Family Travel with Colleen Kelly

Colleen Kelly: With its stunning mountains, majestic wildlife and endless greenery, it's clear to see why Ireland is known as the Emerald Isle.

Hi, I'm Colleen Kelly and this is Family Travel.

Welcome to Ireland's Wild Atlantic Way.

In this episode of Family Travel, join me, my daughter Shea and my niece Caitlyn as we explore the countries magnificent wild Atlantic way.

We'll meet some feathery friends, try our hand at sheep herding and feed some four-legged newborns, zip line to the Delphi forest, get in touch with our elegant side at high tea and try our hand at something new, because in Ireland, UD history and adventure awaits you around every corner.

My name is Colleen Kelly and when I was single, I lived abroad and traveled the world, then I became a parent and wondered, how would I ever travel again?

I set out to find a new way to travel and get back to exploring the world family style.

I'm here to guide you on how to get the most out of your family vacation, pack your bags and join me, Colleen Kelly, we're going on vacation.

Funding provided by Ted Tetzlaff, attorneys for your personal and business needs.

Located just west of the United Kingdom in the North Atlantic, a five-hour flight from the United States East Coast, Ireland is the second-largest of the British Isles.

Ireland's Wild Atlantic Way is made up of 1,600 miles of sprawling countryside, magnificent mountains and quaint charming villages.

The Wild Atlantic Way is comprised of nine counties and three provinces.

We begin our journey in County Clare at Dromoland Castle.

All the building you see today was completed in 1835.

The original castle is presumed to have been erected in the late 15th to early 16th century.

Today, Dromoland Castle operates as a five-star hotel, allowing guests from all over the world to experience staying in a real-life castle.

These historic accommodations aren't the only amenity the castle offers, golfing to clay shooting, and many activities in between, Dromoland Castle has plenty to keep their guests entertained.

I opted to explore the castles wildlife with one of Dromoland's special hawk walks.

Today, we're at Dromoland castle and I'm here with Dave, who is a falconer?

Dave: Falconer, yes.

Well done, Kelly.

[laughter] Yes, marvelous.

You're very welcome.

Colleen: This is so exciting, and this is?

Dave: Alice and Alice is a 10-year-old female Harris hawk.

Colleen: She's beautiful.

Dave: She's a real bird of prey.

Colleen: Wow, I'd love to know more about falconry and Alice.

Dave: It's going to be my pleasure to tell you all about it.

Colleen: Shall we take a walk?

Dave: I think we should.

Colleen: All right, walk the ground.

Dave: After you, yes.

Colleen: Tell me more about Alice?

How old is she?

Dave: Well, 10-year-old, they can sometimes live to over 26 if they're lucky, but she's a really dominant tundra's infant.

She has no regard for her own safety.

Colleen: That sounds like me.

Dave: She lives in the present.

[laughter] Dave: Amazing eyesight, they say 10 times better than ours.

Colleen: Really?

Dave: They can see in way broader color spectrums which even include ultraviolet.

Colleen: They can see an ultraviolet?

Dave: If a rat is traveling, rats don't have a bladder, they leave a trail of urine that shows up green in their vision so they can follow that trail.

They never cease to amaze you.

Colleen: She can see that?

Dave: She can see that, yes, and she regularly does it from hawk walks, which is what we're partaking in now.

Colleen: What is falconry?

Dave: It's the hunting of game using a wild raptor and raptors can cover eagles, falcons or hawks, so in the 18th century, it's a very natural form of hunting.

It's considered the sport of kings, and if you're a king, you're entitled to fly a falcon.

Colleen: I've never learned so much about birds in my life.

Dave: Well, I'm going to test you at the end of this [laughs].

Colleen: No, no, please don't.

No, no.

Dave: No, no is allowed.

[laughter] Colleen: This is beautiful.

Dave: Isn't it?

How stunning?

Colleen: Stunning is right.

Dave: The temple of mercury, so the Lord Inchiquin at the time had large gambling debts and he bet the castle and 22,000 acres on the racehorse race and his horse won, but when it went over the line, it died.

In honor of the horse, he buried it here.

Colleen: That's a great story- Dave: Isn't it?

Colleen: After walking the grounds and learning all about Alice, it was my turn to hold her.

Dave: You got to make a fist.

That's perfect, bending the elbow, because you are the tree, they're your roots and this is your branch.

Colleen: [laughs] Oh my god.

