A Sly Fox

 We set off this morning to the Hook Peninsula stopping at Carrick-on-Sur for morning tea.

Outside the cafe was a plaque honouring the exploits of Sean Kelly, one of the worlds greatest road cyclists who had many successes (193) in the Classic Tours during the 1980s and who hails from this area

We choose the drive to Passage East, ferry to Ballyhack and then the drive to the peninsula route rather than the drive all the way around the top of the harbour route which saves about 20 minutes each way

The purpose of the trip was to see the Hook Lighthouse, the oldest operational lighthouse in the world and which has been protecting mariners along this portion of the Irish coast since the 5th century.

The area was inhabited by missionaries from the 5th century and they lit a fire on the headland to warn the ships and in the 12th century the lighthouse was built and the “light” was from the burning of coal at the top of the lighthouse. Imagine carrying coal up 4 stories of steep stairs in a narrow stairwell all through the night to keep the fire burning!

The light can be seen from 25kms away even though it is a 75w LED bulb due to use of a modern version of a Fresnel lens 

The views from the top of the tower across the harbour and also the flat lands of the peninsula are superb particularly on the clear warm (apart from the cold wind) day we had today

Leaving the lighthouse behind we drove back to Ballyhack, caught the ferry and then drove to Waterford home of Waterford Crystal and a town Sherry had stayed at last year on her whistle stop trip with Jodi.

She showed me some of the things that had caught her eye and we had dinner in a pub that had treated her royally when she dined there alone on that trip.

There is a superb clock museum in Waterford, Irish Museum of Time, which houses over 600 clocks/watches of different ages and styles and in March this year it extended its offering by displaying over 400 cuckoo clocks it had purchased for £1m in 2024.

What, to me, is special about the museum is that the pieces, prior to the cuckoos being added, were mainly donated or leant by a small group of enthusiasts. I believe that if the exhibition was professionally valued the outcome could be eye watering!

The downside to the day was it took 30 minutes to drive 400m while exiting Waterford to get home - bloody road works.

Got back to our accommodation around 8.20 to be greeted by a Fox drinking out of a container on the back lawn!

It’s a Long Way to Tipperary …

 …from New Zealand but just 22kms from Fethard so we made it our first stop this morning.

In truth Tipperary is better in the song than in the flesh as it was a rather drab place at least along the main street where we walked.

Though there was a colourful barrel of flowers on one corner

We then drove to Clonmel, the largest town in County Tipperary, approximately 20kms south east of Tipperary arriving around midday.

Clonmel is relatively typical of the towns that we have seen so far being dominated by a church and in this case also by a river.

The river Suir flows along the southern edge of the town

while the church is more in the centre of the town

At the time we visited, around 1pm, there was a mass in progress being attended by a handful.

The gent at the Tourist Information kiosk had suggested that a trip to St Patrick’s Well just outside the town was worth visiting.

The following was found on Google:

St Patrick’s Well is situated in a tranquil valley to the west of Clonmel, close to the village of Marlfield in County Tipperary. It is a picturesque setting for this holy site, which has been revered for centuries. There are over 3,000 holy wells in Ireland and St Patrick’s Well is thought to be one of the largest. Holy wells are sacred places where natural springs or man-made hollows that collect water are thought to have a religious significance because of their association with a saint. Many are thought to have been originally places of pre-Christian worship and tradition which were then co-opted as Christian sites following the conversion of the local population.

Legend has it that St Patrick stopped off at this valley on his journey through South Tipperary and Waterford where he reputedly converted the King of Munster to Christianity at the Rock of Cashel. St Patrick was said to have stopped here to bathe and baptise local people. Unfortunately, however, it is unlikely that Patrick was ever in this part of Ireland, as he does not mention travelling to the south of the country in his writings Confessio or Epistola. In fact, the story of Patrick’s journey in Munster comes from a source written nearly 500 years after Patrick’s death, the 10th-century Life of St Declan. Despite this, St Patrick’s association with the well is still strong today.

