{"id":2544,"date":"2021-03-17T07:01:20","date_gmt":"2021-03-17T14:01:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/?p=2544"},"modified":"2021-03-24T12:29:19","modified_gmt":"2021-03-24T19:29:19","slug":"smiling-irish-advice-for-a-visit-to-the-emerald-isle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/golf\/personalities\/2544\/smiling-irish-advice-for-a-visit-to-the-emerald-isle","title":{"rendered":"Smiling Irish Advice for a Visit to the Emerald Isle"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cIf you ever go across the sea to Ireland\u2026\u201d\u00a0<\/em>is the opening line of the song\u00a0Galway Bay\u00a0<\/em>a traditional tune romanticizing the Emerald Isle. I\u2019ve asked people who\u2019ve trodden on the sod to complete that lyric with travel advice to celebrate St. Patrick.<\/p>\n

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The \u201cFull Irish\u201d or Ulster Fry Up to begin the day. (Photo by Harrison Shiels)<\/p><\/div>\n

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Lansing attorney and musician Jack Cahill likes to spend weeks at a time in Ireland. He echoes the advice in Tourism Ireland\u2019s slogan \u201cgo where Ireland takes you.\u201d \u201cRacing to check off every tourist site will mean you miss the real Ireland,\u201d said Cahill. \u201cMy philosophy is if you\u2019re having a good time, stay there.\u201d<\/p>\n

Neil Mullally, founder of the Michigan Irish American Hall of Fame, said travelers can expect to feel welcome, warm and totally at ease in Ireland. \u201cIreland is actually smaller than Michigan\u2019s Lower Peninsula so it\u2019s possible to see a lot in a few days. But rather than run from one tourist spot to the next, be flexible and don\u2019t rush yourself. Let Ireland wash over you and savor it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mullally also recommends staying in small, family run, licensed B&Bs. \u201cThere is nothing like starting the day with an Irish breakfast and the proprietors are an invaluable source of travel information.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lansing\u2019s Angie Miller, a radio reporter and blogger about to graduate from EMU, first visited Ireland back in third grade. \u201cWaterville was my favorite place as well as kissing the Blarney Stone, which gave me the gift of gab. Irish music, whether a jig or a reel is lively and uplifting to me and satisfies my soul,\u201d said Miller, who became a competitive Irish dancer with the Heinzman families\u2019 Ardan Academy of Irish Dance.<\/p>\n

Belfast-born Richard McMullin has been performing Irish music in Michigan for decades as leader of the popular Blackthorn band. Irish crooners often sing songs about locations such as the green glens of Antrim, Carrickfergus, and even the Carrick-a-Rede bridge near Giants Causeway and the Bushmills Distillery \u2013 all places that whet McMullin\u2019s appetite. \u201cTry potato farls, an Ulster fry, scones with jam and fresh cream, currant squares, and barmbrack,\u201d he said. Any of the above can be washed down with a pint of Guinness, of course.<\/p>\n

State Legislator-turned political publisher Bill Ballenger, who once served as Michigan\u2019s Racing Commissioner, suggests The Curragh. It\u2019s a horse racing track west of Dublin in County Kildare that J.P. McCarthy would have loved,\u201d said Ballenger of the late Detroit radio legend whose broadcast party kicked off St. Patrick\u2019s Day each year. \u201cI also like Clonmacnoise, the Ring of Kerry, MacGillycuddy\u2019s Reeks, the Burren, and Ashford Castle in Cong where the film\u00a0The Quiet Man\u00a0<\/em>was filmed.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey have the carriage from the movie there,\u201d said Oakland County Commissioner Chuck Moss, also a former State Legislator, who recommends the Cliffs or Moher, Connemara, and Sligo in addition to Dublin.<\/p>\n

Sandy Andrews, of Trenton has been to Dublin and the Temple Bar Pub is not to be missed. \u201cI went to a Jimmy Buffett concert at the Olympia Theater and I hope to do that again,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cJust outside Dublin is the village of Glendalough, an early Medieval monastic settlement founded by St. Kevin, said Barry McGuire, an experienced traveler who works at the Okemos Post Office. \u201cThe James Joyce Tower and Museum in Sandycove is also a place I recommend.\u201d<\/p>\n

Creta Panzeri and Chris Follenus, both working in tourism, like the outskirts of Dublin too. \u201cThe small villages north of Dublin such as Malahide and Portmarnock which are right on the sea,\u201d noted Panzeri, who also perused Trinity College\u2019s Library in the city and described it as a \u201cstunning masterpiece.\u201d Amazing views await tourists who hop on the Dart commuter rail to South County Dublin to Killiney and Dalkey. \u201cIt\u2019s a great, low-cost day out with some stunning walks, restaurants and pubs,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n