Dave: [whistles] [laughter] Well done, you're a natural.

Colleen: It's beautiful.

Dave: You always fly into the back of your first, so she's facing the right way for you to carry on walking, and that's why we call it a hawk walk.

Colleen: I couldn't wait to learn more about these magnificent birds of prey and meet your moments, other feathery friends.

I had no doubt that Shea and Keelan would want to meet them too.

Whoa.

Oh my gosh, look at that.

He's looking at you [laughs]..

This is so cool.

Dave: Behind us, we have two peregrine falcons, so this one is Spitfire and they're examples of the fastest living things in the world.

They can do 246 miles an hour in the stoop.

They can auto-accelerate a Formula One racecar.

Very beautiful, isn't it?

Colleen: They're beautiful.

Dave: Ladies, over here.

I have Island's best kept secret, name is Pickles.

Do we go and meet him?

Colleen: Yes, that would be great.

Dave: Let's go.

Yes.

Here he is, the old stuff, the famous, Pickles.

Colleen: Beautiful, so pretty.

Dave: He's a dark-breasted brown owl, ladies.

Bend your elbow attached, bring in-- and just go like this with your other hand, just touch the top of that.

Tell me, is that not the softest thing?

There you go.

He likes you.

Have you ever worn a cap, Colleen?

Colleen: Yes.

Dave: You have?

Colleen: Yes.

Dave: Have you worn one as fine as this?

Colleen: Not as fine as that.

Uh-oh, it's going to poop on you.

[giggles] It's on my hand.

Dave: Welcome, welcome to the Dromo.

Colleen: Although we shouldn't choose favorites among the birds, Pickles might be ours, and I think we may have been his too.

Say goodbye to Pickles.

Shea: Bye.

Keelan: Bye, Pickles.

Colleen: The first leg of our Ireland trip was a success, but now it's on to the next adventure, and who better to take us there than our personal guide from CIE Tours.

John Hart: Colleen, John Hart.

Colleen: We're very excited about this.

John: Good.

I'm delighted to be working with you guys and show you our beautiful country.

Colleen: We're excited, John.

John: Excellent.

You're looking forward to your trip to the farm?

Colleen: Yes.

John: The sheep farm?

This is one of the biggest, I think maybe the biggest sheep farm in Ireland.

Colleen: There's no question that a personal driver who doubles as a tour guide is a great way to explore Ireland, especially since I sure didn't want to practice driving on the opposite side of the road.

What do we do at the sheep herding?

John: The farmer controls the dogs with a whistle, it's just amazing how intelligent these sheepdogs are.

Colleen: A little over two hours later, we arrived at our next destination.

Nestled in the Delphi Valley is Glen Keen Farm in County Mayo.

As one of the largest farms in Ireland, Glen Keen Farm stretch as over 1,400 acres.

Hi, how are you?

Speaker 5: Hi, how are you, you're welcome.

Colleen: I'm Colleen.

Nice to meet you.

Jim: Hi, my name is Jim, and this is little Jim.

Colleen: Little Jim, Shea and Keelan.

Catherine: Thanks for taking the time out to visit us today.

Well, just to give you a background, the landscape here, it tells the story of our ancestors and the Irish history in the western region.

My ancestors were farmers here from the 1600s and they were shepherds like we are today- Colleen: We're going to do a little sheep herding, right?

Catherine: Yes, the sheep-herding experiences is where you'll see the dogs and learn all about their verbal commands, their whistle commands, our dogs are Holly, Liz, and Jill.

Shea: How long does it take to teach the dogs all the calls?

Catherine: That's a very good question.

We start the training program with the dog at six months, and that's getting them comfortable with the obedience commands and then we start introducing the shepherding command, so it's a long process.

It takes about three years to get a qualified dog if you like, but you'll see them and if you want, maybe you can try your hand at giving them some instructions as well and see how they're responding to you.

Colleen: I think that will be fun.

Should we go?

Catherine: You're ready?

Okay.

Let's go.

Come on, doggy?

Colleen: On the way to sheep herding, we got a little sidetracked [giggles].

Catherine: This is Timmy and this is Bubbles and they're ready for some food, so you pick a bottle like this, make sure the liquid is up at the teeth.

Look at their tails.

They are so happy, so happy.

Colleen: They're so cute.

They're orphans because both their mothers died?

Catherine: Sadly, yes.

Colleen: They think we're mom now [laughs], and totally rely on us for food.

