{"id":218,"date":"2010-08-15T13:36:55","date_gmt":"2010-08-15T19:36:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.greatriver.com\/wordpress\/?p=218"},"modified":"2017-03-21T11:42:17","modified_gmt":"2017-03-21T16:42:17","slug":"passionate-ireland","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.greatriver.com\/wordpress\/passionate-ireland\/","title":{"rendered":"Passionate Ireland"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h4><script src=\"http:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/show_ads.js\" type=\"text\/javascript\">\/\/ <![CDATA[\n\n\/\/ ]]><\/script><\/h4>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.greatriver.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/08\/DSC08337.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-thumbnail wp-image-258\" title=\"DSC08337\" src=\"http:\/\/www.greatriver.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/08\/DSC08337-150x150.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" \/><\/a>Rich and I have an eye for PASSION. Perhaps the French proprietor\u00a0 who is passionate about country meats and cheeses. Perhaps\u00a0our Guide who is passionate about sharing his paths in the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.inkwells.net\/Pyrenees\/\">foothills of the Pyrenees <\/a>with the traveler. Or the plumber who is passionate about <a href=\"http:\/\/greatriverarts.com\/waterways\/KOHLER%20WATERS%20SPA\/Kohler\/story.htm\">bathtubs<\/a> and faucets!!! All of these make great stories for travelers\u00a0and we are grateful for every individual we meet who\u00a0rises to\u00a0this passion threshhold.<\/p>\n<p>July found us exploring\u00a0<em><strong>IRELAND.<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0You are invited\u00a0to share in our discoveries at <a href=\"http:\/\/greatriver.com\/waterwaycruises\">h<em>ttp:\/\/greatriver.com\/waterwaycruises<\/em>\/SHANNON\/princess.htm<\/a>\u00a0 We will share our itinerary and the stories of those passionate people we met along the way, including:<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.greatriver.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/08\/953117970_p1000225.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-thumbnail wp-image-255\" title=\"953117970_p1000225\" src=\"http:\/\/www.greatriver.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/08\/953117970_p1000225-150x150.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" \/><\/a><a href=\"http:\/\/www.halpinsprivatehotels.com\/\">Pat and Ann Halpin<\/a>\u00a0are hoteliers. The <em>Aberdeen Lodge<\/em> provided us a &#8220;soft landing&#8221;, a &#8220;home away from home&#8221; in Dublin. Among the cliffs of Kilkee, the <em>Halpin Townhouse Hotel<\/em> provided the familiar hospitality of complimentary coffee and cookies, PLUS we\u00a0clearly heard\u00a0the ocean\u00a0 through the open window of our oceanview room at Kilkee. Here we overlooked the Atlantic just above the\u00a0mouth of the Shannon River.\u00a0Pat Halpin works hard\u00a0to provide notably attentive and hospitable staff, and exceptional amenities for the traveler.<\/p>\n<p>Ruairi Gibbons was a passionate sailor long before he became became Captain\u00a0of\u00a0the<strong> <em><a href=\"http:\/\/www.shannonprincess.com\/\">Shannon Princess<\/a><\/em>.<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0<em>&#8220;Offering a hotel cruise on the Shannon River seemed to be my best bet for spending the rest of my life on water!&#8221;<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em><a href=\"https:\/\/great-river-arts.myshopify.com\/products\/ireland-c-1906-historical-map-hand-painted-gift-print\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0957\/9646\/products\/Ireland_4x6_compact.jpg?v=1439599019\" alt=\"057 Ireland 1906\" width=\"147\" height=\"190\" \/><\/a><\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: right;\"><em>Beautiful art prints of Historic Travel Maps, Hand Painted by Map Artist, Lisa Middleton can be viewed in detail by clicking on the map image!<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Ruairi has now owned and operated Ireland&#8217;s premier overnight hotel barge\u00a0for some 17 years.\u00a0Seven years ago, he completely redesigned and appointed\u00a0a two hundred passenger barge into the 10 passenger\u00a0hotel barge which today is the only one operating on Ireland&#8217;s longest river.<a href=\"http:\/\/www.greatriver.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/08\/IMG_66492.