DAY EIGHT
WRITER’S BLOG - Tuesday, May 7th, 2019
Up for breakfast at the Absolute along the Lough Daro in Limerick. Supposed to rain. Breakfast discussion to consider going to Cliffs of Moher first or to our next hotel. Supposed to clear in the afternoon, so off to the Dromoland Castle 🏰 & Golf 🏌️ Resort in Newmarket on Fergus. 459 acres of absolute gorgeous land, secluded amidst a 36 hole golf ⛳️ course. Only a 27 minute drive up the Ennis Road.
Now, you know you’ve arrived when a Gateman greats you, confirms your reservation, and sends you on your way with a mention of your names and a generous charge to have a day well spent. Felt like we were coming home. In fact, when we finally managed to access our room, our fearless leaders name was on the TV screen with a great big, “WELCOME”. Talk about the royal treatment!
What a beautiful place! From the lofty staircase entrance, to the kingly carpeted hallways, shinning armor, giant royal chessboard in the garden, to the fire 🔥 lit corridors leading to stately waiting rooms. It is grand! A giant oil painting of William O’Brien hangs prestigiously on the wall, welcoming guests to his ancestral home, which dates back 1,000 years. The O’Briens were the Barons of Inchiquin and one of the few native Gaelic families of royal blood and direct descendants of Brian Boroimhe (Boru), one of the last High Kings of Ireland.
We were bid to have a snack by the fire while waiting for our room to be ready. Taking in all that is Dromoland Castle, we kinda wish we had forgone Limerick and stayed two nites here. But, it’s not the destination, it’s the journey right?
After securing our room and some light unpacking, still thankful we had suitcases to unpack, we had a light lunch in the resident pub, which used to be the O’Brien’s library. Then we strolled the grounds, shops, and garden. ‘Twas a drizzly day, it was, so the doorman gave us each a Dromoland Castle umbrella ☂ for walking about. We thought about each buying one, but at 45 Euro, it’s like buying the rain as well, and the cloud ⛅️ it rode in on.
Of course there was a woollen store, but we didn’t buy anything. Mostly just looked for the Dublin Co tartan for the Irish lass among us, but to no avail. The gardens made up for it. They were beautiful and worth a few snapshots! We chanced upon a little cart that some lucky bloke gets to drive around the course selling coffee to players. The one of us who doesn’t drink coffee decided she liked the Castle so much, she would “lower her standards” and take the job in a heartbeat!!
Around 2:00PM, we decided the time was right, and grabbed a snack on our way out to see the Cliffs of Moher. It was a wonderful drive up the country roads to the Cliffs in Liscannor. We paid our senior discount of 5 euro to the ticket collector, parked and made our way to the Cliffs. It was colder than a well diggers helmet, and windy, but clear, with placid water that reflected well in the sunlight and made for some very stellar photos.
The O’Brien castle lookout was under renovation so we could not access its views, but we managed to see some spectacular visual wonders along the pathway to the top of the hill - right up to the point where it said, “pathway beyond this point has no fall protection.” Though the pathway is well defined and sits back from the cliffs a safe distance, there is absolutely nothing to keep you from walking up to the cliffs edge. I’d rather look at them from behind the wall than upside down on my way to the beaches below.
Besides the Puffins, Kittiwakes, and Fulmars, there approximately eleven species of birds living in and around the Cliffs. One such bird, a black bird, called a rook or type of crow, we managed to to have an up close and personal encounter with. As we stood gazing over the stone wall at the magnificent cliffs, a lone beggar landed in our midst. We found out pretty quickly that the lone beggar was really the scout. As soon as soon as the seeds were out, the birds were landing. A scene right out of Alfred Hitchcock’s “The Birds! After the feeding frenzy, we made our way down the the hillside to the shops (yes we bought a few things). At the last store, as we turned around to leave, there, sitting at the door, was that lone scout again. He had sniffed us out and was on the hunt for seconds. It really was quite comical as it was apparent he had followed us. We fully expected to be taken prisoners at any moment. But they let us pass.
Back at the castle, while one of us parked the car, the other two scurried to the room to, well, they needed to scurry. When joined by the third, who was a little surprised they were still at the door trying to get in., she was greeted with. “Can you get in, this key doesn’t seem to work?” The third lass took her key from her pocket scanned the door, and voila, it opened. Realizing then, they had been using a key from another hotel, the comedy of it all was too much. There were not enough bathrooms to contain all the tears. 🤣🤣🤣
We freshened for dinner and popped off to enjoy dining by the fire. Of course we picked a table that probably wasn't intended as a dining table, but they quietly took off the table flowers and spread a cloth over it, brought us tableware and offered us a menu. The food was delicious, the atmosphere better, but the company of friends was over the top!
After dinner, we retired. Two to check the home front, one to blog.
Sweet dreams from Dromoland…
