We arranged with the B&B host to eat breakfast at 8:30 AM. We want to get on the road pretty early since we have 3.5 hours of drive plus stops to make on our way to Londonderry, Northern Ireland.  Today we enter a new country, the United Kingdom.

We ate our vegetarian breakfast...did I mention that this B&B is vegetarian?  Then headed out.  It is unfortunately raining, but hopefully it lets up during the times we want to walk around.

​First stop is Drumcliff.  This is where the Nobel Laureate poet William Butler (W.B.) Yeats is buried.  His tombstone is a line from one of his last poems and reads: "Cast a cold eye on life, on death.  Horsemen pass by!"

I really liked the church (St. Columba's Church) on the grounds with a wood and stone interior.

We left Drumcliff and continued north.  The travel guide said to detour west and do a loop to Mullaghmore Head.  It was off this coast that on 27 August 1979 the IRA detonated a radio-controlled bomb on the vacation yacht of Lord Louis Mountbatten killing him and his family.  Lord Louis Mountbatten was the second cousin of Queen Elizabeth II.

After we finished the loop we continued on to Donegal.  The rain picked up and we were hoping it stopped.  We pulled into the parking lot with hopes to walk around town and check out the Donegal Castle.  The rain was pretty relentless.  It wasn't just drizzling, it was full up raining.  Needless to say, we decided to stay in the car and not walk around.  I was a bit sad because photos of the castle looked really cool, but we will be seeing many castles laster in our trip, especially in Scotland.

So, we carried on towards Northern Ireland.  Under 2 hours later we were crossing over the River Foyle and we went from the Republic of Ireland into the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

We arrived at our AirBnB in Derry and it was still raining, so we settled in waiting for the rain to stop.  It finally stopped just after 4PM, so we headed out to do a walking tour.  We entered the walled city at Bishop's Gate which will actually be the end of the walking tour.

We walked though the city until we arrived at the opposite gate (Magazine Gate) where we climbed the stairs to the top of the wall.  This wall, built 1613 - 1618, is still entirely intact.  You can walk the entire 1 mile circuit on top of the wall.

Here are a few photos taken as we walked on the wall.

It then started to rain less than 10 minutes into our walk.  Here we are standing under a tree looking at the First Derry Presbyterian Church.

The rain continued and started getting harder, so we called off the walk and headed home.  We again waited for it to stop raining and finally after a couple of hours the rain stopped so we headed out for dinner.  I found a restaurant called The Exchange.  It wound up being a really nice place and the food was very good.

After dinner we walked back to the AirBnB.  Tomorrow we are supposed to do a loop drive, but the weather isn't looking too good.  We will make a decision in the morning what to do.  Until then...

I slept better than I thought I would in this OK room.  We all woke, got ready, packed, and were out of the room by 8:30 AM.  We took our bags to the car and went looking for breakfast.  We found a coffee shop and Tim and I had a full Irish breakfast (mine vegetarian) and Barbra had scrambled eggs and a scone.  For a chain looking coffee shop it was actually pretty good.

We returned to the car and started our drive north towards Westport.  The first town we stopped in was Cong whose claim to fame is that the John Wayne movie The Quiet Man was filmed.  There is even a statue commemorating the event: 

Also in Cong was the ruins of the Long Abbey built in the 1300's.  The grounds were very nice.

It is interesting that the monks built a stone house over the river.  The story is that they used it to fish through the floor, but I don't know if I buy that.  I think maybe they just liked to have the sound of the river under their feet when they were inside.

Further behind the abbey is this lush green forest...beautiful.

Back in the car and we continue towards the town of Leenane.  The guide book says to turn left for 8 kilometers to a bog.  The book says to get out and jump around on it.  We tried, but it was so wet from all the rain the past few days that it wasn't working.  We / I tried though.

We then had to double back.  OK...maybe it wasn't worth driving 16 kilometers out of the way, but it was a beautiful drive.

We returned to Leenane and continued the drive.  We now drove along Killary Harbor.  Wow.

After the harbor we entered the Doo Lough Valley.  This is an area that saw a large percentage of the people die during the Great Famine.  There was a Famine Cross erected on the roadside to remember the victims.  Archbiship Desmond Tutu visited this site in 1991 just before ultimately ending apartheid in South Africa.

This is the view near the Famine Cross...beautiful!

