Killorglin

Picked up the car from Cork airport and drove to Killorglin our next stop for a week. When we arrived we found a food festival underway in the market square and we made our way to the cottage. This was situated approx 4 ks from the town with farms around residential homes. We were lucky to catch the final match Wimbleton tennis and enjoyed seeing Andy Murray win. On the Sunday we went into town to listen to some jazz music and enjoy the food festival atmosphere. Killorglin is home to the Puck Fair which is held every August and apparently over 25,000 attend which is hard to believe given the size of the town. Believe it or not the fair starts with the crowning of a male goat as King of the fair and this year will be their 400th anniversary. 

There is so much to see in this beautiful part of Ireland. The weather is way above the norm even for summer with highs at 30c and as no one has any air con nor do we have it in the car we are finding it very warm. Walked into town which took about an hour to have a beer and listen to some Trad music one night, it was a great atmosphere as musicians kept arriving to join in on the act. 

Visited Killarney and toured Ross castle with a guide. The castle is a tower castle which sits on a lake and you can get their from the town by horse and cart. We walked back via Killarney National Park. 

A full day was spent driving the Dingal peninsular. The landscape is stunning with great views over the sea from the cliffs. One section was advertised as the location for the movie Ryan's Daughter. We ate our picnic lunch looking over the sea, just amazing. We stopped on the way to Slea Head to visit the historical and original Irish Famine Cottages. We have leant a lot about the way the Irish people were treated by the English and how when the famine hit Irelands food continued to be sent to England even though they had enough. The population fell during this 5 year period in 1845 by over two million as a result of death or emigration caused by the famine. We also got to see inside a Beehive Hut which were houses used in ancient times but later were used for housing pigs. Just down the road was the Dunbeg Fort built on a sheer cliff dating back to 8th century AD. 

Because it was so hot we took a swim in the sea just after Inch Point. Driving past Inch Point we were surprised to see rows of cars on the beach. Apparently people drive their cars on the sand and set up for the day. We never dreamed we would be swimming in Ireland. 

The next big drive was completing the Ring of Kerry. Our first stop was to the Kerry Bog Village which displays a number of buildings with ceilings made from Peat (bog) which helps to insulate the houses and for fuel. It was interesting to see the different houses depending on the occupation of the males. 

On our last two days a neighbouring farmer decided to place his baby cows in the paddock right next to our cottage. The cows had been inside a barn and found it upsetting to be out in the paddock so mooed all night and day. Very annoying. 

The Ring of Kerry takes you through a number of towns and the prettiest one was Kenmare. We discovered the town would host a  food festival the following weekend so we decided to visit on the Friday night before we left for Galway. We witnessed a parade and had a lovely meal in a local pub and watch entertainment on the stage in the park. A nice way to finish off our time in Kerry County. 

Cork

A 3 hour trip with no stops for toilet breaks brought us into Cork. The scenery was beautiful with lush green hills and animals grazing peacefully. 

Our accommodation this time was a B & B next to the Cork University. We had the top room again and the bed was under a slanted ceiling so I had to watch out when I got out that I didn't bump my head. We found our way around very easily but with only 2 days here we knew we could see everything. Lots of pubs where we listeners to live music and we got to see the semi finals of the Wimbledon tennis. It was exciting to see it live and feel the excitement of the people around us.  

Visited the University which was really nice and I felt like enrolling in some study just to enjoy the peaceful feeling of the gardens. We got to see two art exhibitions in one of the buildings. The first one was called Lost Boys and used different mediums to explore male adolescence, the other was The Artist's Eye and it was photos of different artists in their working and home environments. 

While we were in Cork Cliff insisted on taking my camera into a camera shop for the third time to see if anything could be done about the lines showing up in photos. Well he was right to try again as the guy said he thought it could be fix by blowing air into the lens using high pressure. Well it did the trick and now I don't have to get a new one. 

We headed off to Cork International airport to pick up our car we have hired for the rest of our time in Ireland. 

Kilkenny - Ireland

After a 2hour bus ride through scenic green landscape we arrived in Kilkenny. This town boasts a castle and a million pubs, most featuring live music at night and of course Kilkenny beer. Yes Joanne I did try a glass which wasn't too bad. The people are very friendly and particular those working in a craft village set up for local artists. We chatted to a lovely women who was working on a project to bring young and older people together using knitting as the medium. We also spoke to a guy working with silver who was happy to explain the process for making jewellery and other items in silver. In the front building they had an art exhibition on that featured 20 designers displaying and photographed with an object of design that they found meant something to them and that they liked the way it was useful or well designed. The objects were next to the photo taken of them with the object. One chose a chair that was comfortable to sit on and well made, another was a tray carved out of a piece of wood and they loved the shape and the lines. Their was a story attached to each one and it was one of the most interesting exhibitions I had seen in a long time.  Behind the workshops was an old house and garden which used to house the Butler family. The house was closed but we could walk around he gardens. 