Colleen: Thank you.

Catherine: Thank you for visiting us.

We really appreciate it.

Colleen: It's truly amazing.

It's gorgeous here and we've just got two new cats, so we'll see you later.

Catherine: Okay.

Hurry up.

Steal them.

Colleen: Thank you, folks.

[laughter] Colleen: As adorable as the lambs were, we have something a little more challenging in store for the girls.

George: You want to learn how to work and command a sheepdog.

What you got to do is you got to put the dog on your left hand side, and then the sheep are in the distance and you say to the dog.

"Come-by".

Say that for me now.

Girls: Come-by.

George: Harder than that, "Come-by".

Girls: Come-by.

George: If you want the dog to go on the right hand side, you say, Away.

Girls: Away.

George: Real hard, yes.

When he's back there, then you say, Sit down.

Girls: Sit down.

George: Sit down, real hard.

Yes.

Then, you say to the dog, Walk on, and the dog starts coming with the sheep to you.

When he lands them here then, his work is done and you say, "That will do."

Liz, come, come here.

Stand there now.

Take it away.

Now try it.

Shea: Away.

George: Bring the sheep right here, Liz.

It wasn't so hard, was it?

You just had the dog go out and bring the sheep right up to me here.

Colleen: I think it's safe to say that Shea and Keelan thoroughly enjoyed their day at Glen Kean Farm.

I'm pretty sure they would have taken one of these lambs home if they could, and maybe I would have too.

After a day at Glen Keen Farm, we are ready to head to our next destination.

Where to next, John?

John: Okay, guys, we are quite close to the Delphi Resort, just about maybe 10 miles away, so we're going to hit there now.

Colleen: Good.

I heard it's beautiful.

What I love about coming on a tour like this is we get to really talk to you.

I know that you know a lot about genealogy.

John: We do a lot of work around genealogy.

It's estimated that there are 70 million people around the world of Irish descent, and about 40 million of those are in the US.

Colleen: Really?

John: Yes.

Every year, people come here to trace their ancestry.

Colleen: My grandfather came from Ireland, from Newport.

I would love to know more about the area or genealogy.

John: I know that the Sweeney household is still there in Newport porcelain plaque on the wall in memory of the Kelly's and Princess Grace.

Colleen: Princess Grace?

John: Yes Colleen: Yes, we're related to her as well.

I love all this information that you're giving us about the land and where we're going.

Being so close right here and hearing it firsthand is awesome.

John: Always.

I'm glad you're enjoying the trip.

Colleen: Just a 15-minute drive from Glen Keen Farm is the Delphi Resort located in the heart of the Delphi Valley.

Near Leenaun, Connemara in County Galway.

While the Delphi resort offers plenty for its guests indoors, like a spa and restaurant, we couldn't wait to get outside and soak up the breathtaking Delphi Valley and forest.

What better way to experience the Delphi forest than to soar through it.

Keelan: We're at the Delphi Resort in County Mayo.

Colleen: We're about to go zip-lining.

Are you ready?

Girls: Yes.

Colleen: Let's do it.

All right.

After getting our harnesses on and securing our helmets, we were ready to fly.

The 721 foot long zip wire through the Delphi forest allows thrill-seeking guests to zoom down the zipline over the natural bog.

Colleen: I feel very nervous.

I thought this was a little lower.

I thought it wasn't as high.

It's pretty high.

Do you see this?

Keelan: Yes.

Colleen: All right, girls.

How are you feeling?

Shea: Excited.

Keelan: I'm really excited.

Colleen: All right, we can do this.

I'm a little scared but you got to face your fear sometimes, all right?

The girls are up first.

Let's just hope, I don't chicken out.

Hold me out for dear life.

Pretty soon, it was my turn.

Now, if the girls can do it, I told myself I could too.

What a view and what a rush?

Even though my hands were shaking at the end of the experience, it was definitely worth it and you sure can't beat that view.

Ireland's rich history and incredible landscape are more often than not, one in the same.

The Lost Valley in County Mayo is no exception.

Gerard: When the potato famine first began in 1845, there were hundreds of people living in here.

They were all evicted in 1851 and the potato beds that you see here have been untouched ever since.

The evictions were part of the government policy at the time during the famine, if you like, to clear the land.

My family were evicted also, but returned working as a herdsman because it was turned into a large grazing farm.

My family lived here for 300 years.

I'm the first generation who was lucky enough to have a roadway.

