I've heard Ireland described as being a country with a thousand shades of green and, after visiting it this summer, I can certainly agree with that description. My two friends and I decided to follow our tried and true arrangement of renting houses and a car and going "off the beaten track."
Our travel agent was able to get us a good price on a U.S. Airways flight from Orlando into Shannon Airport, stopping in Philadelphia. As is usual in Florida on summer afternoons, thunderstorms were in the area and threatened our being able to take off and meet our Philadelphia connection. However, the heavens smiled on us and we were off to Philly.
Our experiences with U.S. Air and Philadelphia were not the best, to say the least. The flights were safe but both times landing in Philadelphia our plane had to be towed up to the gate, delaying our arrival and again endangering connections. Coming back from the Dublin Airport, we had to clear Customs in Philadelphia, necessitating our claiming our baggage and rechecking it. That airport is badly organized for multiple international flights arriving and having to go through that process.
We arrived safely in Shannon and had reserved a room at the Oakwood Arms Hotel near the airport. We picked up our rental car from Europcar at the airport that afternoon, practiced our driving around the Shannon area and went to visit nearby Bunratty Castle and Folk Museum.
We didn't go into the castle, preferring to shop at the Avoca outlet and other shops there. We ate our first Irish meal at The Creamery there--a little touristy but hearty food at a reasonable price. After a good night's rest, we were off the next morning to our first house rental.
We made a stop in Adare, 12 miles south of Limerick City. This is one of Ireland's prettiest villages, with thatched stone cottages and a charming riverside position. It was laid out as an estate village during the 19th century by the lords of the manor, the Earls of Dunraven. Monastic communities settled around the town and their work can still be seen in spots like the many-arched bridge, built in about 1400; the parish church, a former 13th-century friary church; a friary of about 1315 and much more.
Both of our houses were rented through Shamrock Cottages and the first is located on the Ring of Kerry in Templenoe right outside of Kenmare on the Kenmare River. Templenoe is not actually a village, although there is a restaurant, a pub and a post office there. The pub, Pat Spillane's, is owned by the brother of our house owner and is a convenient place for "pub grub" near our house. The house, "Heron Water," is a recently renovated two-story house beside the owner's house and his other rental. It is set right near the river and the view across the river to the Beara Peninsula is breathtaking and ever-changing, with the tide coming in and going out. There are seals on the small islands in the river and various birds like Magpies and Ravens wake us each morning. A tiny pair has chosen the eaves above our bedroom window as the place to raise their young and we hear their cheerful little peeps as we go about getting ready for the day.
The next day we had been advised not to go to Kenmare or Killarney because of a big football game being held there so we headed in the other direction around the Ring of Kerry to Sneem. The road is very narrow and we had to contend with the tour busses coming around from the other direction. I decided that the safest way to accomplish this was just to pull over to the left as much as possible and stop until he had maneuvered his way past us.
We stopped for a while in Sneem, shopped and took pictures of the colorful houses before continuing on our way around the Ring to the Staigue Fort. This is one of the largest and best-preserved of Ireland's ring forts. The circular drystone walls were built sometime between 500 BC and 300 AD without the aide of mortar or cement. Expert opinion is divided, but most believe that the people who built it would have retreated here at times of tribal war, bringing their valuable cattle inside to protect them from ancient rustlers. The Staigue Fort Exhibition Center recommended by Rick Steves was open but the film, etc., wasn't "happening" because the guys were watching the football game on TV!
We had dinner at what became one of our favorite places in Kenmare--O'Donnabhain's, where the advertised "Beer Garden" turned out to be a pleasant outdoor patio with umbrellas and beautiful flowering plants. Deelicious seafood chowder!
Waking up early the next day, I had my breakfast on the outdoor patio overlooking the river. It was absolutely breathtaking--clear and sunny with a little mist hanging over the tops of the mountains. There were birds everywhere, busily searching for the leftover soda bread and crackers we leave for them each day.
