# We Are Loving Ireland!



## Sonesta

Hi everyone,

I just wanted to report that we are having a truly fabulous time in Ireland and we are finding some awesome wildcamping spots in some truly magnificent settings!   During the 2 weeks we have spent here so far, we have only spent 5 nights on campsites altogether and so we are in our elements here as to be honest, campsites in general just do not do it for me! Having said that, we stayed last night on a lovely campsite right on the beach and it was very nice indeed - but in general, I find campsites quite boring places to stay on! We much prefer to find our own spot in a location that inspires us and in Ireland wildcamping just seems a perfectly acceptable thing for we motorhome owners to do. 

We started off in Dublin as we surprised our daughter who was over there for 3 nights celebrating her 25th birthday and currently we are in Co Kerry. Today, we are on the move again heading towards the Valentia islands. 

The weather so far has been a bit hit & miss - but you don't visit Ireland for the weather do you? So - in all honesty the weather has not affected our experiences or our enjoyment of touring around this beautiful part of the world one little bit. However, yesterday was a very warm & sunny day, which was a very nice bonus indeed and it looks like today is going to be another sunny one too. 

The Irish people are so welcoming, so charming and so very friendly towards their visitors and it's a genuine pleasure to be a guest in their beautiful country. No matter where you go whether it be a big town or a small village,  if you venture into any of the many pubs and bars, the atmosphere and socialising that you will find within those doors, is just like pubs used to be in England 40 plus years ago!  The 'local' in Ireland still plays a huge part in the community and the memories we will return home with of our nights sat in quaint old irish pubs singing with the locals; accompanied by several glasses of silky smooth guiness;  will stay forever in our hearts!

We've got another 2 weeks left before we have to return back home but there is still so many parts we wish to visit and so much more we want to do and see before we leave - but sadly, I just know that we are going to run ouf of time, so I guess we will just have to return again very soon! 

If you've never visited Ireland before then you really must come here and doing it all by motorhome really is the perfect way to see and explore this enchanting place!

Sue x


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## artona

sounds lovely


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## seamusog

I'm glad you're having a good time Sonesta, and why should'nt you, Ireland is beautiful. If you think you heard good music just wait until you hit Kerry, some fierce sessions around that part of Ireland.
Try to head down the coast towards Cork, Mizzen Head, the most southerly point in Ireland, wonderful views, and wild camp at the lighthouse enjoy yerselves.
seamus.


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## Glandwr

Booked Holyhead-Dublin on the 28 sept. looking forward to it. Will be following your adventure with interest, thanks.

Dick


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## RedSonja

If you can try and get to the wilds of Donegal. My Mother lives up there overlooking the Atlantic Ocean. Its a beautiful part of ireland and there is some brilliant wild camping to be had.

I am always seeing German motor homes around when I am over there.

Enjoy the Craic.

Sonja


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## rayrecrok

Hi.
We are off with the two youngest grand kids last week in July first week in August, and we already have two invites, one to stay with Irish Homer (Ken) for a couple of days , and another for a couple of days fishing in Enniskillen with one of my diving mates (another Ken)..

Can't wait.


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## erneboy

If you are still near the south coast Kinsale is a must see. It's probably the best preserved town in Ireland and has some superb Restaurants, the top few are selected to join The Good Food Circle each year, Alan.


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## Crazywater

Great to hear you are enjoying Ireland so much. If you decide to head towards Galway let me know and I'll give you a few suggestions for touring Galway, Connemara and South Mayo.

Crazywater


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## dawnwynne

Sue, sounds like you are having a fabulous time! You have made Ireland so enticing I want to catch a ferry right now!!

We have always planned to take a holiday there and now I am convinced that's the way to go!

Enjoy the last couple weeks of your adventure!


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## bognormike

Sue

good to hear you're having a good time. 

What are the prices like out in the sticks? :roll: My brother in law has been working in Dublin for a few months, and says that pub prices are very high, and likewise with eating out generally. Is it just Dublin, or high generally?


