'O' is for an Outstanding Start to our Ireland Trip

Our recent tour of Ireland was designed by two women very familiar with Ireland and all it has to offer, Bridget and Maggie. These women have traveled to Ireland many times with their families, so this trip was intended to include all of the beautiful, out of the way, non-touristy parts of the country. The itinerary was phenomenal, developed with help from CIE Tours International located in Morristown, NJ,and included some of the places that FHFB and I definitely wanted to visit.

 

Our first day in Ireland brought us to the village of Ballbriggan for a full Irish breakfast at an original Dublin pub called the "Man o'War Public House'. 'Ball' or 'Bally' means 'town' in Gaelic. This pub has been recorded in deeds dating back to 1595 - it was just adorable.

The fireplace right across from our breakfast table at the Man O' War Public House.

In Gaelic, Man O' War means 'In the Middle of the Road'.

This is a traditional Irish breakfast, and I ate way too many of them.  

My thighs are still complaining!  LOL - back to the gym!

Irish bacon

Sausages

Broiled Tomatoes

Cheese

Hard Boiled Egg

Cucumbers are not normally included

After having a delicious meal and getting to know some of the people in our travel group, we headed to the bus to make the drive to Ballyfarnon to the Kilronan Castle Hotel for our first night's stay.  This hotel has a wonderful spa where my cousin Sinead works as an esthetician - and she was able to get me in for a massage - it was wonderful!

On our way out we stopped at this ancient grotto at the gates to the castle's entrance. 

The Kilronan Castle Hotel is about 10 away from where my mom grew up in

Kilmactranny, County Sligo.

My next post will be about our trek up to Donegal, days 2 and 3 of the tour. 

I hope you enjoyed reading about our 'Outstanding' beginning to our trip!

Ciao, bella!

xxoo

I'm linking over to Jenny Matlock's Alphabet Thursday!