Prince Billie has the proper set-up on the Tee

 Prince Billie looks good on the 2nd hole

Prince Billie of Orange made one valiant but futile attempt to defeat Kevin King of Kildare and Waterville in golf at Dooks.  As in the battle of Waterville, Bill conceded defeat after the 17^th hole with Kevin up two holes with one to play.  Prince Billie started great – parring the first two holes.  It looked like the Prince would finally win one round in Ireland.  As before, he faded quickly.  Dooks proved too difficult.  He soon was lost in the heavy grass.  Kevin demonstrated good sportsmanship by graciously accepting Prince Billie’s acknowledgement of defeat, once again.  Later that evening in acknowledgement of his great accomplishment, Kevin was given the additional title of King of Dingle.  Prince Billie has challenged Kevin again for their next meeting in November – the battle of Savannah.  Stay tuned.  Kevin

Our last full day together

Friday, August 10 - today the guys & Margie went to play golf at Dooks while the girls went shopping & sightseeing.  Zita, Marcia & Kelly went shopping while Pam, Denise & Sheila toured Muchross House, a Victorian mansion built in the late 1830's.  Queen Victoria stayed there for 2 nights in 1861.  A gorgeous setting with beautiful gardens and the latest in conveniences for its' day.

Tonight Tim's brother, Kevin O'Donoughe, and his daughter, Aoifa, came and prepared at wonderful dinner for us.  I don't think any of us are leaving Ireland hungry.  We enjoyed a great selection of cheeses & crackers before hand and our choice of lamb, salmon, chicken & quiona for entrees.  Of course, this is Ireland so we had mashed potatoes and roasted root veggies as well.  For dessert there was homemade apple pie with whipped cream and Irish coffees. 

Young Denny wasn't here to enjoy this last meal with us.  He took the train to Dublin tonight to catch an early flight back to the States tomorrow. 

Not all of us will be heading home tomorrow.  Pam & Jimmy will be here for 3 more days, Kevin & Margie for another week, and Bill & Tina, the lucky dogs, will be staying for another 2 weeks.  They've rented a house near County Mayo where our ancestors are from.

I probably won't have time to post anything tomorrow as we'll be leaving early for the airport.  But as you can probably tell from these posts, we've had a fantastic time.  Being together was top of each one's list of best of Ireland, followed by meeting such friendly folks.  The weather turned out to be great these last few days and we've all enjoyed that.  Everyone we've met - from folks on the streets or in the shops/restaurants to the ones who took such good care of us this week- they couldn't have been nicer.  Our trip is over way too soon but we're taking wonderful memories home with us. 

On the way back from Dooks Golf Course

Tina, Dennis, Denny, Bill, Margie & Pam - as Denny's ready to leave

Kevin O'Donoghue and his daughter Aoifa along with Pam & Tina

                                                              

Part of our meal by Kevin

Posted by Sheila

Golf at Dooks

Michael, Kevin, Margie, & Bill at Dooks

Margie's famous back swing

Today we played Dooks, a links course that is the second oldest course in Ireland. It was founded in 1889. The course was very challenging, especially because the wind was stronger today than at any time this week. It was a typical links course with some of the toughest fescue we saw all week.

The vistas were spectacular, mountain backdrops, Dingle Bay, and rolling green fairways.  The temperature was close to 80, with a bright sun the entire round. Our caddy says it was the best weather in over a year. The consensus was that this layout was comparable to, if not better than, Ballybunion. You had to bounce the ball onto the greens because the ball did not check up like it did on the other courses we played. The greens were beautiful and extremely undulating, leading to several three putts. However, the greens were fun to putt and the caddy did his best to keep the three putts at a minimum. Each of us had some memorable holes, some horrendous and some very good. In spite of the fescue, Jim did not lose a ball, Dennis one, Pat two, and Denny several. We did not get a lost ball count from the Kelly foursome, but we did see Marjorie hit a beautiful shot to a par three, the only tee shot on the green.

