Month: May 2024

I can’t say enough about the accommodations during this trip. Vienna Woods, despite being actually in the woods and outside the City of Cork proper, is a charming place and the meal last night was at least 4 star. If you wanted to be treated to a treat this tour company is the way to go.

We’re on the bus at our typical hour of 09:00 and off south of Cork to the seaside village of Kinsale. It’s Wednesday and the market is just getting set up and we have an hour or so before our tour guide comes by to walk us about the town.

Kinsale was formerly a walled city but there is very little evidence of the original walls. It has a well protected harbour but there is a very long sail to get out to the open ocean, which in this southern part of Ireland is called the Celtic Sea. In the early days nothing went in or out that wasn’t born by the tide.

The extent of the previous nights festivities are obvious around the front entrance of some of the pubs.

It’s a very colourful town but the notion of colour coordination seems to have passed by this way without stopping.

This fellow has decided to brighten up things on his rather drab wall.

And the new shade of green should go very well with his neighbours version of decoration.

I found the “paupers well” and I suspect that the wee bit of wall behind it is part of the original city wall…it just has that look about it…he said as if he knew what he was talking about.

There is a museum here that appears to be dedicated to the fishing industry but I didn’t have time to explore that in any detail.

There is also a lovely old church, The Church of St Multose, which was built in 1190. When I walked up the hill the church was closed so I had to be content with a walk through the cemetery and enjoy the views as the church sits a bit above the town.

Later on during our guided tour we were told that the church was now open and well worth the visit. I took a look at the climb back up the hill and opted to forgo the interior pleasures.

On the way out of town we stopped at the overview at Charles Fort on the east side of the harbour entrance. A similar defensive fort, the James Fort had been built opposite on the west side, the two effectively blocking any unwanted access to the harbour. The Charles Fort is often called the new fort because it was built in 1682, much later than the James Fort which was built in 1609.

This spot gave us a lovely view looking back toward Kinsale and it’s harbour.

We were on the road again heading to Middleton, home of the Jamieson Distillery, makers of some very fine Irish whisky but before we got to the distillery we stopped briefly in Middleton at this very tiny park with a very odd sculpture.

Here’s the backstory.

In the early 1830’s in the United States, the 5 Civilized Nations, Cherokee, Muscogee, Seminole, Chickasaw and Choctaw were forcibly removed from their traditional lands in Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana and relocated to Oklahoma, quite a way further west and north. The move became known as the Trail of Tears and the Choctaw Nation were the first to go in 1831.

Sixteen years later and several thousand miles away the Irish, in 1847, were in the midst of the potato famine and starvation was rampant. The Choctaw Nation heard of this and having just endured their own set of trials, somehow gathered together $170.00 (today’s equivalent would be $5,000) and sent it to the town of Middleton in Ireland. This monument commemorates that incredible gift from an unknown nation friend across miles of land and ocean.

The Irish have never forgotten this amazing gesture. In 2018 an Irish delegation travelled to the Choctaw Nation to announce the establishment of a scholarship for young Choctaw students who wish to study in Ireland. The link between these two peoples remains strong to this day.

The next stop is the Jamieson Distillery and I think a number of my pals have been looking forward to this…especially since we’ve done some previous experimentation with the “water of life”.

Lots of advertising as to be expected, including this duo which gladdened my heart. I’m a big fan of the green spot and the yellow spot but I was very pleased to see that there were two more spots before my eyes.

The grounds are quite extensive and, of course, everything is very old. Including the original iron water wheel.

Our tour guide was quite informative although there was one area where we prohibited from taking photos or touching anything. Not exactly sure what was going on with that equipment although it did look like a warp drive from Star Wars.

As we move through the “caskings” part of the tour I know that we are getting much closer to the important part. I already know how they make the stuff…now please let me have a wee sip.

At the tasting table there was a fine selection including my favourite green spot. Sadly a couple of our pals did not drink and I had to help out with and additional dram (or was that two) of green spot…Oh well.

A couple of other shots to round out the distillery site, then it’s time to leave.

These guys look pretty happy as we head to the bus and a return trip to Vienna Woods. I have a funny feeling that the bar in Vienna Woods will see some additional “whisky nosings” this evening.

Feel free to…stand down.

We’ve left Dingle itself and we’re heading today to Blarney Castle located just west of Cork. Our journey takes us east to the beautiful Inch Beach where we stop for a very quick photo op. From our photo position you could walk along this beach for 5.5 km, and as you can see, there are very few people about enjoying this amazing place.

