In October of 2016 Heather and I travelled to Dublin where we joined a CIE coach tour of the Irish republic. There were 16 of us tourists and together with our driver/guide, Dermot, we saw a lot of the beautiful Irish scenery and a number of wonderful churches, abbeys, and stately homes along with a distillery and a brewery! The weather cooperated well - as you can see from the pictures we had a mixture of cloudy and sunny days, but the need for an umbrella was minimal.
A typical Dublin scene
Pubs and Churches in Dublin
A moving tribute to the many Irish who were forced by famine to emigrate from their homeland. Many did not survive the long journey on crowded cargo ships.
Crossing the Wicklow mountains
THe Kilbeggan Distillery
Inside the Kilbeggan Distillery
Ballynahinch Lake
At Ballynahinch Castle
The beautiful Kylemore Abbey
Inside the Gothic Chapel at Kylemore Abbey
A beautiful and typical landscape scene near Cong
Ashford Castle - now a deluxe hotel
Practicing those pot bunker shots at Dromoland Castle
The Cliffs of Moher
A demonstration of the incredible sheep herding capabilities of the border collie
The rugged landscape we saw on our drive around the Ring of Kerry
An old bridge crossing the River Sneem
Our stop at the Skellig Experience during our drive around the Ring of Kerry
Another beautiful scene on the Ring of Kerry
The fertile and hospitable lands of County Tipperary
Blarney Castle
At the National Stud
Japanese Garden at the National Stud
Another scene in the Japanese Garden
Some of the 1,000,000 books in the library of Trinity College
Touring is thirsty work - time for a Guinness at Sheehan's Pub - Dublin