Our Visit to Ireland

We left Amsterdam on Sept 18 to fly back to Ireland. Now we are getting good at this, we breezed through immigration and customs, and took the bus back to the Charles Stewart Hotel. (They still have not turned on the heat) Despite its name it operates as a Bed and Breakfast facility (B&B).

B&B’s are very popular in Ireland, especially in smaller towns and out in the country. They were a completely separate adventure unto themselves and were one of the high points of our visit to Ireland. Although each was very different in location and building, all but one we went to provided a “hot Irish breakfast”. Actually, breakfast is a rather elaborate affair. It is usually served from 7 to 9 AM. When one first arrives in the dining room, juice and coffee is ready. On the sideboard are several kinds of cold cereal and a fruit bowl. One of their cold cereals is a compressed block that you have to break up in your bowl. If you are a big eater, after you finish your cereal, you then order a hot Irish breakfast. This is two eggs, usually fried, Irish bacon, 3 link sausages, a broiled tomato and toasted brown soda bread. Their bacon looks more like our sliced ham and is very, very good. We were able to save a bit of money on food in Ireland by having the Irish breakfast, skipping lunch, and then sharing an early dinner at an Irish pub. The Pub meals were easily enough for two.

Jo liked the Irish bacon so much she bought some to bring home. However, Customs officials decided they liked it more than we did. Therefore, we had to leave it in Philadelphia, as we came back in to the country. She almost cried!

We had one day to see some of Dublin and so we bought tickets to a local tour bus and rode around the city listening to the commentary. We walked to the famine memorial along the Liffey River. It is in remembrance of the potato famine in 1845. We saw Trinity College, which dates to the 1500’s, and is a bustling place with students today. We toured the Jameson Distillery, where Irish whiskey is made. It is the only spirit that is distilled three times to make it smoother. We saw Christ Church which dates from the 1100’s, with the current structure from the 1700’s. They have found relics underground there that date to Norman times.

The Dublin Castle was the seat of English rule for 700 years and is still used today as a government building. It was built on the spot of the first Viking fortress and is located where the Poddle and Liffey Rivers come together forming a black pool (dubb linn in Irish). So, we learned that Dublin means black pool. The castle has art that dates to the 1600’s, Louis XIV chairs and Waterford chandeliers in the “living” rooms.

Sept 20th, the kids arrived at our hotel shortly after 11:00 AM. We rode the bus to Castlenock, a suburb of Dublin, where we picked up the boat for our week on the Royal Canal. Dessie (who we thought was a woman in emails, but wasn’t) met us at the twelfth lock. He showed us how to operate the racks and gates that make up the locks that have been there since the late 1700’s! And they still work, after a fashion! The first morning on the canal, we saw no towns, but the farms and occasional homes were pastoral and unspoiled. It was a very peaceful part of the trip. Blaise and Pete traded off piloting the boat and Jo and Zee handled the lines.

We motored on up the canal to the town of Maynooth, moored, and walked into town for dinner at the “The Roost”. It is a quaint Irish Pub where entire families come. There is a castle there, but we decided to see it on the return trip.

The next morning Blaise got us up at 8:30 - we were all still asleep! We might have slept all day. We did two double locks that day! That means you travel directly from one lock into another - lots of racks and gates to open and close. Blaise and Zee worked hard that day on the locks while Pete and Jo handled the boat.

For the first two days, we had been passing volleyballs floating in the canal. We counted them and came up with fifteen, at least. When we arrived in the village of Kilcock, we discovered where they came from. A club there plays water polo in canoes. There were several nets hanging in the middle of the canal we had to dodge to get by. We stopped there for lunch at a local pub “O’Keefe’s, and had draft beer and “pub grub”. Blaise introduced Pete to Smithwick (pronounced Smitic) draft beer. We pounded stakes in the bank and tied up for the night.

Because of the wet summer, the weeds in the canal were bad! We had to reverse the engine every half hour or so to free the weeds from the prop. However, two miles short of Enfield, we could no longer make progress through the weeds! Since that was our goal, we decided to tie up at Cloncurry Bridge and walk the towpath (2 miles) to Enfield. We had a delightful lunch/dinner at “The Bridge Tavern and Bar”. After we bought some groceries, we took a cab back to the boat. That set us back 10 euro (about $14.00 for two miles). As we were pooped, it was worth it.

