BigWeather's Blog

We woke up early, about 6am, in order to get downstairs for a quick, light breakfast of pastries prior to our tour for the day. Our guide, Damien, arrived at 7:45am with a black touring van. As it was just the three of us that would be plenty of room! Being the talker in the family I took the front passenger seat (to his left) while Michelle was a seat just behind.

As we headed north through Dublin towards our destination he told us all about that part of the city, including the Spire, a tall stainless steel spire that replaced an earlier monument to Nelson, Nelson’s Pillar. The pillar was bombed by former IRA members in 1966 with a controlled demolition nearly a week later.

After a pleasant drive of just over a half hour we arrived at our first destination, Bru na Boinne, at about 9am. Pardon the lack of accents on Bru na Boinne as I haven’t a clue how to pull that off on my computer. It is an archaeological site of immense importance in a bend of the River Boyne. Now a UNESCO site, this area has three large Stone Age (Neolithic) tomb complexes, two in excellent shape. Only six hundred people a day are allowed to visit in order to limit the impact of tourism. The visitors’ center was beautiful and contained some really neat exhibits to set the scene.

About 9:30am we bade our guide farewell and walked along a very beautiful path over the River Boyne and to a small area where we were separated into two groups by the color of our wristband (purple, the best color) and boarded one of two busses. Our bus’ first destination was Knowth.

Knowth was constructed around 5000 years ago (3200BC) and consists of a large mound (forty feet high with a diameter of 220 feet) and nearly twenty smaller mounds of various sizes surrounding it. Inside the tomb two passages, both aligned east-west, penetrate to nearly the center but don’t connect. We didn’t get to go into these, however.

Our guide, Chavelle, provided an excellent orientation for about fifteen or twenty minutes. She mentioned that the tomb is surrounded by over a hundred kerbstones, many of which have megalithic art. In fact, Knowth alone contains more than a third of megalithic art found in Western Europe! The designs were mostly spirals and other line art and absolutely beautiful. The tomb was built over at least three generations with different types of stone coming from many miles away, some as far away as the Wicklow Mountains south of Dublin. The amount of effort and time required definitely pointed to the tombs being a burial place for the leaders of the community.

Her presentation over we were let loose for about thirty minutes. I climbed a stairway to the top of the tomb and was greeted by an amazing view of the entire River Boyne valley. It fell into disrepair for nearly two millenia until the late Iron Age when a hill fort was unknowingly built atop it. As it was an important area many sites are scattered throughout the region, some of them visible from atop Knowth. As it was a beautiful morning visibility was great!

After descending the stairs I met back with Michelle and we looked at some of the smaller mounds and a recreation of a wood henge, an area where logs were stood upright in a circular pattern. Archaeologists know one was there and the positions based on finding the holes in which the logs were placed.

I asked our guide whether goats and sheep were used to keep the grass short at the top of the mound. Turns out they would damage the mound too much, instead a very expensive robotic mower called “The Spider” is used. We all met back at a small visitors’ center at 10:45am and watched a short fifteen minute AV presentation before boarding our busses at 11am. A short drive later we were at Newgrange with a new guide (either Emma or Emily, I can’t remember).

Though also a Stone Age portal tomb built around 3200BC Newgrange felt distinct from Knowth. While bigger (the same height but nearly 280 feet in diameter) it lacks the satellite mounds but is surrounded by twelve standing-stones (likely added much later during the Bronze Age). Also a facade of white quartz stones was restored to their (likely) original position around the perimeter of the mound.

Newgrange was not just a tomb but also a ritual center. There is a passage and above the entrance a smaller square “window”. Unlike Knowth, we got to go within. It was quite narrow, and at one point I had to turn sideways (as my shoulders were too wide) and duck (as it was about four feet tall) — I thought I was going to get stuck! The passage proceeded for about sixty feet and ended with a chamber. The chamber had three alcoves, each with a basin stone. One of the basin stones was cracked in more modern times but the other two were intact. These basins supported the cremated remains of (presumably) the rulers of this society.

Newgrange is also remarkable in its construction because on the winter solstice the rising sun shines through the aforementioned window and penetrates all the way to the chamber sixty feet within. Remarkable what our ancestors were able to work out and accomplish. Though we weren’t there at the solstice we were in for a treat. Our guide turned off the lights and, while we waited in pitch darkness, a shaft of light worked its way down the passage. Though not the real thing, nor as bright, it was transcendental. We could feel a connection to a people that, having just started to settle down with the domestication of wheat, could focus on building such remarkable spiritual centers.

There were some fantastic carvings — spirals and triangles and such. There was also some more modern grafitti spanning the tomb’s modern discovery in 1699 through the late 1800s when conservation began in earnest. The discovery in 1699 was a bit of a miracle — the farmer had sent some people out to dig for stones in the hill on his property and by luck they hit the passage entrance immediately. Most amazing to me is the high (eighteen foot) stone roof that narrows as it ascends (like a beehive). This marvel has never leaked in nearly 5000 years (though the dirt atop certainly helped there as well). One of the other visitors asked about a little bit of green that appeared here and there. Sadly, it was a result of visitors like us bringing in moisture via our breath.

