The Wicklow Way

The Wicklow Way

After another delicious breakfast at the Design Center (scrambled eggs on soda bread with good Irish butter for Mike; porridge with blueberries and raspberry yoghurt for Kate, who appropriates the cute glass jars) we packed everything and headed for the car. Wait!!! Where did the car keys go?? A frantic 30 minutes later they were found... in Mike's front pocket, swallowed by his wallet.

When told that we were heading for Wicklow and the town of Bray, the Butler Hotel's day manager Richard asked "How adventurous are you feeling?" He told us of a couple from Philadelphia who'd arrived at the hotel in July. The pair came in, not speaking to each other. The driver simply threw himself down on the reception area couch; his wife moaned, "Where can I get a pitcher of margaritas?" They'd taken a series of rural roads between the coast and Kilkenny, the same path we were about to embark upon.

Undaunted (we're experienced Irish drivers now) we said goodbye to Kilkenny and, following Molly's crisp directions headed in the direction of Dublin and the coast. Have we mentioned yet that Ireland's roads are twisty, narrow, and free of most signage? Damn the signs, full speed ahead. And we were fine up to Ballymore Eustace where we lost the track toward Hollywood ("Twas named after yer fine Calyfornia city, doncha know?") After three or four false starts (we ended one in some poor fellow's driveway) we got back on track and continued toward Wicklow.

Slowly the green fields fell away as we climbed higher in these soft brown pine-topped mountains. The road twisted back and forth along the slope until suddenly we were at The Wicklow Gap, a crossing from west to east in the range. Then the road began to fall away revealing criss-crossed green fields and pastures again. Suddenly Kate cried out, "Look out! Killer sheep!" And there on the road ahead were three or four sheep grazing away at the narrow verge grass.

The rugged wilderness of the Wicklow mountains, combined with their inaccessability, once provided a safe hideout for opponents of English rule. When much of the southeast was obedient to the English crown, warlords such as the O'Tooles ruled in the mountains. Rebels who took part in the 1798 Fenian uprising sought refuge here too.

Glendalough is Ireland's most impressive monastic settlement, set in a beautiful narrow valley near two small lakes. It was founded by Saint Kevin in the 6th Century. The monastary flourished (despite repeated Viking raids) throughout the Age of Saints and Scholars until the English destroyed it in 1398. The main site contains a complete 30-meter tall round tower and the remains of a large chapel and several smaller buildings. The grounds are primarily a cemetery, still in use today. Glendalough is extremely peaceful and serene and well worth a two or three hour visit.

Molly took us through Enniskerry (the town nearest to Powerscourt which we intend to visit tomorrow morning) and thence to the seacoast at Bray. Bray is Ireland's 9th largest town (~32.000 residents) and its oldest seaside resort. Using Booking.com we'd secured a nice double room (€49 per night, off season) in the Esplanade Hotel on the Seafront. Many thanks to the local garda who directed us around road diversions and right to the hotel.

The Esplanade is right across from a beautiful wide sand and shingle beach. Here at the end of our journey across Ireland we stopped to deliver some gifts that we'd brought with us from California. As part of the 2013 "Gathering" we'd come to Ireland to bring the journeys of a part of Kate's and a part of Mike's families full circle. Our ancestors left this beautiful land to venture far across the sea to Canada and America and we are eternally grateful for the opportunitiies that their sacrifice and struggle have afforded us.

Tomorrow we complete our own circle, returning to Dublin for the flight home on Friday. This has been an amazing, beautiful, moving, joyful (and at times frustrating) trip. We appreciate all of you who have made the trip with us. Your comments and just your presence have kept us going. Thank you, friends.

Slan agus Balat ... Goodbye and God Bless!


Kate and Mike

Kilkenny, Ireland

Cill Chainnigh

(Kilkenny)

One fabulous thing about the attractions of Kilkenny is that you can generally take the "self-guided tour". That is, pay the entry fee and take as long as you like to walk through the building and grounds. This lets you absorb a lot more of the local culture and history. Many sites have Office of Public Works (OPW) people keeping an eye on the historical treasures on hand and we've found all of these folks to be both friendly and very knowledgeable.

