flinn@seismo.UUCP (E. A. Flinn) (04/02/84)
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Some comments on traveling in Ireland:
The Irish are friendly and hospitable people, and Americans are always
welcomed, partly because most of the Irish have relatives in the United
States. The whole country is only the size of New Jersey, so it's easy
to get around by rented car. A nice week's trip is Dublin - Waterford
- Mallow - Killarney - Limerick - Galway - Dublin. Bed-and-breakfast
places are plentiful, clean, conveniently located, and *much* cheaper
than hotels. Any guidebook will list them, or the Irish Tourist Board
will recommend books of listings. The current edition of whatever they
now call the $5/day series will also have suggestions for things that are
fun, including singing pubs throughout the country (not to be missed).
Ireland is an agrarian country, and the main meal is at lunchtime. The
only people who eat full meals in hotels or restaurants in the evening
are the English gentry and the American tourists, neither of whom the
Irish mind relieving of their money: best to have a big meal in the
middle of the day, and tea or high tea in the evening.
In the west, where Gaelic is the dominant language, there is a
unexpected pitfall in that the Gaelic word for 'man' is 'fir' and the
word for 'woman' is something I forget but which starts with the letter
'm' - leading to the designation on the doors of restrooms ('M' and
'F') being the reverse of what you expect.
Sunset on Galway Bay is indeed worth seeing. A few miles north of
Galway is the tiny village of Spiddal, where there is (unexpectedly) a
large shop which deals in knitted goods from Aran. These are knitted
by individuals, and the knitting pattern of the sweaters identifies
the maker. I bought a sweater there in 1968, and it shows no sign of
wear or discoloration after sixteen years. You have your choice of
the natural whitish color or a ghastly bright red.
One of the many reasons Ireland was ravaged over so many centuries is
that the rivers go right into the heart of the country. The landscape
is full of Norman castles, many in ruins.
Dubliners are now used to Joyce buffs prowling around the city, and
some of the places in Ulysses are commercialized to the extent of
having signs outside identifying them in that regard, e.g., Davy
Byrnes's pub, although the Moira Hotel is just as it was then. 7
Eccles Street is still vacant, as far as I know. The nicest part of
the city is the Georgian part south of Trinity College; Buswell's Hotel
in Molesworth Street is the place to stay - elegant, not that
expensive, and conveniently located for everything. It's an ancient
family hotel; single room rates are about 30 Irish pounds (25
Molesworth Street, Dublin 2, telephone 764-013). The art gallery has
a nice version of Renoir's parapluies.
Don't miss: a tour of Guiness's brewery (includes sampling of stout);
the Book of Kells in the Trinity College library (neat TCD sweatshirts
on sale in the bookstore through a door on the north side of the
entrance to the college); the walk along the river from the Metal
Bridge down to the Customs House. You may still be able to buy a chip
of the old Nelson's Column in some of the shops. Glendalough, a few
miles outside the city, is beautiful scenery on a fairly small scale.
Outside Dublin: The Lakes of Killarney are lovely, and you
should have a ride in a horse-drawn jaunting cart (after you finish
and tip the driver, he'll probably ask you into the nearest pub and
buy you a drink with what you gave him.)
The Irish love to talk, and every pub is full of conversations worth
listening in on or joining. Be aware, however, that the national
sport of Ireland is fist-fighting, so it's not a bad idea to steer
clear of the rougher sections of Dublin, and any pub the night of the
All-Ireland football final. Nearly the worst airplane trip I ever had
was on an Aer Lingus 707 ('Air Fungus' - best to avoid), one-stop from
Washington to Dublin: the plane was empty out of Washington, and I
settled down for a comfortable night. However, the one stop was
Boston, where 189 drunken Irish-Americans got on. They ran out of
liquor half an hour out, and the Irish national sport was indulged in
up and down the aisles all the way... I was told that trans-Atlantic
flights to Dublin all stop at Shannon now, so you can buy things in
the supposedly duty-free shops there, but I'd check prices before you
leave to make sure that what you're getting is really a bargain.