22E duty-free, so we were trying it out on the drive up the N3...always focusing on the sign-posts for where we were heading. We turned up the N54 just north of Cavan and headed for Clones. I won't bore you all with what we did in Clones, however we found a lovely B&B - Clonkeen Cottage (Anne & Liam Rooney) (tel: 047 51268 or email
clonkeencottage@hotmail.com). The rooms had ensuite with TV, electric blankets and hairdryers, complimentary refreshment on arrival, off street car parking, central heating and a breakfast menu.
Day 2 (Thursday): Clones-Monaghan-Armagh-Portadown-Belfast
We slept in to 8.30am, getting up to a full breakfast and started the day driving through Smithborough (another town with family history) and those listed above. I had never been north of Clones, so this was an eye-opener for me - Northern Ireland, somewhere I'd always wanted to visit.
Accomodation - Hilton Belfast
I had booked a night through the HH web site - King Deluxe Room for £118. We got there and after we had worked out the self-parking in the attached parking station (£9 p/n), made our way to the Reception with our luggage. Luckily, we were upgraded to a Club level room (thanks to being Gold HH) - Room 1209, looking out over the River Lagan and the Harland and Wolfe Shipyard (where the Titanic was built). It was heaven on a stick - we quickly ajourned to the Club Lounge for a refreshment to take in the view over the CBD then decided to walk a round the Hotel vicinity.
Looking in the tour brochures at the concierge desk on our return, we decided to organise a Black Cab Historical Tour for 9.30am the next morning (
www.belfastcityblacktaxitours.com, tel 0771 267 3178 or 028 9030 1832).
Day 3 (Friday): Belfast Tour-Larne-Giants Causeway-Bushmills
This tour piqued our interest in that it was going to show us both sides - the street murals on the Falls and Shankill Roads, the Peaceline, Sinn Fein Headquarters and be told of the situation from a neutral observer. Our cabbie was brilliant...definitely a disturbing tour but one well worth taking.
We'd eaten an enormous breakfast in the Club Room before the tour, but we made a visit after out tour for a final soft-drink and to stock our car with nibbles. We checked out and started the drive up the A8...after such a thought-provoking tour, we wanted to have the calm of a coastal road to settle us down. By the time we got to Giants Causeway, we were ready to stretch our legs and we certainly got that...quite a solid walk down and then back up the cliffs to the strangest yet awe-inspiring naturally produced volcanic structures...and this is when Mrs QF WP started to really suffer from the start of a post-wedding flu. We took it easy and had a late afternoon snack in the cafe overlooking the bluff.
We decided that it was time to stop and let Mrs QF WP get some rest. We drove through to Bushmills, but had trouble finding a B&B with a spare room. Ended up driving to a quiet coastal town on the outskirts and found one - Valley View Country House, 6a Ballyclough Road. Proprietor - Mrs Valerie McFall (
www.valleyviewbushmills.com; email
valerie.mcfall@btinternet.com, Tel: 028 2074 1608, Fax 028 2074 2739). All rooms had en suite with TV, hairdryer, tea/coffee making facilities, tea on arrival, NITB approved, non-smoking). [Directions from Bushmills: Follow B17 towards Coleraine, past Maxol service station, first road on left, 3 miles on right. From Ballymoney: Follow B6 towards Portrush, at Ballybogey turn right onto B67 towards Ballycastle, second road on right.]
We had a cuppa and then changed for the short walk to the nearby town to see what restaurants/pubs were open. We walked up and down the "strip" and decided on the best looking pub - and we weren't disappointed. Through the bar area was a downstairs restauarant and because it was a quiet night, we were the first there. The service was easy and unobtrusive in the Irish maner, the meal was the best one we had on the trip. Didn't write down the name of the pub or what we had, but we would go back there in a heartbeat.
Day 4 (Saturday): Bushmills-Coleraine-Londonderry-Strabane-Donegal-Sligo-Boyle
Well, we almost didn't leave Bushmills, as when we awoke, Mrs QF WP was feeling extremely sick and didn't even make it for breakfast. I took her back some yogurt an we debated whether to stay another night, but I suggested she have a sleep and we'd look at it later. I read more of Lonely Planet Ireland whilst I had another post-breakfast cuppa. About 2 hours later, Mrs QF WP woke up feeling well enough to travel, so we bade farewell to Bushmills and slowly made our way to Derry. By this stage, I knew I was up for most of the driving for the next few days.
We drove around Derry but didn't do much walking around (something we will go back to do someday) as Mrs QF WP was not up to energetic exploits today. I picked up some lunch from a cafe and we sat by the river looking back over the majestic walled city. Onto Strabane and south-west to Donegal on the N15, along the coast road to Sligo. By this point, Mrs QF WP was fading, so I chose to head down the N4 to Boyle. She had decided by this stage which of the B&B's she wanted to stay the night, so we were particularly fortunate when we turned up at Hillside House that although the main farmhouse was full, a second farmhouse on the property has a room vacant. We turned back into town to find The Stone House Cafe open. Needless to say, we both fell into a deep slumber soon after our return to the B&B, I remember thinking that I wanted to wake up without having caught the flu overnight...