We played in four hours, in spite of a good deal of searching for errant shots. It was a great day to finish our golfing. We played on four days free of rain which was the first time this year that this occurred in any given week.It would be fun to return some day to this beautiful, most scenic country.

Posted by Dennis

Paudie, Sue, & Bernadette

Denny, Mike & his mate, Donal

We thought you might be interested in the websites for the Priory (where we stayed) and Olm Executive Travel (Mike our van driver).  We were so pleased with all the help we received from both.
 
 Tim & Bernadette O'Donoghue, owners of the Priory  www.thepriorykillarney.com
          Tim set us up with:
               Bernie & Mark Doe, chefs who did a wonderful dinner for us - www.justcooking.ie
               Tim Gleeson, our Irish balladeer, who sang for 2 hours for us and told wonderful stories

Michael Guerin, our driver, was worth his weight in gold.  His -  web site is www.olmexecutivetravel.com Driving on the opposite side of the road and trying to keep 3 cars together would have been a nightmare.  Michael showed up with a 20+ passenger van when we asked him to, told us a lot about the areas we went through, and made us laugh a lot.  His personality and Tim & Bernadette's made our stay in Ireland memorable.

Restaurants we enjoyed:
     Bricin - Killarney
     The Boatyard - Dingle
     Crack Pot - Kinsale
     Dunraven Arms - Adare
     and for traditional Irish - Kate Kearneys Cottage and Jaunting Carts

Kevin & Marjorie at Dingle Bay

Dingle Peninsula

All of us in front of the van we've had all week

The lakes of Killarney as a backdrop for our last group photo

Our driver, Mike, with his nephews Aaron, 12 and Killian, 8 - and assorted cows in the background

An example of paddock farming - beautiful patchwork

Margie, Marcia, Zita, & Dennis at the Gap of Dunloe in their jaunting cart

Thursday, August 9 - Today was the last full day we were all together.  Mike picked us up at 8:30 and took us to his father-in-law's farm where they raise cattle for the meat.  Very interesting and we got to meet his 2 nephews as they were feeding the calves.  From there we went touring the Dingle Peninsula.  Very narrow, winding roads again with breathtaking scenery.  We saw folks swimming at one of the beaches we passed.  Mike thought the water temperature was around 50 degrees F.  Most were wearing wet suits but not everyone.  In the town of Dingle we ate lunch at the Boatyard - again a wonderful meal.  Then off to finish touring the peninsula.  The weather turned out to be beautiful this afternoon, sunny, 70's - everyone was out and enjoying it.  On the way back, Mike asked if we minded if he turned on the radio as the Irish lass was boxing for the gold - so we all cheered her on to her win.  Mike said it was a great day for the Irish!  After riding in the jaunting carts up the Gap of Dunloe (a break between two mountains) we ate dinner at Kate Kearneys Cottage - a place our parents always went to eat whenever they were in the area.  Another great meal with Irish music afterwards.  Didn't get home till 10:15.  The guys & Margie are playing golf tomorrow so they'll be gone by 7 - the rest of us get to sleep in for a bit.  Talk with you tomorrow for our last full day here.  Sheila

Catered Meal

Mixed Desserts

 Salad

 Salmon

 Vegetarian Meal for Pam

Bernie & Mark Doe run a cooking school here in Killarney.  Our host, Tim O'Donoghue, suggested them to us as someone who would come to the house and prepare a meal for us.  What a great experience.  They arrived at 7:30 and we had the first course at 8:30.  They had made vegetable tarts, made of puff pastry with tomato and homemade goat cheese.  The second course was the entree - we could choose from either spring lamb or salmon.  They were served with several different kinds of potato dishes, vegetables, and 2 different salads.  We didn't have dessert until almost 10 but it was well worth waiting for - each one of us had a large dish with different types of dessert on it - bread pudding with butterscotch sauce; strawberry meringue; a sugar cookie; lemon cream; and vanilla ice cream with chocolate sauce.  What a fantastic meal - and best of all, we didn't have to clean up.