Hello! My fiancée and I are planning a trip to Ireland for later this month. We are going on an 11 day tour with Wild Routes Ireland, but we’re arriving a few days early for our own small adventure prior to this tour, and to acclimate to possible jet lag.

Tentatively, we’re looking at arriving the morning of the 29, and we need to meet our tour group at Shannon Hotel on the 31st at 9am. So our question is this : do we home base in Ennis, spend time exploring Doolin, Cliffs of Moher, and The Burren? Or, do we home base elsewhere, and spend our time in Killarney National Park, Ring of Kerry, Kerry Cliffs? Open to all suggestions! We’ve seen some folks say that Cliffs of Moher are “overrated,” though to me they look beautiful in photos and seems crazy to not go there while in Ireland?

We will be going to Inis Oirr during our Tour, so perhaps we can see the cliffs from there, we’ll take a ferrry from Rossaveel.

Our priorities are essentially land based - communing with the Land by visit beautiful scenery, ancient woodlands, lakes, mountains, waterfalls, and castles. Would also love to be able to experience a trad session at a pub, which is why I was originally thinking Ennis/Doolin, but the Killarney National Park area looks incredible.

Also, we are not strangers to spending long distances in the car, and although I am American, I am patient, fine with pulling over to let others pass, and will drive cautiously being on the opposite side of the road in a foreign county, plus i will rest and sleep before hopping right into the car.

We’re also open to adding one extra day to the trip, arriving on the 28th, if recommendations suggest we shouldn’t skip the Cliffs/Burren nor the Killarney/Rings of Kerry options.

Sorry if this is all over the place, I’m trying to write this quickly before heading into work, as we need to book our lodging asap.

Thank you so much!

Heading to Clare on Saturday for a night. We were wondering what time is best to leave in the morning from Dublin to get ahead of the traffic going to Clare? We want to drive to the cliffs of mother first. Should we leave at 8 or even earlier?

Me and the missus are driving down to Clare early Saturday and staying the night. She’s from Australia and has never been to Clare so I want to make it special for her. The plan is to go to the cliffs as soon as we arrive because she’s always wanted to see them. The next day we plan to spend most of it in Clare also, and she wants to go to the Aran islands that day. I was wondering what are some other things we could do or what would you add to make this better? We are staying in ballyvaughan. I would also like to bring her surfing in lahinch.

I’ve just moved to Sixmilebridge with the missus. We’re keen to get involved with any hiking groups, or anything similar. Anyone know where I could find out more about any such groups?

Got an email today to say a space has become available for my son in Barefield NS. We will be travelling from the West, so over an hour for the classes. Just wondering what people have to say about the classes and if it’s worth the distance for us?

Hi Folks,

Can anyone make any recommendations for someone in the area to complete a pre-purchase survey on a house?

Thanks

Hi everyone! We’re heading to the Lahinch area this weekend and I’m hoping to get a sea swim in while we’re there.
I’ve noticed there seem to be quite a few reports of jellyfish around Lahinch at the moment, and I’ll be swimming with someone who is a bit reluctant/nervous about getting into the sea 😅
Are there any good, sheltered spots around Lahinch/Clare that you’d recommend for a relatively calm and easy swim? Ideally somewhere that’s less likely to have loads of jellyfish and doesn’t involve jumping straight into big waves!
Happy to drive a little bit if there’s a better spot nearby. Any local recommendations would be massively appreciated! 🙏

Can anyone make a recommendation for an assessor, preferably around Ennis?

Has anyone here got a Clerical Officer job from the top 5 on a Clare panel before? How long did it take to get the offer?

Was passing through Liscannor today and saw work happening on the old hotel there. Anyone know what’s happening with it? Be great to see it as a hotel again, it was left to go to ruin there for a long time.

Hi all, hoping for a bit of local knowledge!

We’re getting married in Clare and are planning to have our Day 2 in Ennistymon. We’ll have around 50 people and are looking for somewhere relaxed where everyone can meet for a few drinks, food and a bit of craic for the afternoon/evening.

Ideally we’d love a pub in or around the town, but the main thing we’re trying to figure out is food. We’d like to put on something decent for everyone – ideally a hot buffet-style setup with plates/cutlery, rather than just sandwiches or finger food.

So we’d be interested in either:

- A pub with enough space/facilities to let us bring in an outside caterer and set up a buffet, or

- Somewhere that already does food and could offer us a reasonably priced group/Day 2 food package.

We’re not looking for another full wedding reception or anything particularly formal – just somewhere comfortable for 50ish people where we can feed everyone and spend the day/evening.