Before we get to Blarney Castle we have a wee stop in Kenmare, a lovely little village famous for the “Cromwell” bridge, a very weird little thing that has probably been an item of many a “dare” by the local children. I didn’t attempt to cross it but rather headed for the nearest coffee shop for a drink and something to eat.

Wandering around the village was fun as it had some very nice residential options and a nice central parkette.

We’re soon on the road again and the next stop is the place where you’re supposed to kiss a rock. Apparently if you kiss this rock you’ll be blessed with the gift of gab. I know a few people who should go there and un-kiss the rock.

The rock of interest is at the top of that big pile of stones and there is a winding staircase that takes you to the top…puff…puff. The scene at the top is organized chaos as everyone lines up to bend over backwords and kiss this special rock.

I’m sure it’s at this stage that a lot of the people seem to remember that they are no longer as young as they used to be.

The views from the castle were quite nice, primarily because the entire “estate” is surrounded by park like gardens.

It was interesting to see some of the interior rooms on the way down another spiral staircase. There were rooms on several floors although there was no furniture (aka place to sit) just more stone walls and a couple of gloomy alcoves.

Some of my pals were really enjoying themselves.

While others had been misbehaving and were sent to the stocks.

I really think that the nicest part of the whole area was the park-like setting. Lovely walkways and well maintained areas. Lots of old trees surrounded by colour. Quite impressive for this time of year…a bit unexpected.

And then of course there’s the manor house.

And the family filly.

I’ve only provided a few shots of the place…there was a lovely rock garden walk and other spots where you could amble for hours. All that walking exhausted me and it was getting time to find our bus. I found it and the rest of the crew lounging around outside another shop and Peter very kindly agreed to take our group photo.

I’m the surely looking one on the upper left…in case.

That’s it for our rambling by bus. We’re headed to Vienna Woods, a lovely resort type hotel outside of Cork, situated in the woods, and we are all going to sit down to dinner together and tell tall tales about our day “oot and aboot”.

Until next time….stand down.

It’s day #9 which means it should be April 29th. We’re going to roam around the Dingle Peninsula today but we’ll come back to the Benners Hotel for another nights stay. It was apparently quite a rowdy night last night as the Dingle Pub, which is across the street from the Benners, was having a well known Irish Dancer (son of the owner?). Our erstwhile driver, Ray, was convinced that we all should go for a pint and enjoy the dancing.

I did go over for a wee look but the place was packed and I could hardly hear myself think. I must be getting old if I’m about to miss one of the highlights of a backroads tour. Ray seemed to be in pleasant spirits this morning so at least someone had a good time. Some of the others also went across the street and raved about the rave.

We’re off along the coast again in search of the Gallarus Oratory, a unique stone chapel that resembles an upturned boat. But first, a stop along the coast for the obligatory photo shoot. Pat and Fred just had to get in the way.

The countryside is also looking gorgeous and we can see signs of spring attempting to break through.

The Gallarus Oratory is an amazing structure. It is built without mortar and was clearly constructed by someone with some engineering skills. There is no confirmed date of construction but in 1970, archaeologist Peter Harbison argued that the oratory might have been built as late as the 12th century for a number of reasons, mainly because the east window has a rounded top made of two carved stones and not an arch.

Our next stop is the Blasket Centre, which celebrates the history of the beautiful Great Blasket Island. The museum is quite modern and tells the story of the island and the islanders, including those who were last to leave as permanent residents.

From the promontory there are great views looking towards Blasket and the Atlantic Ocean.

We’re heading back to Dingle but along the way we stop for another photo op. The image below shows the spot were an intrepid Irish priest? set out to travel in a boat not much bigger than that one you see. He apparently explored far and wide and that’s about all I recall. No name, no date, no destination, except I do think he made it home to great fame (not) and great fortune (not).

Next stop is the home of Dingle Crystal. This is a family run business and owner Sean Daly was pleased to give us a demonstration of his pattern cutting techniques.

All of the patterns on the various crystal pieces they have created were designed by Sean and reflect the Celtic heritage and landscape that is the Dingle Peninsula.

Off we go back to the Benner and I’ll close this episode with a few images of Dingle itself.

