To the west coast of Ireland - ever onwards

After an easy drive across Ireland, through areas of outstanding beauty.  The countryside, with its rolling hills and green fields and trees is just too good to be true.  It certainly lives up to its name of the 'Emereld Isle'.  Mind you, in order for it to be so green there has to be plenty of rain, and we are certainly experiencing the wet weather.  But it is not cold, and when the sun peeks through the clouds it is very warm.  And all the green lights up.

A stop at the services in Moneygall, with the unlikely name of Barak Obama.   Apparently his  third grandfather departed from a small village in Co. Offaly in 1851 and went to live in America.  President Obama has visited Moneygall, hence the connection.

 We are currently in Adare, slightly below the city of Limerick.  We will not be travelling any further north, which is a shame, but we have had to be selective, as we only have three weeks.   But we will be seeing all the south western and south coasts which we are looking forward to very much.

The camping ground is part of a farm, and very quiet and pleasant.  We have found camping grounds to be relatively expensive compared to Scandinavia and most European countries that we have visited so far.  But considering how many motorhomes and caravans are travelling around in Ireland, it is a chance to make some money, I guess.  Also June is high season.

Adare is certainly very pretty, and appears to be thriving commercially.  The buildings have all been renovated and painted, so the place looks immaculate.  I know that the tourists flock here in busloads, and it can be very busy.  And it was certainly busy today, helped along by a Summer Fair.

We read on one of the signs in Adare that the village was destroyed by fire during a battle about 300 years ago.  The houses in the current village were built during the 19th century.

There is a string of thatched cottages in the main street.  They wers built by the English landlord, the Earl of Dunraven, for workers constructing Adare.   They have mainly been converted into shops and restaurants.  Sadly two of them burnt down last June, and have to be rebuilt.

This pub was so busy, we could not find a table.

So we walked up the road to the next pub, and just managed to find a table, with the help of a friendly barman.

All the pubs and restaurants we have visited sell non alcoholic beer, and a wide variety of brands too, so Walter is very happy.  The red wine is always very pleasant too.

The food was excellent, as always.  Walter chose a hamburger, but I went a bit wild and chose local boiled bacon, served with a white sauce, mashed potatoes and cabbage.  The bacon was mouth wateringly sweet and tender.  I could not eat all the mashed potatoes, just too much.

And now we are sitting in our caravan, with absolute silence around us.  Out in the country.