Frustration

 Packed up in Killarney this morning so we could move to Bunratty but a few frustrations were placed in front of us.

First the reception at our Killarney apartment wasn’t staffed until 9am, then about 5kms out of Killarney we were caught in a traffic jam and travelled about 800m in around 30 minutes, the jam being caused by one lane of the 2 lane highway being closed due to an event which required 3 fire engines to be in attendance and en route there were a couple more minor traffic delays.

We stopped at Castleisland mid morning and as we walked up the street noticed a few plaques memorialising a local sportswriter, Con Houlihan, who had a way of describing things

another I saw read, “if a man who will misuse an apostrophe he is capable of anything”

We then moved onto Adare, a very busy village as traffic crawls through it en route to Limerick and places beyond. One can only imagine the chaos that will ensure in September next year when the Ryder Cup will be held at the Adare Manor Golf Course which is no more than 400m out of the village

The village also is home to the only Trinitarian monastery known in Ireland, it being constructed in the 12th century.

There are also a row of 1820 thatched cottages along the main road, originally built to house workers on the Dunraven estate

After a reasonably good look through the village we moved onto our accommodation for the next two days in another large rural residence which provides plenty of room and a nice view out over the River Shannon

In our driving around Kerry yesterday and to Bunratty today we have been in Counties Kerry and Limerick and there are flags flying from a lot of houses in both Counties supporting the players who are in the hurling final (Limerick) on Sunday and Gaelic football final (Kerry) next Sunday

Wild it wasn’t: Spectacular it was!

 Outside our apartment is a large mural on the side of the building depicting Monsignor Hugh O’Flaherty a local who was responsible for saving the lives in Rome of over 6500 allied POWs and civilians in the 2nd World War

We left around 8am to drive the Ring of Kerry arriving first at the Torc waterfall which is located in the Killarney National Park - as buses are mandated to go in the counter clockwise direction so that two buses don’t meet each other on one of the very narrow roads, private vehicles tend to go clockwise (as we did) so that your view is not the rear of a bus slowly wending its way

If you intend to get around the Ring in a day you can’t spend too much time at each sight or for that matter stop at each recommended sight so we moved on promptly to the Ladies View which was slightly uninspiring given we had just driven on a winding road alongside a lake which was stunning but there was nowhere to stop to take a photo 

Further on after climbing up several hundred metres there was the Moll’s Gap -again slightly uninspiring and that opinion was held by one of the sheep high on the hill overlooking the Gap who had turned his/her back on it!

From there it was downhill to a delightful village, Kenmare, where we stopped both for morning tea in a quaint roadside cafe and a walk to stretch our legs

On we went to our next stop in Sneem, a village which sits on the estuary of the River Sneem. Standing on the bridge entering the town the rocky floor of the river below is interesting 

As we moved further southwest we travelled along the coast road with “grand” (a term heard frequently here) views of the mouth of the Kenmare River as it joined the North Atlantic Ocean and stopped at a viewpoint near Castlecove

and again at Farraniaragh

Then it was on to Waterville for a lunch stop and again good views of the coast and Charlie Chaplin 

The Ring of Kerry then cuts inland though you can continue on the coast road on what is called the Wild Atlantic Way which loops around the Skellig area - as we only had one chance at doing so we took the loop to more spectacular views particularly the Kerry Cliffs where the viewpoint is accessed through private land

Now driving northeast we rejoined the Ring of Kerry just before Cahersiveen - from here to Killorglin the Wild Atlantic Way and The Ring of Kerry are one and the same.

We stopped at Cahersiveen for afternoon tea and witnessed an interesting encounter between a woman and a religious gent whose attire indicated he was a Greek or Russian Orthodox priest. It was obvious she didn’t know him but she insisted she treated him to a drink in the cafe; he reluctantly chose a bottled of water. As by now they were inside the cafe she further insisted that he blessed both herself and the lady running the cafe; he did so without hesitation. She then got her phone out, rang her sister, handed him the phone and asked that he speaks to and blesses her sister; he had no hesitation in taking the phone and did so. Then her friend came into the cafe and sat at a table near where he and her were standing talking and she told her friend to stand and get blessed; no problem there either. The religious gent then took his leave.

What was obvious throughout the interaction was that each person’s faith was immaterial, it was the fact that a “man of God” was in her presence and she was going get as many brownies points for herself and others as she could, all done with great respect.

We had one more stop before heading back to Killarney, Rossbeigh Beach, a 2km detour off the route. The parking area was very full so it is obviously a beach well frequented but while we would swim there on a very hot day to cool off if necessary the rocks and pebble shore is not what we are used to.

We then returned to Killarney arriving back almost 9 hours and 212 kms after we left this morning.

It was a thoroughly enjoyable day with some quite stunning Irish inland and coastal views - well worth making the effort!

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