With a belated start and a tight schedule, we took turns driving from Belfast to Connemara, filling on sandwiches from Sawers and Cuban Sandwich Factory and Melody’s aptly-named Stinky Bishop cheese. We hiked for an hour in Connemara before a locavore dinner at Kai Café and a short overnight stay in Galway. On Friday, we stopped by prehistoric Poulnabourne Dolmen on the way to the Burren, where our solitary nature walk through the unique, glaciated karst landscape reminded us of its once existence as a tropical sea. The Cliffs of Moher was more touristy, punctated by a singing troupe and a marriage proposal. Stuffed with mussels and Irish stew from Stonecutter’s Kitchen, we made our way to Adare Manor where our mud-splattered Mazda Juke looked out of place at the newly-renovated luxury castle. We indulged in the high-end amenities – free minibar, smarthome features, warmed bathroom floors – before dinner at the Oak Room, where my first taste of grouse fortunately did not contain shot. The concierge managed to squeeze us in for a private falconry experience next morning, where we handled 8 different falcons, hawks, and owls with an avid ornithologist. After a treacherous climb through Conor Pass, we stopped for a quick lunch and Murphy’s ice-cream in Dingle before completing the 3-hour drive along the gorgeous but windy peninsula. Filling on hearty crab dip and seafood curry at Quinlan & Cooke, we settled into our Cahersiveen glamping pod to the sound of rain. Next morning, we drove to Portmagee for our ferry to Skellig Michael. We were glad we skipped the landing tour after suffering the nauseating sail through the rocky waters and seeing the steep climb up to the ancient Gaelic monastery featured in the recent Star Wars franchise. Still nauseated, we skipped lunch and tackled the Ring of Kerry, where highlights included samplings at Skelligs Chocolate Factory and the panoramas at Staigue Fort. We browsed local shops and video-chatted with Westley in Kenmare until dinner at Mulcahy’s, where we learned that the Irish could cook fish but not make sushi. Another 2 hours on the road led us to our yurt in the Galtee Mountains, hosted by an Australian hippie with a cooking oil-run, solar/wind-powered double-decker restaurant bus that he took to music festivals. We made respectable use of the fireplace and car-radio audio system, but found the outdoor shipping-container bathroom inconvenient. We forewent a visit to his chickens in the organic eco-dome garden to truck off next morning for Cahir Castle and the Rock of Cashel on the way to Waterford for lunch and the Waterford Crystal Vistor Center. Here, we learned about the 4-year apprenticeship and one female apprentice before searching their showroom for souvenirs. We reached Kilkenny Castle just before closing, and were fascinated by the investigative work to restore the castle and long portrait hall of the Butler family. Exhausted by pub food, we filled up on Rogan Josh and Saag Paneer at Royal Spice then retired to our stilted treehouse a few blocks away. We awoke before dawn to reach Dublin Airport in time for more hot chocolate from Butler’s and a bite at the airport lounge. Our 6-hour JFK layover was spent in Flushing, where we inhaled cold noodles and potato noodle soup at New World Mall and picked up spicy wontons from White Bear for the flight home. Westley was delighted with our sheep souvenirs and having us back. But with his growing awareness, it will be hard to leave him for this long again.