This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Groupon Getaways. All opinions are 100% mine.
This past month I had the privilege of traveling to Ireland with Groupon. I use Groupon all the time for local deals but never would have thought to use it for a travel package. It was an incredible experience and I am so excited to share it here in hopes that it encourages others who are trying to plan a budget-friendly vacation and that it helps someone else plan their Ireland itinerary.
After a lot of deliberation we decided to book the Ireland Bed & Breakfast package with Groupon Getaways. It included airfare, a rental car, one night at the D Hotel and vouchers to book the B&Bs of our choice.
The cost of the Groupon was $899 for two people including airfare. When I priced out the vacation separately, just the flights alone cost more than the entire trip. The catch is that most of the flights are offered out of two locations, New York or Orlando. We are within driving distance to Orlando but we decided to just pay extra to fly to JFK from Atlanta so when I got my redemption code from Groupon I called the travel agency and they set that up easily for me. (You could also book a flight from your city to the included airport on your own.)
I added the package upgrade which included tickets to several attractions and historic sites in Ireland. In hindsight, I would forego that since we weren’t able to visit all of the attractions and instead do the upgrade that adds two more days to the trip. We lost an entire day to travel due to flight delays on Delta’s end and even had we not we would have enjoyed more time there. 
The first thing we did was pick up our rental car, which was this cute little Nissan Skoda. I am posing next to it because it took several days before I was brave enough to drive it, being that in Ireland they drive on the other side of the road and all. That’s another story for another day. (It’s a good one.)
Anyhow, I also paid extra to upgrade the car to automatic and for the wifi. I recommend doing this as my husband, who has almost always driven a stick shift, said that it was really nice to have the automatic since he was already having to focus so much on driving on the other side of the road. And the wifi is a portable device that functions as a hotspot so instead of paying extra for international service on our cell phones, we just downloaded the skype app and used the wifi to connect and chat with our families.
We drove about 30 minutes north from Dublin to Drogheda, where our first night’s stay was booked at The D Hotel. The hotel sits on the banks of the River Boyne and has fantastic views and food. We had anticipated having an entire day to spend in Drogheda and had planned to visit the megalithic passage tombs of Newgrange and Knowth (we’re big history lovers.) Unfortunately because of our travel delays, we didn’t arrive until late in the evening and so we didn’t end up seeing much of the city at all. 
The hotel itself was nice and the staff was delightful but the room itself was not nearly as nice as what was pictured on the website. It was perfectly fine but I was expecting something a little bit more upscale based on the photos.
We ate at the hotel for both dinner and breakfast the next morning and our meals were wonderful. I would have preferred to have explored our options outside of the hotel a little more but since we were limited on time I was glad that at least the food was still fantastic. 
The second day of our trip was March 17th – Saint Patrick’s Day! While planning our itinerary we had decided to not spend Saint Patrick’s Day in Dublin. I know, most people go just to be in Dublin for St. Patty’s! But my husband has a bit of anxiety about crowds and Dublin was expecting half a million people in the city for the parade. Half a million!
Our original plan was to watch the Drogheda parade along the river but since we had to juggle our timeline around we left our hotel early and drove south to County Cork to watch the parade at Blarney Castle instead! Being flexible is such a big part of traveling and in the end we were so happy with that decision. The parade in Blarney was really wonderful. It was so full of charm and pomp and circumstance and just such a cool thing to experience. We loved it.
We got there early so I could stake out a great spot to get photos and then as people started filling in, I totally gave up my stellar spot to these sweet kiddos because apparently my mom-ness is stronger than I thought. 
While planning the trip I was able to choose our B&B’s from an extensive list provided by Groupon Getaways and so I cross referenced each one on Trip Advisor and chose the ones that had the best ratings central to each location. For our stay in Cork I chose La Cita B&B and we were so thrilled with it. First of all, look how cute it was: 
We arrived before check-in and our hostess, Siobhan, was so kind to accommodate us and let us in early. Her father gave us a ride to the parade and meeting him was one of the highlights of our trip. He had so many wonderful stories about his life in Ireland, the country’s history and the area.
