Springtime in ireland April 19 - 26, 2008 Group Tour

Day 7 - From Killarney to Shannon Airport

Sat, 26 Apr 2008 00:00:00 -0400

Our final day was a time to say “Good-bye” to our great group of 35 tour members (group photo above was taken on the steps of the Lobby of the Plaza Hotel, Killarney). Photos from the rest of the day show Tom Byrne of NY departing from the Plaza Hotel; our bus unloading under blue Springtime skies at Shannon Airport; Tara Bucholz, Joan Brady-Stevens and Caitlin Buchiolz, all of NY, filling in their US re-entry forms; and Nate Kruse of AZ, stocking up with his last round of sodas to drink in Ireland. Final photo shows our driver guide Tony O’Callaghan with Pat & John. Hope that everyone has reached home safely - and will return to Ireland someday soon!!

Day 6 - Dingle Peninsula

Fri, 25 Apr 2008 11:42:09 -0400

It was a “typical Irish day” - cloudy and cool with the hope of sun, and while we had little rain, there was a mist suspended over the mountains. Only 21 of our tour members came on our excursion to the Dingle Peninsula, while 14 chose to stay in Killarney Town for the day to shop and walk around. Our main photo of the day (above) shows some of our tour members who came to Dingle, standing beside the waves at Inch Beach.
Our remaining photos (below) show Tom Byrne stepping in to help the salesperson at the book shop at the Blasket Centre, Dunquin; Tony O’Callaghan, our driver/guide, with Pat at Inch beside our bus; Rob Sabalis of VA and Jeanie Keating of NY enjoying a treat at the Murphy’s Ice Cream shop in Dingle; Eddie Hughes of NJ, and Beth & Bob Nyberg of FL, making a wish after they bought their Lotto tickets for the Saturday Lotto drawing; and a panoramic overview of Dingle Harbour. Tonight we will enjoy dinner and entertainment at Kate Kearney’s Cottage, and hopefully we will post those photos tomorrow or Sunday, depending on our internet access.
Thanks to all the folks back home for all the Comments! We read them out on the bus every morning.

Day 5 - Ring of Kerry Drive

Thu, 24 Apr 2008 12:45:14 -0400

We were blessed with one of the best weather days on the Ring of Kerry that I have seen in many a year and in any season - even better than most summer days. 29 of our group traveled on this day tour (photos above, at Ladies View and Coomakista Pass), while 9 stayed behind to enjoy time in Killarney, go shopping and two for golf. Since we have so many good pictures, words are not needed. The pictures below tell our story and include our visit to Brendan Ferris, sheep farmer, Muckross House Gardens, and our jaunting car ride....

Day 4- Westport to Killarney

Wed, 23 Apr 2008 16:14:00 -0400

A beautiful sunny and warm day greeted us today, and our first stop was in Cong, Co.Mayo, to see the landmark sights associated with the film “The Quiet Man.” Photos above show (top, left) Barbara Hayes, NJ; Tom Byrne, NY; David Brown, MA; Joan & George Morrissey, NY; and Tom Hayden, NY. (Top, right) Ray Sabalis, SC; Janine McAdoo, MD, and Pat Brown, MA. (Second row, left) Joan Brady Stevens and Pat Bucholz, both of NY. (Second row, right)
Tom & Jeanne Hayden, NY at the “Quiet Man” cottage.
The photos below show our tour members at the Cliffs of Moher as follows: (left to right, first row, below) Joan Morrissey of NY and Barbara Hayes of NJ; Ray & Rob Sabalis of SC; and (second row, from left) Debbie & Chris Gardner of NY; Kathleen Keating of NY.

Finally, we headed south to Killarney. Photos below show some hearty tour members braving the sea winds on board the upper deck of the Shannon Ferry from Clare to Kerry. And when we got to Killarney, Tom and Jeanne Hayden headed straight to the shopping streets.

Day 3 - County Mayo Tour

Tue, 22 Apr 2008 16:10:34 -0400

Today was a day devoted to County Mayo and especially the areas of ancestry for many of our group members. We started the day with a visit to the Museum of Country Life, the only branch of the National Museum of Ireland outside of Dublin. Our photos below show: our “family guide” for the day - Martina Kilcullen Gardner; and our group touring the grounds of the Museum and the interior exhibits with our guide Sean Hallinan,as well as the gardens of the museum.

Next we drove to Ballina and spent time walking around the town, with many of our group stopping for lunch or a snack at local pubs and cafes of their choice. Our photos below show tour members at a Ballina pub. (Photo left) Maureen Walsh, Christy Kruse, Stephen Kruse, all of MO, and Nate Kruse of AZ at a Ballina pub. (Photo right) James Kilcullen of Sligo and Martina Kilcullen Gardiner meet rheir cousins Rob Sabalis of VA and John Preston of NY.

