Homer Simpson wrote:
    > My wife and I will be spending two weeks in Ireland in the second half of
    > July.

Coming late to this thread, but a couple of things to add. Whilst the
medieval banquet At Bunratty may not be Padraig's thing (hi Padraig,
ages since I posted here), it is most certainly mine, and I've been
twice - both very enjoyable occasions, just don't expect a lot of
authenticity, just good food, entertainment and freely flowing mead! The
Bunratty folk park is also my thing - and the souvenir shop there has to
be one of the best in the country. Durty Nellies pub next to the folk
park is worth visiting, and their smoked salmon platter with capers is good.

Just south of Galway look for a sign for 'Moran's The Weir Oyster
Cottage'(think it's in Oranmore, but could be wrong) if you like
seafood. Lovely little place with great Guinness and incredible oysters
(native in season, Pacific out of) and other seafood.

If staying in Westport, I can recommend The Lemon Peel
(http://www.lemonpeel.ie) restaurant for dinner - they do an Early Bird
menu for around €22.95 (I think), or the main menu later is well worth
the money. Robbie the chef/owner is a wonderful man, comes and explains
all the daily specials to you at your table. Anyway, the menu and prices
are on the website.

If passing through Louisburgh (on the coast road from Leenane to
Westport), do call into Joe McNamara's pub and say hi to Lawrence the
barman. You could ask him if Carl's in - and meet my husband (his second
home). Tell 'em Jo sent you! Also recommended for snacks is the Red Rose
café in Louisburgh - cheap 'n cheerful.

If you have time whilst in Westport, call into the tourist office (on
James St) and buy a guide to the Clew Bay archaeological tour - there's
a lot in there that you'd otherwise miss, and it's all just off the main
routes. Some on the south and some on the north side of the bay. You
could see some of the sites on your way to Achill. On Achill, The Chalet
restaurant is good for seafood, and Lavelle's bar is good for
atmosphere. Make sure you go to Keem Bay, right at the end of the road -
a bit of a hairy drive (watch out for sheep) but the sweet little bay at
the end is worth it.

Hope some of that helps, anyway!

Jo

Darkginger <[email protected]> wrote in
news:[email protected]:

    > Homer Simpson wrote:
    >> My wife and I will be spending two weeks in Ireland in the second
    >> half of July.
    >
    > Coming late to this thread, but a couple of things to add. Whilst the
    > medieval banquet At Bunratty may not be Padraig's thing (hi Padraig,
    > ages since I posted here), it is most certainly mine, and I've been
    > twice - both very enjoyable occasions, just don't expect a lot of
    > authenticity, just good food, entertainment and freely flowing mead!
    > The Bunratty folk park is also my thing - and the souvenir shop there
    > has to be one of the best in the country. Durty Nellies pub next to
    > the folk park is worth visiting, and their smoked salmon platter with
    > capers is good.
    >
    > Just south of Galway look for a sign for 'Moran's The Weir Oyster
    > Cottage'(think it's in Oranmore, but could be wrong) if you like
    > seafood. Lovely little place with great Guinness and incredible
    > oysters (native in season, Pacific out of) and other seafood.
    >
    > If staying in Westport, I can recommend The Lemon Peel
    > (http://www.lemonpeel.ie) restaurant for dinner - they do an Early
    > Bird menu for around €22.95 (I think), or the main menu later is well
    > worth the money. Robbie the chef/owner is a wonderful man, comes and
    > explains all the daily specials to you at your table. Anyway, the menu
    > and prices are on the website.
    >
    > If passing through Louisburgh (on the coast road from Leenane to
    > Westport), do call into Joe McNamara's pub and say hi to Lawrence the
    > barman. You could ask him if Carl's in - and meet my husband (his
    > second home). Tell 'em Jo sent you! Also recommended for snacks is the
    > Red Rose café in Louisburgh - cheap 'n cheerful.
    >
    > If you have time whilst in Westport, call into the tourist office (on
    > James St) and buy a guide to the Clew Bay archaeological tour -
    > there's a lot in there that you'd otherwise miss, and it's all just
    > off the main routes. Some on the south and some on the north side of
    > the bay. You could see some of the sites on your way to Achill. On
    > Achill, The Chalet restaurant is good for seafood, and Lavelle's bar
    > is good for atmosphere. Make sure you go to Keem Bay, right at the end
    > of the road - a bit of a hairy drive (watch out for sheep) but the
    > sweet little bay at the end is worth it.
    >
    > Hope some of that helps, anyway!
    >
    > Jo

Thanks for an alternative perspective. I would just as soon by chatting
it up with locals in a pub, but the banquet would probably be fun too.
And it's not like I won't have any opportunities to visit the pubs. I
think we may try to catch it either on our second night or the last night
before we fly out. It sounds like it is popular, so we will make our
reservations well in advance.
We appreciate the restaurant and pub recommendations. We will look for
your husband at the pub in Louisburgh on our way to Westport. We will see
him at 4:00PM on July 20th. Just kidding - I have no idea when we will
pass through there, but that might be a good guess.
Homer & Marge (actually Gordy & Carol)

Darkginger <[email protected]> wrote:

    >Just south of Galway look for a sign for 'Moran's The Weir Oyster
    >Cottage'(think it's in Oranmore, but could be wrong) if you like
    >seafood. Lovely little place with great Guinness and incredible oysters
    >(native in season, Pacific out of) and other seafood.
Clarinbridge. If you find yourselves in Oranmore, you will have
overshot by a couple of miles.

