Ireland
I've always wanted to see Ireland...always! When I met Kevin on the Alaska trip the previous year, he said if I ever wanted to do a motorcycle trip in Ireland, to get in touch with him. I'm guessing he didn't think I'd take him up on it! Even though I didn't really know Kevin very well (only a few hours for a couple of days in Alaska), my decision was made. I traveled to Ireland with a long time co-worker (Sean). Ireland is an amazing place and it was an amazing motorcycle trip. Afterwards, Kevin and I realized that we got along pretty good. So we discussed the possibility of doing another trip together...the following year...we were in Norway!
We fly into Dublin and Kevin meets us at Celtic Rider where we rented our bikes. After loading up, we hit the road and visit Trim Castle, Roche Castle and stay the night in Portaferry. Ireland was living up to all of my expectations.
From Portaferry, we visit Grey Abbey and ride through Belfast, stopping at "The House on the Hill". From there, we ride up the Coast Road to Dunluce Castle...what a spectacular sight that is. We visit Downhill House, then continue onto Derry, Kevin's hometown.
We start the day with a personalized tour of Derry, then continue onto Grianan of Aileach, an ancient round fort, then take a scenic ride up through Port Salon and end the day in Bundoran at The Great Northern Hotel.
From Bundoran, we ride to Monea Castle (if I had money to burn, I'd buy it, restore it, then live in it). Then we rode onto Enniskillen, where we toured the war museum. Kevin returned home and Sean and I were on our own. We continue onto Sligo for the night.
We leave Sligo and discover they are filming a scene for the new Star Wars movie on an island to the west of us. We ride onto the village of Cong, where the John Wayne movie, The Quiet Man was filmed. Then we search on foot for the elusive Ballykine Castle, then stay in Headford.
A stop at Dunguaire Castle is followed by a visit to Mckinnish Tower House, then The Cliffs of Moher. We ride through The Gap of Dunloe, which is like riding in a fantasy movie, ending our day in Killarney.
An early morning visit to Ross Castle is followed up by a stop at the incredible Rock of Cashel (Castle), then Hore Abbey. The following day, we stop at Cullahill Castle then Dunamase Castle, ending the trip back in Dublin.
This is a 15 minute short version of the Ireland trip I made as a promo video for Celtic Rider, which can also be found on their YouTube Channel.
Music permission of Geoffrey Castle