I will be arriving in Ireland at Shannon on Friday July8th. The plan WAS to travel straight to Ennis, where I will be From Sunday the 11th-Friday the 16th for Meitheal. However, I figure that since that Friday/Sat/Sunday is the last days of Clancy Week in Miltown, maybe I should go see what it’s like. Since I can find no accomodations in Miltown Malbay, I then figured that I would arrive at Shannon on Friday morning, take the bus to Doolin and stay there Friday night. Check out the music Friday night there, leave Doolin Sat. morning thru Miltown and stay there a few hours. Then arrive in Ennis late Sat. afternoon/Early evening to stay there and then of course see Ennis from Sat. evening till the next Sat. morning, going on somwhere else then till Sunday night.
Does anyone have a better plan? Keep in mind I must be in Ennis by 8pm Sunday evening on the 11th thru Saturday morning, the 17th. I also must be at the airport by 730 am Monday morning, which scares me since I have no idea how I will work that part out!
Sounds like a great plan. I visited county Clare two years ago. I never got a chance to visit Clancy week tough, but I definetely would if I were you. Doolin is amazing, very small and very beautiful, the music scene is nice and traditional as well.
I also visited a place calle Lisdoonvarna and that was one of the best places I ever saw in Ireland. Great music there as well, just step into a pub and off you go.
Take care, good luck and I hope you’ll have a great time (I’m sure you will)
Willie Week is a bit mad at the weekend, but worth checking out if you’ve never been. Foley’s & Queallys on the Ennis Road have some nice sessions but you have to be patient ,and get in early if you want to play or listen for that matter.
Thanks for the encouragement. The more I investigate Doolin, I begin to think that maybe I will stay there both Friday and Saturday nights since I will be in Ennis Sunday night thru the following Saturday at least.
Go to Doolin if you like Club Med. You will be surrounded by Germans, Japanese, and Americans. Go to Doolin if you like Lunasa and Dervish. Sessions will be miced and amplified, the music will be hammered out and the pubs will be very crowded.
Ennistymon has five or six pubs, most with music on Friday and Sat night. You can go from pub to pub. Lisdoonvarna is also a better choice than Doolin.
I have considered just not even booking a place for the first night’s arrival, Friday the 9th and just getting off the plane at Shannon and taking the bus up to Doolin or Lisdoon and then decide where to stay. Is this advised against?
I am a bit wary of not having a place nailed down but seeing it’s the high travel season, is this unwise?
We landed in Doolin on a rainy afternoon at the height of the Matchmaking Festival, so lasted there about an hour.
I second the Lisdoonvarna and Ennistymon opinions for staying in town.
If in-town/near-pub accommodations are full, I remember a very pleasant B&B in Lahinch … I think it was on the main road, so I suspect there were buses in the vicinity … Miltown Malbay was maybe a 20-25-minute drive from there?
Mostly … May I suggest you visit the Board Failte website & get some info? You can book B&Bs through there or at Failte offices in Shannon Airport or various towns as you go. Although it’s been a few years since my last visit we always found them tremendously helpful.
Good luck, and don’t forget to fill us in when you get back!
By the way, when we are already speaking about Co. Clare: Does anyone know the name of a cave somewhere near Lisdoonvarna (near meaning a 50km radius)? I went there but can’t remember the name of the place or exactly where it’s situated, I think it’s north of Lisdoonvarna. It has to have been Irelands largest (semi)natural cave, it was huge.
Anyway, they had the most delicius fudge there, homemade. I could travel for miles and miles just to have a chance of buying some more of that fudge.
“I am a bit wary of not having a place nailed down but seeing it’s the high travel season, is this unwise?” Tradman.
