Our visit to Ireland went off without a hitch. Car rental is tricky, meaning the insurance is very one sided even using my credit card’s insurance feature.

Ireland | Sep 17 - Sep 24, 2024

Hi Kimkim, I received your text and my apologies for not being as punctual as I should have been but we were having too much of a good time. The itinerary your team put together was perfect for seeing County Mayo. We met some of my wife’s relation that live in Mayo. We also saw the family homestead which was just as my wife’s grandfather always said, you could sit on the front porch and gaze out at Clew Bay.

We had no idea that Mayo was so large, the counties in Ireland are much bigger than in Ohio. As Dean assured us, driving was no problem but getting used to the narrow roads was a bit of a challenge. The Hertz car we rented was the perfect size. We went to several beautiful beaches (Silver Strand in the Lost Valley, Keem and Keel beaches.). Croagh Patrick proved too much of a challenge but we did walk part of it. Gorgeous views!

Clew Bay Hotel was great but it was unseasonably hot, no air conditioning or fans in the room which may have helped. Westport was a fun city and Westport House was very interesting. We didn’t make Clare Island because of illness (a bad head cold.) Achill Island is beautiful, Stella Maris was good. We had dinner at Brevie which was exceptional. We went to the Deserted Village, interesting. Went to Ceide Fields, again beautiful views and very interesting. Down Patrick was closed for road repairs. Ballina was also a nice city, Ballina Manor Hotel was good. They gave us a fan for our room which helped with the unseasonable hotter weather.

Our kudos to Dean Garrison, he planned a wonderful trip for us.

Overall a very enjoyable experience.

Ken & Chris Tabellion