{"id":2233,"date":"2018-03-22T19:41:57","date_gmt":"2018-03-23T02:41:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/?p=2233"},"modified":"2018-03-22T19:41:57","modified_gmt":"2018-03-23T02:41:57","slug":"authentic-ireland-trip-offers-scenery-and-serenity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/golf\/courses-and-travel\/2233\/authentic-ireland-trip-offers-scenery-and-serenity","title":{"rendered":"Authentic Ireland Trip Offers Scenery And Serenity"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Lodging in Limerick: No. 1 Perry Square is an historic, botique option (Photo courtesy Ireland\u2019s Blue Book)<\/p><\/div>\n

St. Patrick, by legend, drove the snakes from Ireland, but St. Patrick\u2019s Day drives American tourists to the Emerald Isle. Pronouncements, pledges and promises are made \u2013 perhaps powered by pints – while hearing a reel or slip jig on that day. Potter around on\u00a0TourismIreland.com<\/a>to visit virtually and to dream and plan. Here\u2019s what I suggest for an authentic, exciting first-time trip to Ireland:<\/p>\n

Fly a Delta overnight non-stop from Detroit to London and connect at Heathrow on an Aer Lingus flight into Shannon\u2026not Dublin. Skip Dublin unless you seek a big city, outdoor shopping mall, barely Irish experience. The Ireland you\u2019ve dreamed of is a 30-minute drive away from Shannon Airport when you peer over the edge of the 720-foot Cliffs of Moher which tower over the Atlantic and provide views of the Aran Islands in Galway Bay. The blast of ocean air and a stretch of the legs will do you good after the flight, so spend as much time as you like wandering along the cliff walk and visitor center. Then drive (keeping on the left side of the road) 10 minutes south along the Wild Atlantic Way into Lahinch where you can wet your whistle with your first pint of the trip, or warm up with a Jameson Irish Whiskey, in the colorful and comforting\u00a0Corner StonePub. Drive 30-minutes further and spend the night at the luxurious Doonbeg Resort and Spa, now owned by Trump, where you\u2019ll get more ocean views from a stylish, isolated manor setting and a fabulous first nights\u2019 sleep, and golf, if you wish, in what I have found to be Ireland\u2019s most baronial and yet tasteful lodging.<\/p>\n

A 20-minute car ferry across the River Shannon from nearby Killimer, which departs every 30 minutes, will take you from County Clare into County Kerry for wild and wooly adventures: a pony and trap ride through the Gap of Dunloe mountain pass or a tour of Ross Castle in Killarney, for instance. Or more windswept cliff drives or walks over the thrilling Conor Pass and stunning Slea Head scenic route in Dingle, where the most recent\u00a0Star Wars<\/em>\u00a0movie was filmed. Benner\u2019s Hotel is across the street from Ashe\u2019s Pub (and many others) which Tom Cruise frequented while starring in\u00a0Far And Away.\u00a0<\/em>If you don\u2019t pub crawl to the authentic, timeless Dick Mack\u2019s Pub and then Foxy John\u2019s, you haven\u2019t experienced Dingle. Fear not \u2013 you can recover from the revelry in the morning by ordering \u201cthe full Irish:\u201d the famed \u201cfry up\u201d breakfast that will keep you full (and thirsty again) all day and is served in every village.<\/p>\n

Depart the Dingle Peninsula and continue down the coastal \u201cRing of Kerry\u201d to Waterville, the town in the extreme southwest of Ireland where aviator Charles \u201cLucky\u201d Lindberg finally spotted dry land on the first solo crossing of the Atlantic. You\u2019ll feel the same sense of calm and relief when you can spend a restful night or two living like a local in Mary Gifford\u2019s charming Brookhaven Guest House. The world-renowned, waterfront Waterville Golf Links, managed for donkey\u2019s years by the beloved Noel Cronin – a true statesman of Irish golf – are within walking distance. Tiger Woods and Payne Stewart loved these links; and Charlie Chaplin loved the peaceful village (as you\u2019ll see if you stroll the promenade.)<\/p>\n

You\u2019ll want to stay within striking distance of Shannon Airport on your last night, and No. 1 Perry Square, a circa-1830, 20 bedroom, Georgian townhouse in Limerick is a stylish member of\u00a0Irelands-Blue-Book.ie<\/a>\u00a0list of rare, historic lodging opportunities. Its serene spa and sophisticated first-floor restaurant called \u201cSash\u201d are a perfect way to pamper your way home.<\/p>\n

Contact<\/em>\u00a0Travel Writer Michael Patrick Shiels at\u00a0MShiels@aol.com<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0His radio program may be heard weekday mornings on 92.1 FM.\u00a0\u00a0His latest book is \u201cI Call Him Mr. President \u2013 Stories of Fishing, Golf and Life with my Friend George H.W. Bush\u201d\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

St. Patrick, by legend, drove the snakes from Ireland, but St. Patrick\u2019s Day drives American tourists to the Emerald Isle…. Read more »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":43,"featured_media":2234,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[1044565,414,363644,15,597860],"class_list":["post-2233","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-courses-and-travel","tag-travel","tag-ireland","tag-st-patricks-day","tag-europe","tag-vacation"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/34\/2018\/03\/image1.jpeg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2233","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/43"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2233"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2233\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2235,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2233\/revisions\/2235"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2234"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2233"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2233"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2233"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}