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Circle the Emerald Island in 15 Days! The Best Self-Driving Ireland Itinerary. Part 1: Northern Ireland and the Antrim Coast
You know the beloved quote by travel lovers, "I haven't been everywhere, but it's on my list!" This sums up how we embrace travel, especially as we are getting older. As a couple, we want to make sure we fully embrace each of the areas we are travelling to because there are so many places on our list, that we want to make sure we see them all, and we don't just scratch the surface with our travels; we want to feel like we really saw them. I had the opportunity to travel to Ireland a few years ago with a travel writers group, and I fell in love with the island in the short time I was there. The diversity of the country, the incredible people, the wonderful food and the tumultuous history, had me wanting to dive in and get back to Ireland to explore it the way we like to explore a place, thoroughly and slowly embracing every moment. My biggest fear was that we had only scheduled 15 days to self-drive the whole island, and I wasn't sure that would allow for us to really immerse ourselves in the culture and not just be bouncing around, but we quickly found that it was the absolute perfect amount of time!
We put hours upon hours of planning every portion of our Ireland itinerary. We found that there were some items that were major hits, and a few that we could have skipped, but overall, it's an itinerary we wanted to share because it was absolutely perfect! Of course, there were a few things we would have changed and those will be noted in the itinerary, but overall, we patted ourselves on the back for our planning! We left Ireland having experienced the food, the culture, making friends with the people and slowly exploring the popular and not so popular spots. If I never get the opportunity to travel back to Ireland, I left feeling like I really got a good taste of the country and to me, that's the most perfect ending to any trip. So come along with me as I share the perfect 15-day self-driving itinerary of Ireland.
Circle the Emerald Island in 15 Days! The Best Self Driving Ireland Itinerary
Deciding When to Go to Ireland
We now are at an advantage that the kids are out of the house, so we no longer have to plan around school schedules. We chose to travel in the shoulder season {mid April-May and again September-October} and we were hoping for decent weather so we could enjoy the outdoors {though always plan of rain in Ireland!}. Shoulder season also offers fewer crowds and occasionally better rates on lodging and rentals.
High season is June, July and August, for obvious reasons. The weather is often warmer and the days are much longer. For those people thinking about traveling in the winter months, just know that there will be many activities, hotels and restaurants that are only open seasonally so you'll have to be more strategic with your planning. The days are also shorter, making driving a bit more of a challenge if you are trying to fit everything in during daylight hours.
We settled on a trip to Ireland in September. The only downside of traveling in September we found, was that we toured several areas that are normally puffin breeding grounds, the late summer and early fall, the puffins all head to Iceland and other areas. September still has longer days with the sun setting around 7:30 pm and many of the crowds have thinned out, making it the ideal time to travel to Ireland for us.
Renting a Car in Ireland
People are often on the fence about renting a car in Ireland. We drive automatic cars in the US on the left side of the car on the right side of the street. In Ireland, you've got to plan ahead if you want an automatic car, as manual cars are the norm and automatics are in short supply and are often more expensive. Drivers steer narrow winding {often unmarked} roads on the right side of the car on the left side of the road, which might be a bit of a challenge, but it's not impossible!
We aren't new to renting a car internationally, but this was the first time we rented a car that required driving on the other side of the car on the other side of the road!
Top Tips for Renting a Car in ItalyTop Tips for Renting a Car in France
I will be writing a separate post on top tips for renting a car in Ireland, so stay tuned, but we chatted multiple times on our journey that it was one of the best things that we did. Renting a car allowed us the flexibility to tour the island at our own pace, to stop when we wanted to, to stay longer to explore and to change our itinerary on a dime.
It is possible to navigate the train and bus system, but you won't be able to get off the beaten path in Ireland by only using public transportation. There are also plenty of tour companies you can hire privately, daily or for your full itinerary, but we found that since we don't like the crowds, with a tour company, you are basically bringing the crowd with you to every location. You will rarely be anywhere on your own, and you'll always be on someone else's schedule and at the mercy of the slowest person in the group.
Rent the car! It really is the best way for you to see Ireland.
Getting to Ireland
I love a good non-stop flight. I've flown Aer Lingus both times I've gone to Ireland and they are a lovely airline. It's a 9-hour flight from Seattle to Dublin. After they feed you dinner, they dim the lights and you wake up in the late morning in Ireland.
