Chauffeurdrive vacations in Ireland

The Lakes of Killarney as seen from Ladies View high in the mountains

Today we move into Summer time with our clocks going forward one hour once again. I love to see the stretch in the evenings, especially on a nice evening like we have here today. The month of March continues to surprise us with all the lovely weather we are experiencing. It can be such a bitter, wild and wet month, and this year we have been blessed. Long may it continue.
April looks like being a busy month for me as i look forward to meeting many new friends in the coming weeks. This is a special time for visiting Ireland as the tourist season is just getting under way and it is not overly busy yet. We now have the stretch in the evenings and we should have daylight up to 8 pm so that gives us a reasonably long day. Temperatures are begining to rise and we will be in the mid-sixties to low seventies before too long. That is a really nice temperature for touring. We can never guarantee that it will not rain, but, even when it does, showers are more common than persistent rain. Always bring light rain-wear with you and a couple of nice warm sweaters for the evenings, or for places like the Cliffs of Moher, or the Aran islands. I am a great defender of Irish weather and i love our climate. It is not the ideal climate if you want to lie on a beach but if you want good clean fresh air, temperatures that are comfortable, a country that is free of bugs, wild animals, snakes, earthquakes and tsunamis, hurricanes and tornadoes, a country where the people are friendly and welcoming and where the food is second to none, then Ireland has to be up there at the top of the list. If you think that i am boasting then maybe it is just that i feel so grateful that this is my country and that i have been fortunate enough to have been born here. Come and see it for yourself if you have not seen it already. Then you will understand why i praise my country so often and so highly.
My photograph at the top shows a typical Irish day with the white clouds over the green valleys and rugged mountains. The rain is responsible for the greenery, for the magnificent displays of our wild flowers and shrubs and for our many beautiful lakes and rivers. It keeps our air fresh and clean and supplies us with the finest of drinking water. It is good for the health of our cattle, sheep, and all of our livestock and it is not by accident that our meat here in Ireland is the finest in the world. We also export a never ending supply of the best racehorses and show jumpers and this is another of our lucrative export markets. The range of dairy products that we export is also special and we are making inroads into markets all over the world with many of these products. I know that many Irish Americans already avail of many of our products, such as our butter and cheese, our meats, and many other top grade products. At this point in time your support for Ireland is welcome as we battle the recession we find ourselves in, through no fault of our own.
Tourism is also right up there in our battle to survive and your visit will also be a wonderful contribution to our cause. When things were good here in recent times, you were more than welcome, and that still stands. Come and see for yourself. Maybe you will allow me to show you around.

Car and Driver West of Ireland

Corcomroe Cistercian Abbey in county Clare

This old Abbey was built in the late 1200's and is one of many such churches which were finally abandoned during or post Cromwellian times. They were like mini universities where clerical students were educated and then sent out into the world to spread the gospel. Once they had been abandoned people started to use the grounds, and indeed the inside of the churches, to bury their dead in as it was seen as sacred ground. This particular one is just inside the Clare border outside Kinvara and is well worth a visit. The original buildings were much larger than what remains but the foundations of most of the original structures are still to be seen. There are many graves inside the church, some dating back hundreds of years. One of the O'Brien clan, the family who were benefactors of this Abbey, is buried inside and his tomb can still be seen along with his effigy. The cemetery surrounding this abbey is still in use up to this day.

Our weather continues to be really lovely and i cannot remember a nicer month of March myself. We have had superb sunshine and extraordinarily moderate temperatures for this time of the year. Our clocks go forward at the weekend and we can expect now that we have the worst of the wintry weather behind us for another year. I cannot think of a nicer place to be than Ireland when the weather is good, but it is still a great place to be even when it rains. if it did not rain then we would have to do without the green fields, the wonderful flowers and shrubs, and the clean air. April looks like being a busy month for me and the forecast for tourism in Ireland for the year ahead is good. Once it starts for me i will be kept going right into the Autumn, and sometimes even beyond. It is not easy but i look forward always to making many new friends.
Maybe you will be one of them.

KMLE Country 108 at the Cliffs of Moher

KMLE COUNTRY 108 at the Cliffs of Moher

I had better start at the begining. Last November i received an e-mail from a young lady informing me that her parents were arriving at Shannon and wanted to be driven to the Cliffs of Moher, have a wander around, stop for lunch and a pint, and return to Shannon airport in time for their flight home again in the afternoon. Now this is not the usual kind of enquiry i receive, but a job is a job, and i replied that i would like to discuss this further if she sent me a phone number. To cut a long story short, the young lady in question, Catherine, sent me a number and i agreed to look after them. Just to help them find me at Shannon i informed Catherine that i was "Tall, dark and handsome." They found me ok.
This was just the begining of what turned out to be a wonderful adventure and quiet unlike any other 4 hour trip i ever took. Dad and Mom were "Tim and Connie" and they were on a mission. The mission, which i was still unaware of, was to scatter Tim's Mom's ashes at the Cliffs of Moher. From the word go it was like we were old pals and by the time we got to the Cliffs we were all having a great time. It was when we climbed the hillside that Tim let me in on his secret mission and if you watch the video recording it will explain the rest.( Google the text "Dave Hogan: Ireland expert" at the bottom) We went to Gus O'Connor's pub in Doolin after the Cliffs where we had a wonderful feed of fresh fish and chips, and Tim had his pint of Guinness. He was also well able to drink that pint. I used to drink myself many years ago, and if i had met Tim in those days he would have been a great drinking buddy. Us Irish know what a good pint drinker is. On leaving Doolin we drove to St Bridgid's well near the Cliffs where Tim left his Mom's rememberance card. This is a special place where people leave relics of their loved ones, dead, or missing, or sick in some way or another. It is a nice place to stop and say a prayer for someone.
As i drove Tim and Connie back to the airport at Shannon Tim explained to me all about his job and the radio station he was working with and their daily country music show on KLME Country 108, "The Tim and Willy show." He asked me if i would maybe agree to have a little chat with them on their show sometime, and of course i told him that i would love to help, if i could. He suggested that St Patrick's day might be a great time and "Lo and Behold" that is what happened last week. I just keep asking myself why has it taken me so long to become famous. It was fun and i hope that we can do it again sometime.
I must say that meeting Tim and Connie was such a pleasure, and Connie was and angel, and i am sure she has to be with a bundle of energy like Tim around. I would love to think that someday i will have the opportunity to have the pleasure of their company for a much longer period when i will get the chance to show them more of this wonderful country of ours. I think that i can provide Tim with enough material to keep his listeners glued to the radio and their web-site for many long hours.
Thanks again Tim and Connie and also all of you at KLME Country 108, Willy and Audrey and all the gang.



