“Take every praiseworthy characteristic of the Irish pub – democratic; spontaneous; generous; sociable; wild; nostalgic; cossetting – and you have to amplify all those characteristics to explain the charm of this little bar, with its stone floor, with its artworks, with its punky staff, with its excellent drinks and its soulful cooking. Hackett’s has the warmth of a hearth – you are drawn to it as you are drawn to a crackling fire, all energy and comfort.” – John and Sally McKennas’ Irish Guides
“The Burren is a country where there is not enough water to drown a man, wood enough to hang one, nor earth enough to bury him.”
“At the very edge of Europe, as far west as you can go in Ireland…. once described by National Geographic as the most beautiful place on earth… a place where the mountains roll into the ocean.”
“Dubliner seems to me to have some meaning and I doubt whether the same can be said for such words as Londoner or Parisian” – James Joyce
‘Are you right there Father Ted?’
“Certainly there was no sailor who ever sailed salt water but who smiled – and still smiles – at the idea of the unsinkable ship” – Charles Lightoller (Surviving Officer) in ‘Titanic and Other Ships’
“Irish road signs are idiosyncratic in the extreme… a masterpiece of disinformation. A sign is designed to lure you towards a place that you’ll never see mentioned again, unless it is marked in two separate directions on the same post.” – Pete McCarthy
My nephew went to Ireland over the summer. He said it was awesome.
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I would have to agree with him of course!
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Great images, Andrew….now I want to know where some of these places are! That castle looks most impressive for example, and the other places look worth a visit
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Love the road sign. I once walked in Skhodra in Albania and where we were headed was posted as being 3km away. We walked for 30 minutes and got to another sign that said 6km away. We then asked and found that we were walking in the wrong direction and someone had twisted the signs around to point the wrong way! We paid the fruit seller we asked for a lift after that!
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That’s a rotten trick. No need in Ireland, all distances are wrong!
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Did you take the road sign photo in Ballyvaughan? My ex neck of the woods. Grand blog.
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Good spot. Exactly. It see m s to be quite famous!
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Amen.
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Stunning images Andrew! I’m convinced. The last coastline photo is incredible! Where can I find it?
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It is Mizen Head in the far south west Sue.
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Sign me up! I am ready to go. I’ve been once but not nearly enough. Great photos, Andrew. –Curt
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You need to get back there some day soon Curt!
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I was just telling Peggy that. 🙂
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I lover Ireland and the people. It is so beautiful!
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I agree. Thanks for stopping by!
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I’m convinced. That Guinness looks pretty good!
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Probably reason number 1!
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Reblogged this on clawingmywayin and commented:
For u people that love Ireland like me
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I put myself on that list of course!
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Yes I might be bias (being Irish) but I do think Ireland is an amazing place. Looking at your pictures I think the one of the fella on the accordion is Liam O Connor who is/was in the Guinness book of Records as the ‘fastest fingers’ or some such title.
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Thanks for that. I wrote his name down and lost it. Now I have it again!
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