Chauffeurdrive/ Private car and Driver/ Ireland West

The photos above, and below, were taken on a lonely bog road in Connemara. I love to venture into places where the normal tours will never take you and where you can drive for miles without seeing a bus or a car. The dark brown mounds in the top picture are cut peat waiting to be loaded on trucks and brought in for winter storage. The picture below shows the sheep happily grazing on the roadside. In isolated areas like this, this would be a common sight.
Note the lovely blue sky. My dear friend, the late Jane Conneen, who toured with me on a number of occassions, was a wonderful artist, and well know and respected for her work in the minature book world. Jane always loved our Irish skies and claimed that there was nowhere like it for the wonderful clouds.
This is a photo of the coral beach near Carraroe in county Galway. The colours in the waters here are wonderful and the water itself is as clean as you can find it anywhere. Nice and warm also as we do have the Gulf Stream on our western coast.

I am now at the end of another wonderful year of touring and once again i find that i have added many new and dear friends to my already growing family of friends. I would love to take this opportunity to thank everybody who came my way this year for choosing me and my service. I would especially like to thank you all for all the wondereful letters of gratitude that you wrote me since returning home. I feel blessed to have been here to serve you and will always do my best to help you to enjoy this wonderful country of ours.
Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Chauffeurdrive? Private Driver and Guide West of Ireland

Clare with her cousin Mary outside the old ancestral home in Kiltimagh in county Mayo

Thank you Clare for your lovely letter today and your kind compliments with regard to our time together recently. We did well and our discoveries with regard to your family connections was a great bonus. You will always be welcome back.
My Medford party in Adare with the lovely thatched cottages in the background

Many thanks also to Mary Lou, Walt, Scott and Kelly for a great fun time. Your e-mail today was also heart-warming and it is nice to know that i have done my job well. I still want that Wendy Burger though.......i mean it.

My Wendy Restauranteurs return home to the USA

Scott climbing on the overgrown ruins of the old ancestral home



Thanks Scott. We did have a lot of fun and you and the gang will always be welcome to come back and take up where we left off. My only regret is that we did not have more time. When i get over your way i am going to hold you to that free triple Wendy Burger (and salad). Listening to you all talking about your Wendy restaurant chain left me in no doubt that you run a great operation and that what you supply is top class fresh products and first class service. I am sure that your book would be invaluable to anybody considering a career in the restaurant industry. We will always have to eat, and people are not fools....they do want the best. All of you together impressed me very much as a team. No wonder you run such a successful business. Now all i have to do is get over there and sample the product.

Your friend in Ireland

Dave

P.S

In the meantime if any of my friends here happen to be in the Medford area of Oregon, perhaps they can give you a call at Wendy's and just say that Dave sent them.

Touring the West of Ireland

Scott and Walt on the hillside overlooking Inch on the Dingle peninsula today.
Walt, Mary Lou, Kelly and Scott at Inch.
Visiting the Beehive huts near Slea Head
All together at Slea Head with the Blasket Islands in the background. Kelly's hair-do is especially designed for camera-shy ladies.
Scott and Mary Lou at Slea Head
In the grip of the sea monster in Dingle
The ladies enjoying Fungi, Dingle's famous dolphin, in Dingle

Well today was once again a lot of fun and we were blessed with the weather as it had started out wet but came good for us in all the right places. We parted company later in the afternoon and i would like to thank my group for a most pleasant few days together. I hope that their journey home is a comfortable and safe one, and let's hope that we meet again.

Dave

Chauffeurdrive/car and driver Ireland

Walt and Mary Lou braving the mist above the lakes of Killarney at Ladies View today.
My new party in Adare today. From left...Walt, Mary Lou, Scott and Kelly. Putting our best feet forward in Adare....yes, that is me being supported by the ladies.
We had to get this pub painted to match Scott's shirt


Today i made my way south with my latest party and for the first time in a while we had a wet day.Despite the rain we did have a nice time and a lot of laughs.This is just a short tour and i wish i could have had more time with this group.Tonight we are in Killarney and, this being a bank holiday, it is very busy here. Hopefully tomorrow the day will be better when we make our way to Dingle.