The well has been enclosed by a circular wall. The natural water which bubbles up is channeled through two narrow stone cut openings that appear to be possible flumes from an early medieval mill. The water descends into a large, shallow pool, from where it flows into a narrow stream, a tributary of the River Suir, which flows nearby to the south of the site.

A small sandstone cross stands on a small island in the pool, and this is probably one of the oldest visible archaeological features at St Patrick’s Well. This cross is thought to date to the 8th century. It was originally positioned close to the church on marshy ground, but a programme of renovation and reconstruction was carried out at this site in the 1960s and the cross was moved to its current position.

The roofless ruin of the stone church is likely to date to the 15th or 16th century. There is a historical record of the Abbot of Inishlounaght being buried at the church in 1617. Inislounaght was once a thriving Cistercian abbey that was founded in the 12th century nearby at Marlfield, but there are no traces left of it today. However, some architectural fragments may have been brought from the abbey to St Patrick’s Well and incorporated into the parish church. Within the church you can see some architectural fragments and an altar tomb dating from 1622, dedicated to the White family.

The 5th century stone cross with the 15th century church behind

The stone cross

The actual well

Looking into the remains of the Church

We then drove to Cashel, the town we visited for dinner last night to have a look at the Rock of Cashel which is one of Ireland’s most spectacular archeological sites. Over the centuries there have been numerous religious as well as royal “events” happening on this site, one of the earliest being in 978 when Brian Boru was crowned here as High King of Ireland

A question: If Ireland is the agricultural country that it is reputed to be how is it that for dinner tonight we purchased broccolini sourced from Spain and potatoes sourced from Egypt? Is it sacrilege for Ireland, renowned for its love of potatoes, to import them - just asking for a friend!

Avoca to Avoca and Beyond

After having breakfast with 2 Chilean ladies, one who lives in Germany and her sister who lives in Argentina, and a French woman from Marseille, and thanking Jack for his hospitality we left Dublin.

Breakfast in a guest house has always been a highlight as you get to meet other travellers from all over the world and share stories with each other.

As for Jack you couldn’t hope to meet a nicer guy and his guesthouse is one of the nicest we have stayed in anywhere in Europe - it’s an 11 out of 10!

Luckily the vehicle has inbuilt GPS, so we could ditch our fallback option of following AA travel routes that I meticulously put together before leaving, however that didn’t stop us getting into a wrong lane and having to circle the block or get ourselves on some very narrow backroads but nevertheless after a 302km drive we have arrived at Blath Cottage near Fethard which we can call home for the next 4 nights.

En route we first stopped at Glendalough the site of a now derelict monastery dating from the 6th century 

However there is an intact “Round Tower” which rises above the area built between the 9th and 12th century 

Don’t recall it being on a lean so just the angle that I had the camera on

It is a very picturesque environment in the Wicklow mountains 

Leaving there we moved onto the Avoca Handweaving mills at Avoca, a site Sherry had visited when she was in Ireland last year with Jodi. Another beautifully laid out site with the cafe and shop in one building and the actual mill in another

Moving further south west we stopped in the medieval town of Kilkenny which has an intact castle but other than a stop for coffee and also the purchase of some groceries we didn’t spend too much time there as we have planned a return trip in a few days.

With the time getting on to 4.30 we drove to Fethard and met our hostess, Selina, who gave us some advice of what is in the local area. 

We are in a very rural and horsey part of Ireland with the headquarters of one of the world’s largest breeding operation of thoroughbred horses, Coolmore Stud just 500m down the road.

Having spent sometime talking with Selina we then drove about 30kms to Cashel, a rather nice village for dinner at one of the recommended pubs and a place we might visit again some time during our stay in this area. We were taken however by the gorgeous Cashel Palace Hotel a building erected in 1732 as the home of the Church of Ireland’s Archbishop and which was converted into a luxury hotel and spa in 1962 but was closed from 2014 to 2022 when it reopened following restoration 

Dublin Wrapped

 Our last day in Dublin started off cloudy and cool but finished clear and warm, though our excellent host Jack would call it hot.

As we needed to get back to the airport by 3pm to pick up our car for the rest of the holiday we only had until 1.30 to complete our tour of this engaging city so relatively early we set off for Phoenix Park one of Europe’s largest designed urban spaces some 4 kms or so away.

