Dublin Port Tunnel : Journey from Dublin Airport to Castledermot in the 8:25 am J.J. Kavanagh bus - Video Clip

Dublin Port Tunnel : Journey from Dublin Airport to Castledermot in the 8:25 am J.J. Kavanagh bus - Video Clip



Dublin Airport to Castledermot J.J. Kavanagh Bus journey

On my journey from Dublin Airport to Castledermot, I got the chance to travel in the underground Dublin Port Tunnel. I was in the 8:25 am J.J. Kavanagh bus and captured the short tunnel episode in my cam. It was nice to be under the road for a change. There was a cute kid sitting in the seat in front of me busy playing on his portable computer game. You can see the reflection on the window of the side seat where I sat.

“This is Castledermot!”

The bus picked me and dropped me on time. I reached Castledermot at 10:25am just like what is shown on their website time table in the internet. Excellent Driver! When I boarded the bus I asked him to let me know when it’s Castledermot stop as I wasnt very familiar with the place. We only come to Castledermot to get onto the bus to Dublin as it’s not in Baltinglass at that time. Anyway, I was still relaxing and staring outside at the snow when the driver slowly got out from his seat, smiled and politely reminded me in front of all the other passengers that ‘This is Castledermot’. I smiled, thanked him and got out.

The Dublin Port Tunnel (Irish: Tollán Calafoirt Bhaile Átha Cliath)


One half of the Twin Underground Dual Carriageway Tunnels, this Underground Tunnel is the Dublin Port Tunnel (Tollán Calafoirt Bhaile Átha Cliath in Irish), constructed in Dublin, Ireland. The two-lane dual carriageway links the M50 Motorway Dublin Port, (located east of central Dublin), and the M1 Motorway (Dublin to Belfast) which is near to Dublin Airport. The tunnels measure 4.5 km (2.8 miles) in length. An important safety aspect is that there are Pedestrian Crossing Passages every 250 metres and Vehicle Crossing Passages every 1000 metres linked to the tunnels which are major exit routes in times of emergency. It was the major efforts of Dublin City Council on behalf of the National Roads Authority which resulted in the success of Dublin Port Tunnel.

Few Facts you didn’t know about the Dublin Port Tunnel (DPT):

1. After the Södra Länken in Stockholm, Sweden, the DPT is the second-longest urban motorway tunnel in Europe measuring 4.5 km (2.8 miles) in length.

2. Heavy Goods Vehicles (HGVs) are toll- free.

3. Joint winner (with the recovery operation project for the World Trade Centre) in December 2003 of the British Geotechnical Association's international Fleming Award (BGA Fleming Award) for excellence in geotechnical design and construction.

4. The award was for the innovative 'observational approach' used in optimising the design of the tunnel launch shaft in Whitehall, and for the soil-nailed open-cut section of the works accommodating the northern cut and cover tunnel.


5. It was the major efforts of Dublin City Council on behalf of the National Roads Authority which resulted in the success of Dublin Port Tunnel.


Video clip of the bus journey through Dublin Port Tunnel:

We almost missed a last minute planned trip to Galway!!

We almost missed a last minute planned trip to Galway!!


Last minute call

Our crafty' friend in Baltinglass went to visit a common 'tall and soft spoken' friend who lives in Galway. He calls up the second night and tells us to reach there next morning as they have planned a few days visit to some locations in and out of Galway.


Baltinglass to Galway bus journey

Now, Galway is around four to five hours journey by bus from Baltinglass. Sheesh, a few days visit and we have no time to think, complete the house chores, select our dress, take cash from the ATM, finish the food we still have in our fridge and those which would expire in those few days time!!!

Now the plan was to book online tickets for the 12pm City Links bus from Dublin. And to reach Dublin, we have to get into the 10am Bus Eireann from Baltinglass so that we could reach Dublin by 11:45am.


Online booking service- We missed the bus!!

And guess what?- We started off the day by mising the 10 am bus! Why the delay?- Because the online booking took more time than we expected, which we did in the morning just before leaving the house as we were so much into packing the previous night that we forgot all about our online task!