Why not buy a small one man tent & a cheap summer sleeping bag when you arrive and then you can stay where you like. These would cost you less that a couple of nights B&B. Give the tent & bag away when you leave for the airport, that way no extra baggage. There are camping sites all over Clare, including Doolin, Lisdoonvana, Ennystimon, Miltown, etc. I’ve camped for up to a month, no problem, we’ll be camping for just 2 weeks this year with pipes, fiddle & flute. You’ll need a small bag/rucksack to take your valuables with you when you leave the tent during the day & your instrument of course. Food can be had everywhere, the camp sites have showers, toilets etc., pubs, restaurants, gas stations also have toilets. Beware Doolin though as you can get bitten badly by the mosquitos in the evenings as they will probably be turning the peat, or buy mosquito repellant. In Miltown you can tent up the Ballad Road for less than 10 euros per night where we pitch our tent. Camping in Clare you’ll get to meet some nice cool people. If ye just want to listen then the half secret session at Miltown would be your best bet, but keep a low profile
Midges they are, locally invariably known as ‘Midgets’. ‘there’s a convention of midgets outside the house, we’ll have to stay in’ is one I heard recently, always brings out a weird sort of image in my mind. the yare a nuisance but as long as there’s wind they don’t bother you too much.
I am not sure about Steampackets camping recommendation, Miltown, Spanish Point, Doolin, they have campsites, or in the case of Miltown opportunity to pitch a tent during WIllie. Ennistymon and Lisdoonvarna have no campsite and honestly I don’t think I would chance camping rough.
Doolin and Miltown would be places I 'd avoid during the last weekend of Willie, but maybe my outlook is a different one. Miltown will give you a massive concert on the saturdaynight.
Lahinch would be pretty packed too in season (and not much chance of music there), getting the overflow of Willie week as well as the surf disco and beach crowd. In Lisdoonvarna you’d at least get some tunes in the Roadside tavern after ten, the downside is there isn’t much else going on during the day. Great walks to the coast if you don’t mind a few hours roundtrip, out of town to the north side o nthe corkscrew hill road, taking the small road to the left catching the view of the ocean, the islands and the connemara mountains on a bright day once you’ve cleared the hills, meet the coast road and go back by Ballynalacken.
I think my idea of my plans change a lot because I keep getting good info from folks such as yourself. What Im thinking is, arrive at Shannon, travel by bus to Lisdoon and do the walks/exploration around the area that afternoon and unwind from the flight/bus. Then, check out the music that night. Get up Saturday morning and head over to either Doolin for a trip to the cliffs and check the area out, then maybe go down to Miltown to see about catching the concert. Problem though…the bus doesnt run late at night from Miltown back to Doolin. I may just stay around Doolin and take a trip over to the islands too, since it will be so mad in Miltown. Who knows? What do ya think? I see that the biggest problem is getting from Miltown late at night back to another place like Lisdoon or Doolin to stay (and Im not up for camping this trip).The one thing Im trying to do is avoid Ennis until Sunday afternoon since I will be there till the next Saturday morning, so Im trying to get some variation on the trip before going to Ennis for the week. Any further ideas?
I tell you true, mon… Ennistymon is a secret. It’s a dirty, whacky little town not yet solidly on the tourist map. Still plenty of old Ireland left in it. At least a half dozen pubs, all with music on the weekend. More locals than blow-ins. Plenty of B&Bs. Five miles from Lisdoonvarna, two from Lahinch, three from Kilfenora, fifteen from Ennis, twelve from Miltown Malbay, seven from Doolin. You can check at Crosbie’s Gifts (right on the square in the center of town) for where the music is. Robert Crosbie is a well-known box-player and plays with Paul Dooley (fiddle) in Daly’s most Friday nights.
And it’s dead easy to hitch in the summer time (“easy” being relative) in Ireland. Certainly lots easier than in America.
Well, I now think that it may be best to just play it by ear anyhow cause I just found out that my flight (which Im flying Standby) has just been changed from ‘Good’ to ‘Fair’. I would hate to not have a place to stay the first night already booked, but then if I get bumped in Atlanta, then I’d have paid for a place to stay but no way to get there!!