After exiting we walked around a bit more and headed back to the bus at 11:45am. Back at the visitors’ center at noon we met back up with Damien. He told us that he was able to be there a few years back during the solstice. I can’t imagine how cool that must’ve been!

Our last destination was Monasterboice, an early Christian monastic settlement from the late 400s AD (so contemporary with the Fall of Rome (476AD)). Amazing! What drew me to Monasterboice is the excellent high crosses and Celtic crosses as well as the remains of a round tower.

The round tower was built around 1000AD and is about 80 feet tall but lacks the conical top typical of similar settlements. Damien stressed that the tower very likely wasn’t used as protection against Vikings and the like but rather for storage and as a lookout.

The high crosses dated a bit earlier, likely the 900s AD. The tallest, at over sixteen feet, is considered the finest high cross in Ireland. It has carvings of both the Old and New Testaments. While a bit worn due to over a millennium exposed to the elements the details are still visible. Damien stressed that while the high crosses are beautiful art they were first and foremost meant to teach to a mostly illiterate populace. As such it was brightly painted with easily discernable figures from the Bible. One particularly neat detail was Christ in the center of the cross with people facing him on one side and others facing away from him — with a figure with a pitchfork behind them.

On the way back Damien showed us where the former President of Ireland lived and the pub where he’d often entertain world leaders. We also talked a bit about The Troubles. Damien had a unique perspective on that period (that I won’t go into as that’s his personal information) and it was really special to have his insight on the time and the following peace. He is very optimistic for the future of Ireland and noted that the youth are very willing to leave the past behind. A fascinating thing he mentioned was that one can tell even today where car bombs went off in Belfast as the damaged stone buildings were replaced with modern glass edifices.

We arrived back at the hotel just before 2pm and, after freshening up a tiny bit, headed out for lunch at the Irish Potato Cake Company. Michelle had potato soup with bread but the soup was onion-y and the bread was seed-y so she didn’t enjoy it much. She also had some lemon “cheesecake” that was a bit strange. I, however, really enjoyed my meal. I had three bacon and cheese and three Guiness beef potato cakes. They were wonderful, but I definitely favored the bacon and cheese. I also had some of the “cheesecake”. It was OK. We finished up by sharing tea from a pot with a cute cozy atop.

We crossed over Ha’penny Bridge to Forbidden Planet to do some shopping. We got a couple of small things then some water at Starbucks (yeah, they are everywhere — except Italy) and went to a couple of tourist stores hoping to find an Irish solar dancer (to no avail). We swung by The Rolling Donut for three donuts (two Coffee Lovers and one glazed) on the way back to the hotel by 5:30pm.

After lazing around until 7:45pm we headed down to the basement of the hotel for our 8pm dinner show Celtic Nights. We were seated at a table with others not too far from stage left. Dinner was really good. Michelle had tomato soup and brown bread, chicken (without wine gravy and onions), and some kind of parsnip mash that she enjoyed. I had fresh fruit, Irish Guinness beef stew with mashed potatoes and some kind of crunchy substance — onions? — atop. It was great. Dessert was an assortment of mini-cakes that was decent but didn’t meet the high standard of the main course.

Shortly after we finished dinner four musicians came on stage — one with bass, another guitar, another fiddle, and the last doing pipes and flute. They played a variety of Irish traditional songs — from “Molly Malone”, “The Fields of Athenry”, etc. to very touching ones about the Irish fight for independence, including a very affecting one, “Grace”, about one of the heroes (Joseph Plunkett) being allowed to marry just moments before facing the firing squad.

At regular intervals two female and two male Irish traditional dancers came out to dance to beautiful instrumentals. They were great. The musicians, particularly the lead singer, also interacted with the crowd regularly — asking where people were from and even incorporating one guys “yeaaaaah!’ into the chorus of one of their songs.

The show wrapped up around 10:30pm. While it is a shame we had to rely on a hotel dinner show to finally get traditional music and dancing it was very good and we were grateful we did it. We headed upstairs and I offloaded pics and packed and laid in bed around midnight.

We were quite slow getting out our first of two full days in Dublin. We had breakfast around 8:30am but then went back to the room and lazed about until nearly 11:30am. Finally headed out and toward Trinity College for our first destination of the day.

Trinity College has a beautiful old library called, appropriately enough, “The Old Library”. Within is the Book of Kells, a book from the 800s that I’ve always wanted to see. Once there we purchased tickets at 18.50 a pop using a QR code but our slot wouldn’t be until 1:30pm. With some time to kill we walked down Dawson Street toward St. Stephen’s Green, a beautiful park in south central Dublin from 1880. We enjoyed walking along the small lake (with tons of ducks and other birds) and standing on the stone bridge shown in the movie “Leap Year”. During the Easter Rising of 1916 some of the Irish Citizen’s Army took up a defensive position in the park but that was a mistake as the British were able to fire down onto them from a neighboring hotel. Eventually the defenders retreated but before that fighting was halted for a bit so that the ducks could be fed. Placards in the park described some of the events of that time.

After the park we at at Milano on Dawson Street. We had a American pizza (basically pepperoni and cheese) in the Romana style (basically thin crust). Michelle continued walking toward Trinity College while I took a quick detour to check out Kehoes Pub, in use since the Victorian times and with many of the original fixtures.

