Our next stop is Labasheeda in County Clare, located on the Shannon estuary. We stopped at Ennis for the lunch on the way and discovered a really nice old town centre. It was a Saturday and they have some roads closed to traffic, so lots of pedestrians out and about. It took a while to get around as people kept stopping to pet Lump and SweetPea, some even asked to take photos.
Finally arrived at Bonnie’s House in Labasheeda. A tiny village of one street, but it does have a school which is located right next door to the house we are staying at. No worries though, we didn’t catch anything and the dogs didn’t eat anyone.
Less than an hour drive to the west is the town of Kilkee where we went for a walk along the top of the cliffs. Quite dramatic scenery. Dogs on leash as the path goes right along the edge in some places. It looks as though the cliff edge has eroded in places and the edge is moving inland towards the path. May have to move the path sometime in the not to distant future.
About 45 minutes northwest of Labasheeda is the village of Doonbeg. Not much to see in the village, a few houses and shops along highway N67 is it.
West along the coast from Doonbeg is White Strand Beach. Very foggy when we arrived and not a great beach. A huge concrete wall separates the beach from the mainland, and some sketchy looking water is draining from holes in the wall onto the beach.
To the east of Doonbeg lies the 5 star Trump International Golf Club. Saw a few golfers, but it didn’t look to busy this time of the year.
A really nice beach, Doughmore Beach, runs between the ocean and the Trump property. You can occasionally see golfers walking along the dunes at the top of the beach, and we found a few golf balls on the beach.
We stopped at a Tesco (grocery store chain) to pick up something for our anniversary dinner. Had our minds set on ribs and wings, but no wins, so ribs and chicken drumsticks! Two beaches and a bottle of Prosecco, so not a late night today!
We read that Adare, on County Limerick, is supposed to be a scenic village and it is only an hour away, so off we go.
On the way we passed through the edge of Limerick, which is a major city in Ireland (population about 95,000). The area we drove through was quite industrial and we didn’t get the urge to explore the city further.
Adare is about 30 minutes south of Limerick and is a popular day trip for tourists visiting Limerick.
Adare is a quaint village with many thatched rooved [1] houses and shops. We found a cafe which allowed dogs outside, so a proper sit-down lunch today.
[1] Rooved (not roofed) because we are in olde Ireland
Labasheeda is on the north side of the Shannon Estuary and we are currently on the south side. Instead of driving back to via Limerick (the closest bridge over the estuary), we decide to catch a ferry across the Shannon estuary at Tarbert in County Kerry (3 counties in one day!)
And now for something completely different… at least for Ireland. About one hour north of Labasheeda is Burren National Park. The landscape here is quite unusual for Ireland. “Burren” comes from the Irish word “Boireann” which translates to “rocky place”. And that it is. Lots of rock. Very little vegetation. The photo at the top of this post is from Burren.
October 7 – 13, 2023