The Wellington Testimonial, a 62m granite obelisk dominates the area of the park we explored. It was constructed from 1815 - 1865 and is a testimonial to Arthur Wellesley, the then Duke of Wellington

This is a statue of Sean Heuston an Irish Republican who took part in the Easter  Rising of 1916 and was executed for his troubles the same year.

Leaving the park we continued on to the city centre, stopping for a coffee in a cafe where we watched a gent pour at least 5 sachets of sugar into his coffee. We joked with him about that and he said also jokingly he wasn’t satisfied until his spoon stood up straight in the cup!

Crowds of tourists were in the vicinity of the Temple Bar taking photos (as did we again, this time of the references to those after whom the area was named)

The story of William Temple is fascinating and can be read at https://thetemplebarpub.com/history/the-amazing-story-of-sir-william-temple/

After lunch we walked back to our accommodation, picked up the documents for picking up the rental car and took the bus to the airport and drove away with a Kia Sportage Hybrid.

It was only when we were back at the BnB I realised it was a PHEV and that at the handover no mention was made of the charging process or where the lead was etc. so will need to consult a manual tomorrow.

By now it was 5pm so we walked into the city for the last time to have a meal in one of the many lively pubs which soon filled up as the music played 

After dinner we had one last stroll through downtown Dublin saying our goodbyes and then caught the bus back to Drumcondra and our accommodation.

Having walked 18.9kms today in very nice weather I think sleep will come easy tonight and hopefully we will be fresh enough in the morning to start our planned journey around the rest of Ireland.

Virginity Lost

 Reasonably early start, walking to a bus stop 25 minutes away so that we could catch the H3 to Howth Summit though ended up catching the #6 to Howth Village as it came along first and standing in the cool breeze wasn’t pleasant.

There were some rather stately homes along Howth Rd which were worthy of being photographed if the bus was moving slower.

The trip was about 35 minutes (approximately 15kms) and like all public transport in and around Dublin the cost was €2 and if we had used more public transport within 90 minutes of our initial tag-on there would be no further charge.

As the route went past Howth Summit before getting to the village we decide to get off there and walk the path across the cliff top to the village, taking in the views

The 3 to 4km walk brought us back to Howth Village which is a rather pleasant fishing village on a peninsula north east of Dublin

and as well as many tourists there were 2 seals watching the passers-by from their watery home

A nice seafood chowder for lunch followed by a walk past other restaurants on the pier and it was back to the train station to get our €2 ride back into the city alighting at Connolly Station

Just like yesterday there were hoards of people in their team colours - Green for Limerick and Yellow for Clare - and it was again obvious that there was a significant game in town again today.

Our research had shown that it was the semi-final of the All Ireland Hurling competition at the famed Croke Park and we were going as well!

I had had numerous conversations in the past with my old golfing buddy John from Belfast as he used to play hurling to a good standard (or so he told me) but had never seen it played and this was too good an opportunity to miss.

A quick coffee in the city and we then joined the throngs walking the 30 minutes or so to the ground - there was that sense of excitement all around us and we soaked the atmosphere in.

Our seats were in the upper deck behind one of the goals, the teams were warming up and the crowd were cheering and singing.

National anthem done we sat back and watched trying to understand the rules (are there any) as the game progressed. We were treated to an exciting and close game, Limerick coming from behind in the last couple of minutes to pip Clare by 2 points in what the Irish Independent called an epic semi-final

Not sure how John survived such a rough game.

The continuous movement and the skill of the players shooting 1 pointers from over halfway coupled with the crowd involvement had us fully invested in the game.

Now that our “cherries have been popped”, so to speak,  I’d love to see more games of hurling, particularly of this quality.

Walked the 2 or 3ks from the ground to the pub at the end of the street where our accommodation is located along with many of the 56,892 crowd which had spread out over the road halting all traffic.

Managed to get a table, many didn’t and ended out in the street, and enjoyed a traditional pub Sunday carvery 

Another day in paradise comes to an end