On the return, we stopped in Maynooth for a day and toured the local castle. The original structure dates to the 1200’s. It was the seat of government under the British rule at that time. St Patrick’s College was located here in 1795 to educate Catholic priests who had heretofore been sent to France. It is still a very large and active college, albeit not for priests anymore. We took many pictures of the impressive structures. It is interesting that the windows are smaller on each successive floor.

The next day we walked to Carton House from Maynooth. It was originally built by royalty as a “home away from home” from the Maynooth castle. It is now renovated into a luxury hotel and golf course. It is beautifully done with gorgeous gardens. We love how all the old buildings are saved, if possible, and continue in use.

Everyone told us the week we were on the boat was the best weather they had during the entire summer! Every other day during the summer it was either wet or cold, or both. We turned on the heat several mornings, but were in short sleeves by early afternoon and no rain to spoil our boat adventure.

On the 27th, Zee’s birthday, we turned in the boat, rented cars, and headed for New Grange. We toured both New Grange and Knowth. They, and smaller ones like them, date back about 5,000 years ago to the Neolithic age, even before the pyramids in Egypt. They are a series of huge earthon mounds that were built of alternating layers sand, gravel and rock to control erosion. This means of construction is the only reason they are still standing. Each one has tunnels and some have burial chambers. The stones that ring the mounds weigh about 2 tons and came from 60 miles away! (How did they do that?) We were allowed to go into one of the tunnels. It was constructed with a “window” over the doorway that allows the sunlight to enter on the shortest day of the year. It lights the tunnel and the room at the end. Both are bathed in light for a matter of minutes as the sun rises. (And, how did they do that?)

We had breakfast, said ‘good bye’ to the kids, and hit the road for our week of wandering the countryside, going our separate ways. We headed for the Hill of Tara to the west, and the kids were off to County Cork, to the south. We, and they, missed turns in the road, and arrived at the Trim Castle with in minutes of each other. They saw a sign for the Castle and knew it was on our list of places to go, so they decided to go there. We knew it was our second stop, so we went there rather than turn around. We toured the castle together, took pictures, and said “so long”, again.

Trim castle was first built in 1172 of wood, but burned in 1174. The current stone structure dates to 1176! It is surrounded by a “curtain wall” of stone, which enclosed about three acres. The artisans would live within the wall and the peons outside. The ‘gardrobe’ was interesting. It was the indoor toilet - a hole through the floor to the bottom of the castle. Clothes were hung over the shaft and the ammonia fumes killed the ticks and lice in the clothing! We climbed to the top of the castle and were rewarded with fantastic views of the surrounding town and distant hills.

We did get back to the Hill of Tara, which really is a hill, and dates to pre-Christian time in Ireland. There were many minor chieftains in Ireland, but the main one ruled from Tara. Also, it was there that St Patrick explained the trinity using a shamrock with the three leaves and stem. He was given permission to preach Christianity through out Ireland. It was also here, much later in the 1800’s, that Daniel O’Connell (the father of Ireland’s fight for independence) held a peaceful gathering of 500,000 Irish peasants to demand the repeal of the Act of Union with Great Britain.

After several wrong turns (the signage in Ireland is very poor, to say the least) we finally arrived on the west coast at Kinvara for the first night. We drove all the way across the country, and toured several sites, in one afternoon. That gives you some idea of the size of the country. The next day we drove north in to Galway. We walked around the historic old part of the town. We saw St Nicholas Church, a monument to Columbus, the Spanish arch and the Quay. We then drove to the “new” Catholic Church. It was built in 1985, but looks old. The stain glass is phenomenal! There are three rose windows and numerous other stain glass windows depicting Christ’s life. The church is in the shape of a cross with the alter at the center of the cross. The pews run in four directions from the altar, very unusual.

Our visit to the Cliffs of Mohr was in gale force winds and light rain! The parking lot is across from the Cliffs and visitor’s center. We “fought” our way against the wind to the visitor’s center, but did not walk the additional distance to the cliffs, as it appeared we might blow into the sea. Going back to the car, with the wind, Pete caught hold of Jo because she was literally about to blow away!

