Ireland

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2004, 2008 and 2012

DUBLIN

DOUBLING and DOUBLING

Dublin - Northern Ireland - Cliff of Moher - Cobh

A 2002 survey put Dublin as the third most expensive capital city in the European Union, with housing, food and drink prices especially high. An Irish friend confirmed that and I felt it too when I visited. Was it due to migration from the rural areas into Dublin?

My first visit in 2004 was one of the "Let's meet in Europe" thing for me and James. He flew in from the US for business and I from Germany.

It was also a chance for me to try Ryanair - the world's leading budget airline - flying out of Salzburg via London. As it was free seating, everyone was already lining up when the boarding desk opened. That's why Ryanair flights are 99% on-time. It is a non-frill airline which suits me.

The second time in 2008, I went along with Bill's friends who have some Irish heritage in them, to coincide with St. Patrick's Day in Dublin.

The Dublin Express Airport bus cost €5. It takes 45 minutes and I'm not in hurry so I took the normal bus for only €1.60 The bus stopped near the Connolly (train ) station, at Talbot Street, which is directly in front of a Tourist Information. Perfect! I stayed at Isaacs Hostel on Frenchman's Lane for €17 a night for a dorm bed.

An article wrote "The only culture outside Dublin is agriculture". With its big modern and new shopping malls and it being an island, Ireland was compared to Singapore on many occasion. Afterall we have similar industries e.g. pharmaceuticals, tourism and services.

There were signs all over that says "sponsored by EU fund". This was started in the late 1990s to build the country's infrastructure, and Ireland skipped straight from an agricultural economy to a post-industrial one.

What would be Ireland without going to the St. Patrick's Day Parade?! We bought a seat on the Grand Stand but it could have been funnier if we hadn't. The whole city is out in costumes but the locals know better to just celebrate in the comfort of their homes as we found out later the "hard way": no restaurants (reservation), no toilets.

The first time I was in Dublin, I actually wrote that I hated it and will never come back because it was so noisy: Noise from traffic and noise from construction everywhere. It also rained all the time, I had to look out for water puddles and it felt like the city will drown soon.No wonder a tourist brochure wrote, "The weather may sometimes give you the impression that you're swimming through an airborne ocean".

However, it is a pretty city with Georgian architecture with "grand set pieces of Fitzwilliam and Merrion squares, and their graceful red-brick houses with ornate, fan-lit doors and immaculately kept central gardens, and the wide and decorous open space of St Stephen's Green".

When I made enquiries at the Northern Irish tourist office in Dublin, the woman thought that I was crazy to want to drive from Dublin to Belfast and Giant's Causeway in the North and the Cliff of Moher in the West and onto Cork in the South in 2 days! Well, Ireland with an area of 69,000 sq km, is quite large. Nevertheless I am glad that James shared my idea of a "race" adventure so for that, we managed to see the Irish landscape as "a mythic resonance".

The drive from Dublin to Belfast took about 4 hours. We kept waiting to be stopped at the customs or something when we crossed over to "UK" side of Ireland but the only sign was the indication of distance from kilometres to miles.

HILLBOROUGH

We stopped at Hillsborough after crossing the "border" to check with the Tourist Information if we were on track and a p-stop. However, the friendly guy at the Tourist Information asked us to visit the "Hillsborough Castle". Hillsborough is a small Georgian town about 16km from Belfast. It was a nice sunny day and we could do with some fresh air so we saw no harm to take a little stroll to the Fort and put our cameras to use. It was described as "elaborate wrought-iron gates and coat of arms where visiting dignitaries to Northern Ireland normally stay and the Hillsborough Fort which date from 1650 was remodelled by the descendants of Arthur Hill, the founder of the town."

BELFAST

13 miles later, we reached Belfast, the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland which used to be known for its shipbuilding (this was where Titanic was built), linen, rope-making and tobacco industries before the end of WWI. Sadly, the Troubles and the decline of traditional industries have since damaged economic life.

Although Belfast looked a lot different from Dublin, I was pleasantly surprised to see a pretty clean and modern city, not the bullet-, broken down buildings we see often in movies about Belfast and the IRAs.

The night we were there, we had dinner at the Red Panda Chinese restaurant at the Odyssey Pavilion and Arena which is home to the Belfast Giants and highly praised by Bill Clinton as a "must-visit" venue in Northern Ireland. The owner of the restaurant is a Malaysian and they served Tiger Beer (from Singapore).

After a full meal, we walked all the back from the Odyssey to Jurys Inn. It was a really pleasant walk as we passed by the Lagan Weir Lookout which let visitors see how mudbanks and tide levels are adjusted. There are many new glass buildings in this area.

A little further down the road is the Royal Courts of Justice, facing the St George's Market opposite, both of which are closed by this time of the night of course.

The next building we came to was the City Hall. Statues around the building were Queen Victoria, Sir Edward Harland (founder of Harland and Wolff shipyard which built the Titanic) and a memorial to those who died in the Titanic.

Another difference between north and south is the colour of the mail boxes: red in the North (UK) and green in the South. How cool.

Soon we got to Jurys Inn but decided to check out the Crown Bar Liquor Saloon which is a "must see" even for teetotallers. Described as a flamboyant Victorian drinking palace, The Crown dates back to the 1880s which is one of only 2 pubs owned by the National Trust. The interior of stained glass, marbling, morsaics and ceiling of scrolled plasterwork and wooden bars with original gas lamps is indeed very pretty.