From your adopted Irish cousin

Dave

Have a look at the clips

"Dave Hogan: Irish Expert" (Google this to see clips)

Chauffeur/private driver in Ireland

St Patrick's day celebrations in a retirement home i visit

I suppose i would have to say one of the highlights of the St Patrick's day celebrations for me was my time entertaining the old folk in a retirement home i visit regularly. I do visit them regularly and they always love a sing song. I used to play professionally once upon a time (i sing and play the keyboard)but now it is only a hobby with me. You could not have a better audience than the old timers.

I apologise once again for my long absence from here but what with St Patrick's day etc i just did not have the time. The above photo is one of an old Norman tower castle, one of the thousands you will see as you travel around Ireland. They were more of a secure family home than a castle but of course were for the better off people in the community and not for the commoner.

St Patrick's day was hectic as always with large parades all over the country. It was a great boost for everybody during this time of recession and the thought of difficult times was far from everybody's minds. The terrible disater in Japan had also helped us to focus our minds on what real problems are and we are indeed fortunate not to have their horrific problems. We should keep them in our prayers.
I am posting another Blog on a special happening relating to St Patrick's day. Have a look and enjoy the link.

Dave

St Patrick's Day with Irish Chauffeur

Believe it or not, St Patrick's holy mountain is there in the mist just to the right hand side of the bushes on your left. If you enlarge the photo you just might be able to see it. There is some snow on the top if you can make that out. I just thought i would try to at least make an attempt to get a photo of it considering the day that is in it.
Daffodills in my garden this morning
I thought i had better take a photo this morning of my daffodills while they are still there.They really are lovely while they last.


The platform for the speech-makers in Kilmaine Co Mayo today.
I had to leave my wife to Knock airport today as she was off to England to visit her Mom for a few days. I took a few photos of the St Patrick day preparations as i passed through some of the small towns. The one above was what we call a float and was taken in the little rural town of Kilmaine in Co Mayo.
This one was taken in the town of Claremorris and shows one end of the main street closed off for the parade. Unfortunately i did not get any actual parade photos anywhere as i was early.


I stopped off at Knock at the holy shrine on my way back just to say a little prayer for everybody. Yes...that is me standing there. I was about to take a photo of the shrine when a lady asked me could she take one of me. What a nice lady she was.

Looking for car and driver in Ireland

Sunset over the hills of Clare
St Mary's Cathedral in Killarney

The work on this wonderful church commenced before the famine in the eighteen forties as the foundations were laid that far back. During the famine itself many starving people came here and camped on the site as it was holy ground. Here, many of them died, men women and children, and they were laid to rest where they died. Their is a memorial in the grounds to commemorate them and many is the silent prayer whispered for their souls. The Cathedral was completed in the early nineteen hundreds and if you get to Killarney then do visit this magnificent church.

Sorry....sorry....sorry....i have been missing for a few days but only because i have been busy. My job involves a lot more than driving and at the moment the time i have to spend dealing with enquiries is top priority as this is what will make my year ahead successfull. I must thank all those who do contact me whether or not they actually decide to use my services or not. You cannot win them all, but many people do come back again at a later date when they know what it involves. Chauffeurdrive holidays are special and do make that visit much more comfortable and interesting, if you have the right chauffeur. You need someone who knows the country, its history, past and present, and who will look after you as though you were family. It is extra special to get that individual attention when your group is smallr as in chauffeurdrive. It is a great advantage to be able to make little changes to your itinerary as you go and not be be bound to a strict inflexible plan. I like to think that people have special memories of their time in Ireland with me.
St Patrick's day is fast approaching and our Irish cousins from the USA will be arriving in large numbers over the next few days. It is lovely to see the bands in their colorful uniforms and the high-stepping majorettes parading through our towns and cities. There will be plenty of Guiness flowing over the period and many a hang-over before the week is out. The St Patrick Day celebrations are unique and worldwide and like no other celebration. Everybody wants to be Irish whether you are from Dingle or New York, Sydney, London, or Chicago. Your colour or your beliefs do not matter, your sex or your age irrelevant. If you do not know of any Irish heritage in your own line, do not worry....we will adopt you anyway.
Our weather this year so far has been really nice and over the last few weeks especially. We have had many sunny and bright days and Spring has been very much in the air. Even as i write now,though it is cooler than recently, the sun is shining and all is well. Lets hope that it stays that way for St Patrick's day. Our new Premier was sworn in today by the President, and may God Bless his work, and his term in office. This government needs time and it also needs our patience and understanding. They did not create the mess we are in and they need our support to get us out of it. We will do it, but it will be painful. I cannot think of a better time to ask our Irish American friends and relations to

BUY IRISH

It is not only good, it is a good thing to do.

Dave