doing, goingPaige MosbergJanuary 09, 2019road trip, ireland, traveling with a dog

A Wet & Wild Irish Road Trip

doing, goingPaige MosbergJanuary 09, 2019road trip, ireland, traveling with a dog

When I moved to Ireland, planning our Christmas vacation was priority numero uno. Michael had four weeks off of class and I assumed I would have some time off of work (I was wrong, I had a grand total of four days off). As I’m sure you all know, three of us moved here… and I wanted to spend Christmas with our third. Planning to move to Ireland with a dog was no joke. Planning a two week trip with a dog… also not a joke. So I got started.

First, I figured we would take a ferry to France and road trip up to the Netherlands to take a ferry back to England and then another ferry back to Dublin. Between the paperwork for Sage and the car rental ish, your girl was like “hell noooooo, sorry, I’m tired.” Instead, I came up with another idea – why don’t we drive around the rest of the country we are currently in?! Thus the planning began.

TL;DR - click here to check out our Ireland road trip itinerary

First, I had to come up with a list of destinations that we absolutely wanted to hit. Dates we wanted to leave, dates we wanted to be back. The hard part: finding accommodation that time of year on [relatively] short notice that would allow a dog. After doing some research online, reading a bunch of blog posts on other peoples’ Ireland trips, and hours upon hours of mapping out Airbnb’s and fitting activities into the shortest days of the year, I had a meticulously planned out itinerary for 11 days (which I’ll outline below, but bear in mind things went according to this plan maybe 60% of the time – and I was ACTUALLY ok with that!).

Day 1

9:00am: Leave Dublin (with our rental car) and head to the Wicklow Mountains

10:30am – 1:30pm: Hike in the Wicklow Mountains

1:30pm – 2:30pm: Visit Glendalough Monastic Site

2:30pm: Drive to Kilkenny

4:00pm: Visit Kilkenny Castle and Kilkenny

6:30pm: Drive to Borris (where Airbnb is located)

9:00pm: Drinks at O’Shea’s

Ok, so a few things went wrong on Day 1. The forecast had called for horrible rain and winds on Saturday all week. Michael also had his final final of the term the Friday before we were scheduled to leave. Needless to say, I didn’t build in time that would allow for hangovers. And also, Sage hates the rain so that hike at Wicklow was quickly vetoed from the plan. We ended up heading straight to Kilkenny in the afternoon. We got to the castle and the guard informed us they were closing in 15 minutes before the storm. We walked around Kilkenny’s city center a little bit, grabbed a few pints of the city’s namesake brew, and headed towards Borris. Instead of going to the Airbnb first, we stopped at O’Shea’s – a typical Irish pub combining a bar and a hardware store. They let Sage come in and we unwound with a pint of Guinness by the fire.

Our Airbnb was a private room on a farm in Rathanna. We had a lovely first night chatting with our hosts.

Day 2

8:30am: Leave Airbnb

10:00am-11:30am: Rock of Cashel

11:30am – 12:00pm: Hore Abbey

12:00pm – 1:30pm: Lunch

1:30pm: Drive to Blarney to check into Airbnb (3:00pm)

3:30pm – 5:30pm: Blarney Castle

6:00pm – 8:30pm: Dinner in Cork

Day 2 went pretty according to plan, except that Sage wasn’t allowed in Rock of Cashel, so we spent most of our time at Hore Abbey which was SO cool. It was a rainy day, so we were all a little cold and cranky by the time lunch came around. Fortunately, we found a spot in Cashel (super cute little town) that let us sit outside with Sage while we ate lunch. Mushroom soup, brown bread, and Guinness!

Our Airbnb that night was in Blarney since I couldn’t find anything that would allow dogs in Cork. We stayed on a working dairy farm. And it kinda smelled like it… although the completely remodeled space was gorgeous. We got lucky and the rain stopped when we got to Blarney, so we took advantage of the sun and headed to the castle. We were some of the last people there so we really got to enjoy the castle. Even though we hadn’t planned on it – we wound up kissing the Blarney Stone since we were the only ones in the castle and there was no line. If we had more daylight, I definitely would have liked to explore the grounds a little more, since I’ve heard they’re incredible. But the castle was our first and it was so much fun to really imagine what life would have been like.

We had dinner at Elbow Lane in cork – we didn’t have it planned, but it was a great find and we both thoroughly enjoyed our steaks!

