Ireland adventure Day 2 – Kilkenny to Blarney Castle to Baltimore, County Cork

Please note: During our trip to Ireland, our priorities were hiking, the most beautiful scenery, pubs and live music. We also rented a car. You won’t find much in these posts about fine dining, shopping or the public transportation, though I’m confident there are great resources for these topics elsewhere online. I have also included some resources at the bottom if you’re planning a similar trip.

Adequately rested after a marathon Day 1, we woke up around 8 a.m., ready to see where the day would take us. I’d read good things about a breakfast place called The Fig Tree, but it didn’t open for another two hours. Simply by default, and perhaps divine intervention, we ended up at Café la Coco.

I loved absolutely everything about this meal, from the pottery our food came in, to the immersive setting. We sat outside and took in the bustle of a Sunday morning in Kilkenny. Young workers moving trash from the night before into dumpsters locked away behind brightly colored sliding doors. Twenty-somethings in messy buns stumbling down for a quick coffee and pastry. Those a decade or two up walking the dogs, pushing a stroller, running errands.

We both ordered breakfast sandwiches and coffee, a latte for me and an Americano for my date. While ours were both equally delicious, I have to say, our neighbor had the Bacon and Maple Pancakes and they looked insanely good. I actually saw him running his finger around the bowl to lick it clean, which is quite the endorsement, universally. He was an older gentleman, a marathoner, from Northern Ireland. In fact, he can “see Scotland from his doorstep.” I know this because in Ireland, unlike many places, the charming countrymen and women love to strike up a conversation. In a last-minute stroke of genius, we ordered a blueberry lemon scone to go.

On our stroll back to the hotel to finish packing, we realized how nice it is to walk to and from a meal. In our town, it would be a real roll of the dice to commute on foot. But in most of the towns we visited, it was easy to hoof it, and it just felt great. I think we largely underestimate the benefits of a casual pre- and post-meal jaunt.

Kilkenny to Blarney Castle and Gardens

Before we left, Hank and I both agreed we would be perfectly fine with skipping the “touristy” attractions in order to leave more room for hiking and exploring. And we honestly didn’t intend to do the whole Blarney experience. But we did, and I gotta tell ya, it was pretty freaking cool.

Initially, we planned on going to a different area, but as we were driving and converting kilometers to miles, Hank realized it was going to put us at our hotel pretty late that evening. So, I picked up the trusty GPS and typed in the only name I recognized from the signs: Blarney. (Did I mention we didn’t really have a solid itinerary?) We’ll just take a quick look, since we’re here, we thought.

We purchased tickets and two ice cream comes and spent the next few hours walking around the majestic Blarney Gardens. The wait to kiss the stone was an hour long and, call me COVID-crazy, but I just didn’t have a burning desire to match lips with hundreds of my newest acquaintances, so we skipped it. But it didn’t take anything away from the experience.

The grounds have every type of tree you can imagine and tout some of the tallest in Ireland. There’s even a tree – a Western Red Cedar – that appears to have grown two new trees. (See picture for reference, it’s so hard to explain.) Everything is meticulous and vibrant, with names like the Carnivorous Courtyard and Poison Garden.

It was while poking around Blarney House, a historic residence on the grounds, when I thought I saw Daniel Radcliffe with another gentleman and two small children. This was on the heels of Hank thinking Paul Mescal from “Normal People” checked us into Hotel Kilkenny the night before. We were painfully wrong, on both accounts.

Of everything we saw, waterfalls and giant ferns and floral archways, my two favorite parts of Blarney Gardens were the Wishing Steps and the Seven Sisters, mostly because I just love a good legend. According to the sign, any believer with a wish in their heart who closes their eyes and walks first forward, then backward up the Wishing Steps will have their dream come true. I am notoriously clumsy with both eyes open, so I did not opt for the full immersion here, but I did watch a couple go through the ritual and it made me smile. And I’d be lying if I didn’t say I recited a little wish to myself as I ascended the ancient stairway.

The Seven Sisters story gave me goosebumps. Here is the version from the website: “Just northeast of the Castle can be found a circle of nine standing stones, two of which have fallen. It is said that in medieval times a chieftain who had two young sons and seven daughters took his sons on their first battle against a troublesome neighbour who was constantly raiding his cattle. The chieftain was victorious in the battle but at great cost: both his sons were killed. Returning to his cattle with his troops and the bodies of his sons, he stopped at this familiar spot and to mark the death of his sons the grieving chieftain ordered his men to knock over two of the stones.” 

As a mother, I mean … it just tears ya up. Even if it is just a circle of rocks. Overall, I would say the Blarney experience is worth the trip, particularly if the sun is shining and you’ve got good walking shoes.

Blarney Castle and Gardens to Baltimore, County Cork

It was roughly 90 minutes from the Blarney grounds to our destination for the evening, Baltimore, County Cork. Listen to me when I say that this was the longest 90 minutes of. my. life.

Allow me, if you will, to paint a picture for you … Imagine being strapped into a chair that is barreling along a hedge at 60 mph. Every once in a while, a box truck, or a van or a greedy compact car or, in the worst of worst-case scenarios, a semi, comes flying around a curve and you get to dip into the hedge and find out if there’s, say, a stonewall hiding behind the shrubs. Between the Polo’s hyper-sensitive brakes, my husband’s unscratched itch to be a racecar driver and my natural tendency to get sick as hell on anything that moves, it was a real ten-layer trifle of terrifying. My forearm started to spasm I was gripping the door handle so tight. The commute was gorgeous. Absolutely gut-wrenching. But gorgeous. But the true saving grace was that scone. Oh, that beautiful scone. When has a well-made pastry not been able to cure the woes of the world, I ask you?