Car and driver Ireland West

This photo was taken yesterday as we crossed over the mountains from the Carraroe side to the Oughterard side in Connemara. The golden brown colours of the boglands with their many scattered lakes and the magnificent Twelve Pins (mountains) on the horizon made this a real treat yesterday.This area is quiet unknown and that is another really good reason for travelling with someone who knows their country (like me of course). You will never meet a tour bus up here.
Our main reason for travelling to Carraroe yesterday was to visit Patrick Folan, a traditional Currach builder. Here we see Patrick with Clare discussing an almost completed new Currach. These were the traditional light framed boats used by the fishermen on the west coast of Ireland. I will write more about these boats again when i have more time.
This curious cat appeared as i was doing some investigative work for Clare in the Kiltimagh area. We did have quiet a lot of success and met with many relatives of Clare's in the Swinford and Kiltimagh area. Exciting times.
This is the old Fitzgerald Mansion in Turlough Castlebar where we visited a wonderful museum and centre. The restaurant was also delightful and the Chef, Ann, was every bit as nice as the wonderful range of desserts. This place definitely goes on my list of special places to visit. The extra bonus to be found there at the moment is that they have the magnificent Cross of Cong on view for a limited period of time. This cross is famous as it has a fragment of the cross of Christ enclosed in a small glass ball in the centre of the cross. If you do happen to be in the Castlebar area of county Mayo, or indeed anywhere near it, then i would highly recommend this place for a visit.

The cross of Cong, on view in the museum at Turlough near Castlebar.

My present tour is still ongoing and ends on Friday when i start immiediately with another group as we head once again for Killarney. I am truly amazed at how long my season is lasting this year and indeed when i finish with the next group i start straight away with another couple for a few days. More to follow when i get the time. Stayed tuned.

Dave

Car and Driver Ireland / Chauffeur Drive Ireland

This is a photo of the entrance to the most famous of the burial mounds, the Newgrange passage tomb. Here you can actually go all the way into the inner chamber where ths sun penetrates at the Winter solstice on the 21st of December every year. I will write more on this when i have more time.
This photo gives you a better idea of just how massive this Newgrange mound is.
Here you see Clare as she makes her way back down after climbing to the top of the passage tomb at Knowth. This mound is the largest of them all but the inner passage is not as impressive as the Newgrange one and the alignment of the passages inside are not the same as Newgrange either. Their alignment is to mark the longest and shortest days of the year. More about this later also.


My latest tour got under way last Friday and i have just completed day three. I have been so busy that i have not had time to keep up with my Blog but i will try to post a little more as soon as i get a chance. There should have been two ladies with me but unfortunately one of the ladies took ill before they left and the other lady had to travel alone. However all is well and the unfortunate lady who did not travel is now fine and it was all just a bit of a scare. She has made up her mind to make it happen again next year and please God this will happen for her.
We started out from Dublin and yesterday spent much of the day at Newgrange before making our way to Knock where we spent last evening. Today was spent tracing and visiting relatives in the North Mayo area and there will be more of that tomorrow. We visited a wonderful heritage site at Turlough near Castlebar this afternoon also and that deserves special mention in a later Blog so look out for that over the coming days.

More soon. Dave

Chauffeurdrive Vacations in Ireland

An Irish Peat Bog

I have been absent from my Blog recently as i have been having a break and was not on tour since my last Blog. I now start a new tour tomorrow for 8 days with a lady from Oregon and her elderly aunt. I am looking forward to it very much and it will be different as it will be my first tour ever with a nun. Yes, the elderly lady,the aunt, is a nun, and i am sure that this tour will be special. Her ancestors came from North Mayo and we will be visiting some of her relatives, and looking for more of them i would imagine. The niece is also on a very special mission as she wants to meet up with currach builders as she is very involved in boating and lives on the Puget Sound, Seattle. She hopes to be able to build a currach with her friends back in Seattle and with the proper help from a builder here this should be possible. I really do enjoy tours that involve new adventures and i already feel that this one has that element of difference to it. Maybe you can come along and enjoy it with me as i hope to Blog regularly over the next few days once again.
The Peat Bog pictured above is one in Connemara. You can see the face of the uncut bank and the already cut peat stacked in small pyramids where it is left for a couple of weeks to dry out. Once it has dried it is loaded onto trucks and carried away to be stored in a dry place. Many homes in rural ireland still love to have the peat fire and they also use it to fire their stoves for their cooking. It makes a lovely fire....not too hot, but most pleasant. It has a distinctive smell and if you have grown up with it, like i did, then it not only warms your home but it warms your heart. Most homes nowadays are heated by oil fired boilers and the European Union is trying to ban the cutting of the bogs as they play a very important role in the preservation of wildlife and the environment. This is hard on the locals in the boglands as they love their peat fires and feel that they have the right to continue with what is very much a very special part of their lives, the burning of peats fires.
If you are planning to come to Ireland any time this year, or in the coming year, now is the time to start to plan for that visit. My own operation is not a large one and i can only handle so much so if you want to pursue an enquiry with me there is no time like the present. If this year is anything to go by then i know that i will have to disappoint a lot of people again next year, and it will always be first come, first served. I look forward to hearing from you. A chauffeurdrive tour/ private driver/guide, is a special tour and the ideal holiday if you want to sit back and enjoy your visit with someone who knows their country and is proud to show it to you. I look forward to looking after you.