Our hotel was a bit out of the town but we walked the 30 minutes in and out each day sometimes twice a day. I have to work off the beer and the Irish Stew and lovely cakes that I had been eating. 

The hotel is run by a husband and wife and I would say it is the closest we have come to a Faulty Towers episode. The Manager was okay with us but we heard him telling a couple who were questioning the price of a room to go away as he wouldn't be happy and they wouldn't either. He also kicked out a guy when two girls tried to sneak him into their room. I was very funny for us to watch.

We visited the Kilkenny castle built in 1146 by an Earl and was sold to the people of Kilkenny in 1935 for £50 and is now in the care of the Office of Public Works. Beautifully gardens surround the palace with a rose garden out the front and a large grassed acreage behind where people can walk their dogs and picnic. 

Lots of things like the shops were really interesting but we found the railway station very amusing. Our bus arrived their and we also left for Cork from the station via a bus and both times their was no one in the ticket office, well actually their was but you had to knock on the glass window. Two girls came in asking about a train and only when they knocked did someone talk to them. They never came out but just yelled through the wall. Also they had a very large suitcase in the middle of the waiting room with a sign on it saying Don't Leave Your Bag Unattended. Go figure. 

We did enjoy our stay as the people were friendly and it had a good atmosphere. Our next stop is Cork.

Dublin Ireland

Our trip on the ferry was uneventful as the water was very calm and the ferry had plenty of room. We had planned on walking to the hotel but luckily as it had been raining and we didn't want the bags to get wet we caught a taxi instead. It was a lot longer journey than we thought but we arrived within 15 minutes to the ... wait for it ... Bram Stoker Hotel as apparently Bram who wrote Dracula came from Dublin. We were a bit worried about what the hotel might look like but were pleasantly surprised to find it a normal old hotel with only a room at the back which was a museum for the writer. 

As we were out a bit from the city centre we brought a 3 day bus pass which we used to travel into the city each day and we also visited Howth a fishing town on the other side of our hotel. 

In fact a lot of intellectuals and writers in particular came from Ireland and Dublin has one of the earliest   universities in the world Trinity University which we visited. The city has a high population of young people which is evident when you visit the Temple Bar district. The pubs there are spilling over with young people with many hosting live Irish music. We had a great time in one of them called The Quays where a band was playing popular Irish songs. 

We were lucky enough to be in Dublin for the gay pride march where we saw many interesting  costumes including a guy in a mankini outside one of the Temple bars trying to talk to the girls walking by. I don't think he was gay but used the parade as an excuse to wear it. But the parade was a lot of fun to watch although nothing like our Mardi Gras. We found out that over 30,000 people marched and the crowds were waving rainbow flags showing their support. 

We visited St Patricks and we were lucky to be there when they were conducting a free tour. We learnt all about Jonathan Swift who was the dean of the cathedral and wrote Gulliver's Travels as well as a political activist and a champion of mental health. He gave a large sum in his will to set up a mental Heath asylum which is still being used today.

Fea market, buskers, statues and lots of Irish music were enjoyed during our stay in Dublin. The 4 days passed very quickly and now we set off for the bus depot to catch our bus to Kilkenny. 

St Ives

We had 4 lovely nights in this B&B just outside the town of St Ives. I never knew England had nice sandy beaches until coming to this area. The sea was aqua in colour and very clean with white sand and low swell. St Ives use to be a quiet fishing town until the Tate Gallery opened or that was the opinion of one of the locals. Our first drive into the town was very stressful with very narrow roads which were mostly two ways and lots of traffic and people walking around and all parking station full. We did find one up on top of the hill which was available and free after driving around in circles for ages.

We discovered that it was better during the day at least to catch the local bus into town and at night drive as the roads where then quiet and parking easy. A visit to the Tate gallery was a must and we purchased a ticket that included an entry into the Barbara Hepworth museum. The Tate gallery was set in a stunning location looking at to sea and was very interesting but some were a bit too modern for me. I don't get three coloured lines on a canvas...WT. There was however a room showing a video of dances which was fantastic. The way the men and women moved in skin tight suits was unbelievable to watch. We also saw some fantastic sculptures. 

We visited the Hepworth gallery and gardens the following day and saw many of her works set into the gardens. We also saw a production of Shakespeare's Taming of the Shrew by the Kings Shakespearean Company in the Guildhall one night which was very well performed. The town also had a cinema so we went to see a movie (our second one since leaving Australia) called Summer in February set in Cornwall in the early 1900s about artists A J Munnings. A nice story about a love triangle and a sad ending but interesting. 

We left St Ives wishing we could stay longer and headed back up the country to drop the car off at Shrewsbury. We stayed there overnight then caught the train up to Holyhead where we stayed in a guest house. The next morning we boarded a ferry to Dublin.

Holyhead is in Wales so I can now say I have been to Wales. We had a great Indian meal for dinner and the guesthouse room was very pretty. We are excited about going to Ireland as we both haven't been there before. 

As you can see from the photos below my camera is stuffed as it seems I have picked up some dirt on the sensor. Might have to buy a new one in Ireland.