When the bus dropped us off at Bunratty Castle, we began the 3/4-mile walk up the street to Ashgrove. A car heading the other direction stopped and asked, "Are you Tracy?" It was our B&B hostess, Shelia, and when she couldn't reach her husband to drive up to get us, she offered us a ride herself back to her home (even though she was already 30 minutes late for a meeting in Limerick). We got checked in, she booked our "Traditional Irish Night" dinner at Bunratty Castle for that night. Then we hopped back in the car with her, and she dropped us off again at the castle entrance. We were very impressed with her hospitality, even though extending it made her even more tardy to her meeting.

When we got back to Ashgrove after dinner, Frank (host) offered us each a beer and invited us into his private living room to chat with him and his two Scottish friends (a couple that we assumed now lived locally, in Ireland). It was very interesting, getting to talk with the locals about politics, WWII rationing when they were kids, the first the Scottish woman ever tasted chocolate (given to her by a WWII American soldier), the conversion to Euros from their original Irish currency, the change to "Celsius" from "Farenheit", humanitarian aid, diet, exericise, and all sorts of things. What a cool perspective!!

The room was fine, though I wish they'd had cable or satellite t.v. We only got about 4 channels, but it was ok.

I sort of wished there had been more "public" areas at the B&B. Instead, the rooms opened to the outside, and each had its own key. The dining room was public, but nothing else. But, as I said, it was great to be invited into the private living room to chat.

I was a little disappointed that, when I told Sheila we'd need to leave by 8:00 a.m., she told us breakfast would be at 7:30 -- and we weren't given any choice about what we'd eat. She told me it would be bacon and eggs -- that she "does the bare minimum at that time of the morning". Well, I'm NOT a fan of eggs at all, though I can tolerate hard-boiled eggs. She did hard-boil them for me, and she scrambled my husband's, as he requested. But as it turned out, all the guests showed up for breakfast at 7:30, and Shiela seemed really frazzled by that. I noticed that the others got sausage, served within a minute or two of our getting our bacon (fried ham) and eggs. It would have been nice to have that option, as the bacon was tough. They did serve muffins, cereal, and fruit though -- so it was ok. I just wish we could have begun breakfast at 7:15, to not be so rushed, and that we might have had more of a choice (maybe french toast, or pancakes).

There were face cloths in the bathroom (that was good, as B&B's in London didn't provide those). We couldn't get the alarm clock to work though, so we set our cell phone alarms.

Overall, it was a good stay -- and the convenience to Bunratty Castle, Durty Nellie's, and some shops and other restaurants was great.

The only caution -- BE CAREFUL walking to/from the B&B, as people speed like maniacs down that farily narrow street!