One Week In Ireland – Part 1 Of 3+ Weeks In Europe

Where to Stay: Arlington Hotel in Dublin, Foyles Hotel in Clifden

Where to Eat: The Rolling Donut, Old Storehouse, Ryan’s Village Café, Mannion’s Bar, Off the Square Restaurant, EJ King’s, Guy’s Bar

What to See: In Dublin – Half Penny Bridge, Spire, Dublin Portal, Trinity College, Stephens Park, St. Patrick’s Cathedral, Christ Church, Half Penny Bridge, Temple Bar; in Galway – Latin Quarter, Galway City Museum, Galway Cathedral; in Clifden – town center, Connemara scenic drives, Aesleagh Falls

Day One: In-flight Movie Marathon and Lunch at Malahide Castle

We had Avios points that were expiring in 2025, so we used them for two round-trip tickets NY/Madrid, as well as a side trip between Dublin/Madrid for our first week. We got premium economy on Iberia for our flight to Madrid, and I would definitely fly them again. The seats were roomy, and they even provided an amenity kit with socks, a sleep mask, and a toothbrush kit in a cute case.

Food was a choice of cannelloni (tasty and a giant portion) and chicken with vegetables and polenta (I didn’t try but Scott said it was good). We had a giant double chocolate with M&Ms cookie and a breakfast on arrival of a cheese and butter sandwich with tea or coffee and a mini Twix bar.

We had a four-hour layover in the airport before our flight to Dublin, and we used our Sapphire Reserve card to get into one of the lounges. It was very spacious with a wide choice of drinks, fruit, granola and cereal, nuts and chips and pastries. It was good that we filled up there because our flight on Aer Lingus was no frills. You had to buy drinks, and there was no in-flight movie. I used the two-hour flight time to sleep.

It was good that I got at least some sleep because on the overnight to Madrid I opted to watch three movies instead of sleeping like most everyone else. I saw A Quiet Place: Day One, Challengers, and The Lesson (a drama with Richard E. Grant, Julie Delpy and Daryl McCormack (the hottie from Good Luck To You, Leo Grande). I recommend all three movies. Day One is the prequel to A Quiet Place and didn’t give any back story on the monsters or why they attacked. Even though it didn’t come close to the first movie or its sequel, it was a solid addition to the franchise. Challengers is the tennis-themed love triangle starring Zendaya. You don’t need to love tennis to enjoy the movie, though it’s even more fun if you do. (Tennis lovers, also check out Apples Never Fall, a limited series with Annette Bening and Sam O’Neill as a tennis coaching family.) Finally, The Lesson was a drama I had never heard of, but I do like Richard E. Grant, and he didn’t disappoint, even if you can guess the twist well before the end of the movie.

When we got to Dublin, we were met by an extended family member who has been living in Dublin for 23 years. We had lunch at Avoca, the restaurant at Malahide Castle. The Malahide grounds are free and open to the public. Avoca has a wider selection of entrees and pastries than I would have expected for a tourist stop café. We chose not to enter the actual castle – I’ve been castled out after previous trips to England and Ireland – so we just went back to our hotel, though Scott ventured out to see Dublin at night.

We’re staying at The Arlington, a hotel with a pub and restaurant. The Arlington is right in the heart of the Dubin City Center – steps away from the Half Penny Bridge and a short walk from there to the Temple Bar area. The rooms are basic but a great value for being steps from everything. The Arlington hosts a show, Celtic Nights, which features Irish song and dance over a three-course traditional Irish dinner. We didn’t see the show, but we did have some traditional Irish food at a pub the next day.

Day Two: DIY walking tour of Dublin

On our first full day in Dublin, we went to mass at St. Mary’s Cathedral. On the way back, we hit The Rolling Donuts for breakfast. They have a wide array of tricked out filled donuts. We chose the Ferrero Rocher (chocolate hazelnut cream with chocolate frosting), the White Kinder (hazelnut cream with which chocolate frosting), and the Pistachio Crème (pistachio in and on top). The Arlington provides an electric kettle and teas in the room so we took our donuts to go and ate in.

I used a ChatGPT prompt from this handy Forbes travel post to design a walking tour, and we got well over our 10,000 steps with a leisurely stroll past some key Dublin landmarks. Our hotel is right near the Spire and the Dublin Portal, an art installation that connects to NY with a Livestream of Times Square, so we started with these sites. Then we hit Trinity College, Stephens Park, St. Patrick’s Cathedral, a street fair outside St. Patrick’s, Christ Church Cathedral, the Temple Bar area and finally a walk across the Half Penny Bridge.