Dublin Airport is the largest airport in Ireland. There are 190 airports with direct flights to Dublin from 41 different countries and 22 US states. The Dublin Airport is a hub for Aer Lingus. You can also easily reach Dublin with daily non-stop flights from 26 other major hubs like London, Amsterdam and Frankfurt if you have other European travel plans.
Because Dublin is the largest airport in Ireland, we will be starting and ending our itinerary there.
Pro tip: Dublin airport also offers preclearance to the US, so when you are flying home, you go through customs BEFORE leaving Ireland, so that when you arrive in your location in the US, you arrive as a domestic flight. It makes travel that much easier.
We LOVE having Global Entry! It makes international travel so much easier. You can read more here.How to Use this Itinerary
Every person travels differently. What I enjoy doing on a vacation or trip, might be very different from what you enjoy doing on a vacation or a trip. We created this list with lots of options for things to do in each area. I'll highlight the things that we did, but feel free to make this trip your own!
We did a lot of research before the trip and created a list of things in each location that looked interesting to see and do. We added those to a list on the itinerary and as we sat in the pub the night before our next day, we'd pull those things up and decide what sounded good to us, and we'd tackle a game plan. We also had the list on our phone, so that when we were driving or wandering around for the day, we could easily access the list and see what the landmarks were or do a bit more research to see if we wanted to make the time to add them to our list.
I love to travel, but I don't know how many people actually like living out of a suitcase. Ideally, we like to stay at minimum in a location for two nights. There are only a few one-night stays and there is one three night stay. The number of nights we stayed is always noted so you can make your own hotel or Airbnb reservations.
Pro tip: be open to letting things happen. Some of the best things we did on our trip just sort of happened.
I'll be breaking this itinerary up into three parts to make it easier to read, navigate, and plan. I have a lot of tips and 15 days is a lot of days when it's all put together in one place. The three parts will be broken up as follows:
The island of Ireland is made up for four provinces and 32 counties, each of them with very unique charms and traditions. On this itinerary, you'll be visiting 12 different counties.
Part 1 will include Dublin, Belfast, Portbradden, Ballycastle, the Antrim Coast, Portrush, and Bushmills. This will encompass County Dublin and County Antrim.
Part 2 will include Derry, Marble Hill, Rosguill, Donegal, Sliabh Liag, Glencolmcille, Fintra, Kilcar, Westport, and Achill Island. This will encompass County Derry {or Londonderry}, County Donegal, County Sligo and County Mayo.
Part 3 will include Galway, Killarney, Skellig Michael, Portmagee, Dingle, Cobh, Tipperary, and Kilkenny. This will encompass County Galway, County Kerry, County Cork, County Clare and County Kilkenny and back to Dublin
Don't miss part 3 here!
Part 1: Northern Ireland and the Antrim Coast: Day 1-4
Day 0: Travel Day!
If you are lucky, your home airport is one of the 22 US states that offers a direct flight to Dublin.
Pro tip: Pack only carry on! This will expedite the disembarking process when you arrive and will make losing your luggage a thing of the past. We were able to pack for 15 days with only carry-on luggage and were able to do laundry at one of our stops. I'll make note of another optional stop towards the start of your trip that would be helpful for laundry purposes. I will also be writing another packing tips post, so stay tuned for that as well. I left some things at home I wish I had had!
Day 1: Arrive in Dublin
Plan to overnight in Dublin so that you can recover from any jet lag. You won't need your rental car in the city, so hold off on picking it up just yet. Parking and driving in the city can be kind of hairy, so plan on acclimating to the time change and exploring the city.
We took the Dublin Express 784 bus to the city center from terminal two {the international terminal} and it was super easy! Book tickets online to save a few euros. The fare is fully refundable and the tickets are easy to use. It costs around 10 euro per person roundtrip. The Dublin Express uses an express tunnel to avoid traffic in the city, making it a faster option than the regular city bus, or even a taxi.
For ease of exploration, book a hotel in the Stephens Green or Temple Bar area. Both are very walkable to anything on this list.