After freshening up we queued up for our 1:30pm entrance to the Book of Kells and The Old Library’s Long Room. There was an exhibit at the start filled with wonderful information about monastic life in 800s Ireland, other books like the Book of Kells, how the book was made (spoiler: over a hundred cows “participated” by contributing their hides), and the content of the book. What was really interesting is that there appear to be at least three illustrators at work with various specialties (lettering, animals & people, etc.).

Once through the exhibit area we entered a small side room that was mostly dark and contained the actual Book of Kells in a glass cube enclosure. On the one hand, wow, a 1200 year old book! On the other hand, it was a little underwhelming in that it is open to only two pages (being a book). Someone expressed disappointment that the two pages were more words than illustration and he just replied that for every one that wants an illustration on display there’s another that wants words. I’m just glad we got to see it — on days when they turn to another place in the book the area is shut down for quite some time as many precautions must be taken to not damage the book.

Once leaving the little room we went up a flight of stairs into the very impressive Long Room of The Old Library. Completed in 1861 it was very impressive. Though originally one story it was later expanded to two due to the need to house more collections of books. Running along the length were busts of famous authors, philosophers, and the like. Each alcove contained books from floor to ceiling with ladders to access the high ones. There were beautiful spiral staircases providing access to the second floor but these were closed to tourists.

In the center of the room were some artifacts important to Ireland including the equivalent of our Declaration of Independence and a medieval harp, the oldest example in Ireland and the model for the harp that appears on their Euro and in other official places. Though it is called “Brian Boru’s Harp” it isn’t — he lived in the 11th century but the harp is either 14th or 15th century. Still old, and very beautiful.

We descended a set of stairs that led through a gift shop. Buying our obligatory magnet we emerged into the pleasant Dublin afternoon. We went into a store selling Irish wool and other goods. Michelle found a new change purse and billfold (her existing ones being a bit frayed). While there a lady and girl go to the side of the counter and the guy at the register turns to his co-worker (and by the looks of it, manager) and says “let me introduce you to the most important woman in the world, me mum.” It was really sweet.

As Michelle still wasn’t feeling great we decided to swing by the hotel room via the O’Connell Street bridge. I bought some Maltesers, the European version of Whoppers (malted milk balls). I lingered a little bit to ensure she was situated and headed back out into the town around 3:30pm. I first swung by the Games Workshop and Gamers World. Sadly, much like Forbidden Planet, just the stuff you find at home. I was amused to see a Harry Potter Cluedo (as Clue is known as overseas). I then headed across the Millennium Bridge and into the Temple Bar, turning west towards Dublin Castle.

Dublin Castle was built during the time of the first Norman presence in Ireland so, like King John’s Castle in Limerick, built in the late 1100s and early 1200s. As this castle served as a working capital / palace for nearly a thousand years it, unlike King John’s, has undergone extensive modification (read: boringification). The only bits that remain from the original castle are two towers and one of those was under scaffolding being renovated. There was a pretty park adjacent to the castle as well as the Chester Beatty. But museums weren’t on my list today, onwards I went!

Continuing to the west-northwest I came upon Christ Church Cathedral. The first cathedral on the site was actually built by the Vikings in the early 1000s. The Normans rebuilt it in stone in the late 1100s under the direction of the leader named Strongbow (ok, best name ever). I just took a few pictures, though. If I’m being honest I’m a bit churched out from past trips and the pictures on Google Maps didn’t inspire me to go in. They did have some crypts you could go into as well as a mummified cat and rat found in an organ, but… ick. There were metal flagstones in the sidewalk showing Viking artifacts to highlight that this part of Dublin was the site of the Viking settlement (and draw the tourist into Dublinia, a Viking “audo-visual experience”, no doubt). Regardless, I resisted.

So onwards I went, turning due south towards Dublin’s other (and slightly younger at 1191) cathedral, St. Patrick’s. Two cathedrals in one city?! Yep, and it was quite an issue for awhile until a complicated agreement was hammered out in 1300. Even today, Christ Church is the cathedral for the arch-diocese (being the first established) but St. Patrick’s is the “national cathedral of Ireland.” Regardless, pretty church indeed but, like Christ Church, not a ton to compel me to enter. The park adjacent to it, like Dublin Castle’s, was amazing — so lush and green. Reminded me of the grass you’d see up in the northeastern US.

Turned east and headed to Grafton Street, the main shopping artery of Dublin. Well, mostly tourists shopping, this is where they went when not in Temple Bar drinking. Due to Garth being in town a fair number of cowboy hats. It was kind of unsettling, seeing so many people in cowboy hats and boots in frickin’ Dublin, Ireland. I stopped by the LEGO store. Unbelievably, there was a line to get in. I really just wanted a little something Irish in LEGO and the usher in front suggested building a minifig with an Irish football jersey. Sounded good. Except the line for that was enormous so oh well. Thought about just buying a single green 2×3 brick but decided they’d probably look at me like I was bonkers. They did have a few Ireland-specific builds on display — a stadium, the giant cooling towers, and a neat diorama with a Viking and a musician. So I took some pictures and scooted out.