Coming into Baltimore is what I imagine the coastal areas in New England are like, though I’ve never been. Boats tethered and spaced in the harbor, bobbing in the last minutes of the day’s sunlight. Streets that slant and build in activity until they crescendo down by the water, the main attraction.

We pulled into Rolf’s Country House & Restaurant around dinnertime. A pair of gentlemen helped us get our hefty suitcases up into our room (“Do you have Grandma in here?” one of them joked) and brought us crisps (potato chips) and prosecco, which made me instantly fall in love with them. This was by far my favorite of the places we stayed. Not just because they fed me carbs, but the rooms, of which there are only 10, are beautiful.

We downed our bubbles, showered and walked down toward the harbor to find dinner. There was live music close to the water, but nowhere to sit, so we backtracked a bit to The Algier’s Inn. Fate, again took a hand. This was one of my top meals for the whole trip. At the suggestion of our absolutely adorable waitress, I went for the fried fish sandwich and skinny fries, paired with a lovely local cider. I still have dreams about this sandwich. The fish was perfectly breaded and crispy, dressed in the yummiest sauce. Hank had a burger and a West Cork IPA, brewed by one of the only female brewers in Ireland (#girldad), who also happened to be helping out at Algier’s that very evening. (So, we did have at least one legitimate celebrity sighting.)

After three different servers professed their love for the Sticky Toffee Pudding, we basically had to give it a go, and it was delicious. After we said we were done, the same saint waitress who recommended the fish, demonstrated the proper way to scrape up the remaining gooey bits and lick the spoon clean. As Sticky Toffee virgins, we had no clue how dedicated this dessert fan base is. I’ve got nothin’ but respect for the bowl scrapers out there.

Full and happy, we walked back up the slanted streets to Rolf’s, on top of the hill. It got pretty dark in some spots, so we picked up the pace and burned off some pudding. I don’t know if it was all of the walking, or the jetlag finally catching up with me, or my satiated belly or, I’d like to think, the lovely breeze coming off the water and through our open window, but I slept like a baby that night. A fat, insanely joyful baby.

Quick reference details for those planning a trip to Ireland

Travel agent – We worked with Maria Lieb at Discovering Ireland. We were given her name by an acquaintance who took a very similar trip to ours. Maria helped us narrow down locations, the duration of our stay in each town, selected and booked all of our hotel and inn rooms, reserved our car and insurance, and provided travel guides. You can reach her by emailing maria@discoveringireland.com. 

Transportation – We opted to rent a car so we had flexibility each day. We did the full insurance, including tires, and rented the GPS navigation. In Ireland, compared to the United States, the steering wheel is on the other side of the car, and they drive on the other side of the road, which can be confusing, but you catch on. Also, be prepared … some of the roads are very narrow.

Dates of our trip – While most people go to Ireland in June, July and early August, we were there August 26 – September 5, in an effort to still get decent weather but avoid some of the crowds.

Weather – We were spoiled with the weather while we were there! Temperatures were typically mid- to low-70s during the day and the 60s at night. We only had rain two days.

Money – We primarily used our credit card, which was very easy. They will often ask you if you want to pay in euros or dollars. It’s best to select euros. We also used local ATM machines to get cash, which came in handy for cabs and snacks. In our experience, ATMs were better than exchanging currency at the airport.

Things I packed and didn’t need –

• Hair straightener (couldn’t use in any of the outlets)
• Jewelry (wore a necklace one night)
• Jeans (heavy and unnecessary)
• Big suitcase (I’ll pack smarter next time)
• Makeup (nobody cared, and I barely used it)

Things I didn’t pack that I wish I had –

• More of these functional pants from REI – (I also liked these)
• My TEVA sandals (loving these right now)
• Hiking poles

Things I was so glad I packed –

• Versatile weatherproof pants (linked above)
• Hats (I rarely did my hair)
• A buff for my neck or wrist
• Good hiking boots and trail shoes (I took these and loved them)
• A light backpack for hiking
• Crossbody purse (or hip bag) for evenings and days out
• Sunglasses
• Raincoat
• Umbrella
• Moisture-wicking layers (tanks, ts and long-sleeve)
• Small bottles of hand sanitizer
• Hair ties (my hair was in a pony or braided most days)
• Good socks
• Dramamine (If you get motion sickness, this is life in Ireland)
• Notes app or a journal
• Fitbit charger (we averaged 22k steps a day)
• Phone charger
• A mobile hotspot (we rented a wifi candy and picked ours up at the Dublin airport)
• GPS

The flight – We flew out of Chicago, which is about two hours from our home. The hardest part was finding a place to park at O’Hare! We got there about three hours early and had plenty of time. The flight was direct to Dublin and took around seven hours – give or take – both ways. I thought Aer Lingus did a tremendous job of keeping everyone fed, comfortable and happy. Take a little something to help you sleep and you’ll be there before you know it! Our experience at the Dublin airport was incredibly positive. Quick and painless!