Tour Ireland

June 11 - June 20, 1998

Thursday       June 11, 1998       Bus Baltimore to Newark Take Off for Shanon

Got up at 6:00 and ran 5.1 miles. Breakfast of orange juice, banana, chocolate milk and toast with butter and raspberry jam. Cut grass. Depositied beach checks from Kevin, John and Ted at Tower Credit Union. Drove to Park and Ride at I695 and Wilkens Avenue arriving about 11:40. Dropped bags and drove to Mooney’s and left car. Don Bowie rode me back to the bus. Eyres bus with 26 of us left about 12:00. Picked up Walt and Noreen Pleines on I95 exit 152. Lunch of Murphy’s Ale, sandwich, pickles and olives, chips and cookies. Arrived at Newark Airport about 3:30. Checked our luggage about 6:00. Boarded Aer Lingus flight 106 about 9:13 and waited 30-40 minutes for clearance to take-off. Snack of pretzels and Bloody Mary mix and then supper of chicken, rice, roll with butter, Heinekins beer, water, cake and salad.

Friday       June 12, 1998       Arrive at Shannon, Cliffs of Moher and Galway

Breakfast of a roll, orange juice and tea. Landed about 8:45 and got through customs very quickly. CIE Tours guide Pat Donnelly met us at the CIE desk. Got £100 at an ATM. Boarded the bus and drove to the

Cliffs of Moher.

Walked around the cliffs. Stopped at Whitethorn for lunch of spinach keisch, salad, seafood chowder and tomato for £15. Charged me only £5 by mistake. Got to Corrib Great Southern Hotel room 212 in Galway about 3:00. 3:30 bus to Galway. Pint of Murphy’s Stout £2 at Murphy’s Pub. Went through church built in 1320. Pint of Smithwicks Ale £2.10 at the Cellar Pub. 6:45 supper of mushroom and onion soup, rice, Mexican chicken, potato, cauliflaur, carrots and ice cream. To bed at 9:00.

Saturday       June 13, 1998       Ferry to Inishmore on Aran Island

Slept soundly until 5:48 but had to get up 3 times. Ran for 40 minutes at 6:30 with Pat Mooney and Billy Smith. Showered. 8:00 breakfast of orange juice, Special K cereal, grapefruit, toast, egg, sausage, bacon and tea. 9:00 bus to ferry at Canaroe to Inishmore (Aran Islands). Bus to

                                                                                    Dun Aengus,

a 2100 year old round rock fort on cliffs. Very neat. Stopped by 7 churches (ruins). Back to town and lunch of Irish stew and brown bread with butter and Annes smoked salmon and coffee for £13 plus tip with the Kapperts at the Aran Fisherman. Excellent. Smithwicks pint £2.10 at the American Bar. Back to the mainland. People all speak Gaelic.Stopped in hotel bar for a Caffreys at £2.25 and Anne’s shanty for £1.30 plus tip totaling £5. 7:15 bus to downtown Galway. Dinner of mussels, prawns, lobster, rice, wine and apple blackberry crumble at Hooker Jimmy’s with Grays, Bob Benhoff & Louise News and Frains for £53 less £6 for wine from Lew. Went to Pucans Pub with 4 piece live band for 2 pints of Smithwicks. 11:30 bus to hotel and ½ pint of Caffreys. To bed at 12:15.

Sunday       June 14, 1998       Golf at Glenlo Abbey Country Club

Got up at 6:00. Ran 41 minutes with Pat Mooney and Billy Smith. Sunny with a cool breeze. 8:00 breakfast of toast, Rice Krispies, orange juice, bacon, sausage, egg and tea. 9:00 taxi to Glenlo Abbey Country Club and Hotel for £6.60 with Pat Mooney, Billy Smith and Chris DeBoy.

