Ireland Day 6

Sunday April 4
Happy Easter, everyone! Our Easter present to you is the blog update for St Patrick's Day in Killarney! Who knew it was going to be so challenging finding the time + internet access to keep this going?! Working on the next installments in the background. The new plan is to write a description of activities, followed by the photos. That should speed things up somewhat, but photo selection, cropping and reduction to web size still takes some time, too - since we take 100 - 200 photos apiece most days. And then we have to figure out "now, which temple was that where I took that one?" Or what city we were in, for that matter, now that we have covered about 6 cities since we left Ireland!

Wednesday March 17

St Patrick's Day in Killarney, Co. Kerry, one of Ireland's most popular tourist spots. Today is a national holiday in Ireland, and about half the people we see are "wearing the green." There's a big St Paddy's Day parade this afternoon, but first we're traveling south of the city to explore Killarney National Park, the "Lakes of Killarney" and the Gap of Dunloe.


There are three Lakes of Killarney; Upper Lake, Muckross Lake and Lough Leane; we saw the latter two. We enter the grounds of the Muckross Estate on the shores of Lough (Lake) Leane. In the parking area are half a dozen "jaunting cars," called Kiljarvies - horse carriages available for hire through the park. The house and gardens are lovely, even though the rhododendrons and roses are not yet in bloom.













Driving deeper into Killarney National Park, we stop to take a short hike through the oak forest along an incredibly green moss-lined stream to Torc Waterfall. This is leprechaun territory, and Bob swears he saw one!












After another couple of stops to look down on the valleys and lakes below, we follow the road down into Black Valley, so called because it was the last part of Ireland to be electrified (1960s).
There are a few homes down here, but the floor of the valley is basically one big peat bog. Shane informs us that 10-15% of Ireland is actually bog land. Peat moss is a major export product, and throughout Ireland compressed bricks of peat are used as fuel.

The road curves up toward the Gap of Dunloe, where there's a great view down on several small lakes (rain notwithstanding) at - and on the other side of - the saddle between two valleys.














We head back to town and grab a bite at Laurel's, a pub along the parade route, just before the parade starts. Photo taken inside Laurel's beneath "Happy St Patrick's Day" sign is of Shane, our driver/guide.
















The parade-watchers were at least as interesting as the parade itself!

Ireland Day 5

This one still needs some work, but we've run out of time. As you can see by the posting date, we're off to London tomorrow, and we're only half way through posting Ireland! We'll keep trying to catch up, but I'm getting less optimistic!

Tuesday March 16

Another beautiful day in Ireland – but very blustery! We are still on the west coast, working our way south.

Unknown tower outside of Doolin, County Clare







Leaving Doolin, we reach the Cliffs of Moher in about 10 minutes. We brave the wind and the spiral staircase of the lookout building to take photos, but hurry back to the warmth of a mocha at the underground visitor center!

Continuing southward, we pass a grotto to St Bridget, the female patron saint of Ireland. Our driver, Kevin, tells us about recent miracles attributed to her – she’s like the Irish version of St Bernadette in Lourdes.


Nearby is the seaside resort of Lahinch, where we come across a pair of local surfers just out of the water. The surface temperature of the ocean here is 40 degrees!









We cross the Shannon River, entering County Limerick. The city of Limerick – birthplace of Frank McCourt, who wrote Angela’s Ashes – is just a few miles up the river, but we’re not going there. Our destination is Adare, “Ireland’s prettiest village,” according to Eyewitness Travel Ireland. At the Adare Manor Golf Club we meet our new driver, Kevin’s son, Shane, who is also Ireland Chauffeur Travel’s Managing Director.

Listening to “The Rose of Tralee,” – She was lovely and fair as the rose of the summer, yet ‘twas not her beauty alone that won me, Oh, no! “Twas the truth in her eye ever beaming that made me love Mary, the Rose of Tralee – Shane tells us about the annual festival to select that year’s Rose of Tralee – based more on personality and “Irishness” than beauty!

We are now in County Kerry – home of Kerrygold, that delicious Irish butter. This part of County Kerry, along with the counties of W. Tiperrary, Limerick and N. Cork, comprise what is known as the “Golden Vale,” Ireland’s richest pastureland. Just beyond Tralee is the Blennerville windmill, built in 1800 and now part of a visitor complex and craft center.

It’s a rainy day, but we are determined to visit the Dingle Peninsula, which, according to our guide, was once voted by National Geographic photographers as the most beautiful place in the world. Shane points out Mt Brandon and Brandon Bay, named for St Brandon the Navigator, who is said to have sailed to the New World – in the 6th century – in a boat made of leather.

[Darn it! Don't know how to get rid of the underlining. This is NOT Word!]

We cross over Conor Pass, at 1300 ft., the highest pass in Ireland, on a narrow, twisting road and reach the town of Dingle, or “Daingean Uí Chúis.” This is Gaeltacht area – the locals speak Irish Gaelic. The sign on the rock declares that Dingle and Santa Barbara are sister cities.

And the sign on the door about "Dick Macks" is on a pub that sits opposite a church - a normal situation in every town, and one the Irish find quite appropriate!

We explore Dingle and even find the post office – buried behind a supermarket next to a hardware store – and mail Katie’s birthday present.

We venture out to Ballyferriter and enjoy a warm beverage at Kruger’s Pub, the westernmost pub in Europe.

Our last stop on the Dingle Peninsula is the Gallarus Oratory, an early Christian church built some time between the 6th and 9th centuries using a technique called dry stone corbelling.













At last we reach Killarney, where we will stay for the next two nights. Our hotel is called the Killarney Royal, and our room lives up to the name!