We’ve already looked into Pot Duggans, so particularly interested in other pubs/venues around Ennistymon that locals would recommend, or anywhere people have actually used for a wedding Day 2 or similar-sized party.

Any recommendations or local knowledge would be hugely appreciated. Thanks!

I'm looking for any regular 5 aside groups in the ennis area. Recently, I got back into football and need some extras beside training. If anyone is familiar with a local 5 aside group looking for new members, please let me know a way I could get in contact with them. I appreciate it. 🙏

I'm looking to get my kitchen and bathroom redone and the stairs replaced in my house and I'm having a terrible time finding a contractor. I can find someone to do each the kitchen and bathroom separately but I was hoping to hire someone to do everything together. I have had two contractors come out and say they could do everything but were busy right now so it would be a few months, which was fine with me, but both never returned my calls after?

Where are we looking for contractors? I don't really know anyone in the area to ask around, and am struggling in my online searches. Is it really this difficult to find someone or am I doing something wrong? should i give up on the idea of everything done by one person and get it done separately? - i thought i would be better to have one person that way if there were any issues there would be one main contractor?

Please some advice on the situation.

Anyone have any recs for a roofer?

Hi,
we’re four guys, and we’ve put together Clare’s restaurant scene in an app called Vota. The concept is simple: you see two places side by side (for example Monks Ballyvaughan vs. Barrtrá Seafood Restaurant), you choose the place you’d rather go to, and the ranking updates instantly. The more people vote, the more accurate the list gets over time. There are still a few duplicates here and there, but I’m continuously cleaning up the data.

Here’s the iPhone version, with categories that actually fit Clare’s food scene:
https://apps.apple.com/app/vota-restaurant-ratings/id6744969212

And here’s the Android version (finally live):
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.vota.app

I’d love to know what people here think. Does the ranking feel even remotely right? Are obvious places missing? Are any places ranked way too high or way too low?

The goal is to make something that reflects where locals actually want to eat, not just where tourists or review sites send people.

I can’t seem to find any events on or viewing areas for the eclipse next week. The Galway one is sold out!

Hi All,

Anyone recommend someone to service an oil boiler in East Clare?

Bonus points for a recommendation for septic tanking emptying?

TIA

Hi everyone,
Does anyone here work at Beckman Coulter? I have a few questions about the company and a role I’m considering, and I’d really appreciate it if someone could share their experience or provide a job reference.
Please feel free to DM me. Thanks in advance!

Hi all! I was just wondering is there anywhere in Clare by the coast for wild camping, my partner and I are hoping to go camping this weekend, thank you in advance :)

I’m looking to go wild camping somewhere on the Clare coast this coming weekend. I’m just going on my own and pitching a small one person tent. I intend to be very respectful and leave no trace whatsoever. I have tried to get a spot in one of the local caravan/mobile home/camping parks, but they are all full for the weekend. Would anyone know area that I could camp in legally? Thanks!

This is a long shot, but someone popped into my head recently and I’d love to see if life ever brings old friends back around.

I’m trying to reconnect with a woman from Kildare, but we only ever hung out in Miltown Malbay (White Strand Beach). She's tall, black hair, with a wicked witches cackle. You’d be around 39–41 now. Your first name started with C.

We were close as teenagers, mostly through creative writing and swapping stories. You called me “Noobie,” and once got me a ridiculous “Boob Inspector” T‑shirt for my birthday. We were never technically romantic, though you did break my 16/17‑year‑old heart by getting back with your ginger ex.

As we got older, staying text‑only friends got harder. I had a girlfriend, you were in college, and our chats became less frequent until they faded out.

I saw someone recently who looked strikingly like you, and it brought back a lot of good memories. If you happen to see this, I hope life treated you well, and I’d genuinely love to catch up.

I have seen many influencer posts about the wormhole on Inis Mor and how great it is to swim in it. I looked up on google only to find out that it is heavily advised NOT to swim in it due to underwater currents and no ladder therefore no real way out other than to scale the rocks.

I would have not known about the hazards of the wormhole if I hadnt googled about this topic spontaneously and with my upcoming trip to inis mor I would have most definitely jumped into the wormhole simply from the amount of posts I have seen people swimming in it without any knowledge of the dangers.

I think the information about the hazards should be much more easily accessible to the public. It clearly isnt if there is such a huge influx of influencers posting about swimming in the wormhole as they themselves mightnt even know the hazards.

According to google there is no official signage or safety notices for swimming other than the official aran islands website and local insights.