Glenlo Abbey Country Club and Hotel
Pat Mooney, Chris DeBoy and Billy Smith

Rented 2 sets of golf clubs at £5 each person and greens fees of £15 plus £1 for the pull cart. Windy and cool but beautiful overlooking the water. Had 3 pars in a row at 50 pence each so I won £3.50. Had a pint of Smithwicks £2.35 after 9 holes. Another Smithwicks after 18 holes. Taxi back to hotel for L6.50 about 3:15. Pint of Smithwicks and ham sandwich in mooneys room 314. Anne returned about 4:30. 6:45 supper of haddock, rolls with butter, cauliflauer, potato, mixed vegetables, vegetable soup and ice cream with Frains. Coffee in lounge after supper. Returned to room at 9:00. To bed about 11:00.

Monday       June 15, 1998       Bunratty Castle, Limerick and Kilarney

Got up at 6:18 and ran with Pat Mooney and Billy Smith. Ran 40 minutes at a fast pace. Showered. 8:00 breakfast of corn flakes, orange juice, grapefruit, toast, tea, egg, bacon and sausage. Bused out at 9:00 and stopped at

                                                                                                      Bunratty Castle.

½ pint of Kilkenny at Dirty Nellies with Jimmy Huelskamp, Don Bowie and Pat Mooney. Stopped at King John’s Castle in Limerick for over an hour. Lunch of curry lamb, 1/2 pint of Kilkenny and broccoli soup for £12.75 at Boru’s Porterhouse. Met Pat Donnelly’s wife and daughters Paula and Emma. Stopped in Adare for photos of thatched cottages and monasteries. Arrived in Kilarney after 4:00 and took horse and buggy ride with Frains along a lake to the

Muckross Mansion

for £14. Very pretty. 6:30 supper of seafood appetizer, lemon sole, potatoes, carrots, vegetables, tea and ice cream with Alissa and Chris DeBoy. Walked through Kilarney with Walt Pleines, Pat Mooney, Gary Gray and Lew Frain. Had a couple of ½ pints of Kilkenny at different pubs. 29 of us ended up at Park Pub with a folk singer and stayed until 11:30. Had 2 pints of Kilkenny. Great time singing and dancing with Norren Pleines behind the bar. To bed at 12:20.

Tuesday       June 16, 1998       Dingle Peninsula

Got up at 6:05 and ran at 6:60 with Pat Mooney and Billy Smith out of Kilarney and along the lake. Sunny with cool breeze. Showered and shaved. 8:15 breakfast of orange juice, muslix, fruit salad, croissant and pancakes with berries. 9:15 departure for a Folk Museum which was well done. On to Dingle for lunch of vegetable soup, orange juice, cod fish and chips with Anne’s for £12.50 at Harrigan’s. On around the tip of the Dingle Peninsula which was very spectacular. Back to Dingle for a 1/2 pint of Smithwicks for £1.15. Back to Kilarney about 4:30. Bought Kelsey a sweatshirt and a CD of Irish moods for £11.50. 7:00 walked to the Laurels for dinner of red wine, rolls, salad, mushroom and leek soup, salmon, potatoes, rudebega, green beans and apple cobbler with ice cream. Very good. Went to show in back which was very bad for £56.50 plus pint of Kilkenny for £2.20. Met man in Slippery Rock sweater. Back at 11:00 and to bed at 11:30.

Wednesday       June 17, 1998       Blarney Castle, Cork, Cobh and Waterford

Got up at 5:17. Went to lobby but nobody showed up to run. Raining so I went back to room and showered and packed up. 7:30 breakfast of orange juice, 2 croissants, mellons, egg and sausage. 8:30 bus to Blarney Castle. Walked through the castle and the grounds which are very pretty with 2 streams running through it and a cave. Blarney Castle is a tower but very interesting. ½ pint of Caffreys for £1.25. Lunch at Blarney Woolen Mills of Irish stew, roll with butter and strawberry gateaux for £12.45. Very good. Drove through Cork to Cobh (cove) where Irish immigrants left Ireland. Very good museum with displays. Bus to Waterford and the Granville Hotel about 4:30. Slow steady rain all day. Hotel pub for a ½ pint of Kilkenny and ½ pint of Caffreys. 7:00 supper of red wine, soup, chicken, peas, carrots and green beans, potatoes and ice cream. Walked around Waterford with Anne. To bed at 11:00.