Anyway, we went to Castledermot instead (as the next bus from Balto- short name for Baltingalss, was only at 12pm), and got into the 11:15 am J.J. Kavanagh bus which would reach Dublin Eden Quay (EQ is one of the the bus stations near the Dublin Bridge) at 12:45pm. Before boarding the bus at Castledermot we bought a sandwich for my wife (Bacon, lettuce and tomato) from the cafe called 'Mad Hatter Cafe' located centrally at Castledermot Town near the traffic light- opposite Londis Supermarket and in front of the bus stop. A really convenient location because we can have a quick snack or coffee and then just cross the road to the bus stop without having to rush at all- God bless them!!

Divine Reminders in life!!

But- as I was about to order the 2nd sandwich, for me, with only 5 minutes before the bus arrived, you know those last minute kind of intuitions or revelations that strike you at certain crucial stages in your life, well...that something struck me and I asked the lady at the counter if they accept card payment (we didn't have time to take cash from the ATM). This lady was really nice and all smiles :)

"Sorry, we accept only cash and no card payment!"

O boy! Here we go again... we ransacked whatever pockets we had including the luggage pockets and were glad to find extra change just more than our bus fare and only enough to pay for one sandwich!......I was thinking as to what would have happened had the lady prepared two sandwiches and I give her the Laser Card...Thank God for timely reminders!! :) The kind lady suggested going to the ATM which was few minutes walk from the town, but that was too far away for that moment. She even said that we can ask for a cash back from the Supermarket outside the cafe, but again, there was no time for it.

Good Customer Service... :)

So we bought the sandwich and said bye to the lady who kept on apologising because they dont accept card payments. What an Angel! There really was no need to apologise and so we kept on thanking her for all her kind help and quickly went to the bus stop. Oh, and just as we were about to leave the cafe, I noticed a small card on the cash counter with some small words printed on it. I looked more closely just to make sure. It read...

'We do not accept cards. Sorry for the inconvenience!!!'

Hmmmmm......


Travel and Food- Tamil Style!!...Yummmmy.....mmmmm!!!

Anyway, we reached Galway safely and happily by God's grace. We stayed there for a few days. The stay was real fun!! We visited a couple of places in and out of Galway. There is a famous song called 'The Galway Girl' by Steve Earle and Sharon Shannon with a cover version by Mundy and Shannon. Though about a Galway girl, the song expresses Irish lifestyle and Irish music. Not only was this tour memorable but I also have some mouth watering memories- These two Tamilians (...the Balto dude from Coimbatore and the Galway guy from Vellore... ) are excellent Tamil Nadu cooks I have to tell you! Really, they made some exquisite dishes just for us! Delicious!! Chicken Biriyani, Vada, chutney, Tamil Nadu dishes like Lemon Rice and Thairu Saadam (Curd Rice), Egg Salad, Chicken Masala curry, Barbecue Chicken, Payar thoren (Green Gram stir fry), Gulab Jamun....mmmm....But I shall tell you more about their menu later on in the blog though. Gotta get on with Galway first...

About Galway...a small info

Galway (Gaillimh in Irish) the largest county in Connacht is now considered as one of the fastest growing city in Ireland. Another name for Galway is 'City of Galway ('Cathair na Gaillimhe' in Irish). As Galway is located on the west coast of Ireland, it is from the River Corrib (Corrib: Gaillimh in Irish) that the city has got it's name. A Galwegian is a person from Galway. Famous for it's colorful and lively lifestyle along with it's reknowned and vibrant celebrations and festivals, Galway has now earned the nickname 'Ireland's Cultural Heart (Croí Cultúrtha na hÉireannin' in Irish)!

The places we visited were:

1. Galway Bay
2. Salthill, Galway- the Sea Front!
3. The Spanish Arch, Galway
4. Ashford Castle
5. Boating in Lake Lough Corrib
6. Island of Inchagoill- Inis an Ghaill Chraibhthigh (Irish)- 'Island of the Devout Foreigner' where the nephew of St'Patrick was buried.
7. The Burren
8. Aillwee Cave ( with the remains of a bear's bones dated 100's of years old...)
9. and finally the Cliffs of Moher.