The goal for Friday was to get us back to Dublin, with a couple of stops on the way.

Our first stop was Blarney Castle. We were warned by Jason that it would be crazy because there were people from two cruise ships and bus tours, so no kissing the Blarney Stone or even going into the castle. We took pictures of the castle and walked some of the grounds, which had beautiful gardens and cute attractions like wishing steps and witch houses.

After two hours of enjoying the grounds and bumping into our group here and there, we headed to Cahir castle, for a very quick tour with a guide telling us the history. Cahir Castle is one of Ireland’s largest and best-preserved castles. It stands on a rocky island on the River Suir. The castle was was built in the thirteenth century and served as the stronghold of the powerful Butler family. So effective was its design, it was believed to be impregnable, but it finally fell to the earl of Essex in 1599 when heavy artillery was used against it for the first time. At the time of building, Cahir Castle was at the cutting edge of defensive castle design and much of the original structure remains.

Afterwards we went to the Shamrock Lounge for a quick bite before heading to Dublin. The ride took an extra hour because of traffic.

Jason warned us to hang around instead of heading to our airport hotel as the M50 had a serious accident. We had drinks with Jonalyn, Kevin, Shannon, and Emily. Around 7, we took a taxi, which proceeded to go a half mile in 25 minutes. We got out, walked back, and found a gem of a small Italian restaurant called Mamma Mia’s. We shared a mushroom and eggplant super thin crust pizza, followed by a panna cotta.

We walked back to the Grand Hotel to the taxi stand and now had an easy ride to the Clayton Airport Hotel, for our flight out next morning.

Blarney Castle
Cahir castle
Mamma Mia's