Jo is our Mayo specialist, and anything she says should be listened
to.

--
PB
The return address has been MUNGED

"Homer Simpson" <[email protected]> wrote in message >
    > Good. I hadn't even thought of the pedals. Of course, I will undoubtedly
    > figure it all out immediately once I am behind the wheel.

I am enjoying reading these postings. We leave for Ireland in 12 days and
will cover much of the same routes you have planned. I will spread the word
that you will be on the road. :)
Last year I drove and believe me, an automatic is best. My wife can't read
a map but is good at holding it in her lap and saying "keep left", "look
right". My first concern was the pedal location. If they were reversed, I
wouldn't have tried to drive. With the pedals being the same and having
automatic, all I had to do was to concentrate on what to do at
intersections. There is a little booklet, "Rules of the Road". I picked up
mine at the tax-free shop in Shannon while awaiting the flight home. I
strongly suggest you purchase a copy the first day and read it in your
&B. - Jimmie in Florida

"Padraig Breathnach" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...

    > Jo is our Mayo specialist, and anything she says should be listened
    > to.
Jo, Carol and I will be spending the night in Westport on April 14. We are
in need of a good B&B, with ensuite, on ground floor, that accepts vouchers.
Can you help?
Jimmie in Florida

Jimmie wrote:
    >
    > "Padraig Breathnach" <[email protected]> wrote in message
    > news:[email protected]...
    >
    >> Jo is our Mayo specialist, and anything she says should be listened
    >> to.
    > Jo, Carol and I will be spending the night in Westport on April 14. We
    > are in need of a good B&B, with ensuite, on ground floor, that accepts
    > vouchers. Can you help?
    > Jimmie in Florida

I can but try! Leave it with me for a couple of days, and I'll get back
to you - there are lots of good B&Bs that accept vouchers, it's making
sure they have ground floor accomodation that I need to check up on.
Watch this space!

Jo

"Jimmie" <[email protected]> wrote in
news:[email protected]:

    >
    > "Homer Simpson" <[email protected]> wrote in message >
    >> Good. I hadn't even thought of the pedals. Of course, I will
    >> undoubtedly figure it all out immediately once I am behind the wheel.
    >
    > I am enjoying reading these postings. We leave for Ireland in 12 days
    > and will cover much of the same routes you have planned. I will
    > spread the word that you will be on the road. :)
    > Last year I drove and believe me, an automatic is best. My wife can't
    > read a map but is good at holding it in her lap and saying "keep
    > left", "look right". My first concern was the pedal location. If
    > they were reversed, I wouldn't have tried to drive. With the pedals
    > being the same and having automatic, all I had to do was to
    > concentrate on what to do at intersections. There is a little
    > booklet, "Rules of the Road". I picked up mine at the tax-free shop
    > in Shannon while awaiting the flight home. I strongly suggest you
    > purchase a copy the first day and read it in your &B. - Jimmie in
    > Florida
    >
    >

Gee, I didn't mean to freak everybody out about my driving!
I promise I will be extremly careful what I'm doing. I want to get home
in one piece.
Homer

On Tue, 29 Mar 2005 00:56:37 GMT, Homer Simpson wrote:

    > I promise I will be extremly careful what I'm doing. I want to get home
    > in one piece.

Just remember: its the intersections that get you. Especially if there
aren't any other cars on the road, its easy to turn into the right lane.
The rest of the time you won't have to worry about it. Once you're on a
highway there's no shifting anyway.

Just be careful about taking the real small roads. You'd never imagine two
cars could fit side-by-side on some of those!

--
-BB-
To e-mail me, unmunge my address

Homer, you may find as my wife and I did, the most dangerous road activity
in Ireland was crossing a street, especially in town.

We Americans out of habit I suppose and not concentrating much, would step
from the curb looking left for traffic and realize quickly with a jerk that
a vehicle was hurtling toward us from the other way. Granted our visit was
only two weeks--we believe we'd do better after six months! (Hopefully)

Carl

    > Gee, I didn't mean to freak everybody out about my driving!
    > I promise I will be extremly careful what I'm doing. I want to get home
    > in one piece.
    > Homer

"Carl F. Prenner" <[email protected]> wrote:

    >Homer, you may find as my wife and I did, the most dangerous road activity
    >in Ireland was crossing a street, especially in town.
    >We Americans out of habit I suppose and not concentrating much, would step
    >from the curb looking left for traffic and realize quickly with a jerk that
    >a vehicle was hurtling toward us from the other way. Granted our visit was
    >only two weeks--we believe we'd do better after six months! (Hopefully)
Failing that, we do a good line in wakes.

--
PB
The return address has been MUNGED