Look at the Ireland 2008 Caravan and Camping Guide and you’ll notice that most Irish campsites don’t open until Easter at best, often not until 1 May. Easter was, in fact, unusually early this year, so some that were usually open at Easter decided to change the date until 1 May anyway.
Our trip wasn’t made any easier due to the fact that it was also extremely cold and wet, even for early spring. We visited five sites during the two-week tour, and three of them didn’t have heated facilities – in fact the showers (on the outside of the building for men or woman) had large gaps at the top and bottom of the doors making them open to the elements. Needless to say, we used our own facilities in the motorhome.
We realised quite quickly that you may be told that you have (let’s say) 10A of electricity per pitch, whereas in reality you may have considerably less. For example, on one campsite we were told that we had at least 10A per pitch (individual pitches had 10A fuses in the boxes); there were 21 motorhomes using the site and when everyone began to use their electric fires, the whole campsite fused. It turned out that the site’s main fuse was rated at less than 70A so it doesn’t take a genius to work out why we melted the fuse box. It was a similar scenario at two other campsites although we didn’t always melt the main fuse.
Our final negative observation concerns the Irish roads; they are atrocious in places with the surface being so worn out that they don’t appear to have been cared for since the first wheeled transport began to use them. Hopefully, we should see improvements as more EU money is injected into the highway infrastructure.
Why you should go to
?
There are many more reasons why you should go to
than why you shouldn’t. First and foremost, the Irish are the most friendly people we have ever met - without exception. Everyone we encountered were only too willing to speak to us, help us, direct us when lost, or just tell us an Irish joke or two. For instance, we arrived at
Limerick just as they were closing it off for one of the numerous parades that happen in March and Easter. We needed to be the other side of the city but there were no diversion sign up at the time. I went into a small café to ask the best route towards Shannon and one gentleman having breakfast with his grandson straight away said he would guide us out of the city if we followed him in his car. He didn’t finish his breakfast and he wouldn’t take anything for his kindness so we gave his grandson some euros.
has some stunning scenery especially if you take the time to explore. There is a wide variety of things to see and do, although it has to be said that some of the views would have been even more stunning had it not been for the poor weather. Even so, none were disappointing.
Irish music and dancing is probably unique, and you’ll hear the music at almost every bar you care to visit. Not only do you hear the music, you’ll automatically want to join in with it, either by clapping your hands or feet in time with the rhythm or by getting up and dancing.
The
Republic of
Ireland is part of the European Community; its currency is euros, distances are measured in kilometres, and the Irish drive on the left rather than the right-hand side of the road. The latter makes it extremely easy for first-time visitors because driving is basically the same as in the
.
Probably one of the best reasons for visiting
is that they speak English so (usually) there are no language barriers.
Our tour
If first impressions are the most memorable, then the one thing that will be embedded in my mind forever is the sheer number of people in
Dublin – I have never seen such a tidal wave of people walking in every direction. We left the ferry just after 5pm and headed for
Camac
Valley (our first campsite on the outskirts of the city) so it was obviously the early evening rush hour, nevertheless, the numbers left an everlasting impression.
Camac
Valley is an ideal base for visiting
Dublin because it’s just 5 miles from the city and the no 69 bus stops right outside the gates. The hop-on-hop-off open-top tour bus also calls in at the campsite so you can use that if it’s your first time visiting
Dublin . All this means that once pitched up, you can see the sights without driving your motorhome.
The
village of
Clondlakin is just over a mile from the campsite; it’s extremely busy and there is nowhere for large motorhomes to park – at least, we couldn’t find anywhere. There is a supermarket (but the parking is limited to small motorhomes or cars) and there are loads of shops to look around so it’s worth a visit.
From Dublin, we travelled to Corofin in Co Clare, a ‘must’ on the itinerary of anyone visiting the
Republic of
Ireland for the first time. Corofin Village Hostel and
Camping
Park is right in the centre of the village and we are told that there are nine public houses in this small village – we counted six. Being in the centre of the village, the campsite is ideal because it’s within 100 yards of a couple of food shops, there are some beautiful walks, and you can drive around to see some of the sights. If you don’t go anywhere else, then you should at least try to see the Cliffs of Moher and continue to the Burren, perhaps stopping at O’Connors in Doolin for lunch. We enjoyed a fabulous meal at O’Connors, prices being extremely affordable and the quality of the food exceptional.
If you enjoy walking, then do the Cliffs of Moher as a separate trip because you can spend a good day there walking and looking at the beautiful scenery and the new Visitor Centre. The Burren is a unique landscape east of Doolin (remember the lunch break at O’Connors); it encompasses a huge area of limestone rocks that have been moulded by thousands of years of earth movements and varying weather patterns, and is known to geologists as Karstic environments that are characterised by a lack of soil and water resources. During your tour of the Burren, look out for the remnants of really old dwellings and megalithic burial tombs as it’s really worth stopping to take a look at them.
From Corofin, you can also visit
Limerick , apparently known to the Irish as ‘stab city’ because of the drink and drugs problems – I hasten to say that we saw none of this during our visit – and somewhere you should go if you have the time.
