Galway – The Roaming Roths

Eyre Square, Galway

I have officially been able to call myself a “Galway Girl” for two days now. My kids have asked me at least 4 times if Ed Sheeran lives here, but the radio stations love themselves some Ed! Today we found what I had been hunting for in Ireland. The small crowded streets of a medieval town with the tiny restaurants and shops and live music at almost every door step. Nothing super notable in this post, but tons of great shots!

So a fun fact in Ireland, you must wear swim caps in all the pools which the kids were just thrilled about. But their desire to swim far outweighed their pride after a while. Also, pools here are open till 10pm in the hotels but are closed to children after 7pm so be sure to plan accordingly!

Tonight is an early night for us since tomorrow we leave super early for our most adventurous portion of the trip yet. We hit the market on the way home today to pack up on food and supplies. We will pick of the Wild Atlantic Way (WAW) where indicated on the map below by the blue marks. The WAW is a coastal road that runs the entire coastal edge of the west coast of Ireland. As you can see by the red line on the map, the entire WAW starts up north and is a total of 1600 miles end to end. It is a path of a twisting road that hits some of the most scenic points. We hit the road around 6 am and will end our trek on Cobh for the night!

Galway Gang

As of today we have put 330 miles on the car and 20 miles on the feet and have made it to the west coast. Galway sits at the mouth of the River Corrib. The Latin Quarter is busy with boutique stores, cafes, and galleries and portions of the original medieval city walls remain. But Galway, why must you be so cold?! The winds were relentless on the shore up in Salthill. The scenery certainly made up for it! I will apologize in advance for the overload of pictures to follow but this shore was endless and we barely covered half of it in 2 miles.

A full day left us windblown and wet haired from the passing showers but it didn’t deter us. I will say it is odd to us to be on a beach in August with 2 layers and wind breakers and still feeling the chill.

We dropped in at the local aquarium to dodge the rain and met these handsome fellas.

And of course, as a shocker to no one, we ate. Lots of food…and pints. I see a detox and new workout plan in my future when we get back. Here come the obligatory pictures of our food.

We have covered 4 cities in 5 days and are on our 4th hotel. Throughout the entire trip we will spend 1 night or 2 nights per city based on what we want to see. I planned well for this so I would recommend it from a packing perspective if you are moving frequently like we are. We packed about 70% of the clothes we needed for the 12 days. We stowed empty duffel bags in the suitcases so during our two night stays, we prep what we have now called the Go Kit for our next one night stay. These basically house only the clothing for the next day so it’s easy in and out of the hotel. Less times lugging 3 larger suitcases each time. At the halfway point (Galway) we are doing laundry at the hotel and replenishing clothes for remainder of the trip. So when you see our repeat clothing in photos, know that they ARE clean I swear!

We only had a half day in Galway today but are here for another night so will have plenty to share tomorrow!

Planning Our Next Itinerary

Most of you know that in 7 months, the kids and I will be heading to Ireland for a family reunion and to meet up with a few friends in our path of travel.

I am fortunate my friend Jen decided to marry an Irish lad this past year. While they were home for Christmas break, they came by and helped me lay out my plans over some gin and tonic. Conor was a wealth of knowledge on how to make the most of our 12 day trip. Of course this itinerary is only our guideline and subject to change based on our whims.

We plan to fly into Dublin and stay downtown so we can foot hike around the city. I’m sure The Temple Bar will hit our list of must stops. They have the largest collection of whiskey in Ireland. St Patrick’s Cathedral and a hike up Wicklow Mountains also top the list.

After two days in Dublin we will head to Belfast for two days with a stop at the Titanic Museum. My son is a huge fan of Titanic. He has been entranced with books detailing the ship’s construction, it’s journey and its ultimate demise since he first learned to read.

From Belfast we will traverse the countryside and it’s scenery for several hours to Sligo, which is situated between Donegal and Galway. It’s a combination of literary legacies, a surfing hotspot and jagged mountain peaks that helped to inspire the writings of William Butler Yeats.

After departing Sligo, our next stop is Galway. We have a friend in Galway with a horse farm along the beach so we plan to take a ride along the shore. There is so much to see and take in in Galway that we may take a few days to rest here. Who hasn’t wanted to be a Galway Girl for a few days?

We will drop south of Galway to hit the Cliffs of Moher for some incredible views before we cut Southeast for our final part of the week.

Our next destination will take us to Kinsale, Cobh and Cork. Kinsale is known for its yachting, sea angling, and golf, but also for being the gourmet hub of Ireland for foodies. Right up my alley! I plan to fill my belly quite well as this stop.

Once known as Queenstown, Cobh was the final port call of the RMS Titanic when it set out on its maiden and final voyage across the Atlantic. It is also the departure point for over 2.5 million Irish people who emigrated to North America between 1848 and 1950, including the Keough’s and the Moriarty’s. See, this is how you all ended up with me!

We can’t leave Ireland without partaking in a little tradition so we will check out the Blarney Castle and kiss the old Blarney Stone to seal up our Gift of Gab.

We will finish out the trip with a 3 day visit to Waterford, which is where my grandmother’s family originated. During the Keough reunion will get a personal tour of the area with specific focus on our heritage, old family homes, burial sites, etc. We will be staying at the Faithlegg House, old castle style, for a dinner and reception to meet our relatives from across the globe. This is such an amazing opportunity for the kids to meet their relatives and trace their heritage to a different sort of home.

From Waterford we make our way back to Dublin for a flight out the following morning back to the States. We will catch a few more sights here before we head home. Along the way we plan to get in some hiking, tour some castles, enjoy the local beverages, and maybe even squeeze in some falconry! Sleep is overrated. There is so much to do here that we will catch up on that on the flight home.

I’d welcome any feedback or suggestions for our travels from those who have experienced Ireland firsthand!