So we are sitting in our cottage just outside of Waterville, County Kerry, thinking that it was about time to update our van rental. The rental company we are using, Enterprise, will only allowed customers to rent for four weeks (28 days) at a time. When we last talked to Enterprise they told us to just go to the nearest Enterprise office to close out the old contract and start a new one. Too easy, right? Wrong. Called the local Enterprise office and they said “oh no, you can’t do that. Your contract is with the UK, this is Ireland. Can’t help you.” Called back the Enterprise office in Aldershot, UK and described the problem. “No problem” they say. “Just drive to any local UK branch and they can help you”. We are about as far south in Ireland you can get without a boat, and the nearest UK Enterprise office is 6-1/2 hours away (according to Google maps, so at least a couple of hours longer for us). So, yes, just a wee bit of a problem.
After much wailing and gnashing of teeth (mostly on my part) a solution was at hand: we will drive to Northern Ireland and do the paperwork there. Don’t ask me to negotiate anything important for you, I will give up everything including the kitchen sink.
Enterprise office closes early on Saturdays, so we find an Airbnb in Moynalty, County Meath, where we will stay Friday night and then proceed to the rental office early Saturday morning.
It takes about 7 hours to get to Moynalty as we make several stops along the way for dog breaks, food and fuel.
The Airbnb is located in a stand-alone one-storey building tucked in-behind a two-storey house right on the main road of the village of Moynalty.
The yard is packed full of potted plants, yard ornaments, and there is even a large fenced chicken coop. There are many cats, apparently all feral, that hang out in the yard (hence the fully enclosed chicken coop).
We enter the Airbnb and there is an immediate assault on my senses. Every inch of every vertical and horizontal surface is covered in stuff. There isn’t a single place to put down our groceries or luggage. I am afraid of the damage our dogs will cause just with their tails wagging about and sweeping knick-knacks about.
I am thinking that I can’t stay here. It hurts my head just looking around. Not what I was looking forward to after a long drive.
We clear off the kitchen table for our groceries, throw our luggage on the couch, and take another look around. Amazingly enough, through all the clutter, the unit is very clean – I have no idea how they dust everything, but there isn’t any dust! Coming from a modern minimalist lifestyle, this is quite a shock. There are books, and more books, CD’s, multiple stereo systems (some of vintage age), typewriters (all of vintage age), weighing scales, radios, more fridge magnets than I have seen outside of a retail store that sells fridge magnets, and so much other stuff, I don’t know where to begin to describe it all!
After a couple of hours the sense of shock wears off, or possibly our senses have just become numb. We settle in to make dinner and discover that the kitchen is more than fully equipped (three full sets of pots/pans, etc). Really nice appliances (someone has toaster envy). And, again, very clean. Fresh eggs are waiting in a basket.
Actually slept really well, and the dogs have managed not to break anything. In the light of morning, the place begins to grow on us. Everywhere you look is something new to see. Everything you look in the same place, you see something you missed before.
As we are packing up to leave, we decide that we could actually spend another day or two here. Weird.
A quick note on the village itself. Moynalty is very small. Two convenience stores. One pub. A church that has been converted to a credit union. And a really nice community park that has a stream on two sides, and a duck pond (lots of Mallard ducks). Dogs have to stay on leash, but still got a couple of nice walks in.
After our stay in the “Dream Barn” (that’s its name), we head off to Portadown, Northern Ireland to the Enterprise office. We keep the same van, so we don’t have to unload/reload our stuff (and dogs). Then we have to back-track to a town called Newry, to pick up some dog food that we ordered online.
We got to the Pets@Home store and when we asked about our order we were told “it’s on its way from England”??!! The store we were in actually had the food we wanted in stock, but the online ordering system ships from a central warehouse in England. How stupid is that? Instead of checking local supplies, and fulfilling orders locally, everything is shipped from a central location. No idea how much extra that costs, but someone in management of Pets@Home needs to take a serious look at their internal logistics. I won’t be buying any shares in Pets@Home anytime soon!
We ended up buying some of the store’s local stock, as the shipment from England would take a few more days (we are only in Newry for an hour). Our online order couldn’t be cancelled as the shipment was in progress. The local store couldn’t refund our online purchase as the product had not yet been put into inventory at the local store. What a shemozzle.
Our next stop is Mary Kate’s cottage in Narin, County Donegol. It was a bit tricky to find, raining again, and a sign at the lane-way entrance said “Farm for Sale”. We followed the lane-way for a bit. Twisty. Getting narrower. Pavement ends. We keep going. Finally we see a building that looks like the photo on the Sykes Holiday Cottages website!
The house has been renovated, but you can still see that the building has been added-on to over the years. The floor height changes in a few locations, and so does the ceiling height. Unfortunately, for me at least, the floor height changes at the same time as the ceiling height changes, and my head found the difference on more than one occasion. On the upside, the ceiling only managed to draw blood once, and it never managed to knock me out (though it did give it a good try once or twice).
It’s Lump’s Birthday! Carrot cake for breakfast, pizza for dinner. Movie night with popcorn.
“Best birthday ever !” says Lump.
Happy number 6 Lump!
The town of Donegal is located on the tidal River Eske. Originally built in the 15th century, it now contains a castle, the ruins of an abbey and a Fairy Walk that runs along the bank of the river.
There is a Canadian connection to Donegal. The captain of the Brig Zephyr of Donegal died on Cape Breton Island in 1836. The Zephyr transported cargo and passengers from Ireland to New Brunswick. The memorial stone shown in the photo is located in the grounds of Donegal Abbey.
We didn’t visit Donegal Castle as “no dogs allowed”.
On a blustery, but not raining (yet) day we decide to head to Maghera beach to see some caves we have read about. The beach is south of Ardara (a small village 10 minutes south of Narin) and is accessed via a long, winding and narrow road (is there any other kind of road in Ireland?) that hugs the coastline of a tidal inlet (the name of which I have yet to discover).
Driving along we noticed something unusual in the tidal flats. There were people and tractors working on the flats. After some later research we found at that these are mussel farms.
Continuing along the coastal road we encountered Assaranca Falls.
Google maps lead us astray, but we finally make it to a parking lot next to a farmer’s barn. Where the farmer is happy to take your 3 euros to park while you explore the nearby beach and caves.
We get to the beach and discover that the tide is on the way back in, so best not to explore the caves today.
We settle for a picnic in the dunes next to the beach.
We check the tides and head back to the Maghera beach and caves on another day. It is raining (of course), but we really want to see the caves. On the plus side, there is no one else here today. Not even the farmer, apparently parking is free today!
September 22 – 27, 2023
Your experiences with both Enterprise and the Pet store in Newry reflect absolutely our experience in the Republic and the North with respect to car rental and just finding out why something that seemed so easy and obvious could not be done for some convoluted reason! The pictures are amazing. What a beautiful country. Lindsay and I LOVED Newry! We had some hilarious experiences there, and one night, we hooked up with two local guys who were exporting Irish lamb, and whisky and their stories were wonderful and they picked up the tab at the end of the evening!!!