Upstairs Downstairs

A staggering statistic on the news yesterday was that over 2700 folk have died in June and July and their deaths have been attributed to the recent heatwaves across Europe and the UK.

We continue to enjoy very warm conditions and have concluded that a lot of the clothes we have brought from home will sit unworn in the suitcases as all we need is light clothing but the preponderance of what we brought over is anything but e.g. a winter scarf for God’s sake!

Last evening we tried a boxty for dinner, which is said to be a traditional Irish meal - nice but not spectacular

 Washing of clothes was a priority this morning so after getting the washing machine fired up we went down town to a supermarket, in fact 2 supermarkets Tesco & Dunnes to stock up and then to a cafe for a coffee before returning to the apartment, which sits at the top of High Street (the Main Street in town), and  getting the now washed clothes onto a drying rack.

It was then down to the basement and we got the Sportage out of its kennel and drove about 6kms out of the city to the Killarney National Park at Muckross.

The park is over 25,000 acres and the area we were in was very well populated as there were cars etc. filling most available spaces and the cafe/restaurant was doing a great trade as it was just on lunchtime.

After lunch we visited Muckross House, a grand residence completed in 1843 for the Herbert family who hosted Queen Victoria at the property in 1861, however by the end of the 19th century the Herbert family was bankrupt and the estate was purchased by a member of the Guinness brewing family. In 1911 it was sold to a wealthy American family who gave it as a wedding present to their daughter but after the daughter died in 1929 the desire to own the property waned and her husband presented it to the Irish Nation.

If you can visualise Downton Abbey or Bridgeton House you will also be seeing Muckross House

The tour through the house gave us a view of approximately 25 rooms

We then walked the 1.5kms through the estate to the ruins of the Abbey, a Franciscan friary founded in 1448. While it is roofless the majority of the walls are still intact.

We then walked back to the House area and visited the “Traditional Farm” but soon realised that we had paid good money to walk 2kms on a country road so when the complimentary mini bus came passed we jumped on board and got taken back to the entrance and we then took our leave of Muckross.

Tomorrow we are driving one of the iconic road trips of Europe - the Ring of Kerry, a 179km circuit from Killarney.

Stone the Crows

We have noticed throughout Ireland flocks of black birds wherever we have been and wondered whether they were a magpie, a raven, a crow or something else and today we were informed that they were crows

Left Midleton and headed for Killarney this morning with a planned stop at Blarney which turned out to be a highlight.

On Sherry’s trip with Jodi they stayed in Blarney at this hotel right in the heart of the village, Blarney being no more than a village

It maybe no more than a village but it does have a castle and surrounds well worth visiting, the castle sitting on top of a small hill and dominating the grounds

At the entrance there was a piper playing his tune of welcome and being tipped a pretty penny for doing so

There was a reasonable queue which we joined waiting to climb to the top of the castle and after around 20-30 minutes of slow climbing up through a winding and steep stairwell we stepped out into sunlight

and watched as some of the others before us achieved what they had come for - kiss the Blarney Stone.

To do so is not easy as you have to lie on your back and then bend backwards getting your head about 2-3 feet below your waist and then you can kiss the stone.

Some tried and achieved, others tried and didn’t get their head low enough to get to “the stone” and others just watched what was going on.

As I said it wasn’t easy but it was achieved

and thankfully there was staff on hand to help you back to an upright position and allow your breakfast to resettle back into your stomach!

From the ground you can look up and see the process from a different perspective 

In the photo above there are two bars on the outside of the wall and reading various pamphlets it seems that in yesteryears you hung over the wall to kiss the stone- if that was still the way to do it then there would have been one less attempt today.

There were other areas of the estate that were worth viewing 

Following a walk around the woollen mills outside of the estate we drove the approximate 80 kms to Killarney to end another enjoyable day.

Other Blarney photos 

Cork

 Our trip today was to Cork around 20kms from here. Arrived and parked the Sportage in the first carpark we came to in the central area but at €4.50 per hour or part thereof made a mental note to self that if the opportunity arises should move it somewhere else.

