Comments on: Sarah Jessica Parker & Matthew Broderick vacation in Ireland

By: Holidayssss

Holidayssss — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 11:51:45 +0000

Heh, people commenting on the roads in Ireland, funny. Can I just say; there is absolutely nothing wrong with the roads in Ireland, just the idiots who may drive on them!

If you want poor road build quality, check out Malaysia. Pot holes? No. Craters, yes!

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By: what

what — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 17:57:31 +0000

mairead – just got back. your advice was great, though unfortunately, being without car, i couldn’t take most of it. however, co.wiklow was amazing – thanks for recommending it. i saw glendelough, avoca, greystones, bray. i also saw blarney castle, malahide castle, and howth. all very lovely. the people are incredibly nice and the grey clouds didn’t bother me much – it actually makes the scenery more particular and more beautiful.

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By: Danielle

Danielle — Sun, 24 Aug 2008 15:19:03 +0000

This makes me miss home really badly. I’ll be going back next month though.

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By: Ryan

Ryan — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 12:42:13 +0000

in response to laura 14th august:

i dont think paps followed them, but it wasnt just random people photographing them either. Id guess paps were employed by irish agencies and then the pictures were sold aborad.

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By: Mairead

Mairead — Sun, 17 Aug 2008 21:32:29 +0000

Oh you’re coming tomorrow?…. bring a boat.

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By: what

what — Sun, 17 Aug 2008 19:57:29 +0000

mairead – thanks for all the fantastic advice!
unfortunately, i won’t have a car. but am currently trying to figure out alternate methods of transportation to the areas you mentioned.
i’m gonna stop by the library tomorrow morning before leaving for the airport – to get some joyce to read on the plane

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By: Mairead

Mairead — Sat, 16 Aug 2008 13:15:57 +0000

There are lots of accents here, you know.

Wicklow is very accessible from Dublin – but try to avoid the N7 and especially the Red Cow Roundabout (known as the Mad Cow, natch) at anything approaching peak-time. There are some great museums and galleries in Dublin – there’s also a wonderful art collection in Russborough, Co. Wicklow (Goyas, Vermeers etc)… when they;re not being stolen

Also a daytrip to Newgrange and Knowth in Co. Meath north of Dublin is a must. You drive to the beautiful village of Slane (where they hold these iconic concerts some years) and then head towards Drogheda to the Brú na Bóinne Centre. These huge Megalithic tombs pre-date Stonehenge and the Pyramids.

By train, you could visit Kilkenny or Waterford city. Kilkenny is an especially lovely city dominated by a castle with gorgeous grounds. It’s about 2 hours by train.

Or travel further and stay overnight in Galway or Mayo. Or drive to Mayo and Westport. Drive west past Westport to the most gorgeous scenery anywhere. If you’re there, drive a little further north to Newport and visit the huge ROman Catholic church there. It has some of the best examples of stained glass.

If you do drive to Mayo or Sligo, take a little detour to Corlea in Co. Longford where there’s an Iron Age timber road. There’s also Strokestown House in Roscommon The tickets are expensive, but the gardens are lovely.

Or head to Northern Ireland – again nice people, gorgeous scenery including the Giants Causeway. But apart from bringing lots of money – remember we drive on the “correct” side of the road

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By: what

what — Sat, 16 Aug 2008 05:24:21 +0000

thanks for the advice mairead!
i’m staying in dublin but definitely want to go out and see countryside, trees and sheep. planning on taking day trips for that. there’s not enough nature here in nyc. also the irish accent is my favorite in the world.

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By: La Fifie

La Fifie — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 18:29:18 +0000

I’ve been to Ireland a few times and I can assure you that the side roads are nuts. The main thing is that they have these very narrow roads that are bumpy, often wet, full of potholes and twisty in spots and lined with hedges that make oncoming traffic difficult to see. That much I could handle, but I couldn’t handle the fact that the speed limit on those types of roads was 100 km/hour in many spots – and people were doing the limit! Crazy!

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By: Mairead

Mairead — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 17:52:34 +0000

glad we’ve clear that up – you’re being subjected to the most scurrilous remarks on your character otherwise
(unless of course there’s a Corkonian reading this, in which case Cork is the most wonderful place in the world and it would be the best thing to happen to geronimo to come from there; there is no need for you to spend hours and hours persuading me! )

Oh advice for those visiting soon – bring rain-gear;

Get out of Dublin – I love Dublin, but there’s more to Ireland.
remember it takes much longer to drive anywhere than you’d think;

if you’re visiting the Aran Islands off Galway or the Sceilligs off the coast of Kerry wear sunblock even if it’s cloudy as the reflected light can burn;

take the plane out the the Aran Islands – if there’s any wind at all it’s 7 minutes of hilarity.

If you’re planning on visiting a lot of National Monuments and visitor centres, it would be a good idea to get the OPW Heritage Card. It’s about €24, but you’ll save in the long run.

Visit Glendalough and the Vale of Avoca. There’s a lovely café in Woodford. Also try to visit Powerscourt Co. Wicklow – part of The Count of Monte Cristo was filmed there.

Heritage Week is on from the 24th – 31st August, so there’s likely to be free events going on no matter where you go.

Oh yes and the main thing…
bring lots and lots and lots of money

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