The main reason for visiting Grafton Street was just off of the main drag was a statue to Phil Lynott of Thin Lizzy, a band popular worldwide in the 70s (they did the songs “The Boys are Back in Town” and “Jailbreak”). I’ve never been a huge fan (a little too straightforward “bar rock” for me) but I have to give respect to all the bassist / singers out there!

Having done with Grafton Street I turned northeast to see the Molly Malone statue. Though I wasn’t that familiar with the song (my family being more Gordon Lightfoot than traditional Irish songs) it was on the way and fairly well known so why not. All along the way I’d pop into little tourist shops hoping to find a “solar dancer”, maybe a Leprechaun or something, but nope, none to be found.

Afterwards went east along the south side of the river Liffey (and passing the beautiful Custom House — completed in 1791 — on the north bank of the river) through what looked to be more of a business district. Crossed the bridge just west of the Famine Memorial. It is impossible not to be moved by the gaunt figures cast in corroded metal — the dog with ribs jutting out, the man with his daughter slung over his back, others carrying their belongings in a small sack, etc. For someone who wouldn’t be here were it not for the famine driving my maternal ancestors to America it was particularly impactful. Over a quarter of the Irish died or moved. The famine disproportionally affected what is today the Republic of Ireland despite the blight affecting what is today Northern Ireland and Scotland. Though initially a natural disaster make no mistake it was exacerbated by humanity (or lack thereof).

Headed a bit farther down the quay past EPIC, the museum of Irish Emigration, and, from the Sean O’Casey bridge, took photos of Jeanie Johnston, a replica of a 19th century ship that took Irish emigrants to the United States during the famine years.

As it was getting dark I headed back to the hotel along the north bank (stopping by the Famine Memorial one more time). I stopped to take some pictures of the O’Connell Monument, built to honor a hero of Ireland on the street where some of the heaviest fighting took place during the Easter Rising in 1916. Unfortunately, The Rolling Donut was out of the Coffee Lovers — I so was going to pick one up. Arrived back at the room at around 7pm after walking about five miles. We decided rather than brave Temple Bar on a Saturday night and not really feeling like braving, well, anything, we went to the restaurant in our hotel to get a bite to eat and hopefully see some live music (to begin at 8:30pm). So, about 8pm we got our meal. Michelle started with potato soup which was excellent and we both had burgers with fries. Not bad. As it was not quite 8:30pm and neither of us drink I felt guilty lingering until the music so ordered a chocolate fudge cake with raspberry topping. It was excellent!

The music, however, was not… It was a guy my age (or perhaps a little younger) playing an electrified acoustic guitar. I’m sure he was skilled enough but he played just covers of American songs (and even America’s “rocks and plants and things” — laziest lyric ever). The woman at the table next to us started dancing what must have been the most awkward dance since Seinfeld’s Elaine’s dance. It was bad.

Headed back to the room and did offloading of pictures and a little blogging before heading to bed early in anticipation of an early pick up the next morning.

We awoke a little later than usual and finally left the hotel for breakfast just after 9am after packing most of our stuff up. We decided to go to Sodalicious for a raisin scone and two cinnamon swirls along with tea and milk for Michelle and coffee for myself. Hit the spot. Returned back to the hotel and finished packing, checking out around 10:30am or so.

We first headed to the ATM on the same block as the hotel and then to the Irish post office to pick up some stamps. Not cheap, each one was just over two euros! Finally we were ready to head to the station, this time by a new way that took us past new sights. One was really odd, a small doctor’s office with a sign that just said “SURGERY”. Felt very Batman (Burton, not Nolan) when Joker sees his new face and smashes the looking glass. Also passed a number of younger folk, teenage girls in long ankle-length skirt school uniforms and guys in what seems to be the ubiquitous young male outfit in Ireland — the tracksuit.

Once near the station we tried to find some stuff to eat but everything was still closed. So we ended up just picking up an egg salad sandwich for me and a ham and cheese panini for Michelle from the coffee shop in the station. As it was just past 11am and our train wasn’t until 12:55pm we had a bit of a wait and plenty of time to people watch. More and more women showed up in cowboy hats, boots, and shorts that were much too short. Oh yeah, Garth Brooks was in Dublin this weekend and lots of people were traveling to see him. It explained the note I received from Irish Rail yesterday about trains being packed.

After a bit of help from a very nice gentleman who assured us that the one minute layover at Limerick Junction would be more than sufficient (“we’re not going to leave anyone behind!”) we queued up and eventually boarded the train at about 12:45pm. We thankfully got forward-facing seats and enjoyed the uneventful ride to Limerick Junction.

True to his word there wasn’t an issue at Limerick Junction — we merely unloaded from the train on one side of the platform and took our assigned seats (our names actually in a display above!) across two older ladies in carriage D of the train on the other side. They were very nice and we talked for a bit. They lived near Dingle and were, you guessed it, going to both nights of Garth Brooks. One of them had even gone one of the three nights the previous weekend. They said that he had sold out five nights (three last weekend, two this weekend) at 80,000 people a night and that it was estimated that 1 in 15 Irish people were going to see him at least one night. He hadn’t played Ireland since 1997 and apparently they love him in Ireland so there was lots of pent up demand.