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## Bob_ed

Crazywater said:


> Great to hear you are enjoying Ireland so much. If you decide to head towards Galway let me know and I'll give you a few suggestions for touring Galway, Connemara and South Mayo.
> 
> Crazywater


Hi Crazywater,
Sorry to break into this thread but it is relevant(ish).

Sonesta may not be in Galway but we are! Just pulled into Salthill Caravan Park this afternoon. We are going into Galway city tomorrow and then on Friday we intend(ed) to head towards Clifden and Connemara National park.

So any tips you have for places to visit will be gratefully received!!

Oh - we are loving it too! We got into Cork on Saturday morning after a VERY rough crossing from Swansea. We have so far visited Killarney, Tralee and the Dingle peninisular - spectacular!


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## Scolds

Don't miss Kilarney National Park it is a beautiful place.


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## finyar

Sue, 
Glad you are enjoying our beautiful country, don't forget that the biggest tourism event of the year in Ireland is on this weekend in Waterford, its the Tall ships race and Waterford is the host venue for the start.

If you get a chance head for Hook head for Saturday night as the ships leave harbour early on Sunday morning and sail down the estuary (hook head is right at the coast) to begin the race.

I expect there to be a lot of motorhomes(incl us) parked on the head that night and I know there is free designated camper parking.

If not, don't worry, just enjoy the rest of your trip

Raymond


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## IrishHomer

Hi everyone.

Any of you who get to Donegal are welcome to camp on my drive for a night or two = that is if Ray has left!


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## Crazywater

Bob_ed said:


> Crazywater said:
> 
> 
> 
> Great to hear you are enjoying Ireland so much. If you decide to head towards Galway let me know and I'll give you a few suggestions for touring Galway, Connemara and South Mayo.
> 
> Crazywater
> 
> 
> 
> Hi Crazywater,
> Sorry to break into this thread but it is relevant(ish).
> 
> Sonesta may not be in Galway but we are! Just pulled into Salthill Caravan Park this afternoon. We are going into Galway city tomorrow and then on Friday we intend(ed) to head towards Clifden and Connemara National park.
> 
> So any tips you have for places to visit will be gratefully received!!
> 
> Oh - we are loving it too! We got into Cork on Saturday morning after a VERY rough crossing from Swansea. We have so far visited Killarney, Tralee and the Dingle peninisular - spectacular!
Click to expand...

Hi Bob,
Glad to hear that you are in these fair parts. Just sent you a PM

Crazywater


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## ChrisandJohn

Bob_ed said:


> Crazywater said:
> 
> 
> 
> Great to hear you are enjoying Ireland so much. If you decide to head towards Galway let me know and I'll give you a few suggestions for touring Galway, Connemara and South Mayo.
> 
> Crazywater
> 
> 
> 
> Hi Crazywater,
> Sorry to break into this thread but it is relevant(ish).
> 
> Sonesta may not be in Galway but we are! Just pulled into Salthill Caravan Park this afternoon. We are going into Galway city tomorrow and then on Friday we intend(ed) to head towards Clifden and Connemara National park.
> 
> So any tips you have for places to visit will be gratefully received!!
> 
> Oh - we are loving it too! We got into Cork on Saturday morning after a VERY rough crossing from Swansea. We have so far visited Killarney, Tralee and the Dingle peninisular - spectacular!
Click to expand...

I envy you. I keep meaning to do an Irish trip in the motorhome but so far the cheap ferries to France have won each year. I've visited Ireland many times in pre-motorhome days and Connemara / Joyce country is where I aways want to return to.

If you like gardens, try Kylemore Abbey.

Chris


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## Sonesta

Hi to everyone who has kindly replied to my post. Thank you so much for your kind wishes and helpful  suggestions and we have added many of your suggestions to our itinerary. 

A special thanks to Raymond for telling us about the Waterford/Hook Head Tall Ships festival, we've looked into it after you told us about it and we now plan to make our way there tomorrow as it sounds like a fabulous event and just the sort of thing we would really enjoy. Hopefully, we might bump into you during the weekend Raymond  and if you happen to see a champagne coloured Burstner Iexo (GB plate) parked up, then that will most likely be us! Feel free to knock on our door and we will be delighted to meet you! We will be stocked up with Guiness so no worries on that count! 