Chauffeurdrive holidays in Ireland

The Ring of Kerry from Inch beach
A view of the sheer drop to the sea below at Slea Head


Once again i am on a break as i await my next tour group. This has been a very busy year for me and i would like to take this opportunity to thank all of those who came to tour with me this past year. It is nice to be able to report that this has been my busiest year since i started my chauffeurdrive service in 1999. I have built up a wonderful reserve of friends, mainly in the USA, many who have come to tour with me a number of times. They have also referred many new friends to me and this is the main reason my business has grown. I look forward to meeting some of these friends again as i know that they do intend to come back to enjoy more of this lovely country. I have also been able to meet some of my friends when we ourselves have been over to the USA to visit our sons in New York and Chicago. I have no idea when we will get the opportunity to visit the USA again as we are restricted at this time due to ill health with an older family member. Things will become much quieter soon and that is when i start to plan for next year as enquiries are already coming in and have to be worked on. For anybody thinking about coming next year i would advise them to enquire early as dates fill up quickly, especially for the choice times of the holiday season. It costs nothing to make an enquiry and i will always try to be helpful.

Dave

Chauffeurdrive Tours West of Ireland

My Long Island ladies pictured with Maura Houlihan outside one of her Beehive huts near Slea Head.
Sheep on the hillside near the Conor Pass
Ready for Lunch in John Benny's pub in Dingle.....and they really did enjoy their lunch here....so much so that they went back again later for an evening meal and some traditional Irish music.

Well sadly, i parted from my latest group later today as i left that near Shannon airport where they catch their flight back home to New York tomorrow morning. This was a most enjoyable tour for all of us and i was only sorry that i did not have them for a longer holiday. I think,and hope, that we will get together again in the not too distant future.

Thank you sincerely ladies for making it so easy and enjoyable for me and i am pleased that you had such a great time.

Dave Hogan's Chauffeurdrive service Ireland West

The ladies at the Conor Pass today, high in the mountains, on a bright, breezy, and beautiful day.
If you get to Dingle make sure to visit Maura Houlihan's Beehive huts near Slea Head. This lady is in herself all that is wonderful about the Irish welcome. You can tell her that Dave Hogan sent you. She charges 2 Euro to see her wonderful ancient Beehives and she saves it up to visit her family in the USA every year. What more do you need to know.
The Blasket Islands, seen her in the background, were finally abandoned in the sixties, and how beautiful they looked today in the glorious sunshine.Most of the departees went to Hungry Hill Springfield Mass.
From Left, Barbara,Maureen,Diane,Maura Houlihan,Eileen and Caroline.
Inside Maura Houlihan's home where the ladies discovered that Maura has a daughter living close to them on Long Island. They are going to make contact and also meet Maura when she gets to the USA in the near future.This house has been renovated but dates back 500 years.
Here we have Caroline with her own version of St Patrick's Crook.
Now you know what Irish cows do in the sunshine.My ladies just could not see enough of the animals, the cows, the sheep, the goats and the horses.We take so much for granted here.
Here we have Eileen with a donkey and his master musician in Dingle town.Eileen just could not get enough pictures of the animals as both she and Caroline are true animal lovers.She got to feed this guy a carrot and if you enlarge this photo you can just about make out the little bit of green veggie sticking out of his mouth as he had gobbled the whole carrot in one go.