We had Irish pub food for lunch at The Old Storehouse in the Temple Bar area. This multi-level pub had over 7,000 reviews and still a high score, and it didn’t disappoint. I had the cottage pie with three inches of mashed potatoes on top. Scott had a Guinness and a pork and apple pie.

After lunch, I hit half a dozen vintage stores and picked up two pairs of sunglasses and a chunky, acrylic Marc Cain necklace. After a brief rest at the hotel, we walked around after sunset to check out the night life. Neither of us are night owls or party animals, but it was still fun to see how many people were out and about. We also tailor-made our walk to us by checking out some real estate listings (at least from the outside). We looked at 2-bed apartments in the Temple Bar area. It’s amazing that you can get a 2-bed in the heart of a global city like Dublin for under $400k. This was my favorite location:

Apartment 10, Castle Gate, Dublin 2, D02WF40 is for sale on Daft.ie

There were two others on a quiet side street but still in the heart of activity:

Apartment B6, Isolde’s Tower, Temple Bar, Dublin 8, D08WK06 is for sale on Daft.ie

Apartment 5 , Blind Quay, Exchange Street Lower, Temple Bar, Dublin 8, D08ED6P is for sale on Daft.ie

Day 3: On the road from Dublin to Clifden

During the last week of October when we were in Ireland, the weather was cool (50s) with intermittent rain. That makes for perfect rainbow watching, and during our drive to Clifden, Ireland came through. We saw an enormous, colorful rainbow that made us stop at an overlook and get a proper picture.

The drive from Dublin to Clifden is about four hours. We stopped in Lucan, a bedroom community just outside Dublin, to eat breakfast at Ryan’s Village Café. I had an egg platter, and Scott had pancakes which were like thick crepes.

We arrived in Clifden with enough daylight to walk around the town center, where I checked out a vintage store (of course), as well as some gift shops. Our hotel, Foyles, is a hotel restaurant. We have a giant old-fashioned room key.

The hotel makes me feel like I’m on location for Beauty and the Beast.

Dinner was early at Mannion’s Bar, one of the oldest family-owned pubs in Clifden. Scott had the fish and chips, and I had the burger. Both were delicious. Their desserts each come with a different flavor ice cream. Scott opted for the sticky toffee pudding with cookies and cream ice cream, and it looked like a small dessert but was filling enough to share.

Day 4: Driving loops around Clifden

Clifden’s town center is small so we went for a drive around the Connemara region. There are multiple ways to go. Scott selected a drive that passed by Our Lady Star of the Sea Church, which is the same name as our parish in Florida – a sister church!

This particular drive ended at the Aesleagh Falls, a beautiful waterfall that is part of a salmon run that ends in Norway and Iceland. The falls and surrounding areas are beautiful, but my favorite part is what you can’t see in the picture – the sound of the falls. There were several times I just closed my eyes and enjoyed the sound of the rushing water.

All along the way we were treated to beautiful vistas, including the only fjord in Ireland.

We stopped at Connemara National Park on the way back. While we didn’t do any of the hiking trails, we spent some time in the visitor center learning all about bogs. Apparently, Ireland has 50% of boglands in Europe, and the bogs run so deep they could subsume two double-decker buses!

Once back in Clifden, we checked out more stores in the town center, including a Saint Vincent de Paul thrift store. We have a SVDP store in our neighborhood in Florida, and it’s one of my favorite places to shop. This SVDP branch was much smaller, but I still picked up a black and gray exercise shirt for one Euro.

Then we had our lupper (we have a mid-afternoon meal that acts as both lunch and dinner for us) at Off The Square restaurant. During the drive, there were so many references to the abundant marine life in Connemara, including a large mussels farm, I knew I had to try the seafood before leaving. I order a seafood chowder, which was the best I’ve ever had – salmon, cod, shrimp and mussels in a creamy but not too heavy broth. I also had the herb-crusted cod with mash and roasted vegetables. Scott’s lasagna came with a side of fries, so I had even more potatoes!

After dinner, we took another road trip that looped around the Connemara region. Scott had discovered another Our Lady Star of the Sea Church, so we checked that out, though there was no official sign. It was raining – it rains a lot in Ireland – so while the drive was pretty, we didn’t get any good pictures, except the second OLSS church.

I still highly recommend checking out the Connemara region and driving multiple routes. Our afternoon drive was marked by different topography – rocky mountains and small beaches. The morning drive had grassy mountains, bog lands, Aesleagh Falls. There is much to see in Connemara, and Clifden is its capital with a vibrant town center and lots of great places to eat.

