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Linda's niece, Heather, wed Paddy in a chapel in Muckalee on August 8th, 1998. We were among a large contingent of relatives and friends who came from the states to enjoy the wedding and reception. If you want to plan a vacation in Ireland you may want to surf over to TravelIreland.org. It has as complete a listing of accommodations and events as I've seen. These are some of the pictures of the rest of our vacation in the southwest corner of Ireland. Enjoy.
Ireland, August 6th - Spent the day driving through Limerick, Bunratty Castle to Kilkenny. Traffic nightmare again. We spent the afternoon at Bunratty Castle, well preserved, lots of thatched huts, the pungent scent of peat fires hung in the air. Had tea and scones, delicious apple pie in the tea room. Drove into Kilkenny to the visitor's center. Linda did it again, as we drove into town, she struck one of the iron rails with the Nissan's mirror. Luckily, I had the window open and the mirror fell into my lap, unbroken. We had struck the mirror of our VW Golf on one of the slate walls in England the year before last.
Kilkenny, Ireland, Danville House
Aug. 6-8, 1998
Learn about Kilkenny
August 7th - Last night, I joined the bachelor party for Patrick - Linda went to Heather's bachelorette at the male strip joint. Drank a pint and a half of Guinness stout with the guys, tried not to drink too much since I was designated driver. Talked to John Seyfried of Ohio, photographer who took 4X5" pictures of the art in the Oberlin College collection (second largest collection in the country). Showed him my digital camera and we talked cameras for an hour. He is getting into computers and needs to know what kind of equipment to buy. He may be surprised as to what he will need.
7:00 PM - I walked into Kilkenny today. Took the tour of the castle first thing - £3 for the one hour tour at 12 with a singing group from Quebec, all trying to outdo one another in song. A really impressive 1960s reconstruction of the Butler Family estate circa 1391. The Great Hall had 45 portraits hanging on the walls where it once had 200! I walked around town afterwards shopping for an adapter for their !!#$%&XX! 220 volt outlets. The one in Danville House worked, so I bought the same one in a little TV store. Walked back to Danville House, 2 km from town and got back by 3. Linda returned from decorating the church and reception hall at around 7PM. We are going to the rehearsal dinner tonight.
August 8th - Linda and I went with cousin Stacy and friend Kathy on the Kilkenny Tour Ride & Walk bus which originates at the front gate of Kilkenny Castle. In about an hour you learn all you ever wanted to know about Kilkenny. The castle, the asylum, the Budweiser brewery, St. Canise's (the town's name is from the Celtic Kill Canise) church, Catholic town, English town. Got back to the Danville house by 11AM so that we could get ready for the wedding at 2pm. Dizzying drive over country roads to St. Brendan's church in Muckalee county. The ladies had exhausted themselves decorating the church and the "marquee" (tent) at the Hogan farm. In front of the church door are to be found the graves of the Hogan family; the uppermost plot early 19th century, the one lower down late 19th century, lower yet early 20th century. The wedding took place a little after 2, flower girl strewing rose petals as she went. Sharon walked her daughter down the aisle. She received communion along with Patty. Farmhouse down the road after snapshots at the front of the church. Hills all around the church somewhat besmirched by the power lines dangling from poles along the road.
Kinsale, Scilly House B&B
Aug. 9th
Wonderful harbor on southern coast.
August 9th - We drove to Kinsale, which has a lovely harbor, crowded with tourists on a Sunday. We walked around town and visited Desmond castle, also known as the French prison. We had lunch (meal for the day) I had fish and chips; she had chicken. We had to scout around to find Scilly House. Walked all the way back to where we entered into the town. We should have made a left. Scilly is a peninsula in the harbor and on this is the quite homey Scilly House with extensive gardens and doves cooing this morning. We walked out along the harbor, a hike to be resumed tomorrow 7.94 miles. Our morning walk was along Scilly path to Charles Fort.
Beara Peninsula, The Cummeengeera Horseshoe
Aug. 10th
See Walker's Companion Ireland by David Herman
August 10th - Kinsale to the Beara Peninsula - There are not too many markers to help you find the Cummengeera Horseshoe. From R571 towards Lauragh, turn right and turn right again at the sign "Ring of Stones" and drive for 1 mile to a little yellow farmhouse. The road ends there. Walk along the path past the farmhouse with kids playing in front, through lush fields across a rushing brook. The hike culminates at Eskatarriff (1973 ft). A wonderland of bracken encrusted rock slabs roiling with mountain streams, not to be missed. You will find a description of this hike in the Walker's Companion Ireland by David Herman. Drove 25 kms to Kenmare. Found the visitor's center and got accommodations at the Ardmore House at £18 each. Not many vacancies after 3PM. Lovely town with vari-colored shops and houses. Visited laundromat £4.50; had chicken fingers at a restaurant.
Kenmare
to the Iveragh PeninsulaAug. 11th
Got our fill of smooth beach pebbles at Waterville.
