Dungarvin, Lismore and the Benedictine Abbey

Ireland 2007--Dungarvin, Lismore & the Benedictine Abbey

After Cashel, we went on to Dungarvin, a cute little coastal town in the south of Ireland. It was warm here and the accents on some people, like one fisherman, were very thick. We drove up to Bridie Dees, with its colourful front of black and red and had a drink. There was a little fireplace at the back with a pot of coal and a shovel to take the chill off. I don't even know if this place had any other type of heat but it was pleasant at this time of year. I believe we were on to Friday night by now, though I've lost track in this journey.

We asked the bartender if there were any B&Bs and he suggested a place two doors down. We called around a few places but they seemed to be a little more expensive and 40 Euros each was about our top limit. I couldn't find the place (because he'd given me the name of another one) so he walked me down the two doors. There were many many stairs as this was more like a small hotel above a pub. Any place that has a pub underneath is less personal and more hotelly in all.

I carted my sister's suitcase up the stairs so that it would minimize how many times her now sore knee would have to deal with them. I think we went back to Bridies and had another drink. I don't remember at all where we ate but we went to another pub. (is this where we met Dungarvin Dan?) There was this older farmer fellow (tweed jacket and cap, baggy worn corduroy trousers and wellies) in one place who was barely decipherable. He bought us a drink and talked about Irish hospitality, which was about all we could understand.

We then went to another pub that had live music and listened to a group called the Rogues. They were rather good and played some fast paced music, so that I couldn't stand it anymore and just got up and danced. Unfortunately they were out of CDs or I would have bought one.

The next day, Saturday we scooted out of Dungarvin, then went to Lismore but the castle is still occupied (and very spiff overlooking the river) so we couldn't go in. There was supposed to be an abbey but either the lads thought it closed or they thought we meant the Benedictine abbey which was down a winding road but not in Lismore. It was all right but not particularly old. The little winding roads can take a long while at times.

It was a pleasant and warm drive. Our next stop, Waterford.

Blarney Castle

It turns out my pictures are a bit in the wrong order. There was the day that included Limerick and King John's castle (getting there in the nick of time) and then driving to Blarney and finding we just had enough time to get to the castle. So Blarney was the end of our day and thenwe did Cashel the next day. I think.

Ireland 2007--Blarney Castle

The weather was so warm this day and we got there just before the sun was setting. They said, you have about a half hour for the castle but the grounds are open longer. The grounds were very peaceful and evocative. The castle itself was impressive for it height (destroyed in 1446 and never reconstructed from the looks of it. It was here that the Blarney Stone kissed me when I was snooping in dark and narrow passageways.

After the stars stopped spinning about me I went into the castle. There were only a couple of other people and at one point this guy yelled down, Are you going up or down? I said up and he said, hurry because I'm closing. So up and up and up and up I went. My sister had wandered off, having both a bum knee and a fear of heights, she couldn't have done Blarney.

I have to say the view was spectacular the the grounds exquisiste. I love some of the pictures from the top in my faves of Ireland. I didn't kiss the stone at the top, where you lay over this open grate to the grounds hundreds of feet below. I said to the guy, I hear the local lads do other things on the stone. He said not since he'd been there and since the grounds (and later the castle) were locked I could see that it's probably not done anymore.

A couple of women completed the ritual as I wandered and took pictures and started down. I didn't realize it but everyone had left except for the Blarney guy and me. He accidentally found me on the way down and said, you better hurry, I almost locked you in. So I trundled down and spent another 20 minutes on the grounds.

It was starting to get cold and dark and it was time to go. My sister might have thought I'd been locked in but I eventually found her outside the property gates. As we walked back to the car the Blarney guy drove by and beeped his horn, then turned around and went back the other way, beeping his horn at me again. Friendly fellow. We then drove on to Cashel and found a place to stay.

Limerick

I seem to have got myself out of order. Limerick was before Cashel and Blarney was after Limerick. I'll probably fudge the dates in a day or two to get these right. So without further ado, here's King John's Castle. We were in and out of Limerick in about two hours. The pictures (and the captions) speak for themselves.

Ireland 2007--King John's Castle

The Rock of Cashel

Cashel was a lovely town (I've now officially lost track of the days). The Rock of Cashel is the mound on which the castle is built. It's suffered some weather damage over the years from wind (parts blown down) and rain. It's a sprawling place and cold. It was a windy enough day there but we could see from all sides, overlooking the town or the country. I didn't do as well a job of editing these photos so there are a lot of pictures of fresco details and pillars.

Ireland 2007--Cashel

Viewing over the cemetery, the distant hills show a dip. We were told that the tale goes that one day the devil was walking along, in a foul mood and took a big bite out of the hills. That dip is called the Devil's Bite and when the devil spit out the chomp he took, it made the Rock of Cashel.

Brian Boru, and his grandson were some of the Munster kings that ruled from here. But his grandson gave the castle over to the Bishop of Limerick. The town itself was fairly small and we were hardpressed to find a place to eat that night, but ate at the Town Hall a higher end but very good restaurant.

We'd had a drink in one of local pubs earlier and many of the pubs in this area of Ireland have little hearths and some that burn coal still. We spent several hours at Cashel and then moved on to Limerick.

Delays, Death and Life

Unfortunately I hoped to get all of the pictures of Ireland up before the end of the year. But first my place was broken into and my camera stolen (I had it for all of four months). I did have all the Ireland photos uploaded so I didn't lose them but I did lose the Nikon D80 and two lenses.

The next week a good friend died and then it was the holidays. It's been a bit of a tumultous winter with everything. But I'm going to endeavour to get the pictures up and then on to other matters.

Bunratty Castle

After we left Ennis we made our way to Bunratty Castle, a huge tourist attraction in the town of Bunratty. They have a folk park set up with 19th century cottages. It was quite large and we actually didn't get through all of it as we were trying to make our way to Limerick afterwards.

Ireland 2007--Bunratty Castle

The castle itself was impressive for the work that's been done in restoring it. It was the most interesting for various rooms. After we left the castle, I looked at a map again and realized I'd missed a few rooms, although I was sure I'd gone through all for towers and the staircases, but it was a maze, probably done on purpose in case it was besieged.

Bunratty had their own mead but we didn't have time to stop at the meadery. Next time I'd alot more time to see this and the rest of the village. Some of the cottages has various wares to sell in them, whether food or woolens or other souvenir items.

Ennis

Ireland 2007--Ennis

Ennis is in the southwest of Ireland and we stayed the night after our long drive through the Burren. We found a little B&B a little farther out of the town center. All the Irish towns have the oldest buildings at the center and the newer more moderns ones the farther out you go. Rose cottage wasn't a cottage but had a small dining area as well as a pub downstairs and quite lovely and clean rooms upstairs. The food seemed kind of Americanized so we went into town and found one of few restaurants open. The food was extremely good, one of those higher end restaurants. Olddly I don't seem to remember the name of any of the places we ate.

After dinner my sister and I wandered up the street to a cute little pub. There were people playing inside but as opposed to an organized band they were more just jamming. A fiddler or two, I think one on bodhran but it was very low key and background. I don't even remember much about that pub.

The next day we wandered about the town which still has many medieval buildings. I think it was my favourite town for the looks and being just a pretty place. There were many interesting shops and I wouldn't have minded more time there. We found our way to the Ennis Friary by asking the Garda since we somehow couldn't find a street that went through and it turns out there is the old one, the ruins, and the new one which is still in use.

I believe this was the beginning of our second week. No on Thursday Oct. 4. The pictures all have captions that pretty much says the rest so I'll stop here except for saying when I go back I'm going to spend more time in this town.