After a bit more conversation about life, weather, Ireland, and the US we bid our farewell as the train came to station. We were able to quickly hail a cab. The gentleman was very nice and the short ride was made even shorter by engaging conversation about the weather, music (and Garth, of course), and travel. At 3:30pm or so we checked into the Arlington Hotel on Bachelor’s Walk right on the River Liffey. A bit older than the George in Limerick and a bit pricier but given the room scarcity (thanks Garth!) we were grateful for it. Rested for a bit and finally headed out for a walk and dinner a little over 6pm.

Walked a few steps past the O’Connell monument at the north end of O’Connell Bridge and then took the bridge across the river and into Temple Bar, a district that feels part Bourbon Street and part Times Square. Mix in all of the people in town for Garth wearing cowboy hats and boots and it was just… weird. And very, very crowded, an unwelcome change from Limerick.

We ducked into a massive (three stories, including a pop-up store for Garth stuff!) gift store in search of a Leprechaun solar dancer to no avail. Then we walked a bit looking at stores, pubs, etc. We saw a store called Forbidden Planet, a massive comics / manga / RPG / toy store. It had some pretty neat things and some unsettling things (a very odd take on Kevin Smith!) but at the end of the day where would we put any of it?

We came to The Hungry Mexican restaurant and decided to try it out. We’ve always had terrible luck with Mexican food abroad but maybe it’d be different this time. Our waitress was actually from Mexico (and told us it was Mexican Independence Day) so that was a good start. Despite being a bit loud the food was actually quite good. We had nachos for a starter and I had picadillo and chorizo (though rather light on the latter) enchiladas and Michelle had a burrito.

It was approaching sunset when we walked a bit farther in Temple Bar, finally coming upon Temple Bar Square and the famous Temple Bar. Michelle got some Oreo gelato near there (it was “ok”). We decided to head back to the hotel and crossed the river via the 1800s pedestrian-only bridge Ha’penny Bridge. On the way we stopped and got some donuts from The Rolling Donut. Michelle got a cinnamon glaze which was “ok” and I had two “Coffee Lover” which may be the best donuts I’ve ever had — donut with coffee flavored icing, three or four espresso infused chocolate pieces shaped like coffee beans, and the best part — injected with a dark brown filling that was basically coffee in whipping form. Soooo good!

Got back to the hotel around 8:30pm or so and blogged while Michelle read on her Kindle.

Woke up early again, between 6am and 7am, as we hoped to get out to the Rock of Cashel. We once again had the hotel breakfast, though this time mixing Continental with Irish — some pain au chocolat but also a few fried eggs and some bacon. We made it to the bus station (located adjacent to the rail station) sometime around 9am. We had some difficulty figuring out where to go and missed the bus that left around 9:30am — and the next one wasn’t for another two hours! Ugh!

The bus line employee dashed our hopes of taking a taxi (waaaaay too expensive) and suggested a few other destinations that weren’t super appealing. We decided to go to Cahir, not Cashel, as it was a direct bus route that was just over an hour long versus the route to Cashel which was a little over two hours due to greater distance and a layover.

As we had time to kill we walked a short distance to The Gathering, Limerick’s gaming store. As we arrived about 9:35am we had to wait until just after 10am for the owner to open up the store. The store was small but had quite a bit, mostly skewed towards miniatures and such (that’s where the money is now-a-days). Still, he had some RPGs — mainly D&D 5e and Warhammer Fantasy. I asked if he had any Irish RPGs and he said that Cubicle 7 (maker of Warhammer Fantasy) is Irish — I had no idea. But I can get those books at home without the need to toss them in my luggage and hope they survive the trip. What I was really after was an Irish language RPG but sadly he wasn’t aware of any.

I wanted a souvenir from the shop but the dice he had engraved with his shop symbol were all sold. He went in back, however, and came back with an earlier prototype that was printed rather than engraved (and the choice made to go with engraved because the printing rubbed off with use). He said I could have it for free, which I really appreciated. He also said that even a half-day in Cashel would be too little, which made me feel a little better about missing out. Since we had a little time to kill before the bus at 11:30am he pointed out two nifty churches (one built in the 1700s, the other with the tallest spire in the area) a very short walk away. And beyond that, on the grounds of a hospital and incorporated into its car park, a section of Limerick’s city walls. Nice!

We walked to the two churches, located very close to each other in a square. From there it was a short walk to the hospital grounds where we were able to see the walls and even spots that had been hit by cannon balls in the 1690 siege. Apparently this one, by William’s forces, was unsuccessful when Limerick’s women came out and helped repel the attack. Unfortunately the 1691 siege (that’s the one with the tragedy at Thomond Bridge I mentioned a couple days back) didn’t have such a happy outcome for Limerick.

As it was getting closer to 11am we headed back past the Milk Market, the site of the farmers’ market / flea market that happens ever Saturday. As it was Thursday it was all quiet but still neat to see the area nonetheless. Michelle and I were struck by just how many nail salons / barber shops there were about town. Then we realized, we hadn’t seen a long-haired Irishman our entire trip!

Made it back to the bus station in time to catch bus 55 heading to Waterford by way of Cahir (our destination). We tried to pay as we got on board but the machine wasn’t working. Driver was like “not your fault, free ride for you two” which was kind of awesome. As we headed out of town there was some friendly banter between passengers and the driver about the AC.