Cork isn’t the tidiest city or town that we have been to nor is it the prettiest.

Found the English Market, which is what we would call a typical French or Italian market, and strolled through it admiring the breads, cheeses, meats, vegetables etc. but with wallet firmly tucked away in the pocket.

Then it was onto the Tourist Information Centre to see what was on offer & found that there was very little  - a historical area and the Marina Market and as the market required use of the car it was just the excuse needed to get the car out of the car park so returned and paid the equivalent of $NZD17.80 for an hour and  a quarter parking and drove to the market.

The market is in a very industrial area (no marina in sight) and consisted of numerous food stalls set out in a very large warehouse. As it was now lunchtime we each chose a stuffed potato and took out another mortgage on the house to pay for them ($NZD69.50).

What we have noticed is that food and coffee is roughly the same cost in each country but set in the different currency e.g a coffee here €4.50 in NZD $4.50, a pub meal here €20, a food court meal in NZ $20.

After lunch we returned to the central area and reparked the car, this time in a more economical parking building, $NZD16 for 3 hours, and strolled to the historical area and found the site of the old Butter Exchange where firkins of butter were traded in the building now named The Firkin Crane, crane because the firkins were loaded by crane, with a firkin being the equivalent of 1/4 of a barrel or between 25-32kg

The exchange in its day was the largest butter market in the world.

There being nothing more to see we returned down to the city passing a church which was more like a Roman theatre or similar and started the drive home.

We continue to be blessed with hot weather and hope it continues for a couple more weeks.

Tomorrow we move out of Midleton and travel further west stopping at Blarney Castle en route.

Photos from Cobh

 

They Wouldn’t Would They?

We travelled to Cobh today a relatively short distance away.

We parked in the Cathedral car park and paid the parking fee (€12) online however on walking out of the parking lot there were clear signs - Display your ticket or you will be clamped - and it was then that I realised we had nothing to display so we left the car where it was and wondered whether we would get back later in the day and find we were clamped.

They wouldn’t would they?

Cobh (pronounced Cove) is built onto the slope of Great Island in Cork Harbour 15 miles from Cork. The towering St Colman’s Cathedral, French Gothic in style, stands at the top of the hill overlooking the tall brightly coloured buildings of Cobh and the dockside of the most important port of immigration in the country.

The port was called Queenstown, renamed following a visit from Queen Victoria in 1849, until it reverted back to its Irish name in 1922.

Cobh's long maritime history includes the world's first yacht club, the Royal Cork Yacht Club established in 1720, the first steamship to sail across the Atlantic, the Sirius, sailed from Cobh in 1838.

Cobh was the last port of call for the Titanic on her tragic maiden voyage and was where survivors of the Lusitania were brought after the ship was torpedoed by German U-Boats off the Old Head of Kinsale in 1915. 150 victims of the Lusitania are buried in graves in the Old Church just north of Cobh.

Yet what Cobh is most associated with is the mass exodus from Ireland during the 19th Century. Once called "the saddest place in all of Ireland", Cobh was the embarkation port of some 2.5 million Irish emigrants fleeing famine and poverty between 1848 and 1950. 

Though a town with a sorrowful past, Cobh is a vibrant hub of activity and interest. A quaint town of narrow streets, winding up steep hills, it has a number of old-fashioned pubs, seems to be a popular spot for sailing and there are harbour cruises around Haulbowline Island and the former prison of Spike Island.

It was Spike Island that we had chosen to visit today. A 15 minute (max) ferry across the harbour and we were on Spike, initially a monastery circa 635, then a prison from 1650s, a fortress from 1779, back to a prison in 1847, a military base in 1938 and back to a prison in 1985 to 2004.

We chose to walk the 2.4 km trail around the island which allowed us to see views of Cobh and also the harbour which was described as the second largest harbour in the world behind Sydney. 