We were getting hungry and caught ourselves eating cookies at the Famine Cross site...not too PC, so we got into the car and drove to the next town of Louisburg.  We decided to grab something quick and save the time and money for dinner tonight, so we popped into the next gas station and was able to put together a pretty good lunch.  The station even had a sitting area in the rear for eating.

Our last town today is the town of Murrisk.  This is where the trailhead for climbing Croagh Patrick is located.  I wish we had time to climb the mountain, but the guidebook says it would take 5 hours round trip and we just don't have the time, so a view from across the road has to do.  This is the mountain that St. Patrick supposedly rang his bell and drove all the snakes from Ireland.

Also in town is this cool sculpture of a coffin ship.  The details are pretty spooky.

The road was too narrow to turn around, so I continued down it looking for a good spot for a u-turn and there was ruins of a church.

After walking the ruins, we continued on to our B&B in Westport.  We arrived just after 4 PM, so we relaxed a bit and watched TV before going into town around 6:30 PM.  Unlike many cities in Ireland, Westport was not built during the Middle Ages, it was planned and built in the 1700s.

One of this towns tourist draws is the pub Matt Molloy's.  Matt is a member of the band The Chieftains who have won many Grammy awards.

We tried to go in here after dinner (Wood-fired pizza), but it was too busy so we went across the street to a Gin and Whiskey bar.  Barb and I had a gin and tonic while Tim had a whiskey. We then walked back to our B&B.  Tomorrow we have a long drive to Londonderry (Northern Ireland), so we plan on getting an early start.  I better get to bed now since it is almost midnight.  Until tomorrow...

Oh...one more thing...Tim wanted me to post his flower photos he took today, so here they are:

What a great nights sleep.  It might have been the most comfortable bed we have had in Ireland.  We showered, dressed, and went downstairs to a really nice continental breakfast.  After breakfast we finished packing and was out in the car ready to leave by 9:30 AM...right on time.

The drive to the ferry station was only 10 minutes and before we knew it, we were off to the Aran Island of Inisheer.  We originally planned on going to the larger island of Inishmore, but the ferry would have taken us 1.5 hours.  Instead, we decided on Inisheer, the smallest of the Aran Islands, since it was only a 30 minute ride giving us more time to explore the island.  Of course, when we went and bought the ferry ticket, we fell for the up-sale of a tour of the Cliffs of Moher for only €10 extra.  Oh well...it will be cool to see the cliffs we walked on top of yesterday from the water.

We boarded the ferry before 10 AM.

Here are some views of the island we are visiting today.

After just 30 minutes of pretty smooth sailing, we arrived at Inisheer.  As soon as we stepped off the boat, there were men hocking horse-drawn wagon rides and tours of the island.

Having the Rick Steves book we didn't need any guided tour since he provided one in the book.  Also, since we picked the smaller island, everything is walking distance from the pier.

The first stop was O'Brien's Castle (1400s), which or course was at the highest point on the island, so up we walked.  With these views, we looked forward to climbing higher.

We made it, and the views were worth it.

We walked up the hill a bit more to a Napoleonic Tower built in the early 1800s to watch for a French invasion.

Next stop is a cemetery with a sunken church in the center of it...what?!?  I guess we will have to wait and see what that means.   Meanwhile, the walk was incredible.

And here we are.  The St. Cavan's Church was built in the 11th century and is now sunken in a sandpit in the middle of the cemetery.  Pretty cool.

The next stop is pretty cool as well.  The shipwrecked An Plassy freighter washed on shore in 1960.  All the crew was saved, and the ship was washed high on the shore where it sits today.

We continued on the same road that the horse and carriages use to return to the pier.  More beautiful walking.

Here are a couple of nature photos Tim took.

We made our way around the road and down to the beach close to the pier.

We had about 1 hour until our ferry left, so we headed to the pub for a couple of pints.  30 minutes later we arrived at the pier and they hurried us onto the boat.  This boat is smaller than the one we took out here.  I didn't really care since it still seemed large and the ride out here was smooth.

However, as soon as took off the seas were anything but smooth.  To get to the Cliffs of Moher we were going parallel to the swells, so the boat was rocking left and right a lot.  The back of the boat where most was sitting was getting splashed with water with a few people getting drenched.  The few people inside the cabin were getting sick and had to try to come out for air.  It was really not fun.  I finally asked the deckhand what time we would be returning to the dock. He said after 3 PM.  It was now only 2:15 PM.  I told him that I doubted anyone would be unhappy if this sightseeing tour was cut short due to the the rough seas.  He looked around at the peoples faces and agreed.  He rushed inside to tell the captain to head downwind towards the pier.  As soon as we turned, the swells were behind us and it was a bit better.