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-thumbnail wp-image-260\" style=\"margin: 8px;\" title=\"IMG_6649\" src=\"http:\/\/www.greatriver.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/08\/IMG_66492-150x150.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Ruairi&#8217;s wife, Olivia Power, joined the team\u00a0eleven years ago when Rauri advertised for a trained Chef to serve on the Shannon Princess. Olivia was the only applicant. Now nationally recognized, she turned out to be his greatest asset, and yes, his greatest passion!<\/p>\n<div class=\"mceTemp\">A fun side-note is that Olivia&#8217;s first assignment was\u00a0in a lodge in <strong>Manitowish Waters, Wisconsin!<\/strong> She prepared a lot of Walleye, she recalls, and to this day she orders a supply of wild rice from Wisconsin every year! We&#8217;ve just posted our experience of <a href=\"www.greatriver.com\/waterwaycruises\/SHANNON\/princess.htm\">cruising with Ruairi and Olivia<\/a> on the SHANNON RIVER.<\/div>\n<div class=\"mceTemp\">Enjoy!<\/div>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright\" src=\"http:\/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/thumb\/9\/9c\/Tom_Crean.jpg\/250px-Tom_Crean.jpg\" alt=\"Tom Crean, Antartic explorer\" width=\"177\" height=\"264\" \/>Finally there is\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Tom_Crean_(explorer)\">Tom Crean<\/a>, an &#8220;unsung Irish hero&#8221; from the days of Scott, Amundsen, and Shackleton.\u00a0 We found his story at the South Pole Inn, in Anascaul, on the Dingle Penninsula.<\/p>\n<p>You will find each of their stories\u00a0this October\u00a0in our <a href=\"http:\/\/greatriver.com\/waterwaycruises\"><strong>WATERWAY CRUISE REPORTS<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0and you will find them all in <strong>IRELAND.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Return to <a href=\"http:\/\/greatriver.com\/wordpress\/\">RAMBLIN&#8217; ON<\/a> travel Blog<br \/>\nReturn to <a href=\"http:\/\/www.greatriver.com\">GREATRIVER.com<\/a>, The Mississippi River Home Page<br \/>\nReturn to <a href=\"http:\/\/www.greatriver.com\/waterwaycruises\">WATERWAY CRUISE REPORTS<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h4><script src=\"http:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/show_ads.js\" type=\"text\/javascript\">\/\/ <![CDATA[\n\n\/\/ ]]><\/script><\/h4>\n<p>We also invite you to enjoy our photos of <a href=\"http:\/\/greatriver.smugmug.com\/Travel\/Dublin\"><strong>Ireland <\/strong><\/a>and<strong> ALL<\/strong> our travels at\u00a0 our <a href=\"http:\/\/greatriver.smugmug.com\/Travel\/\"><strong>Great River photo site<\/strong><\/a><strong>.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&nbsp; Rich and I have an eye for PASSION. Perhaps the French proprietor\u00a0 who is passionate about country meats and cheeses. Perhaps\u00a0our Guide who is passionate about sharing his paths in the foothills of the Pyrenees with the traveler. Or &hellip; <a href=\"http:\/\/www.greatriver.com\/wordpress\/passionate-ireland\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[165,126,120,109,28,1],"tags":[106,107,141,33],"class_list":["post-218","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-historic-hand-painted-maps","category-historic-maps","category-railroading-history","category-small-boat-cruise","category-travel","category-uncategorized","tag-ireland","tag-small-boat-cruises","tag-travel","tag-waterway-cruises"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.greatriver.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/218","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.greatriver.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.greatriver.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.greatriver.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.greatriver.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=218"}],"version-history":[{"count":39,"href":"http:\/\/www.greatriver.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/218\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1751,"href":"http:\/\/www.greatriver.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/218\/revisions\/1751"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.greatriver.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=218"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.greatriver.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=218"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.greatriver.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=218"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}