This trip to Ireland was almost scuppered before it began on the Friday afternoon!

We were planning to drive to Birmingham airport as our return flight, on the Sunday evening, had a tight connection with the last train of the day to Derby off of our Aer Lingus flight from Dublin. The car would have been a bit of an insurance policy and mean no need for a taxi (or hotel) if the flight was delayed. However after driving approximately 100 yards from the office, sat in gridlocked traffic in Derby (due to flooding), meant that a car journey to the airport was never going to happen. An alternative plan was required and fortunately there was still time to do so!

Plan B was enacted and after nearly an hour the car was eventually back in the office car park and I was then hot footing to the railway station to meet Heather. Despite it running late (also due to flooding) the train took the strain and got us to Birmingham International with plenty of time to spare before boarding EI277 to Dublin.

The short flight had us in Ireland after 45 minutes and we collected a hire car and drove to the Premier Inn, just a short drive from the car hire facility. It was definitely time for a Guinness!

After a pleasant breakfast at the café adjacent to the Premier Inn we headed west on a 2 hour 15 minute journey to Galway. We had a good wander around Galway, visited the Latin Quarter, the waterfront and grabbed a late lunch from Petit Delice (when in Ireland you may as well go French!).

Heading further west after lunch we travelled along the 'Wild Atlantic Way' taking in a few view points before stopping for coffee and a cake. The scenery in western Ireland is lovely however by the time we were heading to Claregalway, north of the city, it was dark so we probably missed out on some of what the area has to offer.

Our accommodation at The Arches Hotel was pretty good (although the first room had no heating) and the dinner was lovely. Breakfast in the morning was magnificent and really set us up for the day!

On Sunday morning, after breakfast, we headed south of Galway along the 'Wild Atlantic Way' via The Burren to the Cliffs of Moher.

The Cliffs of Moher are stunning, rising around 200m (700ft) above the Atlantic Ocean, and even with a bit of mist, and a chill wind, the views were wonderful. The walk along the cliff top path was well worth it before we returned to the visitor centre to warm up.

Our return journey to Dublin was going to take about 3 hours so there was time to stop at a halfway point and stretch the legs. Athlone, set on the River Shannon, was a reasonable place to stop and grab a late lunch before continuing on to Dublin for our flight back to Birmingham.

Aer Lingus flight EI276 was due to depart Dublin at 19.45, which would give us around 40 minutes to get through Birmingham airport and across to the station for the last train of the day to Derby after the scheduled arrival time of 20.50. Despite a 20 minute delay, a rather spirited 35 minute flight, and a longer than needed bus transfer to the terminal we made the train home. Phew!