We then got to somewhat enjoy the views of the Cliffs of Moher, but for most people it was too late and they just sat in their seats waiting to dock.  The views were magnificent and it was cool seeing where he hiked (above the cliffs) yesterday from this angle.

we finally docked back in Doolin about 2:45 PM.  We all were feeling the world swaying for quite some time after.  It was difficult getting in the car and driving the windy road even being in command.  I don't know how my passengers did it.

While planning this trip I found a nice sounding pub on the way to Galway.  Since none of us has really eaten since breakfast, we stopped at Cassidy’s Pub & Restaurant.  Tim had a steak sandwich, Barbra had a goat burger, and Christine and I had goat cheese tartlets.  It was a really good meal.

Next stop is Kilcolgan where we have to drop Christine off at a bus station because she is flying home tomorrow.  Google maps said it should take us 35 minutes to get from the pub to the bus station and Christine's bus was scheduled to arrive in 45 minutes, so we paid our bill and headed to Kilcolgan.

Everything started out good until we made a turn onto a very narrow lane.  The GPS said we would only be on this road for a couple of minutes, so we weren't concerned.  Then we came to our turn and turned onto an even narrower lane.  Narrow as in one lane with grass growing down the center and hedges on both sides.  Check it out:

Needless to say, we didn't make it to the bus station on time.  No big deal since the next bus is only 1 hour later. We got gas and decided that the bus station looked safe enough, so Christine agreed to get dropped off and let us continue on our way.  We said our goodbye and Tim, Barbra, and I were on our way to Galway.

About 15 minutes later Christine texted and said that she was on the bus.  It turns out that the bus was late, so she made the bus we thought we missed.  Good deal.  We made it to Galway, parked the car, and checked into the hotel which happens to be a hostel.  The room is plain and simple, but it will do for 1 night.

After checking in, we headed out for a Galway walk following the narration in Rick Steves' book.   Here is what we saw on the tour:

This is Eyre (pronounced air) Square, Galway's main, park-like square.

Of course there is a monument to JFK.  He visited Galway and gave a speech in this park a few months before being assassinated.

This is Williams Gate, the main pedestrian street going through Galway.

Collegiate Church of St. Nicholas, built in 1320 is just off Williams Gate and named for ST. Nicholas the patron saint of sailors.  Christopher Columbus is said to have worshiped here in 1477.

At the end of Williams Gate is the River Corrib.  It was roaring.  We guessed it is a tidal river and the tide was going out.

Spanish Arch is by the river and is the last remaining piece of the old city wall.

We walked down this street to check out the view at the end.

At the end of the street we noticed this boats parked.  Notice the stones sticking out of the water in front of the boats?  Tim thinks it is a wall that keep the water in this area during low tide to keep the boats afloat.  Interesting.

Back to Eyre Square and we noticed this statue of a sad looking man.  Barbra and I wallowed in his sadness.

We were all kind of tired, so we headed back to our room.  Tomorrow we are supposed to double back to Cassidy's Pub to do a hike in the barren area, after driving those tiny roads today, and the weather is not supposed to be the best, we decided to skip the hike.  Instead we will head north and take the scenic route to Westport, our stop for tomorrow night.  So, until then...

The alarm went off at 7AM.  I must have been in a deep sleep because when I heard it go off, I didn't know what I was hearing.  Tim volunteered to shower first, so I got to sleep a bit more.  The plan was to leave by 8:30 AM, but the weather is rainy and foggy, so we will not be taking the planned mountain pass route.  With the fog, there won't be anything to see.  This will save us some time, so we are now not in such a rush.

With the drive over Conner Pass nixed, the next event is a 30 minute car ferry.  When we arrived, we were lucky that the next ferry was arriving within 10 minutes.  It arrived and we drove on.  It would have been a bit better if it wasn't raining, but it was still a nice ferry ride.

After the ferry, we decided to head straight to the B&B even though it would be hours too early to check-in.  We thought that the owner could at least let us know our options of what to do in the rain.  Our plan was to hike 3-5 hours, but we were unsure whether we should go along with hike due to the weather.

We arrived at the B&B just before 1 PM.  Our host John said that we could check in early.  He also told us that we should go ahead with our hiking plans, so we unloaded the car and drove into town for lunch before the hike.