Some things to do in Dublin:
- Trinity College & Book of Kells {Ireland's oldest university & famous 9th-century gospel manuscript}
- Molly Malone Statue {famous statue of fictional hawker located on Suffolk Street}
- Grafton Street {runs from Saint Stephens Green to Trinity College, known for it's buskers}
- Guinness Storehouse {Interactive Guinness history museum & bar at St. James's Gate Brewery}
- St. Patrick's Cathedral {National cathedral of the Church of Ireland}
- St Stephen's Green {Garden square and public park located in the city center}
- Iveagh Gardens {one of the finest, but lesser known garden parks in the heart of the city}
- Shelbourne Hotel for afternoon tea & treats {Historic hotel in landmark building on St Stephen's Green}
- Spire of Dublin {Stainless steel pin-like monument over 120 meters tall on O'Connell Street}
- Ha'Penny Bridge {Cast iron pedestrian bridge built in May 1816 over the River Liffey}
- EPIC Museum {Irish history brought to life with interactive exhibits on Dublin's Docklands}
- Dublin Castle {Irish government complex and tourist attraction off Dame Street}
- George's Street Arcade {one of Europe's oldest city markets}
Where we stayed:
Marlin Hotel Stephens Green {one night}
What we did in Dublin:
After arriving in Dublin, we checked into our hotel. We arrived prior to the 3 pm check in, and they allowed us to put our bags down in a secure room. We love live music so we grabbed a coffee and a snack and headed over to Grafton Street to catch some afternoon buskers. We were so lucky to see one of our favorites {Allie Sherlock} for a half an hour set. If you are hoping to see any of the "bigger" name buskers, they mostly perform on the weekends, so plan on arriving on a Saturday.
We continued to walk down Grafton Street and went to Trinity College. We didn't plan on booking a tour or the Book of Kells experience. The only way to see into the buildings in the university is on a tour or as a current student. The tours were all sold out for the day, and we were ok with just walking around the courtyard at the university. It's a beautiful campus with a lot of history!
We walked over to the Molly Malone statue just as a tour group wandered over, so we quickly wandered on.
We continued to the Temple Bar area where every pub was full of football spectators. There was a big qualifying game happening in the city the day we arrived and it made the excitement in the city that much more fun. Plus, it was a beautiful warm day, so it was lovely walking around outside and going from pub to pub.
In an effort to fight jet lag, we walked over to St Stephen's Green before checking into our hotel for the evening. It's a lovely outdoor area with a Central Park vibe.
After checking in, we walked through the arcade and did some people watching. The weather was lovely and the young people were out. There are lots of small restaurants and pubs in the area, and it seems like it's common for the people to just spill out onto the streets and enjoy a pint on the sidewalk or steps.
We were getting hungry so we ate at O'Shea's. It's located in the Temple Bar area and it's a little tucked away hole in the wall. We had the best Guinness Beef stew of the entire trip at this restaurant and loved it so much that we came back when we returned on our final day.
After dinner, we wandered back to St. Patrick's Cathedral but we got there after it closed for the evening. The gates were still open for the gardens and park and it was beautiful to wander and explore. If you want to see the inside of the church, make sure you plan your afternoon better so you can arrive before it closes.
We had an early bedtime but enjoyed the first day of our trip!
Pro Tip: If this is your first visit to Ireland, make time to visit the EPIC museum. There are a lot of interactive exhibits and it's a great way to dip your toes into the history of Ireland. If you are going to be visiting Dublin again, the ticket offers return admission for up to 10 days after purchase. That won't work if you follow this trip itinerary, but it would work if you are selecting bits and pieces of this to make it work for your travel schedule.
Day 2: Heading North
We decided to head North and do the tour of the island counter clock wise, going up to Northern Ireland first. You'll be waking up in Dublin without a car, and hopefully you booked that round trip bus ticket back to the airport.
Enjoy breakfast at your leisure at the hotel, and make your way back to the airport for your rental car pick up. Inform the car rental agency that you are planning on heading to Northern Ireland. There were likely be a nominal charge {ours was 25 euro} since you will be crossing the border.
Get acclimated with your new car and start the drive up to Belfast {approximately 2 hours, 166 km}. Most of the motorway is multiple lanes on a divided highway, so it is a great way to start your opposite driving adventure. Be aware that there are no border crossings, and you'll hardly know you've crossed into another country! The speed changes from kph to mph, so you'll need to do some quick calculations to stay in the speed limit.
Explore Belfast
- Black Cab Tour {a range of available tours covering Belfast's troubled past}
- Titanic Museum {covers the history of the Titanic; check the website for hours}
- Titanic Hotel {located in the former headquarters of the builders of the Titanic}
- Carrikfergus Castle {a well preserved Norman Castle in a beautiful seaside town .Closed on Mondays}
Where we stayed:
AirBnb in Portbradden {2 nights}What we did in Belfast
We immediately drove to the Titanic Museum after renting our car. The museum gets rave reviews, but I must say, I was underwhelmed. Maybe because we were visiting on a Sunday. It was so crowded. There is so much information that requires a lot of reading at every station and people gather around shoulder to shoulder to try to read the signs. Everyone starts on the same floor because the history of the Titanic starts with the history of industry in Belfast. We thought maybe we'd start to thin out as the floors progressed, but it was a constant stream of people the whole time. After exploring a few floors, we finally started getting more information on the Titanic with mock set ups of the rooms, which is what I was more interested in, as I was less interested in the jobs people had who worked on building the Titanic.
