Ireland A Charming Friend

'Ireland - A Charming Friend'
SOUTH WALES ARGOS

A trip to Southern Ireland is not so much like shaking hands with an old friend, rather like being given an enormous hug by a brother you haven’t seen for years.

Welcome is a word both freely used and heartily meant here. Then there’s the ‘crack’, more obvious in the watering holes and restaurants of Dublin than in the countryside, though is about good company, good food and good conversation,- watchwords of the Irish.

As a one time frequent visitor to Dublin and the east coast around Wicklow, Ark low and Avoca ( the home of Ballykissangel) it would have been churlish indeed to turn down an invitation to also sample the delights of the south-east and south-west.

Irish Ferries has a variety of sailings from Pembroke to Rosslare and foot passengers can, with a new rail-link arrangement, connect from Newport to Waterford, Dublin, Limerick and Killarney for surprisingly little.

My four day tour took in Waterford, Cobh near Cork, Kenmare and the Ring of Kerry, travelling by car with overnight stays in Waterford, Kenmare and Rosslare.

At every point and certainly around Waterford, the historic Irish links with Wales are seen as a very positive part of Ireland’s social and Celtic heritage, which added a further warmth to the hospitality offered.

Waterford and its crystal needs no introduction, but the city – Ireland’s oldest – is worth spending the weekend in. Places like Waterford Treasures at the Granary, 1 £5 million investment charting the city in an audio-visual experience like no other. There’s even a cinema rigged as a Viking boat – and the boat moves as it crosses the stormy sea from England.

You can book a walking tour of Waterford with Ireland’s most effervescent guide, Jack Burtchaell, who raises the telling of history to an art form. Or slip into Dooley’s, one of the city’s oldest hotels, run by June Darrer and her tow daughters Margaret and Tina, and wrap yourself around an Irish Coffee.

Driving west towards Kenmare you’ll pass Browns Equestrian Centre at Inchiquin where lunch at Browne’s restaurant is a must.

At the southern end of a beautiful area known as the Ring of Kerry, lies the riverside town of Kenmare. Unashamedly a centre for touring the Ring, Kenmare still holds on to its original Irish charm.

A half step short of bustling, Kenmare is a great base to tour from. Fresh fish is on every menu, be it pub or restaurant, and mussels are a speciality. The wonder of the Ring of Kerry is that you are obliged to drive slowly, governed by the often winding road. The reward is s series of singular views some of the loveliest countryside in Ireland.

Our partial tour from Kenmare to Killarney took us along the edge of the national park and past the Victorian mansion of Muckross House. There are some wonderful pull-off points, to stop and drink in the views over such sights as Lough Leane.

A place to stay and a place to eat is the somewhat tucked away Castle Farm at Millstreet near Dungarvan. And if you fancy a short walk to the local pub, you’ll find it in the garage on the cross-roads. Just walk round the side and into the bar. You’d never know it was there. That’s Ireland all over.

You have to go there to discover the mysteries behind its beauty.

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