While Christine, Barbra, and I ordered the seafood stew, Tim ordered Guinness Stew and a pint of Guinness.

After lunch we parked behind the Doolin Hotel where John told us to, and walked to the hiking trail.

As soon as we stepped foot of the Cliff of Moher trail, we were treated with this amazing view:

We continued hiking for 2 hours and 45 minutes and think we covered about 5 miles.  What an incredible hike with amazing views.

We arrived at the Cliffs of Moher visitor's center. This is where all the tour buses come to view the cliffs.  We made our way through the crowds and leaned that there was a shuttle bus that can take us back to Doolin.  Perfect.  We paid our €4 each, and boarded the shuttle at 5:30 PM.  We arrived back to the car a bit wet and muddy.  Barbra wanted to check out a gift shop we walked by on the way to the hike, so we drive there and spend about 30 minutes watching Barbra shop for an Irish wool sweater.

We arrived back to the B&B to change out of our wet clothes and head to dinner.  Back to town for a nice meal of Lamb Shank and seafood pasta (guess which one was my dinner).

After dinner we returned to the B&B before 9 PM which gives us plenty of time to get a good night's sleep.  Of course the sleep will be after I finish this blog.  Tomorrow we get on a 10 AM ferry to the Aran Island which we can see out the window of our B&B as seen in the next photo taken out our window.

​Until tomorrow...

Another nice morning to sleep in.  Around noon we all decided to get out and see the town.  Barbra and Christine decided to see the town by shopping and Tim and I took Rick Steve's walking tour in the guidebook.  Although we saw most of the town durning last night's pub crawl, we didn't stop and see and learn about the other sites around town.  Here are some of the highlights:

One of the streets have a river running down it.  Some house are built over the river.

There are many pubs in the town.  More than we went to last night.  Here are a couple with cool exteriors.

Foxy Johns is a hardware store and a pub.

There is a nice modern (1865) church in town.

Here is Fungie the dolphin.  He is believed to be one of the 6 dolphins released from "Dolphinariums" on the southern coast of Britain because he doesn't mind being alone and his comfortable around humans.  He hangs around the mouth of the harbor where tour boats troll around looking for him.  With Fungie getting old, the town is beginning to worry what they are going to do when he isn't around anymore since there is a lot of money being  made from him.

Here are some of those other EU nations fishing boats and trucks taking fish off the Ireland coast and returning it to mainland Europe.

 We grabbed a quick lunch and headed to the Dingle Distillery where we took a tour.  Dingle distillery produces gin, vodka, and whiskey.  The gin and vodka paid the bills while the whiskey aged for the first 3 years.  Since then, the gin has won world awards and is standing on its own.

With the high cost of starting a distillery, the founders found people to give them €6-7,000.  For this money, each people each got a barrel of whiskey.  Here are some of them:

These copper vessels are where the distillation takes place.  Dingle does a triple distillation in copper making the alcohol smoother with less nitrates.  According to the tour guide, the less nitrates cuts back on the chance of having a hangover.

This year they release their forth batch of Irish whiskey.  Here are bottles from each of their first four years.  Dingle is a very small operation with no automation.  Even the bottling and labeling is done by hand.  A current bottle of whiskey costs €65 and is only available in Ireland.  The gin and vodka is distributed elsewhere including the United States.

Here is where they distill the gin and add the botanicals that make gin, gin.

It was a great tour.  It cost us €15 each, but we each got two drinks, a choice of vodka or gin, and a whiskey.  Since I don't like whiskey and Tim doesn't like gin, I got two gins and Tim got two whiskeys.  It worked out great.

On the way back to the apartment we passed a fish store, so we popped in to see what they had.  As soon as I saw the smoked mackerel I knew what I was going to have to dinner.

We arrived back to the apartment just after 5 PM with thoughts that we would eat dinner in and then go out for a pint.  However, after dinner everyone decided to just call it a night since we want to leave by 8:30 AM tomorrow morning.  I was OK with this as well since I had some blogging to catch up with.

So it is now 11:45 PM, and I am just finishing up today's blog.  However, I still haven't done the blog from 2 days ago.  Hopefully tomorrow I will be able to get to that one.  I need to get to sleep, so until tomorrow...

It was nice to sleep in.  If seems like it has been a while since we didn't have to set an alarm.  We all woke up, ate breakfast, and got ready to go.  Today we drive around the Dingle Peninsula.  It is a 30 mile loop that promises to have spectacular coastal views.