City transitioned to suburbs (with some businesses and larger outlet type shopping) to the countryside. The countryside was gorgeous — at first it was predominantly green fields with cattle and the occasional cluster of homes and the odd ruin of a castle or abbey but as time went on the terrain got quite a bit hillier and forested with pines (not the ugly scraggly type we have in North Carolina, though). We passed through Tipperary which was fairly bustling. We rolled into Cahir a little before 1pm, passing the imposing castle before coming to the stop just beyond it.

We decided to dine at the Shamrock Lounge, a quaint pub with really neat stained glass pendulum lights over the bar. We ordered some fried garlic mushrooms which were not too bad. Michelle had a toasted ham, cheese, and tomato and I had a open-faced roast beef sandwich with side salad and fries. The sandwich was interesting — two untoasted pieces of white bread with a little butter on it. The beef was a little dry but the brown gravy was oh so good and it all worked out in the end.

We headed back down to the castle. Cahir castle was built in the 1100s by the Butler family on an island in the River Suir. As seems to be quite common the castle didn’t see much action until the 1600s. In 1599 a force arrived with a couple of cannon and caused quite a bit of damage. The castle avoided being destroyed when the defenders snuck out in cover of darkness and abandoned it. It was eventually recovered by the family but when Oliver Cromwell rolled through in the 1640s he wrote a note to the family basically saying “remember how terrifying the siege was in 1599? I wouldn’t blame you one bit if you decided not to fight and just handed the castle over to me.” And so they did.

Eventually, again, the family got the castle back but over time it fell into disrepair and by the early 1800s the head of the family had built a Swiss Chalet residence nearby and had left the castle to fall entirely into ruin. Eventually the Irish government stepped in and took over the castle in 1964 (I think) and restored it extensively.

We paid the entry fee, got a guide book, and sat through a quick video that served as introduction to Cahir Castle specifically but Irish castles in general. We then moved on to the gift shop but sadly they had no magnets. After a quick restroom break we explored the castle. Some places were very narrow or had low clearance (some doors were about 5′ tall) or involved very shallow and well-nosed spiral staircases so Michelle sat out some of it. I’d push ahead, take pictures, and share with her what she missed.

One room had a really nice model of the castle and surrounding area and detailed the 1599 siege (the one ended when the defenders noped out). The feast hall had a fireplace seen in last year’s movie “The Last Duel”. One room in the Great Hall had a Tudor fireplace that had been installed in place of one of the two portcullis controls (as the castle by that time had expanded and the portcullis was no longer needed). There was a reproduction of the portcullis controls, however, and it was pretty neat to see the engineering that went into it. The room above had an amazing series of displays talking about the Irish struggler for independence — the Easter Uprising of 1916, Bloody Sunday in 1920, etc. Finally, the bottom of the Great Hall had exhibits on the role of women in the Middle Ages and another about various types of castles found throughout Ireland. We also learned that some scenes from the 1980s movie “Excalibur” were filmed at the castle.

As it was a bit past 3pm and we wanted to be sure and catch the 3:55pm bus back to Limerick we left the castle and proceeded to a gift store, Castle View Gifts, that the people in the castle gift shop said may have magnets. They did! Made it back to the bus stop at around 3:30pm and waited. And waited. We saw the type of bus drive by right around 3:55pm with “Out of Service” but packed with school kids so went “Oh crap, they press-ganged our bus!” but it turned out the 55 bus was just late. Got on about 4:10pm but didn’t get back into Limerick until about 5:45pm due to horrendous traffic caused by construction just outside of the city.

We dithered about what to do for dinner but eventually chose Texas Steakout right near the hotel. Had to go down some steep stairs to below street level to reach it. We had some very garlic-y garlic cheese bread as an appetizer. Michelle had chicken wings and ribs with a side of mashed potatoes and I had a Kentucky Bourbon Burger (basically beef, cheese, some caramelized onions, bacon, and BBQ sauce) with a side of mashed potatoes as well. It was OK. The waitress asked where we were from and was like “lucky, wish I lived there!” and I was thinking “yeah, well we’d love to live here!”

We emerged back in the waning light of day around 7:30pm. Michelle went to the room while I strolled the additional two blocks to the river to take a few pictures of the sunset. The River Shannon really is beautiful, we’re going to miss Limerick for sure.

Once back in the room we left briefly to eat a bit of dessert at Vincenzo’s. Michelle and I split three scoops of gelato — one chocolate and two strawberry. Michelle had a tea with milk while I had an Americano coffee. We retired back to our room where I worked a bit on the blog and eventually went to bed.

The day of our first guided tour had finally arrived! Despite the alarm at 6:15am ended up out of bed just past 6:30am. We headed down to breakfast at 7:30am but kept it light — both of us opting for a more Continental fare that would be light on our stomachs — and absolutely no coffee for me! The croissants with strawberry preserves and the pain au chocolat were both very nice. Headed up to the room around 8:00am and finished getting our stuff together for our trip, heading down to the street in front of the hotel around 8:30am to await our guide.