Thank you also to Irish Homer for your very kind offer but sadly, I don't think we will make it to Donegal on this trip!  I  just know we are definitely going to run out of time, so as much as I would love to visit Donegal I think that will have to be during our next visit!  Thank you anyway and hopefully, when we return to Ireland ( which we definitely will be doing) we can take you up on your kind offer then?  

At the moment we are in Kinsale (thank you erneboy for telling us about this delightfully quirky little town) and we are parked up near to the quay for the night. We've been out for a meal in a very nice restaurant and are now sitting in a local pub listening to an excellent jazz band!  it's got free wifi so I thought I'd do a quick post to MHF on my iPhone during their interval. 

We've had 3 really lovely sunny days  in a row - so weatherise we're really being spoilt now!  I hope it stays fine and sunny for the Waterford Tall Ships Festival weekend as that would just be the icing on the cake for everyone!

Ireland truly is an enchanting place to visit and if you've never been here then trust me, you really don't know what you are missing! 

Sue


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## Bob_ed

Thanks to Crazywater and Chris for your help - much appreciated!

And apologies to Sonesta for highjacking your thread. We would love to have seen the tall ships but unfortunately too far away at this moment as we are in Westport.


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## finyar

Sue, 
I am not sure if you changed your mind or ended up watching the Tall ships from a different location ,but I could not find you at Hook head last night.

Anyway I hope you had as good a time as we did , we spent last night in the company of 150 other vans near the Hook head lighthouse on the south east coast.

The weather was fantastic as was the atmosphere and we had a brilliant night.

This morning everyone was up early to watch the ships sail out of the estuary to begin the race,as well as 45 tall ships , there was hundreds of pleasure craft accompanying them to the coast. It really was a beauiful sight.

Anyway I hope you are still enjoying your holiday

Raymond


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## Sonesta

Hi Raymond, 

Yes we did get to see the tall ships and we are so happy you told us about this magnificent event as we have had the most wonderful weekend ever. 

By a stroke of luck we ended up in Waterford itself on Fri as we managed to get a place on aN Irish MCC Rally which was being held just a 5 min walk from the quay where all the tall ships were on show. Thank goodness we took a look around all the ships on the Friday as it was absolutely heaving with visitors yesterday. The atmosphere was electrifying around the quay and we were fascinated by all we saw and by the tremendous organisation that went into this event. 

The rally too was fantastic and we were made so welcome by everyone and by the time we left we felt like we'd all been friends for years.

We got up very early this morning and at 6am we drove to Dunmore East. We took our chairs and a picnic and sat in the park overlooking the estuary with hundreds of others all keen to get a glimpse of the tall ships as they passed by. As you say the sight of all the tall ships and the accompanying boats was a magnificent sight and it is a scene we shall remember with emotion forever. The atmosphere in the park was tremendous too and families were all sitting in the glorious sunshine cooking breakfast on disposable bbq's and having a fun filled time. There was live music and trade stalls dotted all around this charming little village and business was booming for the local establishments.

Tonight we are wildcamping on the harbour at Dunmore East with several other motorhomes and we've just been invited to sit with them all as everyone is sat outside enjoying the evening sun. Looks like another late night us on the cards lol. :lol::lol:

So once again ... thank you Raymond for informing us of this event as thanks to you, this has made an already fabulous holiday, even more memorable and special. My only regret is that we didn't get to meet you! Never mind I'm sure we will be returning so who knows maybe next time???? 

Sue x


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## IrishHomer

IrishHomer said:


> Hi everyone.
> 
> Any of you who get to Donegal are welcome to camp on my drive for a night or two = that is if Ray has left!


I may not renew my subscription to MHF, immediately anyway, so any MHF members who come to Donegal are welcome to camp on my drive (it's big enough but I would say 8m would be max) for a night or two. I can even provide EHU.

Please contact Rayrecrok for my number. Then call me for availability
and directions.

Hope to see some of you here.

Irishhomer


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