We built a roadway in 1989.

Prior to the road being made, no machinery could get into the valley.

The valley is uniquely unspoiled and the history remains written on the landscape.

Colleen: And unspoiled, it is.

History and scenery, it's all a combination that's tough to rival.

From resorts to castles and everything in between, it can be hard to decide where to stay on your trip to Ireland.

While staying in a castle can be pretty amazing, Ireland is also home to some wonderful bed and breakfast.

A personal favorite, Mulranny House, located in Westport County Mayo.

This family-run bed and breakfast is a great choice for families looking for a traditional Irish home away from home.

Sarah Faujour: My name is Sarah Faujour, and I'm the owner of Mulranny House Bed & Breakfast.

I own and run it with my husband, Nick.

Mulranny House was first built in the 1920s by my grandfather and it started off as a guest house in the 50s.

It was also a post office and telephone exchange and guard station, police station.

Myself and Nick, opened Mulranny House about five years ago now.

We want people to experience great Irish welcome and Irish hospitality while they're staying here and always go school home with good memories, great memories of Mulranny and Mulranny House.

Colleen: With all the comforts of home, including delicious homemade cooking and an unbeatable view.

Your family's sure to enjoy a charming B&B like the Mulranny House.

As we enter the last leg of our trip to Ireland, our driver, John, was there to guide us.

John: I read about [unintelligible] your plans- Colleen: We do.

John: Wonderful.

Colleen: We have special plans.

What are we doing, Shea?

Shea: Fishing.

Colleen: We're going fly-fishing.

John: Fly-fishing.

Colleen: Located in Donegal, three hours from Delphi resort is our final destination, Lough Eske Castle.

Oh, wow, it's beautiful.

John: Is this amazing?

Shea: Wow.

Colleen: It is our pleasure to have gone with you.

We just learned so much about our genealogy.

We have to try some new things, right, girls?

Like sheep herding and-- Just had a great time.

You saved me from driving on the left side.

John: [laughs].

Colleen: If you looked up the definition of an Irish Castle in the dictionary, you might just find a photo of Lough Eske Castle.

This 17th century landmark which was refurbished as the hotel it is today in 2007, offers guests the opportunity to stay in a capsule of history.

We've decided to start our castle stay the proper way with afternoon tea in the green room.

Sarah: Good afternoon.

Colleen: Hi.

Sarah: You're very welcome to afternoon tea at Lough Eske Castle.

My name is Sarah and I'll be your server for this afternoon.

Colleen: We're really excited about the tea.

Sarah: We're really excited for you to experience this.

This is hugely popular at the castle.

Keelan: Why is it called high tea?

Sarah: Back in the 19th century is when afternoon tea became really popular.

As Anna, the 7th Duchess of Bedford.

Mainly they had two meals a day, so it was breakfast or dinner.

Dinner was at 8: 00 PM.

She found herself getting hungry in the late afternoon.

She used to go to her buodoir and have some tea and snacks.

Then became really popular among the higher class, especially the ladies.

They used to enjoy the afternoon tea, they used to put on their ball gowns and make it such a formal event.

That's where it all started off.

Colleen: Gorgeous here.

We're just going to pretend like we're royalty.

Sarah: Absolutely, you should.

Colleen: At least for a couple of hours.

Remember in Ireland, be sure to ask for milk for your tea.

When you ask for cream, you'll likely be brought with cream.

Oh my goodness.

Wow.

That's beautiful.

It's like art.

Sarah: For you this afternoon, our floral afternoon tea selection.

Colleen: That's gorgeous, wow.

Sarah: On the bottom is our sandwich selection, then we move on to our scones with clotted cream and strawberry jam.

Then onto the history selection on top.

Colleen: It's gorgeous, so pretty.

I don't know if I want to eat it.

Sarah: [unintelligible] tasted better, so please enjoy your afternoon tea.

Colleen: Thank you so much.

Sarah: You're most welcome.

Colleen: So what do you like?

This one?

I think the Duchess of Bedford was onto something.

We could definitely get used to this afternoon tea.

All right, to a great first day at our castle.

Let's toast.

Slinte.

Girls: Slinte.

Colleen: [laughs].

Colleen: Fish is a staple of many Irish dishes.

At Cedars Grill in Lough Eske Castle, we met with the head chef and sous chef for an authentic cooking experience.

As brothers, Richard and Andrew McGee are making cooking a family affair.