We left just before noon for the drive.  As I drove, Christine read the accompanying tour from Rick Steves book.  The first thing we stopped for was a road pullout for this view:

Today we had many views of Skellig Michael.  Here are a couple.

Across the road from this view were some cows also enjoying the scenery.  I love the old stone walls on the hillsides.

This is what some of the drive looked like, beautiful views with narrow roads.

Another pulloff with more amazing views.

We saw these ruins on the side of the road, so we pulled over to check them out.  By the way, here is the rental car that we have.  It is a Renault.

This pullout is called Clogher Head pullout.  The three small peaks on the right are called the Three Sisters.  Left of that is Sybil Head where scenes from Star Wars: The Force Awakens were shot.  ​

This area is definitely trying to cash in on the Star Wars tourism.

At the 19 mile point of the drive, there was a brewery.  Of course we had to stop for a flight.

About 2 miles further were signs pointing to Gallarus Oratory.  Rick Steves warned not to pull into the first parking lot because the will charge to park.  We followed Rick's directions and parked for free a bit further..thanks Rick Steves!

​Here is the beautiful path leading to the Gallarus Oratory:

This Gallarus Oratory was built about 1,300 years ago and was used as a church.  It was pretty cool.

Next stop is the ruined church of Kilmalkedar, but before checking out the church, we noticed there was a marked hiking trail, so we decided to walk a bit on it.  this trail is marked with a symbol of a monk.  It is an old pilgrimage trail called "The Saints' Road."

I think we walked about 10 minutes out and then turned back, mostly because we were all hungry and this loop was taking way more time than we thought it would.

We then went over to the church ruins to check it out.  This church was built in the 12th century, and there are some tombs that looked like they were that old.  This first picture shows the side of the church with newer tombs, but the next photo shows the old tombs.

There are three pretty cool things on these grounds.  The first is an alphabet stone dating around 550 AD that has the latin alphabet.  The second is a sundial dating to around 800 AD.  The third is a ogham stone dating from 600 AD with early Irish language written on it.  

When we got back to the car we thought that we were done stopping, but then we saw some more ruins and just couldn't pass them up.  These wound up being remains from a house in the early 14th century.

OK...back to the car and get to Dingle...well...maybe after one more stop to see a "fairy fort" dating around 1000 BC.  Fairy forts, also called ring forts or hill forts, dot the Irish landscape.  They were probably used as a multi-family dwelling.  Irish tradition claim that there is druid magic associated with these ruins, so they are rarely tampered with.

Finally, back to Dingle around 4:30 PM.

After dinner, we went next door to a brewery called Dick Mack's.  Of course we had a flight.

After dinner and the flight, we returned to the apartment for a break.  Around 7 PM we left for a pub crawl in which we managed to visit five pubs.  Some had music, some had sports, and some just had conversations.  What they all had in common were great Irish beers, great Irish whiskies, and great Irish people that are very friendly.

We made it to last call at Curran bar which occurred at 11 PM since it was Sunday night, then walk back to the apartment.  I was pretty tired, but had to get laundry done, so I was up past midnight before finally going to sleep.  Luckily we don't have to set the alarm since tomorrow we are enjoying a relaxed day in Dingle.

Today we have a lot to see, so we needed to get an early start.  The plan was to be out of the AirBnB by 8 AM, we made it out by 8:15 AM...not too bad.

The first stop of the day, about 1 hour down the road, is a roadside monument called Beal na Blath: Michael Collins Ambush Site.  This is where the Irish rebel leader Michael Collins was ambushed and assassinated by anti-treaty IRA guerillas on 22 August 1922, during the Irish Civil War.  It seemed his compromising ways wasn't what everyone liked.

Along there drive there were many breweries.  This is one that we pulled into, but they weren't opened to the public.  It seems that a new law has been passed making it harder for craft breweries to have tasting rooms and sell beer on their premises, so we craft beer lovers have to find their beer in pubs or liquor stores.  By the way, we had one of this breweries beers yesterday and it was delicious.

After leaving the brewery, we drove about 30 minutes more and then turned on the Ring of Kerry road.  Our next stop was in Killarney National Park, the Torc Waterfall.  Along with seeing the waterfall, we hiked a loop that took about 45 minutes.  It was so lush and green...just as I pictured Ireland to be.

