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 |
| 18:00 | Farewell dinner at the house with Laura, Alex and Lucía. Pack tonight, and put the Leaf on charge |
| After dinner | Victor may drive to Dublin tonight and sleep there, rather than leave at dawn for the 09:15 collection. His call, but it is the kinder version of Saturday |
| 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. Laura drives, in the electric car: Knock only, no detours. | |
| 08:30 | Bags in the car, leave Newport with a full charge (about 45 minutes to Knock) |
| 09:15 |  Knock Shrine: the apparition chapel, the basilica, a candle for the family at home, and the shrine shop |
| 10:30 | Back in the car, about twenty minutes up the N17 to the airport |
| 10:50 |  Ireland West Airport Knock: bag drop opens 11:05, then goodbye. Laura home by about 11:45 |
| 13:05 | EI 916 departs, into Heathrow 14:30 |
Saturday morning, decided
Two departures, one morning. Victor keeps his promise to the Quiques and collects them at Dublin, 09:15. Laura drives Haidy, Pablo and Ana Paula to Knock in the Nissan Leaf.
- The range maths: the Leaf holds roughly three hours of driving. Newport to Knock is 45 minutes, Knock to the airport about 20, the airport home about 50. That is roughly 1h55 of the three hours, leaving an hour in hand. It works, on one condition: charge it fully on Friday night, and keep Saturday to Knock and the airport with no detours.
- If the margin feels tight on the morning, skip the shrine and drive straight to the airport: 45 minutes each way, an hour and a half of range, and the goodbye is unhurried either way.
- Charging: plan the day so none is needed. I could not confirm whether the airport car park has chargers, so do not count on one.
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.