Compared to EPIC museum in Dublin, there are far fewer interactive exhibits, making it a little dry. Because there were so many rave reviews of the museum, I had higher expectations. I was a little disappointed that it fell flat for me. You'll have the opportunity towards the end of your trip to visit another Titanic Museum in Cobh. I've never been to it, but I have heard that it does focus more on the passengers and less on the boat, so that suit more of your interest.
We didn't take the time to explore the only remaining boat left in the fleet that was located outside. We ended up heading to the Titanic Hotel, which to be honest, is the only thing that saved this stop for me. The hotel restaurant was beautiful and the food and drinks were delicious. There are a few restaurants inside the Titanic Museum, and I'm so glad we wandered over to this building to eat because the ambiance was better and the food was virtually the same price as the little cafeteria in the museum. Don't miss the Titanic Hotel! It was worth the stop.
Being slightly disappointed in the museum, it didn't bode well for us wanting to explore any more of Belfast, so we decided to head towards our next stop.
We planned on heading to our Airbnb in Portbradden {about 100km from Belfast}. You can also look to stay in Portrush or Ballycastle. We opted to stay in Portbradden since it was centrally located to all of the things we wanted to do! We had a lovely rental in a home with a gracious host who served us the most delightful breakfast every morning. Hotels in the area are limited, so I'd recommend looking into an Airbnb on this stop. You'll be staying for two nights.
Exploring the Antrim Coast
On our way, we stopped at Carrikfergus Castle a short drive from Belfast. It was the first castle we explored in Ireland and one of the finest examples of a castle in the whole country! It was easy to explore multiple floors of the castle, and to understand a bit more how and why a castle functions in a port city. There were lots of indoor and outdoor activities to explore and even a few personalized stories to help the castle history come to life. This was a good start to all of our castle adventures and gave us some good background for understanding how some of the other castles on the itinerary are built or set up.
We arrived for check in at our Airbnb and met our lovely host who offered up a few ideas for us so we could make the most of our evening. We decided to explore Giants Causeway. Our host said that after 6 pm parking is free, though there were no signs indicating this. We ended up parking at the Causeway Hotel, confirming that it was ok to park there and then headed down to explore Giants Causeway. If you go during normal business hours, there is a fee to park and a fee to enter the trails. If you have the flexibility of going before or after business hours {check the website for details}, the park is still open and accessible for no charge. You just won't have access to the visitor's center and the facilities there, however, you'll be treated with a much less crowded experience! We saw about six people the whole time we were there and the area is large enough so you can all keep our distance!
There's a long winding road that was quite windy to walk to get to the Giants Causeway area. There are several hiking trails, that go above the rim around the Giants Causeway as well. Make sure you choose the blue trail so you can access the area on the water. We took the Giant's Causeway Blue Trail. Once you round the corner, you do get into the shelter of a hillside, so the wind dies down. We were there at mid tide. Low tide would likely be better, since more of the hexagonal basalt rocks will be visible, but you can't always time the tides! If going at low tide is important to you, make sure you pull up the tide charts and plan your visit accordingly.
After exploring the Giants Causeway, we walked back up the trail and decided to eat dinner at the Causeway Hotel where they had graciously let us park our car. The dinner was fantastic and the homemade desserts were incredible! It was the best sticky toffee pudding I had on our entire trip, so it's well worth stopping if even just for dessert!
Do You Need a Convertor or an Adapter on Your Next International Trip?Day 3: Explore the Antrim Coast
There are three main areas of exploration in this area, Ballycastle, the Antrim Coast and Bushmills. As you can see from the things we did, it was really quite easy to bounce from area to area in about a ten minute drive.