Thursday       June 18, 1998       Waterford Crystal and Dublin

Got up at 5:18. Ran along the water in both directions from the hotel for 40 minutes with Pat Mooney and Billy Smith. Showered. 7:30 breakfast of orange juice, fruit salad, corn flakes, 2 eggs and 4 sausage links. 8:30 bus to Waterford Crystal tour and Ambassador Crystal. 12:00 lunch at Kilkenny Design Center Restaurant of cream of celery soup, lasagna, slaw and garlic bread and fruit gateaux with Annes for £16.35. Saw a lot of signs for the Tour de France route on July 12 and 13. Stopped at Glendalough (2 lakes in a glen) to see 100’ round tower and church ruins in the mountains. Arrived at the Holiday Inn on Pearse Street on the Liffy River in Dublin about 4:35. Pint of Smithwicks £2.30 in room 121. 7:00 bus to Jury’s Cabaret for salmonand pate salad. Agood show of Irish dancing, music and comedy. ½ pint of Smithwicks in hotel and to bed about 12:10.

Friday       June 19, 1998       Trinity College and Guinness Brewery

Got up at 6:05. Ran at 6:30 with Pat Mooney along the Liffy River to the Guinness Brewery and back through Trinity Colllege campus in 44:25. Warm and sunny. Showered. 8:00 breakfast of orange juice, 2 croissants, 2 eggs, sausage and bacon. 9:00 bus for visits to Trinity College and the book of Kells and St Patricks cathedral. Guinness brewery tour £3 and quite a bit of Guinness. Walked back to the Temple Bar area for fish and chips and ice cream soda for £4.59. Walked back to hotel for a pint of Smithwicks at the hotel for £2.30. 6:30 walked to Il Baccaro for dinner of pasta, squid and prawn sauce, red wine Merlot and bread for £22.40 plus £3 tip with Mooneys, Mannings, Coxes, Frains, Huelskamps, Ida and Carol (Pat Huelskamp's mother and sister) and the Pleines. Walked back to hotel and had a pint of Smithwicks for £2.30. To bed at 11:22.

Saturday       June 20, 1998       Bus to Shannon, Fly to Newark and Bus to Baltimore

Got up at 6:18 and did some early packing. Showered. 7:00 ran with Pat Mooney along the Liffy River for 41:11. Very sunny and warm. Packed up and showered. 8:30 breakfast of orange juice, 2 eggs, bacon, sausage, tomatoes, and croissants. 9:30 bus to Shannon. Had awards ceremony on bus. I got awards for activity and drinking beer. Jimmy Huelskamp got the FIFO award with ‘HIMSELF” magazine with a motto of work hard, play hard and stay hard (viagra). Had a picture of Jimmy in a tam-o-shanter and long blond hair on cover. Jane Sneeringer wrote a “Limerick” for Pat Donnelly. Also wrote songs for Sandy Kappert, Noreen Pleines and Sandy Cox for shopping and Bob Benhoff for eating and drinking. Very clever. Lunch of leek and mushroom soup, Irish stew, roll with butter, apple pie and lemon drink for £12.35 with Annes at the upstairs restaurant in Bunratty Village. Arrived at Shannon Airport about 2:00 for Aer Lingus flight 107 to Newark. Drank ½ pints of Beamish red, Beamish black and Guinness for about £1.45 each. Boarded plane around 4:30 and took off on time. Arrived at Newark at 6:35 (5 hours difference). Eyres bus was waiting and we drove home in rain and lightening to a dry Baltimore at 11:22. Picked up car at Mooneys and drove home at 12:01.