Today I start my 8-day clockwise drive round the coast of Ireland, from Dublin to Dublin. I’m excited. The schedule has been meticulously planned on tube journeys to & from work for the last 3 months (I am half German) but insider tips on unmissables very welcome. Thank you.
At the glorious 10th century Round Tower at Glendalough in County Wicklow, waiting for John Cleese to poke his head out of the top window to tell me my mother was a hamster & my father smelt of elderberries. 
Glendalough in Wicklow is worth today's crazy early flight alone. A wondrous, magical place: dates from the 6th C, with a unique double gateway, tower & Cathedral that was already decommissioned (to use weapons inspectors terminology inappropriately) in the 12th C. #MyIrelandTour
If your soul needs some gentle repairing, I strongly suggest driving across the Wicklow Mountains. Epiphanies at most turnings - like listening to a Jethro Tull album. #MyIrelandTour
"The Joker" just came on here at Ryan's Bar in Kilkenny, where I'm reluctantly engaging with my first beer of the holiday. Has there ever been a more ill-judged guitar moment than Steve Miller's Kenneth Williams-style "wah-wah" effect? Maybe the song was eponymous. #MyIrelandTour
Tipperary's Cashel Rock, so-called because that's how Sean Connery pronounces 'castle' (according to my guidebook). The view as you see it on the horizon for the 1st time is breathtaking. And just below it the remains of 13th C Hore Abbey aren't exactly shabby too. #MyIrelandTour
The view from Sugarloaf Mountain down to the Clogheen valley in southern Tipperary. I've counted 463 different shades of green so far. #MyIrelandTour
The older I get, the more I realise that "I pulled into Nazareth, was feeling 'bout half past dead" is the best opening line to any song. Tonight homage to the genius of 'The Band' is being paid in Sin é in Cork.
The view of Kinsale from Charles Fort. Where the Spanish fleet was defeated by the English in 1601 after the Irish & Spain tried to pull a fast one on us. #StrainedBrexitMetaphors #MyIrelandTour
The Drombeg Stone Circle on the Cork coastline, clearly a Bronze Age prophecy of the EU flag that invites a future European civilization to rescue Ireland from centuries of impending domination by the English. #StrainedBrexitMetaphors #MyIrelandTour
Lovely as it is, I'm at a loss as to how Gram Parsons lost his lover to the dizzying seduction of nighttime in Baltimore. I mean, the fish is nice & the view is great, but still it's a stretch. #StreetsofBaltimore #MyIrelandTour
Mizen Head, where suddenly the Cork coast transforms from lovely, small fishing towns into a wilder coastline of dramatic rocks & cliffs. I've been staring at this view for 30 minutes. It's a very special place. #MyIrelandTour
I'd like to give my heartfelt thanks to the Pope, both for coming to Dublin & diverting tourists from the stunning Ring of Kerry as i see it for the first time, & for interceding with the Lord Above to ensure I have perfect weather. #MyIrelandTour
Best way to find out just how much recent road construction there has been in Ireland: use a SatNav whose maps haven't been updated for 4 years.
Best way to get lost driving around Ireland on holiday: use a SatNav whose maps haven't been updated for 4 years.
#MyIrelandTour
Best way to get lost driving around Ireland on holiday: use a SatNav whose maps haven't been updated for 4 years.
#MyIrelandTour
Galway. Oysters. Craic.
Well I got to see one Cliff of Moher before it, like the others, got enveloped in driving wind & rain. Caught between thinking this is the only way to see this wonder of Ireland, & asking one of the other visitors if they have any dry underwear that I could borrow. #MyIrelandTour
The traffic here in Connemara is dreadful. #MyIrelandTour
Graham Taylor once said of Neil Webb: "Some players are special, but Webby is special special". That's how I feel about Connemara having seen it for the first time today. #MyIrelandTour
Late afternoon on the Galway/Mayo border, looking out towards the Atlantic Ocean. I may be here some time. #MyIrelandTour
The edge of Ireland: the gorgeously wild Achill Island, at the western edge of County Mayo. All in preparation for my seaweed bath in Sligo this afternoon, which I am contemplating live tweeting. #MyIrelandTour
Monuments of passage tombs, over 6000 years old, at Carrowmore Megalithic Cemetery, in Sligo. #MyIrelandTour
