Chapter 3: Ireland

Friday 14 September: Taty Janine joined us on the train from Challans to Nantes. There we said our farewells, she was off to Paris, and we took the airport bus to catch a flight to Dublin. Once in town, we were having trouble locating our place for the night, so Richard went into a pub, came out with an accurate rendition: "Ye cross O'Connell Bridge, then tak the first left, right at the poob".
Litton Lane Hostel sounded charming on the net, in real life, its central location was its only positive trait: the "poob" across the lane played loud doof-doof very late, the showers dribbled pitifully and the fire door slammed upon the return of the inebriated occupants of the other rooms and their subsequent visits to the bathroom.
Nevermind, we enjoyed some great meals in Temple Bar, explored the town and were quite ready to move on by Sunday. Entertainment at the Euston Train Station as hordes of brightly dressed fans descended from Cork and from Killarney for the All Ireland Finals in Football and Hurling (Cork lost BTW).
Two nights at a slightly quieter B & B in Cork: being "close to the train station" also meant "close to diesel trains running their engines very very early in the morning"! Visited Kinsale on Monday, then on Tuesday we picked up our rented VW Golf for 3 wonderful days:

Day 1, a circuit of the Dingle Peninsula, the best B & B so far at Killorglin!

Day 2, irish weather as we drove around the Ring of Kerry, including a little ferry ride to Valentia Island, its slate quarry, grotto and the lovely sub-tropical gardens of Glanleam. Glengarriff for the night, in a bright pink B & B, our last pub dinner followed by a wonderful jam session of traditional irish music by local muso's.
The next morning, on the road again, stop at Skibbereen for a sobering look at the Potato Famine Heritage display, then back to Cork to return the hire car and our flight back to London.