Day 3

8:00am: Drive to Kinsale

9:00am – 10:30am: Breakfast in Kinsale

10:30am: Drive to Killarney

12:00pm – 4:30pm: Go for a hike in Killarney National Park and visit the Gap of Dunloe

5:00pm: Check into Airbnb

7:00pm – 8:30pm: Dinner in Killarney

8:30pm – 9:30pm: Explore Killarney (and see Ross Castle at night)

At this point we started realizing this trip wasn’t going to go as planned. We cut out Kinsale because it’s not like we would have been able to sit down in a restaurant for breakfast with Sage. It was a little rainy out, so sitting outside was not an option. We grabbed breakfast and gas from the Centra in Blarney. The rain also played a part in our hiking (or lack thereof) in Killarney. We also knew we didn’t want to leave Sage that much at night, so we went to Ross Castle during the day.

Gap of Dunloe – HIGHLY recommend. We drove it, but I think people bike it during nice weather. That would be extremely difficult.

We didn’t explore Killarney, but that night we did explore Killorglin – the town our Airbnb was in. Since we were staying there on a Monday night, we didn’t get to experience the tapas restaurant in the old church, but it was recommended by our host. If anyone gets a chance to go – please let me know how it was!!

scenes from ross castle and killarney national park

Day 4

9:30am – 11:00am: Breakfast in Killarney

11:00am – 3:30pm: Drive and explore the Ring of Kerry and the Skellig Ring

Our hosts left us eggs from their chickens, so we had breakfast in our Airbnb – farm fresh AND fiscally responsible! Of course, this driving day was GORGEOUS. A few roads were flooded so we detoured before we got onto the Ring of Kerry (saw some beautiful countryside). We added in a little spontaneous hike at Torc Waterfall. We stopped at Ladies View and Molls Gap, as well as stopping by the beach at Ballinskelligs Castle.

We stayed at an adorable Airbnb in Port Magee where our host had left us free tickets to the Kerry Cliffs experience which was across the street. We got to watch the sunset from the Cliffs, then we headed to Fisherman’s Bar for dinner (super awkward because we were clearly tourists during the off season, but Michael had the best fish and chips of his life).

Day 5

10:00am – 11:00am: Ballycarberry Castle; Cahergall and Leacanabuaile Ring Forts

11:00am: Drive to Dingle

12:30pm – 1:30pm: Walk on Inch Beach

2:00pm – 5:00pm: Explore Dingle

So, Ballycarberry Castle is not open to the public. No big deal, because we had so much fun at the ring forts! There weren’t other people when we were there, so we let Sage off leash and she ran up and down the stones and stairs and her fun was contagious. When we walked over to the Leacanabuaile Stone Fort second, there was a herd of sheep and I was sure we were going to get attacked - truly horrified, especially by the ram who hasn’t having any of us or Sage.

We obviously didn’t need an hour on Inch Beach, but it was nice to stop by AND it was sunny! As soon as we got to Dingle, the sky opened up. We holed up at Dick Mack’s in Dingle since they let Sage in. We had a nice conversation with another couple of Americans here on vacation.

Our Airbnb on this night was a glamping pod out in Annascaul, so we picked up some cheese and bread, wine and cookies, and headed back to cozy up for the night. Such a great time – but a little disappointing that it rained the whole night because we wanted to stargaze!

Day 6

9:00am – 12:30pm: Drive around Slea Head peninsula and through Conor Pass

12:30pm – 2:00pm: Tralee for Lunch

2:00pm – 3:30pm: Drive to Limerick

3:30pm: Explore Limerick

The drive around Slea Head peninsula was incredible. We stopped at Dunmore Head (a filming sight of Star Wars: The Last Jedi) and hiked up and around. It was amazing and horrifying – the muddy, rocky path had nothing separating itself from the sheer face of the cliff. We left Sage in the car for this (there were signs saying dogs were only allowed up to a certain point). We didn’t really stop in Tralee, I just grabbed us sandwiches and we ate in the car. We were so exhausted at this point that we skipped Limerick all together and just went straight to the Airbnb – which was a private room above Guerin’s Pub in Castleconnell. Paddy was the best host and barman!

Day 7

8:30am: Drive to Cliffs of Moher

10:00am – 12:00pm: Cliffs of Moher

12:00pm: Drive to Burren National Park

1:00pm – 4:00pm: Visit Poulnabrone Dolmen and Corcomroe Abbey, go for a hike

4:00pm: Drive to Galway

5:30pm: Check into The Twelve in Barna – room service kinda night

Paddy had given us the recommendation to stop at Bunratty Castle in Limerick, so we added that to the itinerary on Day 7. Michael and I did a quick tour of the castle, and when we were going to get Sage to walk around the rest of the park, I realized I had left my Fitbit in our room. No! Detoured back, then headed towards the Cliffs of Moher. Dogs are not allowed outside of the specified areas at Cliffs of Moher because of livestock on the neighboring private pieces of land. I was a little disappointed we weren’t able to do the coastal walk, but it’s ok – this was a FAMILY vacation.

