Ireland Things to see and do Articles

Clifden: The Bare Necessities

When to Go & Where to Stay
The best time to go to Clifden is between the start of March and the end of October (mainly because these are the dates that the Brookside Hostel is open – but I’ll get to that).

Should you come to town at any other time, there is another hostel in [...]

Clifden: Gettin’ Outta Town

Granted, Clifden is a small place, but if you’re there, you aren’t really there for the town. You’re there, first and foremost, for Connemara, for the Twelve Pins, for the islands such as Inishbofin. After a night of music and drink, you want a day of riding and biking and hillwalking and climbing and turf-cutting [...]

Galway, Ireland – Specialty Food Shops

If you’ve been reading the other entries of this guide, you may have noticed that I seem to be in a constant state of surprise. This is not far from the truth, as I had very little time to research and prepare for this Ireland trip. I came to Ireland, and to Galway, cold, and [...]

Galway, Ireland – Restaurants

From 1847 to 1851, the Irish Potato Famine killed over a million people (and enticed a couple million more to emigrate), but even the survivors were still left hungry. If time and progress – along with Ireland’s newfound economic prosperity – heal such wounds, though, in Galway this healing has taken the form of dozens [...]

Galway, Ireland – Contacting the Outside World

Sooner or later, you’ve got to call or e-mail home, but no worries: Galway is pretty nicely teched-up. However, there are a also few things to watch out for…

Phones
Whenever possible, do not make phone calls during the day! Daytime rates are ridiculously high; once you get off the phone and realize you have no more [...]

Galway, Ireland – Accommodation

Unlike the nightmare of finding accommodation in Dublin, Galway is a dream. Considering the size of the city and the amount of travelers it receives, there are plenty of hostels, and below is a partial selection. For more info on hostels in Galway and in Ireland as a whole, check out Independent Holiday Hostels of [...]

Dublin, Ireland – May 1999

If you’ve only got a couple of days in Dublin, the Traditional
Music Pub Crawl which starts in the St. John Gogarty’s Pub
[...]

Dublin, Ireland – April 1999

First of all, Dublin is an extremely “walkable” city. Nowhere is really far from anywhere else, and the impressive architecture and the River Liffey make for a pleasant walk as well.
There are two things that strive to spoil this experience. Firstly, the traffic is awful. Not nearly as bad as some places I’ve had the [...]