Knappogue Castle

Knappogue Castle is a 15th century tucked away in County Clare. The castle was built in 1467 by the Macnamara Clan, who also built Bunratty Castle. The castle was confiscated in 1659 by Cromwell, and returned in 1670 when the monarchy was restored to power. In the early 20th century Knappogue was used as headquarter for the Free State Army in Ireland's fight for freedom. This castle has gone through so much history, and I love the stories behind the history. We happened upon this charming castle as its tucked out of the way.

Road to Knappogue Castle

Your first glance of the castle is following the curved driveway until you are along side the front of the castle. It's an excellent view of the castle. You continue driving around to the side of the castle where there is a free parking lot.

First glance of Knappogue Castle

The entrance is at the front of the castle, where you enter a gift shop. You can browse to your pleasure and pay the entrance fee. Again, student id's will give you a discount! Exiting the side door of the gift shop leads you to inner bailey of the castle. It's so easy to imagine a group of riders cantering through the bailey door and bringing their horses to a halt.

Door to inner bailey

Inner Bailey

Once you cross the bailey and go up the stairs you will enter the main floor of the castle. You are able to access most of the castle, however there are locks barring you from certain areas. One thing I loved about this castle is they have snippets of the history of Knappogue and time around the castle. I thought this was very interesting and added insight to the time period.

Snippets of history

There are also beautiful formal gardens on the castle grounds. By the time we had finished touring the castle it was pouring out. Unfortunately, we did not visit the gardens on the account of the rain. Overall I think this castle is worth the visit. It was lovingly restored in the 20's and has been taken care. This is another castle run by the Shannon Heritage and they do a wonderful job preserving these pieces of history. For anyone interested you are able to rent a room at this castle, it's just going to significantly empty your pockets. The going nightly rate is a whopping 900 EUR a night! Knappogue also offers a medieval banquet at night.

                        Entrance Prices:
Adult 6 EUR
Child 2.50 EUR
Senior 3.50 EUR

You can buy tickets at Knappogue or online at https://www.shannonheritage.com/BookNow/BookTickets.aspx?eid=0100

Doolin Cave

Doolin Cave is located in the Burren north of Doolin Village. This cave is home to the "Great Stalactite" and is considered a world class natural tourist attraction. I love visiting natural attractions like this. Nature always amazes me.

 We arrived early in the day and had a small tour group. It was my friend and I, a couple from New Mexico and their driver. We had a great tour guide, Jim, who was extremely knowledgeable about the cave and surrounding area. The tour starts out by entering the cave and descending about 80 feet underground. At the bottom of the entrance everyone is given hard hats before continuing further into the cave.

The cave is low in some spots and you have to occasionally bend over. There were a couple times where my hard hat scraped against the cave. There is a reason for those hard hats! The stalactite is around 23 feet long. We learned that it is the longest free hanging stalactite in the northern hemisphere. It's quite a thing to see. It's amazing to walk into the cavern and see it hanging from the ceiling as if it's a chandelier. The stalactite is definitely the centerpiece of the room. At the top of the room everyone poses for pictures with the stalactite in the background. The tour guide was kind enough to take pictures of everyone.

 

There is a platform at the bottom of the cavern that everyone is able to walk down to and take more pictures. Unfortunately, I didn't have the flash attachment on my camera and had to rely on my friend for all the pictures. Our guide informed us that they are opening another cavern and was hoping to have it finished by November of 2013. If I'm every in the area again I will have to stop and see the new cavern. This isn't a strenuous or challenging walk through the cave. I think anyone could do this, except very small children and older people who are not in shape. The only things I could see presenting a challenge would be the amount of stairs you have to climb up and down, bending over and the metal walk ways are wet and slippery.

This is an attraction that you want to wear comfortable, closed toe shoes. I wore my Merrell hiking shoes for most of this trip. Remember it is always cold in caves, so dress accordingly. At one point you are about 200 feet below ground. Chilly! Once the tour is over (about 45 minutes to an hour long) there is a nature trail you can walk or enjoy food at their café.

There is a café, gift shop and bathroom facilities on site. We chose not to walk the nature trail, because we had a busy day ahead of us. Flash photography is allowed: don't forget your flash attachment like I did!

The cave is opened from March to November from 10am until 5pm. Tour times are at 10am, 11am and every half hour starting at 11:30am.

                             Tour Prices:
Adult: 15 euros
Child: 8 euros
Family: 50 euros

If you book your tour online there is a discount. I was able to get a student discount off my prices with an id. It's not advertised, but I would ask. Doolin Cave is truly a hidden gem and I highly recommend stopping if you are in the area. Check out their website: http://www.doolincave.ie/

Cliffs of Mohr Hotel

Cliffs of Mohr Hotel is located in Liscannor, Ireland. It's two miles from the Cliffs of Mohr and 50km from Shannon Airport. I had originally booked our stay at Logues Liscannor Hotel. A week before our arrival I received an email from the hotel. They were having construction done on the hotel and moved us across the street to their sister hotel for the same price.