Things to do in Ballycastle
- Carrick-A-Rede Rope Bridge {rope bridge to the tiny fishing island of Carrick-a-Rede}
- Dark Hedges {Beech tree lined road; tunnel like}
- Rathlin Island {requires a ferry from Ballycastle, often called Puffin Island}
Things to do on the Antrim Coast
- Glens of Antrim {comprised of nine glens (valleys) that radiate from the Antrim Plateau to the coast}
- Glenariff Forest Park {Queen of the 9 glens, includes 3-mile-long waterfall walkway}
- Gobbins Cliff Path {cliff face walk over the waters of the North Channel}
- Carrikfergus Castle {well preserved castle on the water in Carrikfergus, near Belfast}
Things to do in Bushmills
- Giants Causeway {area of 40,000 interlocking basalt columns}
- Dunluce Castle {cross a stone bridge to castle ruins on a cliffs over water}
- Bushmills Distillery {oldest licensed whiskey distillery in the world, tours offered}
What we did on the Antrim Coast
The night before, I booked tickets to the Carrick-a-Rede rope bridge. Another great reason for booking travel in the shoulder season, there were plenty of tickets available. Looking at the weather, it seemed like the earlier the reservation the better, and the rates were better with a September special from 9-11 and again from 3-5 in the afternoon. Online reservations included parking.
There is a bit of a walk from the parking lot to the rope bridge, and it's just beautiful. Be prepared though and make sure you have enough time before your ticket crossing because it will take you about 20 minutes to walk to the bridge. Especially if you stop to take pictures like I do! The attendant says that the wind often picks up in the afternoons and many of those sessions are canceled because of weather, so if you can, book early!
We walked across the bridge and enjoyed some time on the small fishing island. It is roped off and easy to explore without getting too close to the edge. {I have a major fear of sheer cliffs, so you'll notice me making a note of this on many of our stops!} When you come back across the bridge, make sure you head to the left and go to the viewpoint area. This is where you get a good glimpse of the bridge and the island and you can see how high up the rope bridge really is from the water.
After slowly making our way back to our car, we drove to White Park Bay Beach. We saw the sign and stopped to explore this beautiful two mile expanse of white sandy beach. You will often find cattle grazing on the beach!
We drove on to Dunluce Castle. There is free parking and a small lot. There is also a constant stream of tour buses, but they are limited on the time they spend, so if you can wait them out, you can often have the castle virtually to yourself.
The castle is much more run down than the first castle we explored {Carrikfergus}, so you do have to use your imagination to see what it would have looked like, but it was pretty incredible to think of a family living on this remote cliffside many many years ago.
Don't miss the walk down to the waterfront area. What goes down, must come up, so be prepared for a few stairs on the way back, but I think that it's worth it for the different perspective. This area didn't seem to be part of the admission, so if you wanted to come explore this, without going into the castle and paying the small admission fee, it seemed like you could.
We ventured on to Bushmills and decided to see if there were any tickets for the Bushmills Distillery Tour. Again, another score for the off season, because we were able to get tickets a few hours later. We were able to park for free in the Bushmills parking lot and walk a few minutes into town to grab a bite to eat. We wandered back through the town and stopped in a few charity shops, bookstores and drug stores. This would be a great time to stock up on anything you might have forgotten to pack for your trip!
When we returned it was time for our tour. The tour is an hour-long guided tour of a working distillery with a coupon for a whiskey tasting at the end. Part of the factory was closed for maintenance so they offered us each a free bottle of whiskey. I don't think I've ever had whiskey, so I wasn't sure how I felt about it one way or another.
Bushmills is a big part of the history of this area, as is whiskey, so it was interesting to learn a little bit more about the background of both. There is a bit of a sales pitch at the end, with an option to buy several different kinds of Bushmills Whiskey {"but wait! This one is only available today and in the store and it sells out fast!"}. Once the tour was over, we headed to the bar and exchanged our ticket for a glass of whiskey. They had a few to choose from and Mike and I both took a sip and decided that whiskey isn't for us. Our guide was gracious enough to offer up a whiskey cocktail that was more up to my speed! So ask for that at the start if you don't think you want to sip on straight whiskey. And of course, if you don't drink, there are soda options!
Hoping it was late enough in the afternoon to beat the crowds, we headed back to Ballycastle to check out the Dark Hedges. We arrived at 4 pm just as a tour bus was unloading, so nope, still not late enough. We had our whiskey tasting with a lovely couple from the Midwest, who said they were the only ones on the trail at the Dark Hedges that morning around 8, so maybe the earlier the better, since there is a dark moody vibe a lot of people are hunting for when coming to see the trees. The trees are said to be haunted, so maybe earlier in the day is better if you don't want to be spooked!