Kilkenny Castle
Our first visit was to Kilkenny Castle, which stands at a strategic location where the River Nore bends. Over its eight centuries many alterations and additions have been made, making the castle a complex of architectural styles. The original Aglo-Norman stone castle was built during the first decade of the 13th century. The castle later became the principal Irish residence of the powerful Butler family for almost 600 years. Butler ownership began when James (c. 1360-1405), 3rd Earl of Ormond bought the castle in 1391 and lasted until 1967 when Arthur, 6th Marquess of Ormonde, presented it to Kilkenny for a token payment of £50. The OPW has lovingly and painstakingly restored the castle. We spent 2 1/2 hours exploring Kilkenny Castle and another hour walking its beautiful park.

An added bonus was to learn about and see the actual Morpeth Roll, a document over 400 metres long and containing over 160,000 signatures presented to Lord Morpeth, a pro-Irish British administrator, at the urging of Catholic Emancipator Daniel O'Connell. In addition to its intrinsic historic value, that roll has become an invaluable research tool for genealogists and is available through Ancestry.com.

Kilkenny Design Center (and the fabulous snack)
Across the street from Kilkenny Castle lie the old castle stables and the Butler family dower house. The stables now house Kilkenny Design Center and the shops of traditional Irish craft artisans (silver and gold smiths, potters, painters, and weavers.) The Dower house currently houses...us. Now called Butler House, this beautiful old structure rents out 13 spacious en-suite guest rooms that overlook a lovely and peaceful walled garden. Hurrah! (All you Downton Abbey fans think of Maggie Smith gliding around her tiny little home across from the DA pile.)

Another aspect of Kilkenny Design Center is a lovely tea room where we have breakfast each morning and afternoon snacks. Today's "snack" was lemon sponge cake and tea and chocolate cake with clotted cream topping and an O'Hara double stout. Hurrah!! Guess who ordered each pair.

St. Canice's Cathedral
Kate prowled the Cathedral's graveyard snapping pictures of flowers and grave markers; Mike climbed the 100 steps to the top of the Round Tower for great views of the city and grounds below.

The Black Abbey
We also walked a few blocks to the Black Abbey, a former Dominican monastary that played a significant role both in the history of the city and in the back and forth changes resulting from the contentious relations of Catholicism and Protestantism. We had a delightful conversation with a local resident, Kate, who has a remarkable resemblance to Mike's sister Debbie.

The Roth House
This well-preserved 16th century Tudor house was built just 100 years after Christopher Columbus made his celebrated arrival in Puerto Rico. The house and gardens give a glimpse of life in Kilkenny in Elizabethan times. It is also the Co. Kilkenny genealogical center. One fascinating discovery was a small display from the first successful "manned flight" performed in Ireland...in 1857, about 50 years before the Wright Brother's first flight in North Carolina.

Kate and Mike

Fifty Shades of Green

Caoga Dathanna de Glas

(Fifty Shades of Green)

The Emerald Isle. Fifty shades might be a conservative number. From the Ring of Kerry to Kilkenny, Ireland looks like the fanciest, best-manicured country club that you could imagine. Miles and miles of velvety green pastures crisscrossed by rock walls and bramble hedges. The green is relieved only by the white dots of sheep (although most sheep here have brightly colored  rumps in shades of blue, red, turquoise and orange.) In fact, there is very little here that's *not* green...shop fronts and doors and the many Guinness advertisements.

Ireland's rural roads are incredibly narrow at times and given they are usually lined with tall green briar hedges and overshadowed with tree branches, a drive can often seem like a Twin Peaks experience. The only thing missing is the hoot of an owl. Note for Midsomer Murder fans: We don't drive these roads at night, and we avoid forest walks and run at the first notes of music outdoors.

One exception to this has been a mountaintop view with strains of a bagpipe playing "Scotland the Brave" drifting up faintly from a hut far below. Wait a minute..."Scotland the Brave" in Ireland? What was that guy thinking? Maybe he was hopin' for something other than a Guinness? Mayb a wee dram of Old Kilt Lifter?

At the Cliffs of Moher we had another unusual musical experience. As the rain started to splatter down the and velocity of the wind increased we heard some strange sounds. As we walked by a metal gate we realized the sound was coming from it. The rails of the gate had become an Aeolian harp with the wind blowing across small holes in the metal. We tried to record the music but the wind drowned it out. The eerie sounds added to the incredible scenery surrounding us. 