Day 5 (Sunday): Boyle-Longford-Roscommon-Ballinasloe-Athlone
I remember this day well, another day of me driving and it was pelting rain so didn't auger well for sightseeing. Hit Roscommon around lunchtime and I was hoping to see Roscommon Castle, but the weather wasn't very inviting, so I walked around it instead (leaving Mrs QF WP safely in the warm car, rather than inflicting the elements on her delicate condition). Ballinasloe's name reminded me of the town in Australia where my mum's parents had lived in retirement (Ballina, New South Wales), so we had leisurely lunch here in a pub on the main street. We had decided to head to Athlone to base ourselves for the next couple of days (as it is called the central city of Ireland). Coming up off the N6 t Exit 5, we literally drove straight into our B&B (Bushfield House, Proprietors - Jim & Eucharia King, Blyry, Cornamaddy. Tel: 0902 75979, email
euchariaking@ireland.com ; website
www.dragnet-systems.ie/dira/bushfield ). [Directions - from the Dublin-Athlone Road at the Kilmartins Road Roundabout, head up the Galway-Cavan Road, turn left into Exit 5 slip road to the Blyry Industrial Estate and opposite Dan's Tavern].
That night we drove into Athlone and had decided to treat ourselves to a decent meal, so we searched the streets for a restaurant. We came cross Di Bella Italian Restaurant & Pizzeria, High Street, Athlone (Tel: 090 64 44830 ) obviously run by a family, where the service was excellent and the prices reasonable. Mrs QF WP fed her cold with a pasta, I had a pizza and we shared a bottle of red wine we picked up around the corner. No trouble with the local constabulary on the way home...
Day 6 (Monday): Athlone-Cavan-Bailieborough-Mullingar-Athlone
I wanted to do some up-to-date geneology on my ancestors, so we headed back to Cavan after a full breakfast. I had found the graves of my relatives in Bailieborough two years previously and taken pictures, but I wanted some digital ones to be able to email around to my relatives. I remembered the Church (at the end of the main street on the top of a hill), so it was relatively easy to find.
Standing at a family plot, reading the headstone depicting the life and death of your relatives (including 3 children who died under 5 in the late 1890's) is an emotional experience and this time was no exception. Again, my wife hugged me while I stood there contemplating what life would have been like back then...
Back on the road, it was a little more somber mood on the drive back through Virginia and onto Mullingar (somewhat famous for it's James Joyce connection). We cruised through this large market-town, onto the N52 and turned right onto the N6, back to Althlone.
Day 7 (Tuesday): Athlone-Dublin
Our last day in the Irish countryside was a leisurely trip back to Dublin - for our last night in Ireland I had arranged a booking at the Dublin Hilton. No hurrying his day, so we hit the outskirts of the city at about 3pm. Turning to the print-out of the booking confirmation and the "Directions to Hotel" I had downloaded from the Hilton website, we started around St Stephens Green but do you think that the map bore any resemblance to the actual streets - no such luck. After 15 to 20 minutes to being unable to find Charlemont Place, I used my global-roaming mobile phone to ring and ask for better directions. We had hoped to book in and then be able to walk down the Grand Canal to find a restaurant for dinner.
Accomodation - Hilton Dublin
I spoke to June (Reception), John (Concierge) and finally I got onto Eoin Little (Operations Manager). With his help, we eventually found our way to the correct streets (a lot of one way streets that had confused us). We parked our car in the underground carpark and walked to the lifts which took us to the lobby level. There we checked in and Eoin Little was there to introduce himself (a very nice gesture). I showed him the map that we had printed from the Hilton webite (last updated 29 May 2002) and asked him whether he thught it truly depicted the cluster of nearby streets - indeed, he had to agree with me. Given that we had wasted our afternoon in the car rather than at the Hotel and on the Grand Canal, and seeing that I was a Gold HH, he changed our rate from EU196 to EU150 and advised us that he would arrange a bottle of red to be sent to our room. He also advised that he would instruct David Webster (the GM) of the poor map reference and get it changed.
We had been allocated Room 309, into which we collapsed and within minutes the promised bottle of red wine appeared with the compliments of the GM - impresseively it was a Baron Phillipe de Rothschild vin de Pays D'oc 2001 Merlot. So we settled back, cracked the bottle open and ordered dinner from room service. We drank..and waited...drank more...and still no food after 50 minute (and little wine left), so we rang up to enquire where it was from Room Service. 15 minutes later it showed up, so we tipped the harried server and after I had eaten, I sat down to compose a letter to give the next morning at check-out a cronology of our experiences, together with the feedback form. I also advised them I wished to invoke the 30 minute guarantee on the in-room dining.