Summer Adventure Series: The Emerald Isle

Days 3 and 4: Rock of Cashel, Ballyseede Castle and the Dingle Peninsula

From Kilkenny, we had to make our way to Tralee, but stopped to see Saint Patrick’s Rock of Cashel. Our very knowledgeable tour guide, Niall, took us through the fascinating history of the site, which dates back to 1101.

The scaffolding in place is due to the fact that parts of the building were
made of quite soft sandstone, so repairs were underway on several areas.

One of St. Patrick's crosses.

If you hop around this cross 9 times on your left
foot, you'll get married within 12 months! Alas,
another tour group came through and I didn't get
my chance. Oh, well, guess that'll have to wait!

Inside the church, to the left of the sanctuary.

The rock I'm sitting on fell from the church centuries
ago; it was never seen fit to move it.

After Cashel, we went on to Tralee, where we stayed overnight in Ballyseede Castle. A real-life CASTLE, I tell you! We also lucked out and got to stay in the haunted room. Alas, there were no sightings of ghost Hilda, although a couple pictures did capture some orbs…so maybe we did have company!

Front of Ballyseede Castle.

View from our room of the ponies on the front lawn!

The dining area.

Backyard. It was so much more breathtaking than this photo shows.

Also staying there was a group of Atlanta golfers who provided much entertainment, giving us pointers on whom to avoid within their group. Of course, by the time they all had advised us of the most rowdy of the bunch, nearly each one had been signaled out as a potential scoundrel, which I found hilarious. The bellhop/bartender, Derry, was cute as a button with the driest sense of humor; he handled the crowd with admirable poise.

After a couple Guinness beers and some Jameson, I found a piano and decided a midnight concert would be a good idea. Even Derry joined in!

A rendition of Heart and Soul, plus an attempt at the Cheers theme.

The sitting room where the midnight concert occurred.

Mr. Higgins in the background; Einstein in the road,
our loyal guard dogs. 

The next morning, Joe, an older breakfast waiter at Ballyseede advised us to take a trip around the Dingle peninsula, warning me of the twisty, windy roads on Conor Pass.

“You must have great faith in my driving,” I joked.

He cut me off, saying, “Oh, I have desperate faith in you, desperate!”

I described the route that took us from Cashel to Tralee, to which he responded, sounding genuinely astonished, “sweet Mother of Jesus, which road did you take?!”

[For the record, I had ignored Seamus, our GPS, the previous day and I think he was mad at me, so he sent me on the narrowest roads possible. Jerk.]

Taking Joe’s advice, here are the sights of Conor Pass and the Dingle Peninsula...so glad we listened to him!

Starting out on Conor Pass.

Most likely the happiest cattle on the planet.

One of the more scary curves, under water of course.

The top after some dangerously curvy roads.

Off the beaten path.

Brittnay and I, after surviving the windy climb up the mountaintop. 

The drive just kept getting more and more beautiful!

Dingle Bay.

This guy slowed down so I could take a picture by the little stone houses.

More Dingle Bay.

Sorry for so many pictures, but I really did try to choose only the very best ones - it was tough!

Day 2: More Kilkenny

The second day in Kilkenny began with an intent to find the Black Abbey. We never got there, but walked through Kilkenny and eventually found ourselves at the gorgeous Cathedral Church of St. Canice, and even climbed the Round Tower to boot! 

The streets of downtown Kilkenny.

Here, we decided to look at the church instead of the Black Abbey.

A darling flower arch on the way...

Brittnay found a tree that looked as though it was
hugging itself.

The Cathedral Church of St. Canice with its Round Tower in front.

It is only about 100 feet high, but I felt
a bit like Jack and Gus-Gus in Cinderella.

...and at the top of the tower. 

It was slightly windy up there. 

After that, we went through the cathedral, a beautiful smaller church that still holds services.

Choir stalls.

Chair in the sanctuary.

Sanctuary in the Cathedral Church of St. Canice

Internet access is limited at this point, but there is much more to come! 

Day One: Kilkenny

My friend Brittnay, an English teacher in the village of Nunam Iqua, and I decided around the end of February that we needed an adventure to look forward to, so we put some fun on the calendar in the form of  Ireland! Here's the story...

After being rerouted once and spending approximately 17 hours on airplanes, Brittnay and I arrived in Dublin at 9 am local time. We collected our bags and headed straight for Hertz to get our rental car. The rental agent, Shane, immediately recognized that we Americans might benefit from some pointers on driving in Ireland, even if only for his own safety.

(And please read these in a stiff Irish accent in your head.)

Shane took my driver's license and said, "Hmm, South Dakota, eh? We don't get many from there. We drive on the left here, yes? And you're OK with a manual, then?"

Probably a bit too over-confidently, I announced, "Oh, ya! It's sort of a rite of passage in South Dakota."

Shane asked, "You know the roundabouts?"

I responded, "Ya, I'm used to those." (Before now, I'd never noticed how often I say "ya" instead of "yes.") Then, suddenly realizing where he was going, I blurted out, "You have to go left, right?!"

He looked at me a bit despairingly, glanced at Brittnay, and said, "clockwise, ma'am, think clockwise, please. And, so you'll be taking the insurance, then?"

What I meant was that one should enter the roundabout going left as opposed to going to the right. Ah, well, I'm sure he's used to dealing with folks like me. I assured him we'd be OK, but I don't think he bought it.

We hopped in the car. I collected our GPS, now christened Seamus, and handed it to Brittnay (she's a technology wizard) and started the car. I intended to take a spin around the parking garage prior to taking it out on the road, but of course took a route that led immediately to an exit. Oops. We were off!

We headed for Kilkenny and found our hotel. Brittnay took pictures of the beautiful countryside.

Our wee little car.

I spotted a castle-like structure to my right and demanded that Brittnay get a shot of it. I yelled, "CASTLE-LIKE STRUCTURE!! CASTLE-LIKE STRUCTURE!!" so she wouldn't be confused.

En route to Kilkenny, fields of yellow.

The first spot we hit was The Fig Tree, where I had potato cakes. 

We then toured the Castle Kilkenny. Check it out!

Overlooking the River Nore.

Castle Kilkenny!

Front of the courtyard...

...and the rest of it. If you ever wanted a golf course on your front lawn, here 'tis!

From there, we went to see Butler House and its grounds.

I could handle afternoon tea here daily, what about you?

That concluded our first day in Ireland! Stay tuned for more updates.