Ireland: The Wicklow Mountains, Cashel and Sheep

Just south of Dublin lies Wicklow Mountains National Park with it's some 49,000 acres of mountain scenery and the historic valley of Glendalough. We were headed towards the Rock of Cashel for our first nights stay after landing in Dublin. So this was our first stop on our 6 day road trip. And quite the first stop that it was. It's raw and desolate country with mountains, valleys, lakes and sheep. Lots of sheep. But then again, this is Ireland, where it seems to me that the sheep outnumber the people - though I'm not sure that's an actual fact. 

We landed in Dublin mid morning, after a brief stopover at Heathrow, and picked up our rental car. Our friends who we were to be road tripping with landed around 2pm so we had time to grab a bite to eat and practice driving on the other side of the road. After meeting up, the four of us left Dublin and it's urban sprawl and headed to the mountains. Since we were getting a late afternoon start, we wouldn't be visiting any of the Visitor Center's or the famous Powerscourt Estate, but we could still power through a drive through the famous Wicklow's.

Johnnie Fox's Pub But first, a Guinness and dinner. We saw a sign for Johnnie Fox's Pub and detoured there. Billed as the "highest pub in Ireland", we truly enjoyed our visit here. There was music, warm food and it wasn't crowded. But then again, it happened to be late afternoon. I'd highly recommend a stop at Johnnie's Foxes, especially if the weather is nice and you can enjoy the outdoor tables.

Wicklow Mountains National Park Now it was time to drive through Wicklow Mountains National Park with all it's beautiful scenery. We made several pull-offs for photo stops and scenery viewing. There just wasn't time for more stops so we made the most of what time we did have. And then it was onwards towards our bed and breakfast in Cashel. But not without seeing one of the most Irish things ever - a sheep running down the road by itself towards our car!

Church Ruins On our route towards Cashel, we came upon a very picturesque cemetery and the ruins of a church and decided to stretch our legs and take a walk around. Despite jet lag, I was beginning to feel the pull of the beauty of Ireland that was around every curve. And I have no clue where this was. It wasn't an actual town, just a narrow ride in Ireland.

Rockville House Bed and Breakfast Arriving in the small town of Cashel, we pulled over for a view of The Rock and then made our way to our Bed and Breakfast, Rockville House. Run by the hilarious Patrick, we had a simple but adequate ensuite room and full Irish breakfast the next morning. 

The view of the Rock of Cashel from Rockville House

Cashel We decided we had plenty of time to walk into town for a Guinness and chose Donoghue's Bar to plant ourselves on a bar stool. This decision proved invaluable as our bartender, Dave, gave us some local touring info that we took advantage of the next day-which turned out to be one of the favorite days of the entire trip! I just love when that happens! Thanks, Dave!

And that was my very first day in Ireland. I have to say that I loved it from the start.

How about you? Have you been to the Wicklow Mountains? Cashel? 


Linking up with: Faraway Files and My Corner of the World!