May 20, 2025 - Today we're signed up for a bus tour with Paddywagon, to the Cliffs of Moher on the west coast of Ireland. I'm usually against bus tours, but it seemed like the easiest, most relaxing way to get to see the cliffs and I thought it was relatively cheap at $80 each. We met at the Paddywagon office on O'Connell (a 10 minute walk from our apartment) at 7:50AM. We had a few stops on the way and then we had lunch at the Frantic Chef, just 10 minutes from the Cliffs. We had an hour and a half to explore once we got to the Cliffs and then it was a beautiful drive along the coast. We had a final stop at Kinvarra before heading home (we were home by 8:30). It was quite a long day but I thought it was well worth it!
The Paddywagon!
Our first stop Bunratty Castle
Bunratty was a pretty little town where we could stretch our legs.
We drove through so many cute little towns
And we finally made it to the Cliffs of Moher
The trail is closed off at one end as it is too close to the cliff's edge and they are rebuilding the trail to make it safer. But we had plenty of trail that was open to hiking (about a mile and a half).
Everything is SOOOOO green!
I took a lot of pics of the cliffs
You could do a boat tour to view the cliffs from the water
There were a lot of people there
The rain held off until our drive home!
Really pretty drive home
lots of random castles
We sat in the front seat, which I really enjoyed since I love to take pics!
I can't get enough of all the stone fences that are everywhere!
more cool views from the front seat of the bus
We stopped for pics at the Murroughtuohy viewpoint
The road (R477) was extremely narrow. This wasn't even a very narrow spot, but cars would pull over as our huge bus came toward them. Sometimes the bus driver and car driver would have to fold in their sideview mirrors so they could get by.
such pretty views!
The Merriman Hotel has the largest thatched roof in Ireland
We stopped in Kinvarra to stretch our legs
nice colors
more colors
I liked the decorative framing around these windows
We stopped into a little bar for a quick pint of Guinness
The tide was out and these boats were high and dry. When I looked it up Kinvarra has a tide range of up to 14 ft. (We saw a 50 ft tidal range when we visited the Bay of Fundy in New Brunswick last year).
Dunguaire Castle in the distance
Kevin read an entire Jack Reacher book today (which he read on his phone)!
May 21, 2025 - Today we have reservations to visit the Guinness Storehouse at 10:15 then a 2:30 tour at the Kilmainham Gaol. We bought the Visitor Leap Pass at the Bus Office on O'Connell. It was $20 each for a 72hr pass which is unlimited on buses, trams and Dart trains around Dublin. We took the 13 bus to Guinness, and it was pretty easy to use along with Google Maps telling us which bus to use.
we of course had to sit on the second floor of the bus!
We made it to the Guinness Brewery
The Storeroom tour isn't actually a factory tour it's more of a museum. It's in an old Guinness factory, built around the old pieces from the brewery. In 1759 Alfred Guinness signed a 9,000 year lease with the city of Dublin with an annual rent of 45 pounds.
they used to use A LOT of barrels and had a large crew of coopers that built all these barrels. There was a nice exhibition that showed how this was done and they had video of a Guinness cooper making a barrel.
The harp is used as the emblem of Guinness
I liked this article that told how good Guinness was for your health. "Guinness builds strong muscles. It feeds exhausted nerves. It enriches the blood. Guinness is one of the most nourishing beverages"
Kev's been drinking a lot of Guinness since we got here. I guess he's building strong muscles!
We got a Guinness with our picture on the head
It was hard to take the first sip, but it was well documented so we won't forget it.
and we had a nice view of Dublin while we drank them
and then we got another free beer to drink in the 360 degree view bar on the roof of the storeroom
After the tour we stopped for lunch (and another Guinness) before taking the bus to our tour of the Kilmainham Gaol.
Another random castle across the street from the Gaol. It was the entrance to the garden of the Art Museum
The only way to visit the Gaol is with a tour ($7/each). We had the most enthusiastic tour guide I think we've ever come across. His name was Adam and he really told the stories of the jail, so that you felt it.
Kilmainham Gaol was built in 1796 and was a new style of jail, with individual rooms for each prisoner (although once it was in use they had to put many prisoners in each room). Men, women and children were all housed together. The youngest child housed in the jail was 3 years old.
The main hall was added later (and has been used in a lot of movies)
nice spiral staircase
Kilmainham's latest prisoner
The jail housed many prisoners during the Irish War of Independence (1919-1921). This was the area where prisoners were brought before the firing squad.
Quite an entrance
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