We climbed for a bit and was rewarded with this view of Kenmare River, which looks like a lake, called a river, but is actually an inlet of the sea.

Trees just as I imagined they would look like in Ireland.

After the wonderful hike, we continued on the Ring of Kerry road to an overlook called Ladies View.

Continuing on the Road of Kerry for 45 minutes took us to the town on Kenmare (rhymes with "been there" according to Rick Steves).  its a small town on the River Kenmare filled with cafés, shops, and pubs.  Just a 5 minute walk for the main square is an Ancient Stone Circle consisting of 15 stones in a circle plus a central stone.   More than 3,000 years old, it is no Stonehenge, but it was pretty cool.

Notice the tree on the left with notes hanging from it.  It is a Hawthorn tree.  In Celtic mythology, Hawthorn trees are one of the most sacred trees that symbolize love and protection.  They are also known as Fairy Trees because fairies live under them so they are always treated with respect and care.  These trees are also believed to bring good luck and prosperity, so farmers never cut them down.  Supposedly, roads have been diverted to avoid cutting one down.

Anyway, we were given a note card to right our wishes on and tie it to the tree.

Back to town where Barbra and Christine wanted to walk the streets for a bit of shopping.  Tim and I walked up and down the street, so here we wait for them.

Christine has been looking for something called Poutin, Ireland's version of moonshine.  We finally found a liquor store that had three to chose from.  Christine decided to pass to see if we could find some other kinds as we travel north on the west coast.

However, Tim and I scored a few bottles of craft beer brewed in Ireland.  We are looking forward to drinking them soon.

We returned to the car and had a bit of a picnic out of the trunk of the car in parking lot before heading back on the Ring of Kerry road.  Here is a couple of photos Tim took while I was driving.

While driving by, Tim was able to get a shot of Carroll's Cove.  According to Rick Steves has some of the warmest water in Ireland along with Ireland's only beachside bar. 

After a slight 15 minute miss and a u-turn, back past Carroll's Cove, we arrived at Stage Ring Fort.  There are 3 of these ring forts on the Ring of Kerry.  These were built somewhere between 500 BC and 300 AD without the use of mortar or cement.

These sheep were hanging out around the fort.  We assume the colors are so the farmers know whose sheep are theirs?

We drove back past Carroll's Cove for the last time and stopped at Coomakesta Pass for an incredible view.

Check out the circular looking structure in the field below.  We thought it might have been a another ring fort, but we don't think it is.  Perhaps is a corral for farm animals?

In the town of Waterville there is a sculpture of Charlie Chaplin near the waterfront.  I guess him and his family used to vacation here.

Can you believe that there is a surfing beach in Ireland?  IT is called St. Finian's Bay that has recently become discovered by surfers.  There were a few on the beach, but we didn't see any catching any waves.

Here is a short video of the typical roads I had to drive today.  I am definitely getting used to driving down the left side of the road, but the narrowness of the roads without a shoulder is still a bit bothersome.

We finally arrived at our B&B in Cahersiveen around 6:30 PM.  It was a long day with a lot of driving.  The host offered to drive us to town for dinner so I didn't have to worry about having beer with dinner and driving home.  So, we settled in our rooms then took the drive into town.  

There was a massive castle-looking fort in Cahersiveen, named the Daniel O'Connell Memorial Church, built between 1888-1902.  We didn't go inside, but it looks pretty impressive from the outside.

In town we had dinner at a pub, shopped for a few groceries, and then walked the 1.6 miles back to the B&B.  Tomorrow we are going to Skellig Michael which is supposed to be one of the highlights of our entire trip to Ireland.  We must be at the pier at 9 AM, so an early morning.  We all are excited and can't wait.

Wow...I slept until 9:30 AM, Tim had just waken up and it appeared Barb was still sleeping.  Christine was the only one up an moving earlier than that.  We all took our time and was enjoying a leisurely breakfast when I realized it was 10:30 AM.  There is a tour I want us all to take at 11 AM.  "Let's go, we have less than 30 minutes to get to the start of the tour!"  Everyone jumped into action, and we were out the door and to the starting point of the historic tour with 15 minutes to spare, because the tour was starting at 11:15 AM...whew.

When we saw the crowd that was taking the tour, we weren't sure if we wanted to hang around, but we decided to give it a chance.  Don's tour comes highly recommended by Rick Steves, so we stuck to it.  After 5 minutes, we were hooked and happy we joined.  Don made the story of the town interesting and unforgettable.  What a great tour.