We decided to make the drive to Dingle Town on the Dingle Peninsula, which is about a 3-hour drive from our house. We spent some time exploring the town and had lunch at an outdoor café. I was a little disappointed with the town compared with Adare and even Sneem and Kenmare. There are a lot of things they could do to make it more appealing--more outdoor places with umbrellas and pretty plants, for example. It was explained to us that the outdoor eating spots are a recent innovation produced by the new law prohibiting smoking inside public buildings. To keep customers, outside places are being provided as a place where they can smoke and still enjoy the food and drinks.
After lunch we continued on to Slea Head. The drive got a little "hairy" because of the very narrow roads and cliffside driving! We visited a group of beehive huts, or "clochans." This particular group was probably an enclosed farmstead of the free farmers of the Early Christian Period. They would have been inhabited from ancient times to 1200 AD. It is interesting that we saw these same types of beehive huts in the bories in Provence.
Slea Head is absolutely beautiful! How many times can I say that word?? There are cliffs, huge green fields dotted with sheep, blue-green waters and rocky shores. The patches of land on this peninsula were slowly made into farmland by the inhabitants by clearing the rocks and piling them into fences. Sand and seaweed were laid on the clay and in time it was good for grass. Some of the land was used for growing potatoes but most was only good for grazing. "Far and Away" with Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman was filmed in this part of the peninsula.
One of my most memorable happenings on this day was when we stopped for gas near Inch Beach. I went inside the little store in search of a cooler to take on picnics. There was an older man there who looked like what you would imagine the perfect Irish man to be. He wore the flat hat, had rosy cheeks, blue eyes, a soft smile. He asked me where I was from and when I told him he held out his hand to shake and said "Welcome to Ireland."
The next day we headed out for the Killarney National Park and Muckross House near Killarney town. The national forest was the first in Ireland and is 10,289 hectares (one acre equals 0.4 hectares) to the south and west of Killarney. There are mountains and woodlands surrounding three lakes. All through the mountains and forests here there are wild rhododendrons. At several points along the drive, the sheep escaped the pastures and were grazing beside the road so we had to be careful about that as well as the big tour busses. The tour of Muckross House is included in the admission price (which was covered by our Heritage Card). Rick Steves describes the house as "perhaps the best Victorian stately home you'll see in Ireland."
The house was built in 1843 and, in addition to the house, there are Traditional Farms showing traditional life in the 1930s and also a lovely garden set on a lake. We were told that Queen Victoria visited the house in 1861 and the owners prepared for her visit for six years. She brought along 100 servants and her own bed!
We enjoyed the farms--some had a person there to answer questions, show how to bake the soda bread and tell you about the farm. After visiting the farms, we wanted to see the Abbey so we hired a "jaunting cart" to take us there and back. The Abbey is Franciscan and was destroyed by Cromwell, who generally seemed to wreak havoc all over Ireland.
Dinner was at our Beer Garden and then on to the Wander Inn to hear some traditional Irish music ("trad"). There was a group of three--a girl who sang and played the fiddle, a guy playing the guitar and another on the accordion. Later two other guys joined them, playing another violin and a banjo. Music usually doesn't start until around 9:30 and the pubs have to close up around 11:30.
A guy from Belfast sat at our table and explained to us how the "sessions" work. He plays the drum ("boudrain") and said that usually the songs are played in groups of three songs that are traditionally played together. Whoever in the group who begins playing gets to decide when to switch to another song and what one to play so that they are all strung together. A perfect end to another sunny Irish day!
The following day was a "down day" for my friends but I took the car and went into Kenmare, only to discover that it was the town's Market Day. People were selling bric-a-brac, antiques, lace, and food. I bought some delicious olives and buffalo mozzarella and tomatoes and goat cheese and even a roasted chicken for our supper.
My most memorable experience from that day was when I stopped by the post office down the street from our house and met Donald. I was greeted by a little man who apologized for his appearance (no shirt, sweat pants with holes, two white spots on his rosy cheeks which was maybe medication for sunburn) because he had been cleaning his stove. He invited me in to see the view from his back windows over the river. He was so welcoming and warm like all the other people we have met here.