I felt that the Northern Irish were much friendlier as I was immediately accosted by a guy there who asked if I was alone, even though James was sitting next to me. We started to chat about Singapore and it was a great evening out.

The other Irish person I spoke to on this trip was the very tiny Irish woman I met at Bristol Airport. She looked to be in her 60s and was in Bristol alone to attend a wedding. She stucked to me because she said the last time she got lost. I did not mind her as she was very nice. She was also very tiny: around 1.45 m tall?? The way she walked in small quick steps was very "cute" and she spoke with a very strong Irish-accented English. The moment we reached Ireland, she disappeared as soon as we said our good byes. Perhaps she was the Leprechaun in my life.

GIANT'S CAUSEWAY

Legend has it that the warrior giant, Finn MacCool, the most famous leader of the Fianna, had laid the causeway to provide a path across the sea to his lady love who lived on the island of Staffa in Scotland where similar columns are found.

Some columns are perfect symmetrically hexagonal, like honeycomb!

Scientifically, it was said to be formed by a series of volcanic eruptions first around 61 million years ago. The heat and the cold of the Ice Age had caused the land to break into some 37,000 basalt columns which extend from the cliffs down to the sea, forming interesting shapes like the camel, the granny on Stookans, the wishing chair, the chimney tops, the Giant's boot and the Organ.

The Organ

The sun was setting so the place had a magical beautiful orange glow. Went back to the same spot again 5 years later and it was still magical.

There was just about enough daylight left when we got to Dunluce Castle, a castle dating back to the 13th century. Perched on a steep crag, it was once the main fortress of the MacDonnells, chiefs of Antrim although a storm blew its kitchen into the sea!

The coastal lines of Northern Ireland is indeed very spectacular. We wanted to cross the Carrick-a-rede Rope Bridge which hangs 25 m above the sea and whobbles and twists as soon as you stand on it BUT we were very disappointed to find it closed (off season).

Despite getting up pretty early the next day, we were a little delayed with the breakfast at Hastings Europa Hotel. Today we are crossing almost the whole of Ireland again, 350 miles, 7 hours to the other side, the West Coast. The Cliff of Moher to be precise.

The drive took longer than we thought as we drove through uphill windy country roads. Thus when we arrived, the park was already closed but there was a park maintenance van (as we thought it was) so I asked if we could still go in and have a look.

At the lookout, we could only see dark silhouettes and make out how the Cliff of Moher looked like. Of course after such a long drive, we were disappointed but just as we were turning back to the car, someone shot up a torch into the sky which illuminated the place. Despite lasting for only about a minute, we saw how amazing Cliff of Moher is!

My curiosity got the better of me so I asked the van driver what they are looking for (out in the dark) and felt a terrible chill as he said that someone is lost!! I was told later that the Cliff is a popular place to end one's life. Although it is sad, I guess if I choose to end my life, I would like to pick such a beautiful magical spot like this.

Whenever I went back to Ireland again - 2 more times after this visit - I always made a point to visit the Cliff of Moher. It is very pretty but also VERY windy. We had to huddle together or lie on the ground to prevent ourselves from flying off!

Cliff of Moher. 4 years apart

Still windy

Cork

On my first trip, James had to work the next day so we drove on another 4 hours non-stop to Cork.

We checked in to the Rochestown Park Hotel but only for one night because James felt that the Maryborough is better. When we went to the Maryborough's the next day, I can see why: A well-wishing card.

This is in Douglas town of Cork which is mainly residential, where fish and chips costs €3.10 and nothing else around; the bus to Cork city centre takes about 20 minutes and cost €1.20. I met a 21-year-old Czech girl, Anna, on the bus who had lived 7 years in New Zealand and now 5 months in Ireland. She is one of many from eastern Europe coming to Ireland to study or work as Ireland's economy is picking up.

She is very friendly and told me how she felt "lost" for 2 months when she moved to Cork with her family because for example, the Irish girls use a lot of make-up and are very pretty. Kinda silly because she is very pretty herself. Well, it was good to have some silly chat and good to hear that she has found her "footing" now and she enjoys her life with her newfound friends.

Here is River Lee, Cork's National Monument Protestant St Finbarr's Cathedral in a distance and the Foster's Brewery.

I have to say that, Cork, Ireland's second largest city, failed to appeal to me, so did Cobh (pronounced 'cove').

Cobh

My last stop in Ireland, so was it for the Titanic before its doomed Atlantic crossing in 1912.

On my second trip, Cobh looks much nicer. The St Patrick's Day Parade "followed" us when we saw them play here (again).

There were 6 of us and we rented a Caddy type of car to travel around Ireland. I can't remember the sequence now but Elizabeth wanted so much to go to Blarney Castle so we drove out there.

Of course everyone came here not to see the castle but to kiss the Blarney Stone.

"To kiss it, you must be held by the legs head downwards, over the battlements".

I was like George Bernard Shaw. I don't believe that I need to seek the eloquence at Barney.

Limerick county Adare Manor

Our Princess got married here which is a fairy tale as it can be. It was a great "middle point" for us friends living in different parts of the world to come together, and time to dust the cocktail dresses.

For unexplanable reason, I did not take any photo of the great food at the dinner there but these photos below from Berkeley Lodge Adare (which is a great B&B). Anne-Meike and I were thrilled to stumble upon a szechuan restaurant in Dublin. Chopstick time!