Quick Reference
Haidy, Pablo & Ana Paula, the plan at a glance.
| Time | Plan |
|---|---|
| TUESDAY 28 JULY · LAND, SEE DUBLIN, DRIVE WEST | |
| A short, walkable Dublin. Bags stay in the car. Target: home in Newport by 21:00 so Alex, Lucía and Laura are still awake. | |
| 12:05 | Land Dublin T1 (Ryanair FR1739 from Valencia); Victor collects at arrivals |
| 12:45 | Drive into the city, park for the afternoon (Drury Street or Christ Church car park) |
| 13:15 | First Irish lunch: The Bank on College Green, a Victorian banking hall turned pubBook |
| 14:15 |  Trinity College front square and the cobbles, free to walk in |
| 14:45 |  Molly Malone, then Grafton Street: buskers, shops, the photo everyone takes |
| 15:30 |  Temple Bar lanes and the red pub front, ice cream at Murphy's |
| 16:00 |  Ha'penny Bridge over the Liffey, last photos, back to the car |
| 16:45 | Leave Dublin. N4 west, roughly 3h30 driving to Newport |
| 18:20 | Stretch and a bite on the road (Longford or Strokestown), 25 minutes |
| ~20:45 |  Newport. Home, Laura, Alex and Lucía awake, supper at the house, unpack |
| WEDNESDAY 29 JULY · ACHILL AND THE ATLANTIC | |
| The big day. Swimsuits, towels, layers, sun cream. Everything is free except lunch. | |
| 09:15 | Leave Newport along the coast road |
| 09:45 |  Mulranny viewpoint: Clew Bay and its hundred islands |
| 10:30 |  Onto Achill Island; Keel village and the long Trawmore strand |
| 11:30 |  Keem Bay. The one photograph they will show everyone at home. Swim if the sun holdsGo early |
| 13:30 | Lunch on the island: seafood in Keel or Dooagh |
| 15:00 |  Deserted Village at Slievemore, then the Minaun cliffs viewpoint |
| 17:00 | Back over the bridge, home by way of Corraun |
| Evening | Dinner at the house; a walk down to Newport quay if there is light left |
| THURSDAY 30 JULY · GREENWAY, WESTPORT, THE HOLY MOUNTAIN | |
| Move in the morning, town in the afternoon, music in the early evening. | |
| 09:45 |  Great Western Greenway from Newport: bikes hired in the village, an easy traffic-free stretchBook bikes |
| 12:15 | Back, quick change at the house |
| 13:00 |  Westport: lunch on Bridge Street, then the Octagon and the shops. This is the day for gifts |
| 15:30 |  Murrisk: the famine ship monument, and the first stretch up Croagh Patrick for the view over the bay |
| 18:00 | Dinner in Westport |
| 19:30 | Trad session at Matt Molloy's. Go early: under-18s must leave licensed premises by 21:00 |
| ~21:15 | Home to Newport |
| FRIDAY 31 JULY · CONNEMARA, THE FJORD AND THE ABBEY | |
| The day the Saturday flight gave back. South from Newport into Connemara, and home for a farewell dinner. | |
| 09:30 | Leave Newport, south past Westport towards Louisburgh |
| 10:30 |  Doolough Valley: the emptiest, most beautiful road in Mayo, and the famine memorial at the lake |
| 11:30 |  Killary Harbour at Leenane, Ireland's only fjord. Coffee at the water, boat trip if the three of them fancy it |
| 13:00 |  Kylemore Abbey: the castle on the lake, the walled Victorian garden, lunch in the tea roomsTickets online |
| 16:00 | Home the same road, stopping wherever the light is good |
| 18:30 | Farewell dinner at the house with Laura, Alex and Lucía. Pack tonight: tomorrow starts early |
| SATURDAY 1 AUGUST · KNOCK, AND AWAY | |
| Aer Lingus EI 916, Knock to London Heathrow, 13:05. Reference 2TKS7B. Checked bags, so bag drop opens two hours before. | |
| 08:15 | Bags in the car, leave Newport (N5 east, about 1h05 to Knock) |
| 09:25 |  Knock Shrine: the apparition chapel, the basilica, a candle for the family at home, and the shrine shop |
| 10:45 | Fifteen minutes down the road to the airport |
| 11:00 |  Ireland West Airport Knock: bag drop, then goodbye. Small airport, so two hours is plenty |
| 13:05 | EI 916 departs, into Heathrow 14:30 |
The one clash, Saturday morning
Saturday 1 August is booked twice. Haidy's family needs Knock airport at 11:00, and the Quiques land at Dublin at 09:15 the same morning. Dublin is 3h30 from Newport, so one driver cannot do both. Three ways out, in order of preference:
- Victor does the Knock run, and the Quiques take the Dublin Express bus or a taxi from the airport to their hotel. Victor leaves Knock at 11:00 and is with them in Dublin by about 14:30, in time for check-in and the whole afternoon and evening.
- Laura or another driver does the Knock run while Victor leaves Newport at 05:30 for the Dublin collection.
- A pre-booked taxi takes Haidy, Pablo and Ana Paula from Newport to Knock, roughly 75 km, about an hour.
If it rains, and it may
Mayo in late July runs 14 to 19 degrees with showers that pass. Nothing here needs cancelling, only swapping. Wet Wednesday: Achill still works, swap the swim for the Deserted Village and a long lunch. Wet Thursday: drop the bikes, add Westport House or the Museum of Country Life. The rule locals live by is that you go anyway, in a jacket.
Practical, for the family
- Plugs: Ireland uses the three-pin UK plug, not the Spanish two-pin. Bring or buy an adaptor at the airport.
- Money: euro, same as Spain. Cards everywhere, a little cash for small villages.
- Clothes: layers, a rain jacket, one warm top even in July, and shoes that can get wet.
- Swimming: the Atlantic is about 15 degrees. Bracing, brilliant, brief.
- Signal: patchy on Achill and Corraun. Download the maps before leaving the house.