We really didn’t want to leave the luxury of the Princess Grace Suite at The Shelbourne, but that’s what we had to do on Wednesday morning.

We loaded up the rental car and began our drive across the center of Ireland, from Dublin, on the east coast, to Ballynahinch Castle on the west coast. It’s about a 4-hour drive, though we took a little longer, stopping in the center of the country, in the town of Athlone.

There, we toured the medieval Athlone Castle along the Shannon River.

While the boys played “lawn” chess on the top level of the castle, I was more focused on what was in the background.

I visited the beautiful Church of Saints Peter and Paul.

Beautiful, inside and out.

It began to rain, so back in the car, we went.

We followed the road markers to our destination, turning down the dense tree-lined lanes until the castle rose out of nowhere in front of us.

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