After the tour was over, Don told us were to see a portion of the old wall that is still intact.  On the walk up, there was a cafe with the Old Mother Hubbard story painted on the side of the building.  I knew the first verse, but someone left out the other verses when I was growing up.

We continued the walk up to the old wall:

Time for lunch.  How about Fish and Chips!

After lunch we were ready to walk the 1.5 miles to the Charles Fort.  The view during this walk was supposed to be beautiful, and it did not disappoint.

We will definitely be stopping at this pub on the way back to town.

After a long, beautiful walk, we made it to the Charles Fort, a star-shaped fort built int he 17th century to protect the port.

As promised, we stopped back at the Bulman Pub we passed on the way here.

We took the high road back and got some more incredible views.

We finally made it back to town just before 6 PM.  We decided to prepare our own dinner tonight, so we went to the market to buy some food.  The first place we went was pretty small, but Tim found a rotisserie chicken he couldn't resist.  The rest of us wanted to go to a bigger place, so I found Lidel on the map and we all set off.  We were suddenly looking up a wall / hill that Lidel sat on top of.  Tim said that he had already found dinner and was going to go back to the AirBnB, so Barbra, Christine, and I climbed up the hill for shopping.  

We returned to the AirBnB just before 7 PM.  There was one small walking tour in the guide book that i still wanted to do, so Tim and I took off before eating.  One of the stops was St Multose Church built in 1190 making it one of the oldest Protestant churches in Ireland.

Another interesting fact about Kinsale is that is was 10 miles off the coast of here that the Lithuania was sunk by a German torpedo.  It was this act that motivated the United States to enter World War 1.  There are a couple of graves of victims of "The Lusitania Outrage of 1915" which seem to be guarded by a cat.

We then came across one of the three fresh water wells that Don had told us about.  This one is called The Pauper's Well.  This well was open to the public, unlike other wells that were protected by the rich to ensure they didn't get contaminated.

Tim and I returned to the AirBnB and we all enjoyed dinner.  We are leaving tomorrow by 8 AM, so everyone was in bed around 10 PM, except me since I am trying to catch up on the blog.  I am finally caught up and am actually typing up today's blog today.  Woohoo.

Tomorrow is an early morning.  We have a lot to see and a 3.5 hours of driving.  It should be a wonderful day.

Oh...today Tim seemed to like photographing flowers, so I put together a collection of today's flower shots. Enjoy!

We slept in a bit as usual, got ready, made and ate breakfast, and hit the road just after 10 AM.  Today we have two stops before we arrive at our overnight town of Kinsale.  First stop is the Dunbrody Famine Ship.  The Dunbrody was built in Quebec in 1845 (this is a replica) as a trading vessel originally set sailed to America, empty, and returned with goods.  During the Great Potato Famine from 1945-49, the captains realized that they can make extra money by loading the ship with families wanting to escape Ireland.

The cost of admissions included a tour of the Dunbrody.  Here he is standing in front of the actual bell that was on the original Dunbrody.  

The tour guide told us that the ship held about 200 passengers who each got 30 minutes a day to go on deck to get air and cook.  We then went below to see how they all lived.

Each of these 6 x 6 feet beds were shared by up to 6 people, possibly strangers for the 50 day trip over the ocean.  Supposedly, the captain of this famine ship was a good man, making the Dunbrody one of the more "survivable" famine ships of the time.

It is interesting to see how much the voyage cost and what was included as far as accommodations and food.

Outside the ship was "The Emigrant Flame".  It is from the same fire that burns at JFK's grave in Arlington Cemetery.  Why, you may ask did they take the JFK flame?  Well, there is a connection between JFK and the Dunbrody, and this area of Ireland.

According to a plaque in the Dunbrody Museum, "In October 1848, Patrick Kennedy left New Ross for Liverpool on the Dunbrody, to escape the famine and catch a Packet Ship to Boston to work as a cooper.  Not long after his arrival, he married Bridget Murphy from Cloonagh, New Orss, a neighboring Parish.  They eventually had 5 children.  On 22nd November, 1858 the year their son PJ (Patrick Joseph) was born, Patrick died of cholera."

So, JFK's great-grandfather, Patrick Kennedy, a local in this area, took the Dunbrody over to the United States.  In June 1963, just a few months before he was shot, JFK and his family traveled to visit his great-grandfathers homestead here in New Ross.  When we was shot, the White House invited his Ireland family to attend the funeral.  At the funeral, Jackie Kennedy presented this relative with the set of rosaries and JFK's doglegs, both of which was on his person when he was assassinated.  