We circled the Dingle peninsula in “off and on rain” the next day. We stopped at Dunbeg Fort; a ring fort on the coast that dates to the iron age (500 B C to 500 A D). Today you can still see remaining parts of the fort in the rugged terrain. Farther down the road, Pete walked to see some beehive huts. They were constructed of stone (very plentiful) with each successive row closer to the center, creating what appears as a beehive. They were constructed with no mortar. The weight of the stones and the shape of the structure hold it up. These were inhabited until about 1200 A D, by farmers.

The Blasket islands just off the coast once had 200 residents. They fared well during the famine of 1845 because they were self-sufficient. They fished the waters as well as raising crops on the island. However, by 1953 there were only 20 remaining residents and the winters had become harsher. The government moved the last residents to the mainland and the islands are now home only to birds and rabbits.

We found a B & B right on the water at Kells. Our bedroom overlooked the bay with Dingle peninsula across the water. We watched a beautiful sunset from there and our hostess, Agnes, showed us her prayer room the next morning. It is in part of what used to be her in-laws home, which has been standing for about 250 years. We left her with hugs and thanks for a wonderful time.

Driving on south toward the Ring of Kerry, we took a ferry to Valencia Island. We wandered and finally found a road to a picturesque lighthouse on the Atlantic coastline. From the south end of Valencia Island, we crossed a bridge and drove the rest of the Ring of Kerry in rain and gloom. It would have been so beautiful in the sunlight! We stopped at Derrynane, the home of Daniel O’Connor (the one mentioned previously). He stirred up the nation in the 1800’s with a yearning for independence; however, it was not until 1923 that England finally let go and the lower two thirds of Ireland became a republic. The upper third is Northern Ireland and remains a province of England.

Muckross House (a castle) was constructed in 1843, in the Victorian style, during the boom time of the British Empire. Queen Victoria visited there in 1861; the owners spent 6 years preparing for her visit! She stayed only one night! Most of the furnishings are original including the Waterford chandeliers, inlaid furniture and items from India and the Orient. The house was gifted to the state in the 1930’s, but did not open to the public until the 1960’s.

We found a “Farm House” B & B for the night. Noreen, a widow, runs it very frugally.
We visited with her in her living room where she heats with peat. This year she said the summer had been so wet the peat would not burn well. She was supplementing the fire with coal and wood. She turned on the boiler so we would have heat in our bedroom upstairs, but, it must have been on a timer that went off at 10 PM. We awoke to a cold room and dressed quickly!

After a day of aggravation with the car, we made it to the Swiss Cottage, an interesting “cottage orne” (an 18th century summer country house with a thatched roof). This was a summer place for the owners of the Cahir Castle, who also had places in Dublin, London and Paris. It was fashionable at that time for royalty to “pretend” to be common folk and dress in muslin. This cottage was their place to pretend. The house was built in 1810 with only four rooms. Also of interest is no two windows or doors are the same size. However, it also has a basement where the servants prepared meals, uncorked wine and served the gentry who were playing at being peasants. Although the owners were playing at being commoners, the twenty-three farmers living within sight of the house had to move because they “spoiled the view”!

On our last day, we stopped at the Rock of Cashel. The name refers to a huge rock formation upon which an equally huge castle sits. It is in the process of restoration and dates to the 1100’s. There is a chapel that was added in the 1200’s. We noted that the cemetery that surrounds the building is still being used today.

Now, back to the car! We had another on-going adventure during our week in the car. That was our fight with the car itself. We have been driving a Jeep Cherokee for seven years and never had to change a flat tire beside the road. Our Ford Fiesta with the big wheels and skinny tires had not one, but two flat tires that had to be changed beside the road. It only seemed to happen when Pete was wearing a pure white long sleeve shirt. It seems part of the problem was a bent wheel, bent on the inside that is, where we could not see it. So, at one point we had to find a manufacturing business that had expensive equipment to heat and straighten an aluminum wheel. Of course, this had to happen on a Friday afternoon when the employees wanted to get caught up and go party. So, Pete had to beg and whine and finally they gave in and fixed it for us. And then there was the oil leak! Pete noticed a loss of oil pressure and checked the oil level. There was no oil! We sought out an auto shop where a severe oil leak was discovered. The cause of which was an oil filter that was rusted out and had evidently never been changed. We became well acquainted with folks in tire shops, wheel shops and auto shops. They were all very understanding and went the extra mile for us, even though they knew were tourists in a rental car. They are truly great people!