First I have to mention that I have never had such bad weather in Ireland as this year


On Sunday, 15th May I flew to Dublin. I hired a car at the airport and drove to Portmagee (Co. Kerry) where I stayed for three days. Half way to Kerry I stopped at the Rock of Cashel (Co. Tipperary). I was lucky that I could visited this historic site because the next five days it was closed for the public because of the Queen’s visit there. The main reason that I went to Kerry for some days was to visit Skellig Michael. I already was there in 1993 and 2003 and now I wanted to go back with a digital camera. But unfortunately the weather was so bad that the boats couldn’t go to this stunning island. So I drove along the Ring of Kerry, visited some ruins and Derrynane House (Daniel O’Connell lived here). One day I met forum members Simi and Franz in Tralee. There we were in the Kerry County Museum and in the Crag Cave near Castleisland.
Then I was three days in Killarney. One day I walked in the Muckross Estate and the next day in the Gap of Dunloe.
On 21st May I took the Shannon ferry from Tarbert to Killimer. That day it was raining, raining, raining. I found a B&B in Kilkee and - I couldn’t believe it – at about 6 pm the clouds disappeared. I drove to Carrigaholt because I wanted to do a dolphin watching tour the next day from there. But unfortunately this was also cancelled because of the rough sea. When I was at the Loop Head Lighthouse it was very windy and the clouds came back. Later I went to the beach in Kilkee – in the darkness it looked fantastic. The next morning I wanted to see the beach at daylight. The weather had improved and so I walked to the cliffs where it was very stormy. In the afternoon I drove to the Craggaunowen Project near Quin. Here you can see aspects of Ireland’s past for instance a castle, a crannog, a ringfort and a dolmen. On the way back I stopped at Quin Friary and Clare Abbey.
Monday, 23rd May (the day when Barrack Obama came to Ireland) gale-force wind was blowing over Ireland. At Spanish Point and Lehinch I was watching the sea – it was a fascinating natural spectacle. Before I drove north I visited Dunguaire Castle in Kinvara. At about 5 pm I was in Drumcliff. Here I always stop when I go north or south. On the cemetery are many old trees and some of them lost branches. Normally these storms happen in winter times and then the trees don’t have leaves anymore so there is no danger for them. At about 8 pm I arrived my B&B in Annagry. Mary told me that there were also car accidents because of the gale. Yes, it was not easy to drive these 400 km from Kilkee to Annagry. Later I went to Leo’s were I met people I hadn’t seen for a year



Here are the photos of part 1 of my report https://picasaweb.google.com/Susann177/ ... 2011_part1