The next morning Siobhan fixed us a traditional Irish breakfast, which was one of the best of our stay, and chatted with us as we ate. La Cita B&B is right next to a bus stop, which is really convenient, but it is also within walking distance of Blarney Castle so we decided to take our time and walk there. It was about a twenty minute walk and I would definitely recommend making the trek on foot and taking the bus back because the walk winds through a wildlife sanctuary and the scenery was gorgeous. SERIOUSLY, LOOK BEHIND ME.
This is when we broke out the selfie stick for the first time. It took a lot of practice on account of how I am very uncoordinated. Also, please note how we inadvertently dressed like twins. This is what happens after a decade together. 
Some reviews I read said that Blarney Castle was overrated but I absolutely adored it and would recommend planning to spend an entire day just in Blarney. I wish we had budgeted in a little bit more time there because the grounds were beautiful and there was so much to do and see. 
LOOK AT THAT PATHWAY. IT WAS LIKE WALKING THROUGH MAGIC. 
The weather was gorgeous that day, though a bit chilly, and I was determined to kiss the Blarney Stone. Legend has it that anyone who kisses the Blarney Stone receives the gift of eloquence and y’all, I am trying to write books for a living over here. Kissing the Blarney Stone is basically required of me.
Except the thing about the Blarney Stone is, it is at the very tip top of this castle and to kiss it a stranger HOLDS YOU UPSIDE DOWN OVER THE SIDE OF THE CASTLE WALL. I am not even joking. You’re hanging backwards over an opening to the ground below. Please see here. I am afraid of heights and I am also properly afraid of strangers and yet I was still determined that I was going not going to go to Ireland and NOT kiss the Blarney Stone.
So we climbed a super narrow passageway up to the top of the castle, stopping in to see the different rooms as we went. I made J take my picture in the Lady’s Chamber because I am a lady, obviously. 
And then we got to the top and I discovered that it is not open and flat to walk around on like a rooftop. Oh no, it is completely open to below with just the half castle wall on one side and a railing on the other. And I realize that the railing is meant to hold on to but I can not do that because the fear-of-heights in my brain likes to tell me that if I hold the railing it will suddenly fall into the abyss and take me with it. (I am very logical.)
So I was clinging to the side of the castle on this very narrow walkway when I was able to see the whole process of kissing the Blarney Stone. And then I was like NOPE NEVERMIND because my desire to kiss the Blarney Stone was heavily overridden by my fear of letting a complete stranger, albeit a very cute stranger, dangle me upside down and backwards over the side of an ancient castle. NO THANK YOU, SIR.
(Also I think my husband was relieved that I was not additionally blessed with “The Gift of Gab”)
I am so glad that I braved the heights though, because the view from the top of the castle was incredible. 
I made it to the top of Blarney Castle! And I made J take all the pictures from up there because I was too afraid to do anything but huddle in the corner and peek out carefully around the turrets!
We spent some time exploring the grounds and we loved exploring the cave underneath the castle that was used as an escape route. Being underneath things is apparently totally cool with my brain.
Everyone told me that March was the best time to see the daffodils and they were beautifully in bloom. After we finished touring the castle grounds, we walked back to town. We visited the Blarney Woolen Mills, bought some chocolate at the Blarney Chocolate shop, and stopped in Muskerry Arms, which was the most recommended pub and full of lively music and conversation. 
We’re also now obsessed with Irish Breakfast tea and I personally would like to have scones every day of my life. I’m instituting tea time around here because I think tea time is a brilliant idea. Tea time is basically just an excuse to drink tea and eat cookies. Why is this not a thing in the States? I am going to make it a thing in my house.
So this is what Days One, Two and Three looked like in Ireland, minus the 12 hours we spent being delayed. It was fantastic and I highly recommend putting a visit to Blarney on your list if you are planning on visiting the southern coast of Ireland.
Our next stops were in County Kerry, Adare and Dublin and I’ll recap those soon!