 

 

This was the second place we stayed on our trip. I was pleasantly surprised by this hotel. We arrived just as the weather was taking a nasty turn for the worse. There was a little bit of confusion at check in. They were having a hard time finding our reservation, but I had brought every confirmation with me, and they were able to find our reservation with that. I received the impression that they were a fairly new hotel and were still working out the kinks.


There weren't a lot of people staying and they weren't very busy. The check in guy was also working in the restaurant. He was the only working staff member that we saw. We ate dinner in the hotel restaurant. The restaurant was small and cozy. There was a fireplace in the bar area, surrounded by two tables. In the other room there 5-6 tables. The food and beer were really good, and it was a cozy refuge from the storm.

 

The following morning we ate breakfast (included in our stay). They had several cold breakfast options. I was impressed with their spread and options. The fruit was fresh, they had several cereal and drink options. You are also able to order a hot breakfast. The waiters were very helpful. They were willing to answer any questions we had and were very knowledgeable about the surrounding area.

I was impressed by the rooms. They were very spacious and modern, something I wasn't expecting in Europe. The bathrooms were spacious, modern. It was refreshing! Overall we enjoyed our stay here. The fast was friendly and helpful. The amenities were great, but the wifi in the rooms was spotty.

(Laterooms.com)

There isn't much to do in the town of Liscannor. There is one bar in town, but they do not serve food during the week, and the other restrauarant closes early. There is a town within 10 minutes from this location that has plenty of food and shopping options.

Cliffs Of Mohr

The Cliffs of Mohr and Blarney Castle were at the top of my things to see list. Neither were a disappointment. The Cliffs were originally planned for the following day (Day 3). The ticket attendant at Aillwee Caves was so very kind to us. It turns out she had lived in America for a short time and had attended the same college as me! What a small world! I travel across the world and meet someone who attended my small public college. I suppose a student id can be an icebreaker. When she found out we were planning to go to the Cliffs of Mohr the following day, she recommended we go that same afternoon. Apparently there was bad storm predicted for the next day that we didn't know about! She even pulled up the weather radar on her computer to show us.

She called her husband to get the best directions to the cliffs for us. What a fresh breath of air that was! I'm glad we listened to her, because the weather did pick up that afternoon through the following day. This was one of my favorite parts of the trip. It was nice out when we arrived.

The longer we stayed the darker it became and the wind was blowing us all over the place!

The visitors center was built into the earth. The further you walked away from it the harder it became to distinguish it . . . fascinating! The views of the ocean were breathtaking, and I loved watching the storm come in. We were able to get some amazing pictures as the storm rolled in. When you approach the cliffs it is safe with a cement wall blocking you from the Cliffs edge. To the right is a sitting area and further up you can walk on the unprotected part and to the left is the O'Brien Tower. We went to the right first and for the more daring and adventurous you can walk onto the less stable portion. Of course we had to do it! There are warnings that clearly state you are doing so at your own risk . . .

 Past this point you can get as close to the edge as you want. I did get close, but I was very cautious. However my friend did closer than I did.

 

 

 A sad reality of the cliffs are some people jump off of them to commit suicide and they have erected a memorial for those that have jumped. 

 

 

We did not walk the entire side of the cliff because of the weather. We wanted to head to the other side before the weather became to bad. The O'Brien Tower was closed when we visited, so we weren't able to go inside.

 

 

I highly recommend visiting the cliffs if you have the time. I would like to go back and get pictures with the sun coming up! It's not too expensive to get in, and they do offer a discount for students!! They also have a small café with food and drinks inside the visitors center and a wonderful gift shop!! Visit the website for more information: http://www.cliffsofmoher.ie/.

                                              

                                              2014 Price List:

Adults- 6 euros

Students- 4 euros

Senior citzens- 4 euros

Children under 16- FREE!!!

 

 

Aillwee Caves

Aillwee Caves are karst caves located underground. They are located in County Clare, Ireland. This is area is commonly referred to as the Burren. The region itself is a wild, beautiful, dramatic scenery. I loved driving through it. Ireland is a abundant in breathtaking scenery. I'm discovering that I favor wild, dramatic beauty. When you pull up you are greeted by a guard. She explained everything that was offered at Aillwee Caves and that is when you purchase your ticket.