When she returned to Ireland, they decided to set up a museum dedicated to the Kennedy family on the grounds of the homestead.  Since it was just a few miles away, we had to visit.

On the way to Kinsale after the Kennedy Homestead, we stopped on the side of the road in the town of Dungarvan.  The extreme tide is this area is incredible.  It must be at least a 10 foot difference between high and low tide.  These photos show that boats are grounded during the low tide.

At this point we should have only had 1 hour and 20 minutes to get to Kinsale.  However, we hit a huge traffic jam in Cork and it took about 3 hours.  I was quite happy when we arrived at our AirBnB, especially seeing a pub right across the street.

We got settled in and I did a search to find a restaurant for dinner.  I picked out an asian restaurant because I still have a cold, and soup sounded good.  The turned out that the place was pretty good.  After dinner we went to the market and picked up some items for breakfast.

We returned home with our groceries and Barb, Tim, and I went across the street to the Tap Tavern.  The bartender was Mary who must be in her mid-80s.  They call her the godmother of Kinsale.  What an incredible woman. Tim and I had a pint of Beamish Irish Stout.  I never heard of it, but it was excellent.

We all slept in this morning till around 10 AM.  By the time we got ready and had breakfast, it was afternoon.  I had downloaded a walking tour of Waterford, so we left the apartment and headed to the Granville Hotel for the start of the tour.  The Granville Hotel dates back to the 1700s and it is where Thomas Meagher was born in 1823.  Thomas was a Catholic, and a leader of the young revolutionaries leading the charge of independence against Protestant Britain.

Next stop was the Cathedral of the Most Holy Trinity, a Catholic church with 10 Waterford crystal chandeliers.  Oh yeah, did I mention that this is THE Waterford that is home to the famous Waterford Crystal Factory?

There were many murals all over Waterford.  Here are some of our favorites.  

Continuing on our Waterford tour, we came across the Blackfriars Abbey.  This site dates back to the 1200's.

Behind the ruins of the Blackfriars Abbey was a modern-day sculpture of a viking sword carved out of a fallen tree.  It is supposedly the worlds longest wooden sword sculpture at over 15 yards long.

Down from the sword was a reproduction of a Viking ship from the days the Vikings sailed over in 853.

In 2009 Waterford closed its doors and reopened 1 year later it was reopened as a smaller, scaled-down factory in Waterford that made special order pieces.  The "mass produced" pieces are now made in Poland, Slovenia, and the Czech Republic.  ​With this closing, many skilled glassblowers lost their jobs at Waterford.  Many have opened their own shops in town.  Here is one such shop called "The Irish Handmade Glass Company."  The side door was opened so you can watch the glassblowers in action.

Speaking of Waterford, we of course went and visited their showroom.  They had many custom works including duplicates of many sports trophies.  

We asked why the seahorse was the Waterford symbol.  They said that the founders saw the crest of the town of Waterford (below, right) and took the sea monster from it, turned it into a seahorse, made it face the other way, and formed a shamrock in the tail.

Down the street from Waterford was the spot where Thomas Meagher, in 1848, first flew the now flag of Ireland of Green, Orange, and White.  Green was for the Irish (Gaelic) Catholic natives, the orange for the English Protestants who had moved to Ireland, and the white for peace between them.  It was eventual adapted as the national flag in 1922.

After the tour, we found a store with a pub in the back.  While Barbra and Christine shopped, Tim and I had our first Murphy's Irish Stout in country.  It was delicious.

After the beer, we were told by the barkeep that we should eat at Geoffs Cafe Bar.  So we went and I had fish and chips for the second time in Ireland which was delicious.  Oh, a a bonus, it came with a side of mushy peas that i really did enjoy.

Our waiter at Geoffs Cafe Bar, sent us on to the our next pub, Walsh.  It was a great old pub that used to have a coffee and tea shop in the front with the pub in the rear.   It was a great place to hang out, talk to the locals, and have a drink.  I had my first G&T (Gin and Tonic) of my trip here.

After this drink, we headed back to the apartment.  I did laundry, and blogged yesterday's blog hoping to catch up.  Well, here I am today, blogging yesterday's blog again, so still a day behind.  It is now 12:30 AM, so it looks like I will remain one day behind for at least one more day.