This morning was an early start from Morwendon House as our host had advised it can take longer than anticipated to drive to Holyhead. We had planned to go via Caernarfon Castle but decided against it due to our host's advice. The drive along the coast was picturesque and we arrived at Holyhead ferry terminal in time to return our hire car. We were booked on the 1.50pm Stena Line ferry to Dublin where Aaron would be waiting to pick us up to commence our seven day tour of Ireland.

After waiting in the terminal for a short while it was eventually time to book in and receive our boarding passes . Once processed through the boarding gate we were moved into a second lounge ready to board the ferry. We were expecting a similar process to the one we encountered in Stockholm so where surprised when escorted outside and on to a coach and driven into the transport hold of the ferry where we were offloaded and taken upstairs to the lounge area of the ferry.

We had chosen to go as Stena Plus passengers so we found our way to our allocated lounge. It was a little difficult finding three lounge chairs together as the majority of passengers were travelling with cars so had boarded earlier and had already settled into the prime seats. Eventually we found three seats together that overlooked the bow of the ferry and felt fortunate these lounges were still vacant - what a bonus!   Later we realised why these prime located lounges had been left vacant!

Our Stena Plus tickets entitled us to unlimited Tea, Coffee, drinks (including wine) and snacks plus the latest movies were being shown on the big screen TV if you cared to watch – we were impressed with our lot so settled in to enjoy our first crossing .

It didn't take long before we realised why the lounges we were so fortunate to find had been left vacant when the small child seated next to us started to display the worst behaviour we had encountered. You could not believe a small child could display such bad behaviour and her parents could display such lack of consideration for their fellow travellers by not disciplining the child. It was unfortunate the combination of the child and her parents made it a memorable trip for all the wrong reasons.
 
In order to retain our sanity during the crossing we took turns to mind our luggage while we escaped to explore the ferry or shop in the duty free. At one point Sal and I went to the café and ate a very late lunch just to have a break. I think we were all glad when Ireland appeared in the distance. Aside from the badly behaved child we did enjoy the experience of the crossing.

We arrived at Dublin Port and once again we were guided to the transport hold where we climbed on board the coach and were driven to the terminal – what amazing organisation! What was interesting about this trip was we didn’t ever actually see the ferry we sailed on - not in Holyhead or in Dublin .

Once in the terminal we looked around for Aaron’s familiar face however he was not among the waiting crowd. As the crowd dispersed we decided to go outside the terminal and wait but still no Aaron. By this time we were the lone passengers left so decided to send Aaron an SMS only to discover there are two ferry terminals in Dublin port and he was at the other one operated by Irish Ferries!

When we left Holyhead the Stena Line and Irish Ferries departed from the same terminal however in Dublin they each have a separate terminal. Problem solved, Aaron arrived soon after driving a very nice black Audi that he had upgraded to from the pre-booked Hyundai. Once our luggage was stowed we were off for what appeared to be a short drive to our hotel.

Despite only seeing Aaron some five weeks prior it was lovely to catch up with him again. Since we left Sri Lanka and travelled to Scandinavia, Russia and the UK, Aaron and Nellie had also been travelling and had just completed a trip to Copenhagen, Stockholm and Spain so we had plenty of travel stories to share .

We set off to find the Roganstown Hotel and Country club however like many hotels we were only provided with a road name and not a number. After travelling up and down Naul road looking for the hotel which we thought would be easy considering it was attached to the golf club, but to no avail. We even asked several locals and a taxi driver, eventually we discovered the road branched in two different directions and we had been driving along the wrong one. So, armed with this new information Aaron had no trouble finding the hotel.

After booking into the hotel we enjoyed dinner in the lounge/bar and before retiring planned the next day’s route to Galway. When planning our trip to Ireland I had been given good advice from friends Katie and Katrina on interesting places to see. Katrina suggested a visit to Newgrange would be worthwhile so the following morning we departed the hotel after an enjoyable overnight stay bound for Newgrange.

We arrived at the newly built tourist information centre and found the facilities excellent as the sight hasn’t been open to the public for very long . The Newgrange mound was only excavated in the 1970's despite it being originally built in 3200BC and rediscovered in the 17^th century.

After purchasing our tickets and being directed on to a bus we were driven to the site where a guide met us and explained the mounds history. We were then divided into two groups for our entry into the mounds inner burial chamber.

We entered in single file and regrouped in the inner chamber which is so small only 12 people can be accommodated at any one time. Once inside our guide explained the purpose of the structure and its methodical placement to align it perfectly to the winter solstice as it is believed the people who built these structures were sun worshipers. To support this theory the lights in the chamber were switched off and we witnessed a recreation of how the rising sun enters the chamber. The peak of this phenomenon would occur during the winter solstice      

The Newgrange site is only one of 1400 discovered throughout Ireland and they pre-date the pyramids of Egypt . The stone to build the mound was sourced some 80kms away so had to be moved to the sight including the enormous outer circle boulders each weighing in excess of several tonnes each. Over the years the mound has been robbed of all its contents including the ancient artefacts and the skeletons of those who were buried there.

