Monday 1st October (Mum and Dad's 50th wedding anniversary)
Monday morning – did I see a little bit of sunshine out
there? No, my mistake. Off to breakfast
– we were the first up at 8.30 – b’fast was traditional Irish plus home
baked brown and walnut bread - yummy.
Overall rating? Although building itself wasn’t as flash as Wicklow,
hospitality was great - did our washing and brought Peter a beer - just being nice. Down side was walls were paper thin - we were directly underneath a first floor bathroom and the floor was anything but
sound proof – enough said. Noelenne and
husband Pat were lovely. Peter watched the majority of the Ireland vs France
rugby with Pat and son-in-law. Quote from Pat when Ireland scored the first try, “Thanks Be to God”. So
natural.
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| Dominican Black Abbey, Kilkenny |
First stop was Kilkenny. We drove around not quite sure what
we’d find and came across the Dominican Black Abbey which was founded in 1225! . It is still used for regular masses (three on Sundays) even
though there is a large Catholic Cathedral two blocks away. We caught the tail
end of Sunday mass in the Cathedral and it was packed. This statue of St
Dominic was in the grounds of the Abbey and I had to take a photo for Dominic.
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| St Dominic |
We then went on to Kilkenny Castle, our very first castle in
Ireland. Although there was no tour, we
were given a fact sheet and each room had a guide who was happy to provide
information on that particular room. I think they must have all been historians
as they were so passionate about the castle’s history. The work that has been
done since the mid 1990’s in restoring some of the rooms is amazing.
Unfortunately we weren’t permitted to take any photos inside. Here are a couple
of the outside.
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| Kilkenny Castle |
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| Kilkenny Castle Fountain |
From Kilkenny we drove to Cashel. A lovely little village
which is famous for the Rock of Cashel, ruins of a round tower (c.1100) and
chapel and cathedral (c. 1200s). The buildings sit on top of a small hill which
overlooks the village and surrounding meadows.
Again, one of the highlights was our tour guide, Mary, who was very
entertaining and informative – a real character (must go with the name!!)
Speaking of which, I hadn’t really realised just how many Marys I would come
across in Ireland.
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| Rock of Cashell |
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| View from Rock of Cashel (name??) |
It was 4.30pm and the sun had just come out so we decided to
drive onto Tipperary. It became obvious there were races (or something similar)
as there were cars everywhere, particularly around the B & Bs so we agreed
we should go onto the next town. The drive was spectacular with the sun shining
down on the meadows of emerald green. We came across a town, Mitchellstown , and booked
into the first B & B we came to. The host’s name? Mary! Our room overlooks meadows and hills and was quite tiny – but not as tiny as our shower. Luckily us McClenaghans can fit
into nearly any shower but I’ll be warning the Shaws to check the shower before
checking into B & Bs!
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| Mitchellstown B & B |
On Mary’s advice we had dinner the Hunter’s Rest pub. It was
quite a large pub for a little village and it was packed! Sunday night is
obviously a social night in villages. In fact, the main street, which had
about five or six pubs in it, was very busy. As the population is smaller than
Uralla, I don’t know where all the people came from. Anyway, Peter had chicken
chasseur which he said was delicious, while I had chicken wraps (should have
stuck to my original choice of a burger).
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| Mitchellstown to Kinsale (via Cork) |
Choice for breakfast was the best yet, although the size of
the orange juice glasses reminded me of a thimble, the muesli and scrambled
eggs were yummy. Each breakfast is always served with toast and slices of
untoasted heavy brown bread.
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| Charles Fort, Kinsale |
We arrived in Kinsale around lunch time - what a gorgeous little town. Tiny, narrow, windy streets (impossible to follow a map). We have booked into The Old Presbytery. Kinsale is a bit of a foodie's haven (gourmet festival is being held next weekend).
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| Kinsale Harbour |
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| Peter heading for the best pub we've visited |
Have to say this country was designed for car travel at about 80 km and no faster.
Richard and Joy Kirby should confirm that narrow country lanes, tractor drivers, mad bastard local drivers, and rain do not make driving easy. But, way to go. Avoid the major roads as much as possible.
Our photos do not do Ireland justice. Like New Zealand, every turn and every hill reveals so much beauty.
OK.
Must finish my glass of (OK) French Red..
Fantastic trip so far. My thanks to Child Bride and QANTAS!!!!!
Peter
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| Mary sunbaking - Kinsale style |
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