The ring o’ Kerry

Well, What a weekend!…. Although it didn’t start well for myself and my two sons Louis & Finlay. Firstly, Fin missed his ferry back from Brittany the day before we were supposed to leave, having to get a later ferry overnight to Portsmouth…. then, when at Euston waiting for his train he realised he’d left his bag on the train at Waterloo, which was now heading back to Portsmouth, not to worry, it only contained his passport, wallet, headphones and laptop with his Uni work on it!! Nothing really important.

The stress was getting to me now, so before I breakdown in tears, I decided to pop into town to pick a few last minute items up and noticed one of my tyres had lost air pressure. I popped into the garage to get the puncture repaired only to find that it actually a hairline crack in the alloy! After ringing around frantically, I found someome who could repair it that afternoon (thank you @smartcare) 3 hours and £180 later!!

We were 3 hours behind eveyone else but made it to the Anglesey hotel at 10pm.

DAY 1.

The ferry for Dublin left the following morning at 8.15am

12.30pm Once off the ferry we gathered to finish putting the decals on the cars and discuss the route. The first stop along the way was the highest waterfall in Ireland, Powerscourt waterfall in the Wicklow mountains.

(I love Tony’s Bentley Continental)

(note the diesel is cheaper than the petrol!)

After a brief stop at this beautiful place, we decided a drive through the Wicklow mountains would be far more enjoyable than the motorway… correct decision!

A couple of ours later and we arrived at our pitstop for the night in Bagenalstown for food and some well deserved Guinness.

DAY 2.

This was going to be a long day of many miles… a three hour journey to Killarney and the start of the ‘ring o’ Kerry’

Again, we chose not to use the motorway, taking us through some lovely scenery and picturesque villages - where I formed a basic but insightful opinion, the Irish love a horse, a bungalow and a political campaign poster hahaha! Each of these three things can be foung within 50 metres of each other.

The Saturday afternoon was what we were all here to do, drive one of the most famous roads in the world. Prior to this weekend I had obviousley spoken to many people trying to advertise the ‘Race For Dementia’ charity that we are raising money for, and came across people who had been before and told me about it’s striking beauty, they were unerstating the facts massively… when, even though you’re expecting it, your jaw still hits the floor!! Just as we started out, what had been a cloudy day miraculously improved and the Sun started shining - I’ll let the photos tell the story…..

An outstandingly beautiful place to visit, Portmagee, Ballingskellig and the Islands that featured in the last Star Wars film. We even took the time to make some pitstops along the way. In driving terms the trip following the above photo in Kenmare to the hotel in Killarney was my favourite!

Tomorrow Dublin!

A bit of a lie in this morning, meeting at 9am after breakfast. We could take it easy today, and all decided to travel across counrty east, to take in Kinsale, cork and Killkenny before heading to Dublin. A whistlestop tour, but well worth the extra miles and it’s only wetted the appetite to take a closer look another time!

After checking in to the hotel and a freshen up, the only place to be… Temple Bar. Well needed Guinness (again)

James found a friend….

Following a few more bevvy’s in John Kehoe’s we all went for a curry and then onto the actual Temple Bar, where, inevitably, more Guinness went down!

Goodbye Southern Ireland you have been wonderful..great company, great country, great fun!

The RADical rogues will ride again!!