Our next day was not so sunny--overcast, chilly and windy--but no rain, so we decided to drive to Kinsale, which took about 2 hours. Kinsale has a natural harbor and the medieval walled town's economy rested on the stocking of ships. We got to town in time to catch up with Don Herlihy's Historic Town Walk. This is a 90-minute walking tour leaving at 11:15 from Tourist Information. He was great (6 Euros) and was very interesting. One of the things he explained to us was the involvement with the wine trade. Kinsale had forests of oak and made very good oak barrels, which they traded to French traders/merchants for full barrels of wine. Sometimes they re-sold these, like brokers, and other times sold the wine in town or to the ships coming there for re-stocking.
After lunch at a place recommended by Rick Steves, The Mad Monks, on Main Street, we went to Desmond Castle, which was built by a Fitzgerald chieftain and later was a custom house, a Spanish armory, a British prison, a famine-relief center and is now a Museum of Wine, with a display of its history and Ireland's little-known connection to the international wine trade. During a period when educated and aristocratic people left Ireland because of the English persecution, they often went to a country like France and were involved in wine-related businesses. For example, Henneysees in France is famous for cognac but was started by an Irish immigrant.
We then drove up a narrow, winding road to see the view of the entire harbor and went to Charles Fort, which was Britain's largest star-shaped fort. The guide was interesting but rather long-winded and by the time she finished her talk we did not have much time to explore the fort before closing time. It, too, was covered by our Heritage Card.
Home in the rain to a delicious meal at the restaurant near our house--The Vestry. It is located in an old church and the stained glass windows, pews and memorial plaques make it an interesting meal!
Our last day in Kenmare we decided to take the cruise on the Seafari, which leaves from the pier at the top of the town. Luckily, we had made a reservation because at this time of year there was only one cruise. It is a 2-hour cruise around the Kenmare River and islands, seal and wildlife watching, free use of binoculars, complimentary tea and coffee and rum.
The houses rent from Saturday to Saturday so the next day was time for our move to the second house, which is in Inistioge south of Kilkenny. This is the little town where "A Circle of Friends" was filmed and generally consists of a little market, 3 pubs, a restaurant, 2 churches, a post office and a little café. We had a little trouble finding the house and kept driving up and down the hills searching. My memory for the day was the group of construction workers that we must have passed 6 or 8 times. They were very amused that we were lost, tried to help us and finally offered us a room for 50 Euros!
Our first day in the Inistioge house happened to be on Fathers' Day so we decided to go to mass at the Catholic church in town. There are two churches right next to each other--one is Catholic and the other is Church of Ireland, which I believe is like Anglican. We then went to nearby Thomastown for lunch. Usually, the portions of the meals at the pubs are huge and are usually accompanied by some sort of potato dish. I believe that they eat their main meal in the middle of the day in the smaller villages because they have what is called a "Carver lunch" that seems to be a sort of buffet.
After lunch we drove to Kilkenny to the Kilkenny Castle. Rick Steves says that this is a reminder that the Anglo-Norman Butler family controlled the town for 500 years. Originally, Strongbow built a wooden fort here in 1172 and it evolved into a 17th-century chateau. The castle has been restored several times and you can visit it only with a tour guide. Again, our Heritage Card covered the admission.
We then found St. Canice's Cathedral, which is a 13th-century cathedral that also has a 100-foot-tall round tower--which we did not climb up into. A nice lady inside the cathedral answered some questions for us as there was no organized tour. It seems that Oliver Cromwell tried to destroy the cathedral by keeping his army's horses inside. He destroyed the tombs inside and outside and when the people tried to repair the damage they were not able to return the remains to the correct places.
My memory for this day was at the mass at the church in Inistioge. There was a mother with her small daughter at the service. After one of the prayers, the mother took the little girl's hand and showed her how to cross herself.
The next day we decided to do a long trip so set off for Glendalough. This is Ireland's most impressive monastic settlement and is fairly close to Dublin in the Wicklow Mountains. It was founded by St. Kevin in the 6th century and flourished until the English destroyed it in 1398, despite repeated Viking raids. Even though it was finally abandoned during the Dissolution of the Monasteries in 1539, pilgrims kept coming. While much restoration was done in the 1870s, most of the buildings date from the 8th through 12th centuries. Our Heritage Card again paid our entrance fee and a tour was included in the admission. The Visitor's Center has a 20-minute film that provides a background on monastic society in medieval Ireland that is really interesting. I wish that we had thought to bring a picnic because the grounds are beautiful and peaceful but we ended up having lunch at the hotel on the grounds.