After our tour ended we were driven back to the tourist centre and headed to the café for a coffee while Sal and I had a quick browse through the gift shop before we were back on the road again to lunch at Clonmacnoise.

Before lunching we purchased our tickets then Trev and Aaron noticed a short film was about to commence in the theatre which would be beneficial as it explained the sites history. The four of us entered the now full theatre just in time to view the film.



Once the film commenced we all soon realised we were watching a film adapted for German tourists. Aaron quickly passed the on to me that we make a quick exit, I passed the message on to Sal who passed it to Trevor who for some reason decided not to move .  So we were stuck, Sal and I had trouble containing our composure as we saw the comical side of the four of us sitting though a film which none of us understood. Twenty minutes later we left the theatre not having learnt anything about the site or its history.

What we did eventually learn from our visit was, Clonmacnoise is an ancient monastic site and was founded by St. Ciaran in the middle of the 6^th century and was a great centre for learning. On the site we visited the remains of three high crosses, a cathedral, seven churches and two round towers and the numerous burial sites - all very interesting.

Following our visit to Clonmacnoise we arrived in Galway late afternoon and headed into the city where Aaron had to make a quick stop near our hotel to unload us and our luggage before locating a parking station nearby. Aaron had made a booking for our two night stay at a boutique hotel named No. 7. This hotel was an amazing example of how to utelise limited space as we discovered after climbing the narrow staircase to our rooms . This time Sal and I were sharing a room as were Trev and Aaron.

The boys very kindly carried Sal’s and my larger suitcases up the flights of stairs to our room. At first we wondered how we and our luggage were going to fit into the tiny room however like most things you find a way and we did. The boy’s room was a slightly different configuration so they were sorted in no time. Once we were sorted it was time to explore Galway city. Aaron was in his element as he had lived and worked here for almost a year in 2001-2.

You could see Aaron enjoyed taking us around to visit all his old haunts. The Quays Pub where he worked was of particular interest as he reminisced about standing in the purpose built box night after night to service drinks to the upper floor from the bar below. We visited the Newsagency where he had also worked and the flat where he had lived and his favourite Cheesemonger plus many more places that evoked memories of his time as a young man living in Galway city. Aaron was in his element, visiting the old haunts where he had enjoyed his first taste of freedom after leaving home .

 At night Galway is a very happening city so we set off to find somewhere to eat which was not going to be easy as every café and restaurant appeared packed to capacity. Eventually we found a little Italian restaurant where we dined and enjoyed a pleasant evening eating good food and drinking fine wine before heading back to the hotel for the night.

The following day a visit had been planned to Kylemore Abbey located in the beautiful area of Connemara. This Abbey was built by an English gentleman named Henry Mitchell who relocated with his wife and family to Ireland. Unfortunately his wife died so the property was purchase by a Duke and his wife who modernised it from its neo gothic style. Unfortunately the Duke was a gambler and lost the property in a poker game so it was eventually purchased by the Catholic Church where it was turned into a Nunnery for the Benedictine order of Nuns and is still occupied by sisters of the order today. 

The Abbey was built in 1867 in a beautiful setting of gardens and trees . A short walk from the Abbey is a lovely church and beyond that a crypt which is the final resting place for its original owners Henry and Margaret Mitchell.

When the Benedictine sisters came to Kylemore Abbey they went about transforming the Castle into an Abbey and International boarding school for girls. The school opened in 1923 and offered "a high-class" education. Due to social changes over the years, the number of students gradually declined resulting in the school closing down at the completion of the school year in 2010. The Nuns who currently reside at the Abbey still produce jams, soaps and chocolate to sell in the gift shop.

We arrived back in Galway in time to have some retail therapy. Top of my list was a new camera so after accomplishing this it was time for Sal and I to have a little more shopping before heading back to the hotel to dress for dinner.

Aaron had booked us in to a seafood restaurant for dinner and after a very enjoyable meal we headed to the Quays Pub to check out where Aaron had worked . The Quays is a very old pub and their utilisation of their limited space is amazing. Aaron checked out all the changes that had taken place since he had worked there and was surprised to see his serving box had been replaced by an upstairs bar. We all had to celebrate his return to the Pub by enjoying a drink in the new bar.

We wandered back to our hotel where we hoped to get a good night’s sleep providing the noise from the Pub opposite did not disturb our slumber as we needed to be up early once again to be on the road to Glin in Limerick.