We only had a couple of weeks to explore Ireland so we decided to focus on a northern loop. We flew into Dublin, drove north to Belfast, headed along the Antrim Coast to Coleraine and Derry, circled around through Donegal and Connemara, and rounded out by the Aran Islands, Galway and the Burren. Our flight …
Exploring Ireland as a Galway Girl
We didn't keep a strict schedule once we entered the Burren. Instead, we watched the weather and tried to plan our day trips accordingly. Our first day we had awesome weather so we spent the day exploring the Cliffs of Moher, Poulnabrone, Doolin and other highlights of Co. Clare. Our second day was cloudy with …
A Day in the Burren
We had some flexibility with our schedule in Co. Galway and Co. Clare and decided to determine our days based on the weather. After our day exploring the Aran Islands we spent the night in Galway so I initially thought we would stay and see the city before heading to our Great House-- Mount Vernon-- …
Bicycling the Aran Islands
After an incredible day exploring Connemara, we had the opportunity to do something I wasn't sure I would ever do-- we visited the Aran Islands! The islands are in Galway Bay and one of the few places people still speak Gaelic as a first language. There are three distinct islands that can be reached via …
In the Hills of Connemara
Everywhere we went in Ireland Brian seemed to have a fun Irish ditty to sing along the way. Driving through the hills of Connemara was certainly no exception! I could have easily spent a week in this area of the country. The rolling hills and coastline were beautiful and reminded me so much of home. We left Westport in …
Driving Through Donegal
Since we had limited time to make our upper loop around Ireland we missed most of Co. Donegal-- it just wasn't possible for us to see and do everything. We did, however, enjoy our drive from Derry to Donegal city, where we spent the night and next morning exploring the town and visiting Donegal Castle. …
A Day in Derry, Northern Ireland
Our last stop in Northern Ireland was Derry. I had been there a couple of times before when I lived in Coleraine, but this was Brian's first time. I thought he would enjoy learning more about the city's history, especially given all of the political unrest, so our first order of business was signing up for …
Heather's Compass 