August 11th - We awoke to rain this morning. Clearing up now at 7:30AM. Stopped at Waterville to fill up on beach pebbles, some of which now grace the pond in my courtyard. By 12:30 we were on Valentia Island at Glanleam House having tea with Meta Kreissig. We were to meet with Linda's sister Sharon and her husband Jim but we arrived early. Meta told us of a hike that we could take up around the grounds which I enjoyed alone. Linda had to stay behind to await her sister's arrival. I hiked past the legendary gardens along the coast of Valentia to the lighthouse across from Beginish Island. Had to negotiate a number of stone walls high enough to require finding ways to climb over them and avoid the barbed wire strung across them to keep the sheep in. Finally arrived after a steep climb at the Celtic cross on the hill for a fantastic view in all directions. Walked through the field down to the farmhouse where I had to climb over a rickety stile to get over the wire fence. I was glad it didn't collapse. Came in above the Tea House of the gardens, total distance about 3.56 miles. That evening Meta and her daughter Jessica offered to prepare supper for us since we were too tired to go back into town. Meta had promised us place (the local fish of the season) but had to apologize that the place was not good. We were presented with a salad of mixed greens, a fine bottle of wine, a creamy potato stew, and a smoked salmon pâté that was out of this world. This meal was satisfying enough for the hungriest among us.
Valentia Island
Aug. 12th
Scuba diving?
Of course, in the warm waters off Valentia!
August 12 - Hiked the gardens before breakfast with Linda and saw the last remaining cinnamon camphor tree surviving in Europe. Can't say enough about this summer home of the Knight's of Kerry. The gardens alone are worth the visit and are gratis to those who stay at Glanleam House. Said our byes to the relatives and were off to Killarney. We visited Ross Castle first which was too commercial and it was too windy for a boat ride on the lake. On to Muckross House where we took the tour (£3.50 for Linda and £2.70 for seniors, that's me). The Muckrosses had shot a lot of 10-12 point deer. We hiked back along the lake to the old abbey and returned along a road with lots of jaunting carts. Total distance was 8.91 miles. We stayed at the newly opened Jabel B&B near the Adare Village Hall.
Killarney, Teach Mhuire (B&B), Curragh, Aghadoe
Aug. 12th
Kerry Insight - a guide to the highlands and lake district of Ireland
Discover Ireland - County Kerry
August 13th - It was a rainy day and I set out to conquer Mt. Eagle on the Dingle Peninsula. Linda was not up to it as I had started the day by being cranky that she had been critical of my driving. I drove to the tip of the peninsula, seeing archeological sites on either side. In a recent TV show about the archaeology of the Dingle peninsula it was said that in its 220 square miles of area Dingle contains 2000 sites. I made it to the tip overlooking the sea. I was near to the start of the trail to Mt. Eagle but the teeming rain discouraged me from even considering a climb that day. Instead, I hiked over to the overlook where I took the picture of the rugged cliffs. To my left the water glowed aqua with the white sand beneath it. The wind there was brisk and a few steps forward and I would have plunged hundreds of feet down to the ocean. Heading back, I was to meet the oncoming full-sized buses laden with tourists. I can't believe that there was room for the bus and my little car to pass one another on those narrow roads. I had to snuggle the Nissan inches away from the cliffs and the mirror of the bus passed inches on the other side. It was on the way back from Dingle that I got some shots of the Stone Age beehive huts in the gray drizzle. That night we stayed at Thornhill on the Conor Pass Road with a view of Dingle Bay.
Dingle Peninsula
Stone Pages
Aug. 13th
Aug. 14th
A hike to Brandon Mountain
August 14th - The next day we were to attempt our pilgrimage to Mt. Brandon. Such pilgrimages date back to prehistoric times (even before 400AD) and celebrated the harvest festival of Lughansa, the victory of Lugh, the God of Light, over the power of darkness, Crom Dubh. The importance of the Brandon site is that the mountain is the last point in Europe to catch the light of the setting sun. It was at the summit that St. Brandon the navigator had his vision of an island to the west, and was encouraged to travel there. The written account of his journey across the North Atlantic, The Voyage of Saint Brendan, was to be translated into every European language and was a very popular book in medieval times. The idea that the voyage to Newfoundland could have taken place in the early Christian period was further enhanced when Tim Severin constructed an original style skin boat and successfully completed the journey in the early 1970's proving that 6th century monks could have reached America long before Columbus.
Our own pilgrimage began at the church in the village of Cloghnane. We began across from the local visitor's center which was not open yet when we arrived. We proceeded past the church through the fields above the town, with iris growing as far as we could see. On either side there were copses of fuchsia which was planted on the roadsides all over the southwest of Ireland and now are predominant. The rain became heavy and we were forced to return to the visitor's center which was now open. I have a brochure "Pilgrimage Trail to Mount Brendan" which is wrinkled from the rain that day. We drove over to Killarney and stayed at Teach Mhuire in Curragh, Aghadoe for the night.
Limerick
Aug. 14th
Jabel B&B, Adare
The end of a perfect vacation is a trip to
Shannon Airport
Discover Ireland (Interactive Travel Guide)
August 15th - Drove over to Shannon airport. They had their own stone henge, as I remember, that you could see right outside the gate.
