1 July – Fairford
We have just returned 
from three weeks in Ireland. We were invited to Cathy and Mark Bottomley’s wedding at Glendalough and decided that we would use the opportunity to travel around Eire and Northern Ireland. Three weeks under canvas did not put us off the idea of camping despite having weather ranging from storms where we could not see to drive, hailstones and glorious sunshine. The amazing thing was that the weather never stopped us doing anything and was always good when it really mattered!
We spent the first few days at 
The Hidden Valley Campsite in a small town called Rathdrum. This was only a 15 minute drive from Glendalough and gave us the opportunity to explore the Wicklow Mountains. 
At the end of the week we attended Cathy and Mark’s wedding – what a joyful day. Happiness, enjoyment and sense of fun pervaded the whole day.
From Wicklow we headed north to Antrim managing visits to Argory House and Ardress House both of which were National Trust properties. The next day we travelled up the coast visiting the Carrick-a-Rede rope bridge and the Giant’s Causeway which were quite incredible.
Then followed a rather disappointing trip around Strangford Lough possibly because of the sea fret and fog! However, we did manage a visit to Mountstuart House a beautiful National Trust property.
From Antrim we moved to the banks of Lough Erne and visits to 2 more National Trust Properties, Florence Court and Castle Coole and some very beautiful scenery.
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From there we headed to Galway and trips to Connemara,
The Burren and the Aran Island of Inishmore. Annie and I throughly enjoyed the contrasts between the beautiful coastline and mountains of Connemara and the ruggedness of The Burren and Inishmore. 
Our 40 minute ferry trip back from Inishmore was made quite exciting when an Irish Coastguard Helicopter decided to do a winching exercise onto our ferry.
We reluctantly headed south to Killarney and were then amazed to find even more really beautiful scenery. Trips around the Dingle Peninsula and the Ring of Kerry provided many opportunities to ‘stand and stare’. We were blessed with fantastic weather which made the colours of sea and mountain jump out at us!
By now we had driven nearly 1800 miles and Gerry decided that he needed a break from driving. So, we headed back to Hidden Valley and the final couple of days doing some short walks.
All in all we had a really good time in Ireland. The people in the South were friendly and gave a real sense of welcome – A great holiday!