A word of caution: the road at the Dark Hedges does have signs on either end that says it's closed to public traffic. However, this doesn't mean that it is closed to the local farmers who don't seem too happy to have hoards of people visiting the once quiet tree lined street. They drive their tractors at a much higher rate of speed than I would have assumed, noting the high volume of people lining the streets that seem somewhat oblivious to the oncoming traffic. So pay attention to the farm machinery as you walk the trail.
As with all things, we waited out the tour buses and tried to sneak in a few quick photos with as few of people as possible in them. After leaving, we headed into Ballycastle and asked a local where he would recommend for dinner. He directed us to the Diamond Pub and he didn't steer us wrong! We had a lovely dinner with good fresh food that wasn't too expensive. It seemed like where the locals hung out, and those are the best kinds of places to hang around in if you ask me!
Day 4: Leave Antrim Coast Head to Donegal
- Bushmills: Giants Causeway, Dunluce Castle, Bushmills Distillery
- Derry {1 hour, 58 km from Portrush}
- Walls of Derry {longest complete circuit of any walled cities in Ireland}
- Ulster American Folk Park {in Omagh, interactive living history museum}
- Marble Hill {1 hour, 67 km from Derry}
- Cresslough {lovely small town with Rose's Bar, Mcnulty's Lounge and Braai restaurant}
Where to stay:
Sandon Hotel and Spa {1 night}{free parking is available to guests}
What we did:
We checked out of our Airbnb after enjoying a final homemade breakfast by our host and headed towards the walled city of Derry. We had read about a Derry walled city tour walk that was offered and attempted to drive into the city to meet up with the tour group. However, parking was much more difficult than we thought it would be in the city, and after managing to find parking {the first hour is free}, we had missed the tour! We ended up doing our own walled city walk and it was incredibly interesting.
Derry's walls were built in the early 1400's and they are some of the finest examples of a city wall in all of Europe. The entire route is about a mile long on an elevated path, so you can get a birds eye view of the city of Derry.
On my last trip, I visited Ulster American Folk Park. It is a bit out of the way on this trip, but it is worth it to move a few things around if a living history museum is something you think you'd enjoy. It was a journey back in time as the Ulster people bravely emigrated to North America and explained the impact that had on Ireland and those Irish who left their mark on America. The migration story is complicated for the Irish people, and this sheds some light on the reasons why, how and what impact that had on multiple countries. It is a great way to dive into the history of the Irish people while being fun and interactive.
After leaving Derry, I had managed to secure a spa appointment at the Shandon Hotel and Spa we were staying at for the night. The hotel spa was lovely and had a thermal spa add on that allotted for an extra 1.5 hour experience. I spent the afternoon enjoy the thermal spa and a spa appointment, a treat I don't normally indulge in, but I felt like it was a good break for my weary body during travel. Another win for shoulder season travel, as they had a fantastic autumn rate!
Marble Hill Strand Beach is an easy walk from the hotel. There is lots of golden sandy beach to walk, especially at low tide. It's in a little bay making it relatively calm and easy to swim in.
The Shandon Hotel and Spa also has a swimming pool, spa and steam room guests can enjoy. They are quite strict about wearing swim caps {in all of Ireland, not just at this hotel}, so make sure you pack one before you go! You can often purchase them for a nominal fee {around 5 euro}.
We headed into Cresslough for dinner at a local pub called Rose's. We learned that not all pubs in Ireland sell food, many just offer drinks. This pub normally has food, but on this night the kitchen was closed because they were hosting a charity event with one of the new local restaurants called Braai that was attached at the back of the pub. We were told there was live music with several local bands and musicians, and the room started filling up, so we decided to stay.
The limited food menu from Braai was really good. The seating was limited, and we offered up a few seats at our table to some locals who we got to chatting with. They get together once a week to play music at Mcnulty's Lounge Pub across the street and invited us to join them. We were treated to a traditional Irish jam session. The locals were all warm and welcoming and the Guinness was cheap and cold. I'm told that Mcnulty's always has a fire burning and you'll often find the locals telling stories. We left the pub feeling like we met old friends and they gave us a few suggestions that helped shape the next portion of our itinerary.
This wraps up the first of three parts of the perfect self-driving 15-day itinerary around Ireland! We will be diving into the Wild Atlantic Way as we explore the west coast of Ireland. This next part of the trip, was one of my favorite parts and honestly, it's hard to get better than what we've already explored in the first part of this trip, so buckle up!
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