After lunch we joined a guided tour but the tour leader while she gave details of the history of the island was very verbose and seemed to prefer to talk rather than guide so we left the tour and went and had a quick look at the museum, quick as our ferry was to depart in 20 minutes and we had to walk back down from the fort area to the wharf. 

We returned to the mainland, some 3.5 hours after we left it to find that the crowds had increased significantly and there were now musicians playing to the throngs.

It had a great atmosphere enhanced by the fact that the liner, Majestic Princess, was at dock being at its 2nd stop on a 9 stop, 12 day cruise around Great Britain and a goodly number of its 3000 passengers were on shore.

After walking through streets, listening to the musician we returned to the car wondering had they or hadn’t they and found thankfully they hadn’t.

A short drive back to Midleton ended a highly enjoyable day.

Significant IT issues today so have had to use a red font and with photos to follow 

 

 

 

 

The Long Way Round

 After thanking Paul, our host at Fethard we set off for Midleton via Dungavan.

Has anyone had the feeling that, even though you have set your GPS, you are going in the wrong direction?

Everytime we came to a corner where there was a signpost the signs indicated that we were getting closer and closer to Kilkenny which is inland whereas Dungarvan is a fishing town past Waterford. After around 30 of the suggested 55kms we expected to travel we decided to recheck the GPS by comparing it with Google Maps and in doing so discovered that there are two Dungarvans in Ireland, one in County Kilkenny which we were heading for and another in County Waterford which we wanted to head for!!!

With that knowledge we reset the GPS and found we were some 90kms away from our desired destination so what was supposed to be a 55km journey we had turned it into a 120 km tour.

Finally we arrived at Dungarvan, parked up and enjoyed the walk through the central city and found a pub that was serving Seafood Chowder for lunch.

After lunch we walked through the town and out to the harbour edge and strolled back around the harbour to our car and started the drive to Midleton and our accommodation for the next 3 nights.

No address was provided so we were relying on the EIRcode for the property which we put into the GPS - we were taken up roads in various states of repair, some no wider than the car and after about 15 minutes and 11 kms after leaving Midleton town the GPS announced we had arrived at our destination so we pulled into this large rural residence however it didn’t look like the photo of the property we had booked. I knocked on the door without a response and in desperation loaded the EIRcode into Google Maps which suggested we had 350m to drive so off we went and sure enough in 350m we turned into the drive of another large rural residence and found the key that gave us access.

After unpacking we drove back to a pub in Midleton for dinner and a walk through the town before safely traversing the lanes back to home.

It’s Not A Problem!

 Of the towns that we have visited in the area Kilkenny has been the pick of them as the city centre is more compact, there are some nice shop frontages to admire, it has a nice feel to it, it is bustling and it has the Castle so it is no surprise that we returned today and spent about 6 hours there.

Something we noticed were the quaintly named lanes or passageways running off the Main Street.

After lunch, in The Fig Tree, we visited the Castle which sits dramatically on a hill towards the top of the city area and looks over the River Nore.

The original castle was built by the Earl of Pembroke during the first decade of the 13th century and it later became the principal Irish residence of the powerful Butler family for almost 600 years.

The Butler ownership began when James, 3rd Earl of Ormond purchased the castle in c.1391 and lasted until 1967 when Arthur, 6th Marquess of Ormonde presented it to the people of Kilkenny in return for a token payment of £50.

The family sold almost all the content of the castle in a 10 day auction in 1935. The buildings have been in the care of the office of Public Works since 1969.

The visit allows you to walk through various rooms some of which were:

State Dining Room 

Tapestry Room

Library

Picture Gallery Wing

In the garden there was a fountain which if you were lucky might spray you with some cooling water - ever since we arrived in London we have enjoyed superb weather with temperatures around 22-28 and today was one of the 28s.

If we had an Euro for every time a shop/cafe/restaurant server said “it’s not a problem” to either us or someone in our earshot our trip would be paid for! The thing is that it is genuinely not a problem.

Tomorrow we move further west.