Much Craic

Much Craic Today

Midnight. Just returned from dinner and entertainment in the Coachman Pub in Kenmare. Tomorrow morning we're on our way to Kinsale in Co. Cork. Will probably have time for a full post from there. But for now...

The Eat, Drink and Be Merry pages now contain some photos and comment so please have a look. Where you find them depends on how you're seeing this blog. On a laptop or desktop the other Pages (sections, really) appear as tabs at the top of the page. On a phone or tablet (maybe) they are visible as a "rotor" when you click Home. Select the page to view and click Done.

All for now. Heading in for sleep. Love to all and thanks for your comments, which keep us sustained and entertained.  :^D

Mike

A New Shoe for Pepper

A New Shoe for Pepper

Maps, Molly and Pepper

Maps are self-evident but let me introduce you to Molly and  Pepper. Molly, named for Kate's great grandmother, Molly Wilson, is our unflappable GPS system. No matter what bone-headed thing we do Molly calmly and with no judgement corrects our course and helps us along the our way. 

Pepper is our dark gray little Peugeot that hugs tiny Irish roads with tenacity. We put our lives in Molly and Pepper's hands every time we venture out. 

Yesterday we had an incredibly scenic drive from Galway down to Killarney then on to Kenmare where we currently are. The beauty of Killarney National Park is almost indescribable. Mountains, lakes, trees, shrubs of blooming fuschias, miles of green dotted with splashes of orange-red and yellow vegetation. Since it was raining most of the drive water was cascading down the sides of the mountains toward the lakes below. Saying it was picturesque is truly inadequate.

As we neared the bottom of the very, very narrow  and twisting road poor, dear Pepper hit something in the roadway. She continued bravely on in spite of her injury. We made it down  into town before she finally gave out and her front left tire went completely flat. I mean so flat she was on her rim.

With rain showers coming in waves we unloaded the back end of the car hoping  we would find an acutal spare tire not the foam spray that seems to be standard for tire repairs here. Great, good luck! Spare tire!

Mike assembled the necessary tire changing paraphernalia including the car owner's manual (a thanks to tech writers everywhere passed his lips) and with me holding a raincoat over both of us Pepper got a temporary new shoe. 

We made it over to Hawthorne House, the B&B we were going to be staying at, and the delightful owner, Mary O'Brien, enveloped me in a great hug then referred us to Kenmare Tire Center where Sean took a look at Pepper's tire and declared it hopeless. At least that is what we think he said because his accent was so strong we couldn't really understand. But when he removed the old tire from the rim and put on a new one we knew we had guessed correctly. So, Pepper now has a brand new 75 euro shoe and we are on the road again.

Kate

Galway - Burren, Cliffs, and Connemara

The Burren, the Cliffs of Moher & Connemara

(An Bhoireann, Aillte an Mhothair agus Conamara)

Poor or spotty wifi access make it tough to keep up these postings. Tomorrow we're moving south (Kenmare?) and hopefully we'll find better connections there. 

Yesterday, rather than attempting to drive the narrow rural roads of Co. Galway and Co. Clare we opted to take a bus tour to see the area of the Burren and the Cliffs of Moher. An all-day trip (10-6) it was well worth the E20 each and our Healy Lines driver was great with history and details throughout the drive.

Today we're taking the Healy bus tour of Connemara, the coastal area north of Galway. The west of Ireland was rugged and isolated enough that it managed to hold onto bits of Irish culture and language throughout the British occupation. Galway sits among several small Gaeltecht areas.We'll see more of this as we head south to Co. Kerry and the Dingle peninsula.

Here is a photo of Kylemore Abbey, which began as a hunting lodge and was improved into this castle-like structure which sits immediately above and between two lovely small lakes. By all accounts the new British landlord was a good guy who, in addition to providing employment with the renovation work, introduced fresh water and light (via a water pump at the lakeside and glass windows for all tenants cottages) for the local folks. After the death of the owner the Abbey was bought by an order of Benedictine nuns formerly based in Ypres, Belgium but chased out by WWI shelling. Fifteen nuns remain in residence today, ranging in age from 63 to 78. Old, but tough since each year they make a pilgrimage up the steep mountainside behind the Abbey to a statue of Mother Mary high overhead.

Galway's a great town, as relaxed and friendly as Dublin is frenetic and crazy. Advice: skip Dublin and fly directly into Galway (or Cork) and acclimatize in this friendly city.

Mike