Day 5: Galway

Our hotel stay includes breakfast. On the first day, I opted for the traditional Irish – egg, ham (bacon), sausage, grilled tomato, pate, black and white pudding, hashbrown and lots of mushrooms, but every other day I opted for the fish. Yes, there’s a fish option on the menu. Today’s catch was sea bass, and it was so fresh. The fish was served with two eggs, hash brown, and grilled tomato, along with the buffet of pastries, fruit, cereal and juices. In addition to cooked-to-order hot food, there is a continental buffet with pastries, breads, fruit and cereals. There is also tea or coffee, orange, cranberry and grapefruit juice, and white and brown toast delivered to the table. Though I usually don’t like marmalade, I did enjoy it with my bread. The Foyle breakfasts were an amazing start to the day, sitting in a spacious dining area with a hot breakfast served to you.

Today’s excursion was visiting Galway, about 75 minutes from Clifden. The road trip was another lovely drive by the water and rolling hillside with more sheep sightings. We got a parking space right in Galway’s town center that was good for two hours, so we got right to work on that ChatGPT-designed walking tour.

Our first stop was the Latin Quarter, which is part of the old town. There are shops, restaurants, street performers and bronze sculptures decorating the streets, including one with Irish writer Oliver Wilde. It’s also home to the Claddagh Ring Museum, which is really just a room in the back of a shop.

We saw a 700-year old church, St. Nicholas’ Collegiate Church.

We stopped into Galway City Museum, which is small but free! It’s worth checking out for the history of the city. We then walked along the River Corrib, a fast-moving river, towards Galway Cathedral. Along the way, you can read more about the city and different points of interest like the Salmon Weir Bridge.

The cathedral is a large, imposing structure. Unlike the St. Nicholas church, Galway Cathedral does not charge an entrance fee, so you can see the beautiful stained glass windows and religious statues inside.

On the way back, we stopped off at the 11-acre Brigit’s Garden, a small but mighty garden designed around the four Celtic seasons (essentially the four seasons) and featuring a large sundial. Unfortunately, the day was overcast so no we couldn’t see how the sundial worked, but it was still a nice for Scott, who is a superfan of all things weather-related.

Dinner was more seafood for me at EJ King’s. I’m not an avid mussels eater but given the proximity to a mussels farm I figured I had to at least try them while I’m here. Delicious!

Scott had the Guinness stew and luckily gave me the potatoes. For dessert, we tried the neighborhood bakery, Walsh’s, which was very reasonably priced but just OK (perhaps you need to get there early to get the pastries at their freshest). We took out a chocolate loaf cake, éclair and cream donut (really longjohn) with raspberry. This hotel also has an electric kettle with tea in the room, so we took our dessert there.

Day 6: Halloween in Ireland

Breakfast was more fish, and this time I remembered to ask for the mushrooms, which were my favorite part of the Irish breakfast. After breakfast, we drove a different loop around Connemara, stopping first at Clifden Beach.

Then, we stopped at Clifden Castle. It’s a 15-minute walk one way through rocky, muddy and often slippery terrain, so I don’t recommend it. You can’t enter the castle, and I didn’t bother to do the final steps to get close to the castle, since it was very muddy the closer we got.

The loop we drove included Sky Road, which takes you higher up. On the first drive we did, we were riding beside the water – the inland fjord. This time, we were above the water, and it was the Atlantic Ocean.

The drive plus stops wasn’t more than a few hours, so we were back in the Clifden town center to check out a few more shops, including another thrift store and a music shop. Our afternoon meal was at Guy’s Bar, where I had the chicken curry (excellent) and Scott had a quesadilla and more Guiness. Scott had discovered a scenic road near town on one of his morning runs, so we returned there and saw the Clifden town center from afar.

Day 7: On the road from Clifden to Dublin

All Saints Day is a holy day of obligation in the Catholic faith and no better place to celebrate than in Ireland. Our hotel is steps away to St. Joseph’s Church, a Franciscan church dating back to 1872! After another delicious breakfast (fish again for me), we checked out of the hotel and went to mass before the four-hour trip back to Dublin.

We took the same route from where we came, but there was a lot more traffic. We stopped at The Bell, a lively Irish pub in the Dublin city center but close to the airport where we would stay. I tried a different current – Indonesian style – and it was delicious. I had it “half and half” which is half rice, half chips, something I didn’t try in my first trip to Ireland but actually learned about in an Irish pub in NYC!

Up next: San Sebastien and Northern Portugal (Porto, Caminha, Viana do Castelo, Braga and Espinho)