Hi Kerry, sorry to hear about your cancer. I have been through three rounds with cancer myself through the years, but I have been doing allright for a long time now. Good luck to you! As for County Kerry, you will love it, especially if you like rural areas, as I do. My mother and I took a bus tour in September 2005. We left on the 17th and came back on the 28th. The weather was a lot like New England in September. We had beautiful days, rainy days, and sunny, but brisk days. You could get two kinds of weather in one day, but I had no complaints.The crowds weren't bad at all. If I were to go again I would again pick September. My parents had traveled to Ireland three times before this trip and always went during very busy times-May through August. The draw back to our trip was the bus. Especially in Kerry, I wanted to get off the bus at every turn or spot, but the bus kept going. Around the lakes of Killarney, I saw trails that I wanted to explore, but could only wish to as we drove by. I loved the Killarney area, but the Ring of Kerry and other places were wonderful, too. Definitely go see the Dingle peninsula, it is breath-taking. I think this is the one place I was glad to be on a bus in the hands of a professional driver, though. Some cliff roads are pretty scary. They must have tours of only Dingle in the area. I had told my mother that I wanted to go back to Ireland and only stay in Kerry, I loved it that much; but it I could be because my father's Kelly ancestors originated there, and their descendants still live there. Our trip also took us through Dublin, Cork, Waterford, and Galway. If you do Galway at all, be sure to go to Connemara and go on the Killary Harbour Fjord Catamaran ride. It was awesome. I am a little shy of boats, but this ride was dreamy through the fjord. The sites were breathtaking, and the ride was smooth and somewhat freeing to me. I felt if this was the last thing on earth I could do, I would be very happy. Here is a web site on it: http://www.killarycruises.com/ You might take a look through CIE tours itinerarys just to get a feel for what you might do with your own car. The website has a lot of Ireland tours with good descriptions, which may give you some ideas of places to visit if you decide to go out of Kerry: http://www.cietours.com/affiliate/cietours/searchresults.rvlx?travelPeriod=18 Whatever you do, may you enjoy it and may it be the best trip you every had. I don't think you can go wrong. Sincerely, ~Patsy~ ----- Original Message ----- From: "Kerry" <genbug@agapeinternet.com> To: "IRL-KERRY-L@rootsweb." <IRL-KERRY-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Saturday, January 12, 2008 10:10 AM Subject: Re: [IRL-KERRY] Trip to Kerry Hi y'all, Thank you so much for your detailed information. I am really hoping this trip "back home" will happen. One never knows in life what is before us. I am 61 (or rather will be next week) and my dd is 31, and I don't have particular health restrictions at this point except that I tire easily. I am newly diagnosed with cancer, so no oxygen or anything like that. We'd definitely be interested in flying in and out of Shannon (thanks for that information) since we are not interested in Dublin at all. We are definitely more inclined toward the rural. And I love photography, so that will be one of my main "focuses" (no pun intended) while we are there. : ) Beth, you mentioned a "self-catering cottage" sounds fascinating. Does that mean that you have your own cottage and provide your own meals? Is that easy to do? We don't want to do a lot of cooking. Is it customary to eat at pubs or restaurants or what? Trish, you said to leisurely enjoy "all you have in mind," but that is just it, we don't have anything but Kerry in mind. Flying into and out of Shannon sounds just right, and I like the suggestion of going to Berea Peninsula that Noreen mentioned. Also Noreen mentioned something about summertime. That is another question we have. What is the best time of year to go? It would be easier for us to go late spring or fall, as far as my daughter getting off work is concerned. Is summer better for traveling there? What is the weather likely to be when? And thank you, David, I'd be happy to have any information off-list that you would care to share. Also, we have a cousin in Castleisland. Her brother is somewhere else, but I can't remember where, at this point. I have it written down in my address book. I guess it is time to start getting maps and information sent to us. This has just come up, so we haven't gotten far yet at all. We got passport applications yesterday, so we'll start moving forward on that right away. I guess that might be an issue for when we can travel. This may not happen, but we are going to move ahead hoping it will. : ) All suggestions are welcome. I love this group, and my favorite postings (besides someone saying they have found family connections) have always been hearing about plans for trips and then the trips themselves. I guess hearing about the trips has always kept my dream alive that someday . . . . And a cousin of ours found church records in Dingle for all of us when she was in Kerry years ago. I'd like to go there, maybe even contact someone ahead of time, but she has died, so I can't get information from her. Is that going to be difficult to track down? Are there many churches there? Blessings, Kerry