Richard McGee: Today, we have some lovely wild brown trout, and we're going to put it up with some grilled asparagus, and chewy crumb and chewy dressing and some charred vegetables as well, along with the herbs and stuff we're growing in the greenhouse here at Lough Eske.

I'm going to prep the two materials, so it's going to be the dressing and it's going to go with the fish.

Goes well with the charred asparagus and the rest of this as well.

Then we'll start breaking down the brown trout.

Take it off from the head and then filled it in, head bone, and then we'll clip it off just in the pan.

This is the indigenous fish to Ireland.

This is a wild brown trout and it's coming in the season now, so it's been spectacular product.

Colleen: I guess cooking skills like theirs really do run in the family, because that looks delicious.

For the last activity of the trip, we wanted to try something brand new.

While Caitlin decided to rest, Shea and I chose to try our hand at one of the castles outdoor activities.

Fly fishing on Lough Eske.

We met with fly fishing expert, Lindsey Clarke to guide us around Lough Eske, which translates to "Lake of the fish".

Lindsey Clarke: Hi, [crosstalk] Colleen: Hi, how are you?

Lindsey: Hi, I'm Lindsey.

Colleen: I'm Colleen and this is Shea.

Lindsey: How are you, Shea?

[crosstalk] Colleen: How are you?

Lindsey: Welcome aboard.

Colleen: Thank you.

We're ready to go fly fishing.

Lindsey: Yes.

Is it your first time fly fishing?

Colleen: [laughs] It's our first time.

Yes.

Lindsey: All right.

Well, it should be fun, so.

Colleen: We should catch something, right?

Lindsey: Well, yes.

We'll try our best.

[laughter] Basically, fly fishing, a fly weighs nothing, it's so light, so how are you going to get it out there?

The only way you can do that is with the fly line, because there's no weight on it, like a lure or a spinner that you could-- that has weight.

Basically, you're just letting line out.

As you're casting each time, you letting more and more line out until you have as much as you want out.

They normally say eleven to one o'clock.

If you go lower than that, it will hit the water, because you're telling it to hit the water.

It's like throwing a stone almost.

If you're casting, aim for above the water.

Don't aim for lower.

You want the line to straighten ideally and then just drop onto the water.

Perfect.

Now, don't pull that.

Not so forward with the rod, and it's not down with the rod.

Eleven o'clock and one o'clock.

[laughs] Eleven o'clock and one o'clock.

We caught something.

Colleen: We did?

Lindsey: It wasn't a fish.

[laughs] Colleen: This is all part of the castle experience?

Lindsey: Donegal to a great extent is an unknown treasure.

We don't get as many tourists as you think.

It's great with loads of space.

Don't tell anybody.

[laughter] Colleen: I'm not going to tell anybody.

Lindsey: [laughs].

Colleen: What am I going to catch?

Lindsey: It's just fly fish.

Colleen: Just if I catch anything?

Lindsey: Well, in here, we have salmon.

Although, it's little early near for salmon, but we have sea trout, which come in-- they should be coming in soon, and then there's brown trout, which are in here all year.

Colleen: Let's let Shea try her hand at this.

Maybe she is the angler in the family.

Lindsey: Don't feel bad.

It's first time ever and it's not the easiest thing to master straight away.

The biggest mistake most people do, is they go too far back and too far forward, and they think that they're not-- Again, it's nothing to do with the power.

It's all to do with time and all the power is in the rod and her faith.

Colleen: Just when we thought we might have to call it a day, our luck changed for the better.

[giggles] [laughs] Okay, so we caught a fish.

I didn't think this would happen, but it happened and Shea did it, right?

Good job.

In a matter of minutes, Shea caught not one, not two, not three, but four fish.

Who knew Shea was such a natural?

What a wonderful end to an amazing family vacation.

Thank you for joining us on our journey through Ireland's Wild Atlantic Way of historic castles to charming bed and breakfast.

We truly filled our hearts with Ireland.

We met some majestic and adorable birds of prey, fed and held some little lambs.

Practiced the art of sheep herding, zip lined through the Delphi forest, got in touch with our inner Duchess at high tea, and had a very successful first ever fly-fishing experience.

It was definitely a trip to remember and one will never forget.

Thanks for joining us in Ireland.

I'm Colleen Kelly, enjoy making memories on your next family vacation.

Colleen: Funding provided by Ted Tetzlaff attorneys for your personal and business needs.

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