 There is plenty besides the caves to do here. They have a lord of prey center, the hawk walk (I don't think this was offered while we were there, but it looks pretty cool), the wolf den (survival skills) and a farm shop. We only paid for the cave, but we stopped at the farm shop on our way up the hill. They have homemade goods for sell, drinks, cheese and fudge. They offered us free samples of the cheese and fudge. The cheese was so good that we bought some to take with us. I still talk about how good that cheese was and how I wish I could have some right now! It was delicious!
Once you make it to the top of the hill, there is parking available and you enter Aillwee Caves. Outside of the entrance you have a prime photography spot of the burren. There is a panoramic view of the burren. The town and coast look like tiny little dots! Inside is where you wait for your cave time. There is a gift shop to browse and a cozy tearoom.

 

The tour is 30 minutes and it's all walking. The cave floor and metal bridges are damp and wet, so plan your footwear accordingly. For the majority of our trip I wore my Merrells and my friend wore her converse with no problem. This was not physically active, especially the other cave we toured. I saw families with very young children in the tour groups before and after us.
At one point inside the cave they do turn the lights off. It was pitch black and you could see nothing. I have never been in darkness like that before. I imagine that is what a black hole would look like. I stuck my hand in front of my face and I still could not see it . . . not event the outline. I don't know how the people who discovered it kept digging in such darkness.

It was a good tour filled with local history. They explain how the cave was discovered. There are even bones inside the cave of a 2,000 year old brown bear that is now extinct. It used to roam that area, but no longer. I would recommend this cave to visitors. We did visit another cave and in comparision Aillwee Caves seemed more commercialized and touristy, but I'm still glad I visited. Don't forget your cheese on the way out!

If you purchase tickets online it will save you money! Check it out . . . http://www.aillweecave.ie/.

Travel Cord Cases

I just had to share these adorable charge and cord cases from Neiman Marcus. They would make the perfect gift for travel lovers or for yourself. I'm always frustrated with all my cords and chargers when I travel. I have never found anything that works for me and I usually end up stuffing them into a ziplock bag and putting it inside my carry on. When I take them out they are all tangled!

This just may be the solution for me. What do you use to carry your chargers and cords when you travel?

Go check it out: http://www.neimanmarcus.com/Charger-Cord-Case-luggage/prod139350125___/p.prod?icid=&searchType=MAIN&rte=%252Fsearch.jsp%253FNo%253D60%2526Ntt%253Dluggage%2526_requestid%253D16069%2526N%253D0&eItemId=prod139350125&cmCat=searcH 

Dunguaire Castle

Dunguaire Castle is a 16th century tower house located on the southern shores of Galway Bay.  It was built in 1520 by the Hynes Clan. Legend has it if a person stands at the front gate, and asks a question, they will have the answer to that question by the end of the day. I did some research on this castle after we came home, and Dunguaire is thought to be one of the most photographed castles in Ireland! Funnily enough we didn't even know this castle existed before our trip.

We left our B&B that morning and began our journey to Liscannor, where we would be staying the next couple of nights. It ended up taking us the entire day to get there! There were so many things we came across and we stopped at all of them. We were passing through a small, Irish town when a castled popped up out of nowhere! We had a just driven around a curve, and directly in front of us was the castle! We were so excited to see our very first castle! We had been warned that castles would be everywhere, but this one is special to me now. We drove past the castle and parked in the free parking lot down the road. It's a small parking lot, but it is free. We crossed the street and walked a couple minutes to the castle. It's a very picturesque castle with the Irish countryside on one side and Galway Bay on the other side.

Dunguaire is run by Shannon Heritage and it was in very good condition. I think Bunratty is the only castle we saw that beats it in condition. The have the rooms set up as you imagine they would be in medieval times. We paid a small fee in order to tour the castle. It was awesome! The spiral staircase starts on the first floor and continues to the top. You are able to enter the rooms at each landing. In some cases you had no choices, but to get off at a landing in order for the people coming down to pass you.

The Great Hall is set up just as you imagined it would be. The table went around the room with the lord and lady's chairs at the head. I'm not sure if your allowed to sit in the chairs, but I did!

 

We became very familiar with spiral, stone staircases on this trip. On the top floor there is a couple of steps that lead you outside to battlements. You are allowed to go up and walk around. Some of my favorite pictures were taken here!

It was so beautiful! The views of Galway Bay and the irish countryside were amazing! They did a wonderful job restoring this castle. I'm so glad we stopped. Sometimes deviating from your plan gives you such unexpected surprises!

The castle is open from April- October 1, 10am- 4pm. The admission for the castle is as follows:

Adult- 5 euros
5-16 children- 2.95 euros
0-5 children- free
Seniors- 3.50 euros

They also offer the Dunguaire Banquet. We didn't know this was offered, but we did do the Bunratty Medieval Banquet. They are both run by the Shannon Heritage, so I'm sure this one would be fine also. We really enjoyed our banquet. The banquet is offered at 5:30pm and 8:45pm. Reservations are required. Reservations can be made at Dunguaire Castle or on their website http://www.shannonheritage.com/EveningEntertainments/DunguaireCastleBanquet/.