A surprisingly fond farewell to Limerick this morning, with the bus departing just before 9.00am. Our visit stop will be the Cliffs of Moher, on our itinerary mention had been made of the Ring of Kerry but the lousy weather and time have ruled that out. My memories of the Cliffs are terrific so I am not at all disappointed. 

Wow the weather, as we drive toward the Cliffs it is hard to imagine that we will see anything, but as Eoin reminds us we will be guaranteed at least one rainbow today. Flooding has taken control of much of the country, in fact an area we visited in Limerick just yesterday was evacuated over night – yikes !    

• So the last time we were here in Liscannor in County Clare, the weather was a little more, but not completely gentle. Today it is wild, and whilst it is the most visited natural attraction in Ireland, I would hazard a guess that the tourist numbers would be down. If you were travelling with a small child, or someone who was pretty fragile I would suggest that this would not be the place to visit. Having said that, the repressed thrill seeker in me loved the unsettling feeling of not being quite sure if you could make it to the top, and then when you eventually got there if you would be picked up by the next gust of wind and swept into the Atlantic Ocean. The Cliffs at their highest point are 213 metres high and stretch for nearly 8 kilometres. Sadly we are the wrong time for the Atlantic Puffins, only five months too early, and also it appears the wrong time to see the Aran Islands!      There is a great exhibition at the Cliffs which included information about the Battle of Clontarf in 1014 as well as the Atlantic Edge Exhibition, which provides visitors with information about the Cliffs, it is a must rain, hail or shine!!! You won’t be disappointed. 

As well as being very entertaining Eoin is really informative, so as we drive through each if the counties he regals us stories about some of the famous people who come from these parts. Today the star of one of his stories is one Percy French. Percy was born in Cloonyquin on the 1st of May, 1854, Percy studied as an engineer and worked as a surveyor in County Cavan.  When his career in engineering came to an end, I think this was because of some bad investment he turned to a life of entertainment ( this is of course a very abridged version if this story). Now for the good bit..apparently the West Clare Railway service was very unreliable, so when Percy  and his band of entertainers were late for a performance, because if a breakdown and delay in the train service they were taking and lost earnings as a result he decided to sue them.  The matter went to court and the judge found in the favour of the Railway service, on the day that the decision was being brought down at court, Percy didn’t arrive at the court room in time to hear the decision – yep you guessed it, the train he was travelling on broke down and therefore he had no means to get to the court – the decision was overturned, and French was awarded damages and his expenses. This inspired his most popular song “Are you there Michael“? Yeah I have never heard of it either, but it’s a classic story!  

Off to our crossing of the River Shannon, the ferry will take us from County Clare to County Kerry in just 20 minutes to say that many of us were a bit concerned about how rough  this would be an understatement, however as promised it was a smooth trip, smoother than  some of the bus trip has been today, which has been pretty bumpy. As with many waterways the River Shannon has played a significant role in the history of Ireland, from being a line of defence by the locals, to being a transport avenue for goods and services.   

  We meander through Listowel, where the boys are staying for the next couple of nights through to Tralee where we are staying at the Grand Hotel. It is a lovely place to stay but pack lightly, this place is like a rabbit warren with no friggin lifts… Fortunately  I am travelling with menfolk who are happy to lug my bag up 4 flights of stairs, I say happy I’m not sure about that, but they do it anyway 😗, it’s an effort. Our room is quite lovely, Vic and Craig’s room smells like wet dog I am told…

 Tralee is a lovely town full of Christmas decorations, not lots to do as far as we can tell but great to walk around. Tonight we head back  to watch two games of Gaelic footy at Listowel. Our boys play really well again, with two good wins, tonight they play two 20 minute halves, the first with the round ball and the second with the Sherrin.