While waiting (the guide’s arrival time was 9:00am) Michelle and I people watched and also car watched. As there was a tour bus in front of the hotel and a Sysco food delivery truck across the street at Flannery’s Pub there was a chokepoint that led to some interesting driving. I had a momentary freak out moment when I noticed a kid who couldn’t be older than eight or nine driving! That was, until I went “oh yeah, left is passenger side here.” Also had several groups of students pass by, all in uniforms, including one pair that dashed down the street after a departing bus.

About 8:45am Carmel, our guide for the day, texted that she was running on time but due to traffic wouldn’t be there earlier than 9:00am (which of course was fine). About ten minutes later she pulled up to the curb in a gray / silver Mercedes touring van and in we went to begin our adventure. We crossed the River Shannon and over a series of roads similar to our US routes with roundabouts at every intersection (often with some form of sculpture or monument in the middle) we made our way past Bunratty (with its very impressive castle), Ennis (Innis), and the like.

I wasn’t paying the most attention to these towns as we zipped by (though I was struck by the diversity of trees) as we were getting acquainted with Carmel. She had grown up in County Clare on a dairy farm with her father, two siblings, and gran. When she was an adult she took the opportunity to move all over the world (Bay Area of California, Boston, southern Spain, Scotland) and even took a year and a half off to backpack around much of the world (South America, India, Southeast Asia, etc.). She worked in tech for nearly a decade as a project manager — I may be misremembering and perhaps it was a product manager. She mentioned that in Ireland when it is raining really hard they say “trouncing rain”. I like that!

We left the main roadways and started along narrow lanes often with waist-high stone walls covered with vines, ferns, and the occasional bush. The sky was overcast, a moody gray, but thankfully no rain. Michelle and I spotted two ravens perched on a gray stone jutting up from a pasture — it couldn’t have been more perfect. We passed the ruins of Leamenh Castle. A gentle lady known as Máire Rua (Red Mary, on account of her red hair) had five husbands, including one that “fell” from the top of the castle when she was showing him the extent of his (and her) holding. Eventually, King Charles passed a law that said that no Catholic could hold land (or at least a stronghold like hers). She set out for Limerick, walked into the barracks of King John’s Castle, and offered her hand to any soldier (they being Protestants) that would take it. And thus she kept her castle. It is said to be haunted, no wonder that. I wish I had taken a better picture but had we stopped at every interesting ruin the van’s brakes would wear out. It is amazing how many ruins of churches, castles, and ring forts we passed.

It was the perfect weather to set the mood for our first stop, Carron Church (Teampall an Chairn). It was a roofless stone church just off the narrow lane surrounded by lush green fields separated by the stone walls. We went up a narrow grassy path, slickened wet with the morning dew, and, finding the gate rusted shut, clambered over a gap in the stone wall.

The church itself had a few graves (adorned with Celtic crosses) outside. Inside there were a few more. Carmel explained that the church was built in the 500s AD and, as was typical of churches from that time, aligned along an east-west axis such that the rising sun came through a narrow slit above the altar. The priest would deliver his sermon facing the dawn, back to the congregation. The graves inside were also aligned along the east-west axis with the heads pointing west. Obviously there weren’t originally graves there but as the church fell into disrepair the more important among the locals, those that owned the land, would be buried in the ruins in the belief that it provided a quicker path to Heaven (closest to the altar being the preferred spot). Carmel pointed out the remains of a lintel that would have supported the long-rotted beams of the roof. She also pointed out that the “windows” were tiny as there was no glass at that time and it helped to keep the cold air and wind out — though they did use very thin sheep intestine lining as it is semi-transparent and helped with the wind. Discussion turned to domesticated animals and feeding on grass and a pecking order of cow then horse then sheep then goats in order of highest to shortest grass that they’ll eat.

Leaving the church (and taking a moment to pick and enjoy a few wild blackberries) we got back into the van and drove to our next destination, Poulnabrone Dolmen. This was the remnant of a Stone Age portal tomb from around 3000 BC (so, earlier than the Pyramids by at least 500 years). The pre-Celt (who wouldn’t arrive until the 500s BC) inhabitants had started to settle down (cultivation techniques having arrived) and turned their thoughts to the afterlife and such. While originally misattributed in centuries past to a sacrificial altar used by Druids the truth is far more fascinating — the remains are the central stone frame that supported a mound of dirt long since eroded. Remains of some thirty-three individuals (thirty-two local and a mysterious one that wasn’t…) were found there as well as some artifacts. The beautiful arrangement of the stones, surrounded by the karst limestone landscape of The Burren, was otherworldly.

Greg would’ve loved the landscape as it was limestone with numerous gaps allowing for all manner of plants, even some from a more Mediterranean climate. Carmel pointed out many of them like yarrow and hazelnut bushes (with not yet ripe hazelnuts) and many others, describing their medicinal uses (including one that forms the basis of aspirin — but I forget the name). She also showed us some silverweed, a staple food of the ancient Irish, and said that where you found silverweed typically it was a place of settlement a long time ago. Also interesting was that the limestone was originally covered by a layer of dirty but clearing of trees and the passage of time removed most of that layer.