Stand down

We’re heading south from Galway into an area called the Burren. This is a very rocky, limestone invested piece of the land that has it’s own strange beauty. But…before we get there we have to stop for a photo op of Dunguaire Castle near Kinvarra.

The scenery along the coast is stunning as we head to our next stop, the Hazel Mountain Chocolate Shop.

We are given a brief overview of how chocolate is made and advised that this is the best chocolate in the world. Not being a chocolate connoisseur I have to take the tour guides word for it. A sample of the 70% though has me longing for a wee single malt to go with it….so early in the morning too???

Limestone, being a sedimentary rock, often has it’s share of fossils. There are so many limestone walls it’s hard not to explore some of the surface rocks to see if there are any fossils of note. This appears to be something but I’m not sure what it might be, although it does appear to be different from the rock itself. They’re yelling at me to get on board so I must forgo the discovery of the century.

As we are travelling along our guide points out “dolmens” scattered across the land. I managed to capture the one below out of the window.

A dolmen or “portal tomb” is a type of single chamber megalithic burial chamber, usually dating from the late neolithic period around 4000–3000 BCE. They are fairly common and it is known that there are over 35,000 of these in Europe alone and there are examples in other parts of the world. They remain a mystery though as it is not clear when, why or who erected them.

Our next stop is another historical site, Caherconnell, where we find a cashel, more commonly called a ringfort. It is not a fort as such but really an enclosed drystone wall farmstead. It is bigger than most ringforts and is dated from the 10th century AD. The size of it implies that it might have been the home of a “royal” family, that is someone who ruled in the area.

The remains of house foundations and a communal fire are clearly identified. Not far from the ringfort is another structure called a doline, a natural sinkhole, which is the site of an early bronze age timber frame house and a another stone structure that may have been a food storage area.

There were two options when visiting this site, one to explore the cashel and the other to learn how sheep dogs herd sheep. I opted for the former but some of my aussie pals opted for the latter.

Our next stop is the word famous “Cliffs of Moher”, clearly recognized from afar by the number of tourist buses parked in the parking lot.

A truly spectacular site but one that has it’s share of danger. A few days after our visit a 20 year old student fell to her death from the top of the cliffs. Such accidents are quite rare as the place is clearly marked and there are substantial walls away from the edge. Getting closer to the edge is not a necessity.

We’re going to spend two nights at the Benner Hotel in Dingle and tomorrow we’ll explore more interesting things in the area.

Stand down.

Well it’s day 7 of my trip around Ireland so we’re halfway. Today we’re going to spend the day wandering about the city of Galway and we’ll stay again this evening at the Dean Hotel. The Dean is really hopping as there seem to be a number of events going on with lots of very young people dressed to the “nines” as me mum would have said.

I think I’ll just add some images to give you a sense of what downtown Galway is like. Very busy would be an understatement, but then it is a Saturday and the weather is fantastic.

The Spanish Arch was a bit of a disappointment as there’s not much left and it was tricky to find. I walked past it at one point without realizing what it was. It should be noted that it was seriously damaged in 1755 when the “Lisbon Earthquake” caused a tsunami which destroyed a great portion of the gate.

The link with the Spanish is quite interesting as it all started when the remnants of the Spanish Armada were wrecked during storms at various points along the west coast of Ireland. In July to August of 1588, the Armada had escaped a pursuing English navy by sailing north along the east coast of Ireland then coming around to come down the west coast and home. Unfortunately bad weather ensued and 24 of the ships were lost. At various points along the Irish coast there is evidence of Spanish sailors who were saved and stayed to find a home in Ireland.

It’s quite interesting to go for a walk through the Dunnes Stores mall and find remnants of the original defensive wall of Galway. The rest of the walls are long gone but it’s nice to see these remnants preserved in such a peaceful environment.

A fitting way to end a wander around Galway is to rest with a book in Eyre Square park.

I’ll post these and other photos to Flickr.

Stand down.

I’m actually in Dublin as I write this and the tour with Blue/Back Roads Tours is over. I’m very far behind in both writing my blog but also processing photos. I’m hoping to have some time to do both while here for the next couple of days and I hope to be able to post some of the final images to my Flickr site. More on that if and when it happens.

From Kilronan Castle we head west toward the coast as we are ultimately heading to Galway to end the day. We head through Westport, apparently a lovely tourist town, then along to Louisburg and south through hills and vales.

