Tipperary, IRELAND
Airing Date: Apr 12th, 2004
Galway is especially popular amongst students and artists, and it's the ideal place for some retail therapy. One of Galway's chief shopping attractions is its wide variety of rings, with Claddagh rings priced from $50 and up.
Driving holidays are all about the stops you make along the way and Clarinbridge, just south of Galway, is an interesting village to visit. The entire village of Clarinbridge is dedicated to the oyster - they have an oyster festival, an oyster queen, and plenty of oysters on sale.
Limerick is a classic itinerary favourite. Apart from the friendly Irish welcome, it is famous for two things; the limerick, and Angela's Ashes. The town of Limerick is pretty bleak, but Angela's Ashes brought life to the Catholic Churches and the neighbourhood. The town even has an Ashes House Museum.
From County Limerick the next stop is the popular Blarney Castle. The Blarney Castle is Ireland's most famous castle and a genuine tourist destination. Its most popular attribute is the Blarney Stone, which travellers from all over the world come to kiss.
There are two different stories associated with the Blarney Stone. The first is that the stone is part of Jacob's pillow, which you may have read about in the Bible. The story goes that the great Scot, Robert the Bruce donated the stone to the owner of the castle during the Crusades.
The second version of events behind the Blarney Stone involves the rescue of a supposed witch. As a gift of thanks for saving her life the witch told her rescuer about a stone in a castle which, if he kissed it, would give him the gift of eloquence. But you don't need the gift of the gab to visit Blarney Castle - entry costs $13 with or without a kiss.
Tipperary is typically a fairly quiet kind of town but on Thursday and Sunday that all changes. On these two days this rural and predominately passive Irish town fires up for the Tipperary races. The races themselves are fairly relaxed and the bookies only put the odds up next to the horse's names a couple of minutes before the race. Other than that, picking a winner is exactly the same as in Australia.
The facts:
Thai Airways International flies to London with regular connections to Dublin on British Midland. Return prices start at $2199 from Sydney and $2129 from Perth. This price includes taxes and is subject to exchange rates. Conditions apply.
Thai Airways International
Tel: 1300 651 960
Aer Lingus
Tel: 02 9244 2123
Tourism Ireland
Tel: 02 9299 6177
CarHireIreland.com hire cars from $33 a day.
Car Hire Ireland
Tel: 0011 353 1 245 2090 (international)
Prices correct as 12/04/04