We walked the Green Road one mile to the Upper Lake, seeing the Lower Lake on the way. I was impressed with the 110-foot-tall Round Tower. These towers were usually found in such settlements and acted as beacons for pilgrims, bell towers, storage lofts and places of refuge during Viking raids. However, the guide made an excellent point that if the monks tried to hide in the tower, the Vikings would certainly know they were there and would only have to wait outside until they gave up the siege.
The next day was overcast and sprinkling rain but we didn't think it was bad enough to keep us at home so we set out for Waterford. Waterford City was founded by the Vikings around 1100 years ago and had extensive trading links with Viking settlements overseas. In the year 1170 the city was taken by the Normans, who sealed their victory by the marriage of their leader, Strongbow, to Aoife, daughter of the King of Leinster.
We went immediately to the Waterford Crystal Factory, which is through town on N25. With a tradition dating back to 1783, it is the largest and most respected glassworks in the world. We started at the Visitor Center, where we saw a 17-minute audio-visual presentation tracing the ancient craft of glassmaking to the present day. Then our tour guide took us on a bus to the factory, where we had a one-hour tour taking us through the entire production process. We saw a huge furnace, which has been burning nonstop for 30 years and is where the dipping, blowing and shaping takes place.
Next we saw the etching, which requires 10 years' apprenticeship. Workers are paid by the successful piece, so if Quality Control rejects the piece, they do not get paid for it. About 1/3 of the pieces are smashed and re-melted. Then, of course, we went into the showroom to see all the items that are for sale. I resisted the temptation!
We decided to leave Waterford then because the weather was becoming increasingly worse. After lunch in Thomastown, we decided to just hang out for the rest of the day in a pub in Inistioge--O'Donnell's, our favorite. The guys in the pub kept us very entertained, to say the least!
The next day was chilly and still rainy so, after our Pub Night, we just did washing, ironing, general upkeep chores and had a lunch at the house. I went for a walk through the little town and discovered a pretty park down by the river. There are many ducks on the river and they were congregated quacking for food. My memory for this day was to do with these ducks. I followed their quacking sound to a fenced-in area and just as I was trying to peer through the cracks of the fence a door opened and a little man came out. He was all dressed up in a suit and he had been feeding them corn and grain for their dinner. Each evening he calls all the ducks into the safe area and makes sure they have food for the night.
Later that afternoon, we decided to drive over to a nearby town, Graiguenamanagh, for dinner. WOW, that's a mouthful. We found the restaurant that had been recommended to us, Waterside Inn, which was beside the river there with lots of boats and houseboats, water lilies, swans.
The following day was another fairly long trip to the Rock of Cashel in County Tipperary. This was the seat of the ancient kings of Munster (about 400-1100 AD) and is the site where St. Patrick baptized King Aengus in about 450 AD. In about 1100, Cashel was taken over by the Church and became the ecclesiastical center of the region. On this 200-foot high outcropping of limestone, there is a round tower, St. Patrick's Cross, a chapel and a ruined Gothic cathedral. We went on the 45-minute included tour, where we braved the high winds and cool temperature and, eventually, drizzle. This entrance, too, was covered by our lovely Heritage Card.
After lunch at a little place recommended by Rick Steves, Granny's Kitchen, we decided to explore a nearby ruined monastic settlement called Kells. We discovered that this is not THE Kells where the Illuminated Manuscript originated but we enjoyed exploring it anyway. It's a peaceful place with lots of sheep wandering through the fields. We have realized that, even though the image of the sheep grazing on the green, green meadows is entrancing, we have to "tread softly" through the pastures due to the sheep patties.
That night we returned to Our Pub and again enjoyed the camaraderie of "the boys" there. We never saw another woman sitting at the bar but women did come in accompanied by their families. We like the friendly atmosphere there and feel accepted as a part of the town. Everyone remembers our name--sort of like Cheers!