At the east end of Lough Inagh, which is a sea Lough, is Aasleagh Falls and we have a chance to stretch legs and take a photo. It’s a pretty little dip in the river but calling it a falls…well…it doesn’t compare to some falls I’ve seen and grown up near.

The views from the south side of the Lough are quite stunning and further along we can see mussel farms in the water. The shot from the bus of the mussel farms as we are whizzing along is quite disappointing but the other scenery makes up for it.

Our next destination, which also involves a bit of a guided tour, is the Connemara Heritage and History Centre where we are going to go up into the hills on a wee train pulled by a tractor to see Dan O’Hara’s cottage.

The views, as everywhere in this lovely country are stunning.

And yes…that is rain falling in the west off the coast.

Our first experience is going to be all about what “peat” is. In Ireland they call it “turf” but it’s the same stuff. It has to be cut first then laid out to dry in the sun. The pieces that seem to be just lying around are actually put there so that they can dry. Later they will be stacked like a pyramid to dry further. The pieces that you see below will eventually dry to a much smaller and a much harder piece of “peat” that is ideal for sustained heating (and making whisky).

Dan O’Hara was a tenant farmer who was relatively well off and quite popular locally. In 1845 he though to modernize his wee cottage by adding glass windows an improvement that was frowned upon by Landlords of the day. These improvements, which, added daylight to the cottage, then came under the “window tax” and it is this tax that is the source of the phrase “daylight robbery”.

Dan could not afford to pay this new tax and so the bailiff and police arrived to evict him from the cottage. I may have mentioned before during the visit to the Famine Village that the cottage dwellers did not own the land, although they did own the cottage, and the landlord could on a whim set fire to the roof, knock walls down and evict the tenants. Dan’s sole recourse after having his family evicted was to head to America.

Dan’s fortunes did not improve in America and he was forced to send his children to an orphanage and earn what he could selling matches. The song “Dan O’Hara” tells the story of the misfortunes of “Dan O’Hara of Connemara”.

Our guide sang the song for us then opened a bottle of “Potcheen” (aka Irish Moonshine) and we all had a toast to Dan O’Hara.

We’ll let the “peat” dry out and we’ll head to Galway and the Dean Hotel where we’ll spend the next two days. More to come.

Stand down.

We’re leaving the Redcastle and heading for more adventures on the North Irish Coast. We’ve come south past Derry and we’re south of Strabane on the outskirts of the Sperrin Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. Our first stop is the Ulster American Folk Park which tells the story of 2 million Irish people who sailed away to start a new life in the New World.

Local recreators give full meaning to the various buildings and events.

One of the sites is the original home of Thomas Mellon, who emigrated at the age of 5 with his parents to Pennsylvania. He became a lawyer, judge and the founder of the Mellon Bank, which is apparently still one of the largest in the US.

We follow the trail to the harbour and boats that took people across the Atlantic and we end up in a city in America that has products and food stuff that they could only have imagined back home.

We could have spent much longer here, in fact a full day would not be out of the question. I’ll add it to the list of things I’d like to go back to and explore in more detail.

We’re on the road again to Caldragh Cemetery which has some unusual stone figures. The larger of the figures is the Boa Island bilateral figure. It is regarded as one of the most enigmatic and remarkable stone figures in Ireland. It is called a Janus-figure because it has two faces, reminding some of the Roman two-headed deity Janus, however, it is not a representation of Janus. It is thought to represent a Celtic deity and could represent a Celtic goddess as readily as a god, especially given the name of the island.

We don’t have to far to go to reach Belleek and the world famous Belleek Pottery…never heard of it…me neither, but it claims to be the oldest working fine china pottery in Ireland. We have a tour through the plant and meet some of the people actually working on pieces.

The most impressive works are the baskets that are essentially woven pieces of clay.

There’s a huge variety of these baskets and difficult to figure out which one is the best…or should I say photogenic. Picking at random…here’s a good example of this very fine work.

We’re heading to County Roscommon and Kilronan Castle for dinner and the night… but before we get there though Peter has us down another backroad for a photo op of Castle Classiebawn taken from some distance away.

It’s on private property and this is about the best view you can get. It helps that the rest of the scenery is stunning.

Kilronan Castle is actually a restored castle that is quite stunning. It overlooks Lough Meelagh and is located somewhere southeast of Sligo.

It’s been a busy day and I’m ready for a pint, a dinner and eventually my bed.

Stand down.