Author Archives: JJS

⸻ 🏰 Early Contacts (12th–16th centuries) • 1169: The first Norman knights (invited by an Irish king looking for help in a local feud) landed in Ireland. • This led to the Anglo-Norman conquest, with England’s King Henry II asserting … Continue reading →

🇬🇧 After an excellent night’s sleep, I woke with that particular craving only the British Isles can truly understand: a nice, strong cup of tea to shock the eyelids into action. Mission accomplished, our plan was clear — make it … Continue reading →

🇬🇧 From Donegal crowds to Galway busy charms We packed up this morning with a heavy heart (and a heavier suitcase) to head for Galway, our base for the next three days. But before embarking on our westward migration, we … Continue reading →

🇬🇧 Castles, shoes, Seals and a surprise pub queue We started the day in what I like to call a “civilised hour” — 9am. Any earlier and it’s breakfast, any later and it’s brunch, and frankly, I can’t handle that … Continue reading →

🇬🇧 The day began with a fairly sharp start, which is travel-speak for “too early but necessary.” The cure? A Full Irish breakfast—a meal so calorific it could power a small village, or at the very least, keep six tourists … Continue reading →

🇬🇧 A Titanic start and a whiskeyed finish The alarm rang cruelly early, but when you’ve booked six people into the Titanic Experience for 9 a.m., you either rise with purpose or you sink without trace. Belfast’s pride and heartbreak, … Continue reading →

🇬🇧 A day of breakfasts, queues & questionable digestifs The Breakfast That Ate Lunch Holidaymakers are not supposed to start early. It goes against the natural laws of lounging. Yet there we were, bleary-eyed at 8:15 in the lobby, proving … Continue reading →