We're now at our last day in the second house; can't believe the time has flown by so quickly. We did our packing and then decided to check out Woodstock Gardens, right up the hill from our town. The gardens were once regarded as one of the great gardens of Ireland. It is now in its third year of restoration and has interesting features such as the Flower Terraces, the Winter Garden, the Monkey Puzzle Walk (the Monkey Puzzle tree is a very strange-looking tree), the Noble Fir Walk and the Arboretum with its rare collection of trees from all over the world. These trees have been growing for over 100 years here. The ruins of Woodstock House are at the gardens. It was built in 1745 and was destroyed by fire in 1922.
The next day we left our friendly little town--I'll miss it! We drove to Dublin, turned in our rental car at the airport and took a taxi to our hotel, which is Staunton's on the Green (83 St. Stephen's Green). This is a quaint hotel across from St. Stephen's Green, consisting of 3 Georgian buildings constructed in 1750 and its private garden. Our taxi driver told us that there are such strict laws about what kind of restoration one can do to the historic buildings that most people cannot afford the buildings as private residences, so they end up as businesses, hotels, etc. The hotel owner carried up our three HEAVY bags, saying that we had our "men" stowed in them, and the only thing he said when I offered him a tip was "Welcome!" We were told to watch out for the "Dublin Fox" that lives in the garden and adjoining park.
The next morning our slumber was disturbed early by our door alarm being set off by people pounding down the staircase. We finally gave up and went down to breakfast, which is included in our room rate. The people at the hotel are so helpful and seem to bend over backwards to make sure we get what we want. We then walked through St. Stephen's Green to catch the Dublin Tour hop-on-hop-off bus, which stops near there.
St. Stephen's Green was originally a medieval commons, then was enclosed in 1664 and gradually was surrounded with fine Georgian buildings. Today, it is 22 acres of ponds, ducks, flowers, people with kids and dogs, picnickers, etc. We find ourselves cutting through the green on our way to almost everywhere just because we enjoy its quiet beauty.
Once catching the bus, we rode around its entire circuit just to get a feel for the sites in the city. We then decided to get off at the Christ Church Cathedral. The first church on this spot was built of wood in about 1040 by King Sitric and dates back to Viking times. The present structure dates from a mix of periods--Gothic and Norman but mostly Victorian neo-Gothic (1870s restoration work). Because of Dublin's British past, neither of its two top churches is Catholic. I think they are called Church of Ireland and are maybe more like Episcopalian or Anglican.
After a late lunch, we got back on the bus and went to the Guinness Brewery. Arthur Guinness began brewing the famous stout here in 1759. By 1868, it was the biggest brewery in the world. There is no tour of the actual working brewery, just a museum in the old fermentation plant with a self-guided tour. Instead of going up the 7 floors using the open stairway, which triggered my fear of heights, I worked up my courage to go up in the glass elevator to the top floor where the Gravity Bar is located. I was rewarded with a free pint of Guinness! The bar has a 360-degree view of Dublin.
We wimped out by having dinner at a TGI Fridays at the northwest corner of St. Stephen's Green and then headed for home. My memory for this day was seeing the "Dublin Fox," who came into our garden tonight. The owner has instructed the employees to feed him the leftovers from breakfast and he visits just at dusk. We think he must hang out in the Iveigh Gardens, which is just behind the hotel's yard.
We saw the fox again the next morning, as he came searching for a breakfast snack. After breakfast, we headed out for Trinity College. This was a blustery, rainy and chilly day but we didn't let that slow us down. Trinity College was founded in 1592 by Queen Elizabeth I, who wished to establish a Protestant way of thinking about God. It has been Ireland's most prestigious college. Originally, the student body was limited to rich Protestant males; however, women were admitted in 1903. Catholics, though allowed entrance by the school much earlier, were given formal permission to study at Trinity in the 1970s. Today, half of Trinity's students are women.
We took the college tour led by a student there and he was most entertaining and funny. We ended up in the Old Library and saw the Book of Kells, which is in a glass covered case with three other ancient books. Only 2 of the pages are displayed daily. The book was written on vellum (baby calfskin) in the 8th or early 9th century, probably by Irish monks in Iona, Scotland, and is a copy of the four Gospels. It was taken to the Irish monastery at Kells in 806 AD, after a series of Viking raids.
