We went chasing Leprechauns but found bird song instead.

It was our first proper family holiday ever and we decided to head for the west of Ireland. My wife’s Dad and Step mum live in Mountshannon County Clare, on the edge of the River Shannon in fact, the River Shannon was only a couple of minutes walk from their bungalow.

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It was going to the first time in Ireland for me and the kids but my wife had been before.
We decided that we were going to go by ferry. Travelling by sea is not my favourite past time but I was so looking forward to the holiday, it never really played on my mind.
We left home at 9.30pm on the 23rd July and headed to catch the 3am ferry from Liverpool. Even though when I took the following picture at 4.30am and having had a three and a half hour journey by car, I was still very much wide awake.

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As you can see, the Irish sea was very calm……. thankfully!

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From Liverpool to Dublin it is a seven hour journey. It was a very peaceful journey except for a very loud snorer, I think he was trying to communicate with any whales in the area.
We entered Dublin port around 10.30am and was straightaway taken back by the scenery.

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The port of Dublin was interesting in itself.

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From what I saw of Dublin it looks a beautiful city but driving in it is a f***ing nightmare. In les than five minutes I had turn the air blue and was being told off by both my wife and the kids for my language (bloody families). It was the same on the journey back.
After about an hour trying to escape Dublin and being moaned by the others, I found the way out and headed west.
It was a two and a half hour journey to get to our destination but this part of the journey, I was left in awe of the scenery.

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We arrived safely after a sixteen hour journey.
We all may have been tired but being surrounded by the most perfect of all scenery, it wasn’t long before we went for a long walk. For the next twelve days we visited many places in County Clare, County Galway and County Tipperary.
Some of theses places I will write further posts on later but for now, I will let the photos do the talking….. well most of it anyway……

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The Lookout.

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The evolution of ginger.

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Captain….. the pub dog.

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Captain having a selfie with Enya.

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The landscape is amazing, the Guiness and beer is amazing, the food is excellent and the locals are the friendliest people I have ever met.

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Bunratty.

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Bunratty Castle

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Now this is one lawn mower I would love to have…… not sure it would comply with Health and Safety regs though.

I may have had one or two of these……..

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We all enjoyed our time in Ireland and we will go again. With so much to see we could not fit it all in and as for the people, they are so friendly and welcoming. There will be more posts on our trip to Ireland , which will include many of the places that we visited.

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As I do with many of my posts, I always try and slip in the bit of music here and there but this time, it is more special. While we was there we visited one of my wifes Aunties who gave us a cd that included her son (my wifes cousin) on vocals. This was the last album Ray Kelly made before he tragically died in January 2013. We put the cd on in our car whilst in Ireland and it is still in there today……. see what you think.

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