TRAVEL TALES

Young Chang

Though Darwin and Connie Reinglass claim they didn’t see a single

leprechaun in Ireland, the Newport Beach couple hung out at St. Patrick’s

Cathedral, the town of Cong and even with Scottish bagpipers during a

November trip to Dublin and surrounding areas.

Connie Reinglass remembers part of the country looking like something

out of a movie as herds of cows and sheep crossed the streets while rainy

days dawned a soft gray.

Darwin Reinglass, president of Newport Mesa Travel Connection in

Newport Beach, is planning an Irish Pub and Folk Tour for St. Patrick’s

Day next March -- part of the reason he and his wife took what they call

a “familiarization” trip.

“Being in the travel business, it’s not as if I look forward to going

back over and over again to the same place,” the 68-year-old admitted.

“But I am looking forward to going back to Ireland to see the rest of

Ireland.”

Trip highlights for Reinglass included the Kells Heritage Center -- a

restored courthouse in the township of Kells -- the Cliffs of Moher and a

quick brush with Hollywood in the town of Cong, which is still heavily

devoted still to the memory of the 1952 movie “The Quiet Man” starring

John Wayne, which was was filmed there.

Cong townspeople have dedicated the house in which cast members

stayed, the pubs they went to and other sites related to the filming of

the movie.

The couple took pictures in relic costumes that had been preserved

there -- Darwin Reinglass wore the exact white vest John Wayne wore in

the film and Connie Reinglass sported Maureen O’Hara’s red skirt.

“The whole town is nothing but ‘The Quiet Man,”’ Darwin Reinglass

said.

He was also awe-struck by the Cliffs of Moher, at 700 feet above the

Atlantic Ocean. It was a windy day when he visited but clear enough that

he could see greenery extend all the way down a sheer drop to the ocean.

The couple also visited Trinity College in Dublin, where they saw an

18th century manuscript of the gospels called the Book of Kells.

“And we saw the old library,” Reinglass said. “That was awesome

because it was huge and it had volumes upon volumes of books going back

to who knows when. They were leather-bound, some were deteriorating.”

They passed through an antique lace museum, a pottery factory and a

town filled with 19th century cottages near the Bunratty Castle in the

city of Bunratty.

“In front of the castle was a pub that’s called Durty Nelly’s -- the

famous Durty Nelly’s, which everyone tries to emulate,” Reinglass said,

referring also to the Costa Mesa bar with the same name. “It’s really

quaint.”

Connie Reinglass said she most enjoyed a visit to Ulster American Folk

Park in Northern Ireland, where she witnessed a remake of an early

historical park from the days of blacksmiths and grass huts.

“They’re very warm,” she said of the Irish. “And very gracious. The

whole country started warming up.”

* Have you, or someone you know, gone on an interesting vacation

recently? Tell us your adventures. Drop us a line to Travel Tales, 330 W.

Bay St., Costa Mesa, CA 92627; e-mail [email protected]; or fax to

(949) 646-4170.