After Ballina, we drove via Killala to Downpatrick Head on Killala Bay and the Atlantic. Our main photos at the top of this page shows about 20 of our group who climbed up the hill to see the best view. Our final stop was Ballycastle where we walked the main street - some of us visited a pub and others went to Mary’s Cottage Kitchen to enjoy tea and and freshly baked scones and pies in an Irish cottage setting. See photos below:

Day 2- Connemara & Killary Cruise

Mon, 21 Apr 2008 17:32:36 -0400

Our pictures tell the story of a great day. Photos above are on board the Connemara Lady cruise on Killary Harbour -- (top, left) Eddie Hughes from NJ, Bob Nyberg of FL, Kathy Doucette and Mary Walker from CO, Pat Brown from MA, Beth Nyberg from FL, Dave Brown of MA, and Chris Gardner from NY; (top, right) Caitlin Bucholz, Pat Bucholz,Tara Bucholz and Joan Brady-Stevens, all from NY; (bottom, left) Ray & Rob Sabalis from VA; Captain Alex who welcomed our group on board with champagne and smoked salmon; and Declan Mahon who played music for our group.
Photos below show our visit to Kylemore Abbey (photo below, left) Debbie Gardner taking a picture of Kylemore gardens (photo,below right).

Photos below show Pat & John (left) at Kylemore Abbey with Kathleen & Stan Sabalis of SC; and (right) tour members taking photos in the scenic Doo Lough Valley

Our final event of the day was a banquet dinner in celebration of Pat & John’s 25th anniversary, for our tour group, along with members of the Preston and Kilcullen families from Co. Mayo, Co. Sligo and from Leeds and London, England. A great night was had by all! Photos show assembled members (from both sides of the Atlantic) of the Kilcullen family (top) and the Preston family (bottom).

Day 1 - From Shannon to Westport

Sun, 20 Apr 2008 11:59:43 -0400

The day started early with the arrival of Dave and Pat Brown on the Aer Lingus flight from Boston at 5:30 a.m. This was soon followed by the Aer Lingus flight from New York at 6 a.m. and then the Continental flight from Newark at 7 a.m. By then, we had 27 passengers and we headed to the Shannon Park Inn for our “welcome Irish breakfast.” After breakfast, John and those early arrival tour members departed with our CIE Tours driver/guide Tony O’Callaghan en route to Westport via Galway and Knock. Photo above (left) shows Jeanne and Tom Hayden from NY boarding the CIE motorcoach.
Pat waited at the airport for the Aer Lingus Chicago flight, which arrived at approximately 10 a.m., and then over to the Park Inn for a late breakfast for those passengers. After breakfast, our remaining tour members departed with Pat and driver Ken Hartmann for a route via Galway and Castlebar to Westport (photo above, right, from left: Steve & Christy Kruse from MO, driver Ken Hartmann, Patsy Tucker from MO; Kathy Doucette from CO; Maureen Walsh from MO; Mary Walker from CO; and Nate Kruse from AZ.
To surprise Patsy Tucker, Ken stopped the bus on Tucker Street, Castlebar - photo below at “Tucker Street” shows (from left) Nate Kruse, AZ; Patsy Tucker, MO; Christy & Steve Kruse, MO. (Patsy is the mother of Christy and grandmother of Nate, so there is a “Tucker” connection for all of this family).

In spite of departing at different times and taking different routes, both of our buses arrived within five minutes of each other at the Hotel Westport at approx .3 p.m. for a smooth check-in -- and all the rooms were ready.
The remainder of the afternoon was for rest and relaxation, with some people taking a dip in the hotel pool, a few working out in the gym, and others walking around Westport.
Tonight we have a “Welcome Drink” reception at 6:30, hosted by Tourism Ireland, followed by dinner in the hotel dining room. Pictures below show: (left) Tara & Cailtin Buchholz of NY, and Tom Byrne of NY (all three of whom share “Brady” family ancestry from Co. Mayo), enjoy the “Welcome Drink”; and Barbara Hayes of NJ with Joan & George Morrissey of NY at the dinner.

.

The Day Before Our Tour

Sat, 19 Apr 2008 00:00:00 -0400

While our tour will not start officially until tomorrow, some of our tour members have arrived early, and we scheduled an afternoon excursion around western County Limerick. We hired a mini-bus and traveled along the scenic Shannon Estuary to Foynes to visit the Flying Boat Museum. This trip had special significance because Stan Sabalis (our brother-in-law from Columbia, SC), used to be a flight engineer for Pan Am - and Stan was one of the original crew members for the flying boats. Although he has visited the museum before, this is the first time since the Pan Am flying boat (like the one he used to fly) is on display. The museum staff greeted Stan and our little group of 10 very warmly. Our group, shown in photo above, consisted of (top row, from left: Kathleen Keating from NY; Stan Sabalis from SC; Rob Sabalis from VA; John & Pat; and bottom row, from left: Jean Keating from NY; Patsy Tucker from MO; Kathleen Sabalis from SC; Ray Sabalis from VA; and Maureen Walsh from MO). Margaret Prendeville, a reporter for the Limerick Leader newspaper, interviewed Stan on his early travels into Foynes (see photo below left).
Stan also sat in the cockpit and demonstrated how the aircraft was flown (photo below, right). Our other photos show the two Keatings and four Sabalises in front of the Dunraven Arm, Adare (middle row, left) and a spontaneous meeting in Adare of Pat with Michele Erdvig of Atlanta, GA, author of the IrelandYes.com web site (middle row, right).
Later, at dinner at the Shannon Park Inn hotel, we met two more tour members, Jerry & Janine McAdoo (Silver Spring, MD), and watched as Jerry drank his first draft Guinness in Ireland and Janine sampled an apple crumble dessert.
We look forward to your Comments....