FIRST ~ The Republic of Ireland

[This is my second visit to Ireland in less than a year. The first trip is not blogged.]

Ireland (Irish: Éire) is the third-largest island in Europe. It lies in the Atlantic Ocean and it is composed of the Republic of Ireland (officially, Ireland), which covers five sixths of the island (south, east, west and north-west), and Northern Ireland; part of the United Kingdom, which covers the northeastern sixth of the island.

The population of the island is approximately 5.8 million people; 4.1 million in the Republic of Ireland (1.6 million in Greater Dublin) and 1.7 million in Northern Ireland (0.6 million in Greater Belfast).

- Wikipedia

Click map below for a better read. The 6 circles in RED are the spots we'll scour in the next 5 days.

Arrival in Dublin 311005

RyanAir, albeit using ancient 737-200 planes on its MAN-DUB run, arrives in cold Dublin on time. We are bunkering at my big girl's house just southwest of downtown.

As for a set of wheels, we get ourselves the 7-seater Opel Zafira 1.6, at €337 for 5 days. Unleaded petrol in Ireland is a bit more than €1 per litre, compared to almost £1 per litre in pricey UK!

Yup, that's our cosy home, the one with the red door.

The Irish car registration number is very functional. Our Zafira's says 05-OY-1685, which means the car is registered in 2005, in the county of Offaly (located in central Ireland, coded OY), with the sequence number of 1685.

Mosc Atha Cliath 311005

It is still the fasting month of holy Ramadhan, so today we are doing communal fast-breaking at The Dublin Mosque, originally a Catholic church.

Breaking fast is simple. A tray laden with rice and meat is shared by a bunch of people and no drinks served. This tray is lucky to serve only 3 young ladies. I had 6 hungry blokes in my group!