Hopping back in the van we briefly retraced our steps (treads?) and visited Caherconnell Stone Fort, built in the Middle Ages (so 1000 to 1500AD) — practically a baby compared to the Dolmen. It was a ring fort, though prior to its construction the site had seen some activity as the graves of two individuals were located under the walls and there was a fire pit from around 600AD. At one point multiple family units (which typically were multi-generational) lived in the fort with a small stone wall separating them. The external walls of the fort were wider at the base and tapered a bit along their 10 foot tall height. This ensured that as time passed and the weight of the stones pressed down the walls would get stronger. The equivalent of over 100 dump trucks of stone were needed to build the walls with many of the stones being carried from a fair distance away. During archaeological digging in the early 2000s an archaeologist that had only been on the job for a week found the most significant artifact — a piece of jewelry.

Speaking of stone walls, Carmel pointed out that the building of the walls that separated fields was a skill requiring study — though it may look haphazard the way they are built with slabs at a roughly 25 degree tilt and slits between them make them strong and resistant to being blown over by the often high winds in that potion of Ireland.

A tour guide mentioned that the reason the fort was still in relatively good shape (meaning the stone hadn’t been “repurposed” over the years, was because as kids they are taught that disturbing the ancient sites can lead to a faeries giving one bad luck. In fact, lone hawthorn (and ash) trees are often considered faerie trees and are not to be disturbed. There was a highway construction project that took several additional years to complete because no contractor was willing to chop down a faerie tree that was in the way. Eventually the motorway was routed around the tree, only to have the tree chopped down by a drunken fool shortly after!

The star attraction at Caherconnell, however, was a sheep dog demonstration at 11:15am. About twenty people watched on while an older gentleman guided his four sheep dogs to herd about ten sheep. He explained that they only had female dogs for herding as the males were too easily distracted and didn’t follow instructions as well. Also whether a dog can do the job becomes obvious after their first kick from a sheep — if they slink off they’re better suited to being a pet. If instead they learn to hunker down so that subsequent kicks will sail overhead they’re a keeper.

They start with voice training but the issue with that is the dogs learn a particular person’s voice and it is difficult to have someone else step in. Still, they have a set of commands that follow the dog’s name, things like “off me” to mean go away from me, “that’ll do” for hold, etc.

The more reliable method of directing the dogs was with a whistle. Different series of notes for each dog and command for that dog. It was really neat to see in action (and musical!). He had the dogs direct the sheep around a course between obstacles and finally to a small pen (really a three-sided rectangle composed of low stone walls). Then they had an audience member choose a number (in this case five) and he directed the dogs to peel off five of the ten into a separate pen. The dogs were mostly very well behaved and got the job done but sometimes they’d get a bit distracted.

After the demonstration he talked about each of the breeds of sheep and explained the color on each. Mostly used as a substitute for branding (if these were cattle) to be able to tell who the sheep’s owners were. Additionally there was blue on some of them that apparently was rubbed off from rams — meaning that the ram was doing its job and siring new sheep.

Afterwards we bought a magnet from the gift store and got back in the van and proceeded a bit more into The Burren. Here the vegetation was increasingly thin and whole hillsides were rock. We stopped at a few vantage points that were just gorgeous and even included views of the Atlantic and beyond that the Galway Peninsula.

As the original plans to stop for lunch at a pub in Fanore couldn’t be relied upon in the off-season Carmel decided on Vaughans Anchor Inn in Liscannor. Michelle and Carmel had an excellent cod fish and chips while I had the only thing I could eat on the menu — a ribeye topped by a Portobello mushroom and three onion rings. It was excellent, if a little pricey.

Having finished our meal around 1:30pm we headed to the Cliffs of Moher just a few miles down the road. We opted for the ticket for the cliffs and the “Cliffs of Moher Experience” — while Carmel (correctly) said the experience part was more for a rainy day the combined ticket also provided entry to the gift shops, etc. and we had to get a magnet of course!

After buying the magnet and a shirt and breezing through the exhibits while Michelle went to the restroom Michelle and I headed out to the cliffs. It was quite gorgeous. Though the cliffs to the south were still a bit in shadow the cliffs to the north just beyond O’Brien’s Tower were bathed in afternoon light. Additionally, the sea was calm with long, slow swells that crashed against the rocks with regularity. The weather, now almost full sun with great visibility, allowed for a good look at the distant Aran Islands. Quite spectacular!

We reluctantly headed back to the van around 3:00pm (truth be told I could’ve easily spent a couple of hours there!) and headed back towards Limerick. Along the way I noticed some dark material atop a wall in front of a house. Mistaking it for some form of volcanic rock (which would be really strange in Ireland) Carmel explained that it was peat, often used in the area for heating. Neat!

Passing Bunratty again and entering Limerick we arrived back around 4:00pm and bid farewell to Carmel. It was a really fun and educational day and it was special being able to hear a local’s perspective. While it was our first private tour it wouldn’t be our last!

Despite saying there’s no way we were going to go back to the room and fall asleep we… went back to the room and fell asleep. We didn’t awaken until well past 7:00pm and I managed to wake up with a headache. I was able to finally shake it through medicine and some Chinese food at Wok King (or maybe it is WOKKING) very near to the hotel. I had beef & broccoli and Michelle had wontons and bacon-wrapped chicken with pineapple. We headed back to the hotel by 9:00pm and had a little dessert — Michelle opting for just tea with milk and myself a brownie with vanilla gelato that was quite good. Headed up to the room and blogged a bit before bed.