In County Clare...

The drive from Killarney to Ennis in County Clare was pleasant. For one thing, the rain stopped as we crossed the County line leading us to joke that it only rains in County Kerry! We went through some nice towns. Adare is mentioned as the prettiest in Ireland, but we believe there is a lot of competition for that honour. In Newcastle West, we looked for a coffee shop but couldn't find one. Instead, in Limerick we got a good brew at the Cafe Noir situated in a slightly grungy area just off this big town's downtown.

From there, the drive to Ennis, our base for 4 days in County Kerry, was on the M18 Freeway. Ireland has a population of 6-7 million, reasonably dense on such a small island, and so has an excellent system of freeways and roads. The motorways, some of which are tolled, are superb 4+ lane divided roads with a limit of 120km/hr. You can really get around the country quickly on these mothers. Then there are N, R & L road classifications. We read these as National, Regional and Local.

Some really minor roads are unclassified and are only known by their names. When your sat-nav puts you onto one of these, you know you're in for a treat, and you just pray you don't meet anyone coming the other way! We did about 80km on roads such as these getting to and from Killaloe. There seems to be no direct route west from here, so we travelled wheel tracked roads (still sealed though) over beautiful hilly countryside.

Narrow roads and fabulous views on the direct road from Killaloe to Ennis via Kilbane.

You have to pull over when a wide load approaches even on a two lane road.

We went to Killaloe to see the River Shannon, Ireland's largest, and its one lane bridge across to Ballina in County Tipperary. This crossing is the first south of huge Lough Derg, shown on our map as "Ireland's Pleasure Lake". It was bucketing rain when we were there, so not much pleasure was being had, but we did see lots of moored yachts.

One lane bridge crosses the River Shannon between Killaloe and Ballina.

Interestingly, the second biggest river in terms of flow is the Corrib (but it's only 6km long!) which drains Lough Corrib into Galway Bay. This river is reasonably narrow and so its manifest flow is popular with kayakers and white water rafters. We didn't see any of those, but the flow through this town (just over the border from Clare) is very impressive.

What wasn't so impressive in Galway was the huge crowds of boisterous, well dressed but drunken youngsters in Quay Street after a day at the Galway Races. We were there at about 9pm - it would get ugly later. We noticed a strong Garda presence, and pedestrian areas were enforcing glass prohibitions.

The Spanish Arch is a residue of Galway's city wall. Here are crowds from Ladies' Day at the Galway Races.

Popular eating holes in Galway were packed with race-goers, but we were lucky to find a charming creperie called Java's in a back street which was crowded with sober patrons, maybe trying to escape the rabble elsewhere. Most waitresses here seemed more French than Irish, and the place is so cute (and the crepes so delicious) that we'd recommend it for the Lonely Planet!

We went to Killrush, a town where Clare's forebears come from (after all, this is County Clare). This is a pretty market and seaside town in the bay at the end of the River Shannon. We found a good cuppa here and also plenty of businesses with names reminiscent of Clare's family. The market was sheltering bravely from the brief heavy rain squalls. The main street down to the harbour was incredibly wide - we haven't seen anything like it elsewhere. Now, it carries 2 lanes of traffic and 4 lanes of structured parking.

The Lonely Planet led us to this cafe in Killrush.

Like all Irish towns in summer, Killrush is resplendent with colour.

Following the Wild Atlantic Way, we tried to get to Loop Head and its lighthouse at the very tip of Clare's peninsula. The map suggested clear roads, but we got lost in a miasma of unsignposted trails, and our Garmin was no help. We never made it there, but from Kilkee, it appeared there was a more significant road, but by then we had passed the head.

The Atlantic coast of Clare has many picturesque seaside towns like Kilkee, Doonbeg, Lahinch, all of which we stopped at for a look. These are pretty places, replete with locals trying hard to make the best of pretty miserable weather.

A few hard souls were enjoying Kilkee's beach, but a sudden squall soon cleared it.

