We often set off on a weekend away from Dublin thinking a 3 hour drive will actually take 3 hours. We now know that every road trip takes longer than expected in Ireland for some reason or another. We’re generally to blame for the longer trips because we find exciting new places to stop along the way, but there is also the occasional country road traffic, aka, sheep crossing or tractor that can clog the roads for a few minutes at a time. The roads are tiny here and it gets tiring always worrying if you’re going to run off the side of the road or into another car for that matter. We’ve learned to take it slow and have fun with the unexpected disruptions.
Growing up in California, I feel like it was always a race to get to your weekend destination; to get away from the crowded cities and traffic. It’s a slower pace in Ireland, and at first I was antsy to get somewhere or do something quickly.
It’s funny how fast those feelings fade into the background when you accept that things just don’t move as fast here, and that’s okay. We’re better off for it.
That being said, Cork should only take 3 hours to get to by car, but by the time we got there it was probably 6 hours. We had quite a day full of castles! We first made a stop in Cashel, which is about two hours South of Dublin.
We almost missed the turnoff and had our first rental scare. We scraped the side of our hub cap on the left side of the car as we were trying to turn right. We probably shouldn’t have been laughing as hard as we were, but these roads are seriously just too small sometimes! We made it to the quaint town of Cashel and walked around a bit. From a tourist perspective, the only main attraction we noticed is the Rock of Cashel, which is stunning as you drive or walk up to it. We felt satisfied just looking at it from outside the walls.
From Cashel we journeyed South to Blarney Castle near Cork. We went to the castle in off season and had a great time with no crowds at all. We walked right up to the Blarney Stone with no wait and decided not to kiss it because we are germaphobes and I don’t really want the gift of gab…but it was cool to have the option if we wanted to. We saw signs on the walls indicating that the line is usually a few hours long. No thank you!
The gardens and grounds of the castle were the best part. There is a large variety of plants and even some caves to explore, which were once an escape route for the noble during attacks.
After strolling through the Blarney grounds we headed to the city of Cork where we enjoyed the local English Market. The market has been in operation since 1788 and has a large assortment of foods from freshly caught fish to a stall that’s dedicated just to olives. It’s also a great place to go shopping for desserts and gifts to take home with you.
We later went out that night for a delicious dinner at Market Lane and then spent hours listening to live traditional “trad” music upstairs in The Oliver Plunkett. We may have regretted how much fun we had the next day when we were driving back to Dublin. It was definitely worth it. We stayed in The Lancaster Lodge and we recommend for the price and close proximity to Cork city center.