Chauffeurdriven vacations in the west and south west of Ireland

Yesterday i began my latest tour when i collected Mark and Gloria at the Shelborne Hotel in Dublin. Our destination today was the fabulous Ashford Castle in Cong in the county of Mayo. It had been raining for most of my journey to Dublin but the sun shone brightly for us as we reached Ashford, as you can see from the photo above. Ashford castle is now under new ownership, having been taken over by the Red Carnation group. The hotel is undergoing a total transformation, and it really does look well. There is much to be done yet, but rest assured that your visit here will not be in any way spoiled by any work that is being done at present.
Here below are a few photos i took inside the castle this morning.

Here we have Gloria, saying goodbye to David, the concierge, as we prepared to leave this morning. Both Gloria and Mark had really enjoyed their stay here, especially their lovely fresh salmon meal last night.
Our destination today was Galway city where they are to spend tonight in the 5 star G Hotel. This is a really modern boutique hotel, with an amazing interior, designed by the renowned Philip Treacy.

Just a selection of photos from inside the G Hotel as Mark and Gloria relax after checking in.

Later, after taking a tour of the historic city of Galway, i left Mark and Gloria to stroll through the town centre and to enjoy what to me is Ireland's nicest town.

Tomorrow we begin our journey to the south, and to lovely Killarney. Come and enjoy it with us.

Galway City with my group from Texas.

This afternoon we left Ashford Castle behind as we made our way to Galway city where my party will be spending tonight (Friday). They will be staying in the Meyrick Hotel, which is located right in the city center in Eyre Square. The photo above was taken in Eyre Square, and in the foreground you can see the Browne doorway, which was the entrance door to the home of the famous Browne family, one of this city's famous fourteen Tribes. Galway is known as the City of the Tribes, mainly wealthy merchant families who ruled the town. The Meyrick Hotel is in the background of this photo and was originally known as the Railway Hotel. The Galway railway station is located right behind the hotel and the hotel was one of a number of Railway Hotels which were all located at the terminal ends of the main railway lines throughout the country.The full title for the hotel was The Great Southern Hotel, the line to Galway being part of the Great Southern line. For many years this hotel would have been Galway's leading Hotel, and to me it is still a very special place as i love the character of this very old premises and have many happy memories attached to it. I would recommend this hotel for this alone.

 The photo above shows the Spanish Arch in Galway City, one of the few remaining sections of Galway's old city walls. It was known as the Spanish Arch because many ships from Spain came to Galway carrying mainly wine among other things and they moored right behind the Arch on the river bank, which you cannot see in this photo. Our merchants were heavily involved in trade with that country, and indeed Galway became even more powerful in that area as we were virtually the last stop off point for ships travelling to the New World.

 The photo above shows the Galway City Market with St Nicholas's church in the background. This photo does not really give you a full idea of just how large this market is. You can find all kinds of fresh market produce here, anything from your vegetables to fresh chickens, free range eggs, fresh home made cheeses, freshly baked breads, hot cooked foods, jams and chutneys, and many other wonderful things to eat. The old church is actually the oldest building in this historic city and it was here that Christopher Columbus and his crew members attended mass before setting out on that historic final leg of their journey to the new world. The church has been restored and is now a Church of Ireland church eventhough at the time of Columbus's visit, it was a catholic church. It was taken over by Cromwell's army when they took Galway, and they were said to have stabled their horses inside the church. It was later taken over by the Anglican Church of Ireland and never returned to the Catholics.

Marcie, relaxing in the lobby at Ashford before we left this morning.

Waving Goodbye to the castle today after a very special stay at this wonderful hotel. The girls also had a great night in the town of Cong last night. I spoke with some of the locals in the village this morning but they refused to comment and just said that the girls would be remember here for a long time to come. I wonder what they meant by that?

It looks like they are all ready again to take Galway city by storm as they wave to the locals on their arrival in Eyre Square at the Meyrick Hotel. Now, i was born and reared in Galway city ,and as i will not be with them this evening, i cannot really be held responsible for whatever happens there tonight. Hopefully all will be well and people will remain calm. I will be able to fill you in tomorrow.

Here we have the girls seated on the stage in the ballroom at the hotel. I had to show them this place as many years ago i was a member of a Rock Showband that regularly played in this very ballroom. Every Sunday night actually, and it was all Rock N'Roll. Judging by the following we had, we were good. Ooooooooohh for the old days.

I just couldn't resist it....i had to go on stage one more time. I do not know what you call it over there in the USA, but we call it "Second Childhood". No apologies.......it felt good.

Stay with us.....more tomorrow.

Connemara with Susan and Cam Sept 2nd 2012

 My sunshine girls this morning at Ashford castle in Cong as we set out on our tour of Connemara.

 Pictured in the gardens with the castle in the background.

 Happy at last....Cam at the bar in Ashford. What a difference a little tipple makes to ones
personality.

Deep in the heart of the Maam Valley, the ladies beside this signpost with the place names in both Irish and English. Today was spent mainly teaching them the Irish for Whiskey.

 Susan and Cam at the fjord in Leenane.

 Three happy campers at Kylemore Abbey.

 Here we are on the Sky Road near Clifden with the offshore islands in the Atlantic behind us.

Susan finds a bakery. You cannot say that my job does not provide me with variety.

 Now you see why the bakery? These delicious home baked pastries are all loaded with fresh cream. Irish cream that is....completely fat free...low calories....guaranteed to give you that vital energy boost. Another good reason to come to Ireland. I actually forgot to take a photo of the girls lunch plates as we had lunch here also....what a shame.

 The main street in the popular town of Clifden.

 Susan showed a particularly strange interest in this place and expressed an interest in possibly purchasing it. She said that maybe she might consider opening an Irish branch here. Why?

 There is nowhere like Ireland for wild flowers and here you see the ladies at Ballinahinch Castle with the Hydrangeas in full bloom in the background.

The Ballinahinch river as seen from the back of the castle.

Tomorrow we are off to the south....destination Killarney. We are having fun.