After lunching at the nearby Mercantile Bar and Grill, we walked to the Dublin Castle. The castle was built on the spot of the first Viking fortress and was the seat of British Rule in Ireland for 700 years. The castle is located where the Poodle and Liffey rivers came together making a black pool ("dubh linn" in Irish) and this pool is now the garden outside the castle. It was the official residence of the viceroy, who implemented the will of the British royalty. At the time of our visit, the President of the European Union was in residence so we were not allowed inside the castle. We did, however, go into the chapel and other parts of the property.
Although we were tired by now, we pressed on to St. Patrick's Cathedral. St. Patrick is said to have baptized converts to Christianity at a well that once existed in the park beside the cathedral. Jonathan Swift was Dean from 1713-45 and there are many tributes to him in the church. I found it more dark and almost depressing when compared with Christ Church. The flags inside were disintegrating and the inside walls looked as if they need a good scrubbing but the outside is beautiful.
The next day our little group divided because we were interested in doing different things. I ended up hiking over to Merrion Square to take photos of the Georgian houses with their brightly painted doors. At nearby Fitzwilliam Square I found Number Twenty-Nine Georgian House and entered for the tour. It began with a video that tells about earlier Dublin and the house at that period of time. Afterwards, I scouted around Merrion Square, which was laid out in 1762 and is ringed by the beautiful Georgian houses. The park was once the exclusive domain of the residents surrounding it but now it is public, as is St. Stephen's Green.
I met up with one of my traveling companions for lunch and we decided to go to St. Stephen's Green Shopping Center to eat at the rooftop glass-enclosed restaurant with a good bird's eye view of the area. Then we walked over to the National Museum on Kildare Street. I especially wanted to see the Tara Brooch, the Ardagh Chalice and the Clonmacnoise Crosier that I had read about. Even though they were definitely spectacular, they were much smaller than I had expected. These items are found in the Treasure section of the museum. The Viking Ireland section was also very interesting and focused on the Viking settlement of Dublin and the lifestyle of its inhabitants. The museum has free entry unless you take a tour (2 Euros) but there was none available when we were there.
Our little group separated again the following day. I went on a bus tour to Powerscourt and my other two friends took a public bus to Trim Castle. I was lucky enough to be able to sit in the front seat of the double decker bus so got a good view of the things we passed. We stopped for a brief "photo opportunity" at Dun Laoghaire (would you believe it's pronounced Dun Leary?!), which is 7 miles south of Dublin and is now an exclusive beach resort with the ferry terminal for Wales.
After driving through part of the ancient Wicklow Mountains, we arrived at Powerscourt. The mansion is only partially restored after a 1974 fire so I didn't bother with that but went straight to the gardens. These were created during the Victorian era (1858-1875) and are called "the grand finale of Europe's formal gardening tradition. . . probably the last garden of its size and quality ever to be created."
There is a beautiful serene Japanese garden, an expansive Italian garden and even a little pet cemetery. The guide on the bus was very informative and gave us a good history of Ireland and the house as well as interesting tidbits of information, like telling us where Enya and Daniel Day Lewis live.
Since the next day was our last in Dublin, we had to spend the morning packing for our trip home. After lunching at a place recommended by Frommers (Cooke's Café), which is very near Powerscourt Townhouse Shopping Center, we decided to explore the malls and shops in that area. Powerscourt Townhouse Shopping Center was actually once the townhouse of the family who owned the Powerscourt Manor that I toured yesterday. It's full of little shops and cafes and was a welcome respite from the sudden showers that kept appearing that day. After a farewell dinner at a delicious place near our hotel, Romanza, we ended our day. We were enchanted to see that the "Dublin Fox" has a family-Ma, Da and Laddie. I was glad to know that he's not having to pass his time as a lonely bachelor!
Our time in the Land of a Thousand Shades of Green has ended but we will always carry the special memories with us. Of course, the natural wonders are exquisite, the castles enchanting and the music lifts the spirit. But the thing that we will remember the most is the people--warm, welcoming, with a love for living. The Emerald Isle worked its magic on us and we will return frequently, in our minds if not in body, to refresh our spirits. Slainte!
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