Our next port of call was the Fossa Caravan and
Camping
Park close to Killarney in Co Kerry. Again, this campsite is ideal for motorhome owners because you can take the bus into Killarney directly from the campsite. Of course, the main attraction to this area is the Ring of Kerry and it’s probably easier to drive your motorhome or car if you have one. You should always drive the Ring of Kerry in an anti-clockwise direction if possible because the roads are rather narrow in places and this is the standard direction for coach tours. Allow a whole day to take in the full route that is just over 100 miles in length, more time if you want to take in some of the diversions. Derrynane House is part of a small historic park dedicated to Daniel O’Connell, a famous Irish Liberator, and you can see a collection of memorabilia of his life. Look out for a bronze medallion of General Charles de Gaulle who visited Sneem in 1967, or look for the life-size statue of world wrestling champion Steve Casey (he appeared to have extremely large hands).
A popular sight-seeing trip in Killarney is The Gap of Dunloe Tour; you’ll see part of the Gap of Dunloe as you do the Ring of Kerry trip. You can book a tour in the local information centre, or try it on your own. The coach tour begins in Killarney, then you change to horse and carriage (or horseback if you’re a good rider) and meander down through the Gap of Dunloe towards Lorn Brandon’s Cottage. Next you go by boat taking in the three lakes and
Innisfallen
Island , before returning to Killarney.
Another drive would be to take in the
Dingle
Peninsula , another full day taking in mountains, beaches, cliffs, and beautiful scenery.
Blarney Caravan and
Camping
Park near Cork is an ideal venue from which to visit
Blarney
Castle and to ‘kiss the Blarney Stone’. I have to admit that I thought the Blarney Stone was a large stone on a plinth somewhere in the grounds of the park, but how wrong could I be. It is, in fact, just a part of the castle structure. You have to climb to the top of the ruined castle to reach it, then you have to sit on a cushion, lean backwards and kiss the stone from a most awkward position because it’s about a foot or so below the level at which you sit. An automatic camera takes your photo as you kiss the stone, and although it’s not obligatory to pay the 10 euros per photograph, most people do so. Blarney House and Gardens are actually closed until the summer period so all you see is the castle ruins and part of the parkland.
Within walking distance of the castle is the Woollen Mill, a shopping outlet that sells practically everything you could possibly want. Parking is easy, even for large motorhomes so you shouldn’t have problems spending a day in
Blarney .
Cork city, ’s second city and capital of the ancient
province of
Munster , is just five miles from
Blarney so it makes yet another day trip; there’s a 19th century Gaol (prison), National Monument, Vision Centre and much more within the city. A little further afield is the Cobh, which was the last port of call of the infamous Titanic, plus the
Fota
Wildlife
Park , and the Fota House and Gardens.
Our final campsite in was Casey’s Caravan and Camping Park, Clonea, Co
Waterford ; it provided an excellent final halt from which to visit Waterford Crystal
(there are campsites closer to
Waterford however none were open at the time of our visit). I think everyone must have heard of Waterford Crystal, but how many have actually seen where and how it’s manufactured? There are regular tours of the manufacturing plant and it makes an extremely interesting half day to go there, and you can buy yourself or your family a gift of crystal after the tour. You won’t go hungry because the on-site café is excellent, offering hot and cold meals at very reasonable prices.
Lastly, we made our way back to Rosslare for the morning ferry to Fishguard and our final good bye to
after a memorable visit.
was beautiful in March especially as it was out of season and there weren’t too many tourists around. The country would have been even more stunning if the sun had been shining – but we can’t have everything exactly when we want it, can we? Will we return? Yes we will. Do I still have those images of travelling in a horse and cart? No, because those days are long past and although there are some very scenic roads suitable for that means of travel, I think using the horses under the bonnet of the motorhome is more practical.
Additional Information
We used StenaLine from Holyhead to
Dublin on the outward journey and from Rosslare to Fishguard on the home run. Due to the size of the motorhome we had to use the superferry which takes just over three hours for each journey. Don’t expect to find a vast selection of duty-free wines and spirits on board as the stocks are limited.
Camac Valley Tourist Caravan and Camping Park, Boot Road, Corkagh Park, Clondalkin, Dublin 22. Telephone 00353 (0)1 464 0644; email info@camacvalley.com.
Corofin
Village Hostel and Camping Park, Main Street, Corofin, Co Clare. Telephone 00 353 (0)65 683 7683; email corohost@iol.ie. Please note that this is a small campsite with only sloping grass pitches so telephone in advance to ensure there is an adequate space if you have a large motorhome.
Fossa Caravan & Camping Park, Fossa, Killarney, Co Kerry. Telephone 00353 (0)64 31497; email fossaholidays@tinet.ie.
Blarney Caravan & Camping Park, Stoneview, Blarney, Co
Cork . Telephone 00353 (0)21 451 6519; Website www.blarneycaravanpark.com.
Casey’s caravan & Camping Park, Clonea, Dungarvan, Co
Waterford . Telephone 00 353 (0) 4191958
For more information on these and other Irish campsites, visit www.campingireland.ie.