The Burren was a dramatic change from the rest of the country. Limestone was everywhere – the landscape was wild.

In Galway, we were staying in a nice, dog friendly hotel called The Twelve. Since we were bringing Sage, we had to book a suite. OH MAN. It was so nice – huge juxtaposition from the accommodations we had experienced up until that point. which were all lovely in their own right. Pizza and wings for room service and some movies.

Day 8

10:30am – 4:30pm: Explore Galway

5:30pm – 7:30pm: Galway Christmas Market

7:30pm – 10:00pm: Night out in Galway

LOL what silly plans I made. I’m a DAY drinker, I should have known better. After our morning workouts (and laundry done behind the SuperValu), we took a cab from Barna to Galway and just walked around the city. We went to St. Nicholas’ Market, then found the Galway Christmas Market (disappointing). Had lunch at Cava Bodega – delicious. Bar crawled through the rest of Galway, and headed back to the hotel for our dinner reservation at West at The Twelve. Such a fancy, delicious meal. We annoyed the shit out of the somm who was doing our wine pairings.

Day 9

11:00am: Drive to Connemara National Park

12:30pm – 3:30pm: Hike in Connemara National Park

3:30pm – 4:30pm: Drive to Westport, check into Airbnb

6:00pm – 7:30pm: Dinner in Westport

We got lucky, once again, with the weather. When we got to the park, there was no rain. We did a 7km hike up and around Diamond Hill with Sage. It was v steep. The views were awesome. Despite being a scaredy cat, I loved this hike because Michael was so happy - this was all he wanted after driving through this gorgeous country. After our hike, we went to the SuperValu in Westport for supplies. It was December 23rd and we had heard that Ireland shuts down for Christmas. We bought 6 bottles of wine to last us through December 26th. Plus a bunch of pre-made meals and some snacks.

I was most excited for this Airbnb – we stayed at the Wood Hexagon right outside of Westport. We were surrounded by farms – cows, chicken, goats all roamed around. It was perfect – exactly as I imagined. We stayed in our Airbnb for dinner.

Day 10 (Christmas Eve)

10:00am – 3:30pm: Bike ride around Westport and Achill Island

5:00pm: Christmas Eve! Movies, grilled cheese, and bourbon 😊

Our bike hires were cancelled due to rain and Michael was sick all day. We’re pretty sure he got a bug from the instant coffee. So, after going back to the SuperValu (we ::accidentally:: drank half of our wine supplies the night before), Michael spent the day recovering and I spent the day reading and watching movies.

Day 11 (Christmas)

This was the day we planned to have a full lazy day – movies, snacks, wine. And we did! I made us our Christmas Eve tradition grilled cheeses for lunch (I wasn’t letting Michael eat grilled cheese when he was sick the night before). And we worked on Michael’s new 3D Harry Potter puzzle that the world’s best girlfriend bought him (it’s me, I’m the world’s best girlfriend). We just enjoyed every minute together in this secluded space. Watching the sunrise over the mountains in the distance, staying warm by the coal fireplace, it was just the definition of hygge!

Day 12 (St. Stephen’s Day)

So, we were planning on going to Ashford Castle on the way home, but we were both just ready to get back to Dublin. And, of course, Michael got sick again on the way home. We eventually made it, though, and thus concluded our Christmas vacation.

Getting to relive that trip was just so much fun – thank you for this opportunity. I thought I would be stressed out because I had such a detailed timetable, but it actually did the opposite. I was quite calm – I knew where we wanted to be and when, but the exact times didn’t matter. I had the most spectacular time seeing this country with my best friend and our pupper. There are places I know I want to go back to and explore more, and some places we didn’t get to see that we will have to at some point, but I wouldn’t change a thing.

If you are planning your own trip around Ireland, some of my favorite parts of our adventure were the drive through the Gap of Dunloe, driving around the Dingle Peninsula, and our hike in Connemara National Park. Something to remember when you’re planning these kinds of trips: be prepared. Be prepared for the weather – we knew we were doing this trip during a time when it would be particularly cold and wet, so we weren’t disappointed when that came to fruition. Another thing we had to consider (and when I say “we” I mean me) was the fact that we had limited daylight hours. 9am to 4pm were our prime times.

So much to see, so little time! If you need help putting together a trip around Ireland, feel free to email me or comment below – I’d love to make a crazy spreadsheet for you, too.

Paige Mosberg