We've found fond references to France all over Ireland, this one in the Strand Hotel in Kilkee where we had lunch.

People determined to enjoy the Irish summer even though it is 15C and drizzle.

The Trump International Gold Resort at Doonbeg looks very comfortable.

Windy and rainy, but Lahinch Beach was quite popular.

Irish fields cannot have any rocks left, so intensively are they used in construction.

Liscannor slate rock is uniquely suited to roofing on stone structure.

The highlight on this coast are the famous shale and sandstone Cliffs of Moher. Together with literally hundreds of others, we spent a lot of time here - they are dramatic and beautiful. The seas were not too rough on our visit, and it's possible to boat around to the cliffs from Doolin. We regret not allowing enough time for this, but we didn't know about it. There is a magnificant visitors' centre at the cliffs, dug into the rolling hills to reduce its impact, and for drive-ins you pay to enter. People who walk in on the coastal paths get in for nothing. Effectively, the charge is for parking.

The Cliffs of Moher are on of Ireland's best and most popular tourist attractions.

What would be washed up on this rocky beach underneath the cliffs?

The historic looking O'Brien's Tower on the cliffs was built for tourists in 1835, not by the Noramns and not for fortification. Now, there is about a kilometer of excellent paths for them to tramp along the edge. The impressive safety fences are made from local Liscannor stone.

Looking towards O'Brien's tourist tower from the coast walk south of the Cliffs of Moher.

A lot of birds make their home at the Cliffs of Moher, but all we saw were swarms of swooping gulls!

The cliff walk between Doolin and Liscannor is 20km long for those who do it all.

Ennis Cathedral in rare bright sunshine!

The Burren is a region of barren limestone in the north of County Clare.

Ennis was the base for all this touring of Clare (including Bunratty Castle, see next blog post), it's pretty well in the centre of the county. Ennis CBD is a chaotic medieval web of narrow streets, alleys and pedestrian lanes, difficult to drive through, but lots of fun to walk around. Going south, the main through street is Abbey Street past the tall O'Connell Monument into O'Connell Street. This entire route is single lane one way. Going north, well, if driving, it's best to go around town! Pedestrians wander fairly aimlessly, and drivers just avoid them. Ennis gained approval to hold markets in 1610, and they still operate today around the Market Square.

Harmony Row bridge over Ennis' River Fergus.

High Street Ennis is a pedestrian mall, but that doesn't keep all vehicles out.

The town's favourite son may be Daniel O'Connell. His huge memorial marks the city centre. He is credited with forcing the English parliament to accept Roman Catholic members in around 1830. He was an avid campaigner for Ireland's independence, and de Balzac once famously said that he and Napoleon were the only two great men of the 19th Century.

O'Connell St, maybe Ennis' main CBD thoroughfare, one lane, one way.

German tourists on a walk through one of Ennis' cobbled lanes.

For this trip, we always booked hotels right in the centre of town, but for some reason a wheel fell off this strategy, and we were surprised to find that our chosen digs were 2.5km north of the CBD. We had no cause for concern though - it was an easy drive in (raining too much to contemplate walking) and a Pay and Display parking system is cheap and works well. Ennis's compact CBD has enough fringe carparks to meet the demand.

Statue of Daniel O'Connell overlooks the main thorougfare of Ennis named after him, one lane, one way.

Ennis, a town of narrow pedestrian cut-throughs.

Window reflection opposite the Cinema in Ennis.

Colorful flowers like these petunias enliven Ennis town streets.

Eating was good in Ennis. Pub grub was OK, and for finer dining, we found that the Town Hall in the Old Ground Hotel was superb. This grand restaurant has huge windows and a wonderful porch facing O'Connell Street.

We got the premier parking position in front of one of Ennis' top restaurants.

Protestors unhappy about the treatment of dogs in pounds.

We wanted to see 8000years of Irish history at the Clare Museum but it was closed for the Bank Holiday Weekend (with apologies).

Pub in Abbey Street Ennis.

Steet art near Ennis' Market Square.