Beannacht agus adh mor

We are flying home today, and currently sitting in the Dublin airport.
This blog only hit the highlights of our trip.
We had a great time and saw many interesting and awesome sights. In the end, it was our guide, Liam, who made the trip so awesome with his wit and wealth of information.
Slainte!

Clonmacnoise

We left Galway and drove east, across the midlands, toward Dublin. We stopped at the monastic ruins at Clonmacnoise. This now isolated place was once at the crossroads of Ireland, where the Shannon river meets the ancient passageway through the bog land. Pilgrims used to find their way there to worship, and celebrations are still held there on St. Ciaran's Day.

In 547 AD, a young priest named Ciaran decided to start a monastic settlement here. He built a wooden frame church on this spot, but tragically died one year later with yellow fever. A stone church was built on the spot in later years. Ciaran was purportedly buried here, but his body was not found when archaeologists looked. They did find an 11th century crozier buried in the church, and it is now in the museum in Dublin.

This is the "Whispering Door" on a church ruin. If you whisper in the channel on one side of the door, it can be heard by a person who places their ear next to the groove on the other side. Our guide, Michael, is standing by the door.

One of three high crosses that were moved inside to the museum.

The oldest "cross" found on the site. They theorize the cross part was added later then knocked off. The carvings are pagan, with no reference to scripture.

View of the cemetery. The cemetery grounds are extensive, with people from all periods of time buried there. There are also two round towers and many ruins on the site.  There were numerous Viking and Norman raids.

Galway

This morning we drove from Bunratty to Galway for a walking tour. Galway was one of my favorite stops on the tour. The French set up merchant houses here, and the Irish had to have permission from a French merchant family to enter the walled city. The city has a centralized medieval section that is pedestrian friendly, and I really enjoyed the walk about.

Our walking guide was Sean McGrath, a 4th generation storyteller and historian. He did a great job of bringing the city's history to life. This picture was taken in Eyre Square, also known as J. F. Kennedy square. According to Sean, the Irish revere JFK, right up there with the Pope.

This nondescript building on Eyre Square is the visitor information center. This is where the gallows, like a goal post, used to stand in the 1300s and 1400s. Criminals were brought down and hung while village residents watched. After death, their heads were cut off and put on poles along the street to discourage crime. According to Sean, the kids would kick the heads around in a game that became soccer. I'm still scratching my head on that one.

This bank building was once the Tower House of the Lynch family. It was a merchant house. There are gargoyles lined across the top, all with their mouths open. Sean maintained their purpose was not to ward off evil, but to drain water off the roof, like gutters and spouts. This is where we get the word gargle.

This is St. Nicholas Collegiate Church. If you look closely, you can see the outline of the older church building from the 1200s. The older church belonged to the Knights Templar. The King of France owed them a lot of money, and in 1307 he had them rounded up and taken away to be massacred.

The Kings Head public house, since the 1600s.  The building dates to the 800s. Galway felt like being in a real life Ren Fair.

Next to Galway, on the other side of a stone wall, is Claddagh Village. An Irishman was captured as a slave and taken to Morocco where he worked as a goldsmith. He created the first claddagh ring for the King's daughter at her wedding, and thus won his freedom. He returned to his native Ireland and started Claddagh Village next to Galway. Galway is considered the home of the claddagh. Claddaghs are heavily advertised in Glaway. This building also had a claddagh museum.

Bunratty and medieval banquet

We are staying at The Bunratty Castle Hotel, just across the street from Bunratty Castle. Bunratty Folk Park, and Durty Nelly's pub. We went to a medieval banquet in the castle tonight.
The gaelic name is Bun Raite, meaning at the mouth of the Raite River.

This castle was built in 1425. I believe I heard it was built by the McNamara clan and was then taken over by the O'Briens later on. It was restored in 1954 and is now open for tours and banquets. It is furnished with 15th and 16th century furnishings and tapestries. Somehow I don't think the Irish clans were so fancy back in the day. Fortifications of wood were built in the same place dating back to the 1200s, but they burned before the stone castle was built.

We climbed up a steep stone spiral staircase to the Great Hall. We were served a small cup of mead and entertained by musicians and singers who also explained details about the castle.

Then we walked back down the steep stone spiral staircase to the banquet hall, where the feast and entertainment ensued. An "Earl" and "Lady" were chosen to lead the feast, and one poor soul was thrown in the dungeon for a few minutes, to be heard wailing pitifully. He sang a song for his freedom.

Medieval singers and musicians standing in front of the huge fireplace in the banquet hall. Boy, oh boy, if those walls could talk!

Cliffs of Moher

We paid a visit to the cliffs of Moher on the Wild Atlantic Way. It is a beautiful place, but as Liam said, there was a bit of a breeze today. The cold wind kept us from staying outside long. We did walk up to the top and get some shivery photos before heading to the visitors' center.

Killarney to Bunratty

Today we drove from Killarney to Bunratty and saw some sights along the way.

We crossed The Shannon River on a ferry. It was rainy and super windy. The crossing took 30 minutes, and the conditions were so harsh we didn't venture up to the viewing deck.

The beach near Spanish Point, so named because several Spanish ships went down in the water there.  There were people swimming in the waters along the beaches, even though the temperature was in the 50s with a stiff breeze.

Holy well of St. Bridget. Our guide, Liam, told us his friend, a geologist, took a water sample and advised Liam to tell his tour groups not to drink the water, because it had too much protein in it.  A rather large cemetery is right next to it and on a more elevated piece of land. Liam, with his dry sense of humor commented, "You wouldn't be wanting to take a bit o' the neighbors with you now!"

Gaelic Roots

We were lucky enough to catch a performance of Gaelic Roots happening at our hotel in Killarney. It is a mash up of Celtic Women and Riverdance. The musicians and performers were really good, and I think they could be successful at a much larger venue. Sadly, no photography was allowed.

The Ring of Kerry

We drove counterclockwise around the Iveragh Peninsula, keeping Dingle Bay on our right hand and the mountain range, Macgillycuddy Reeks, on our left hand. We started at Ross Castle and ended back at Killarney.

Beautiful cathedral. I believe it is St. Marys, but didn't keep good enough notes. :/

Macgillycuddy Reeks in the distance. We stopped at the Gap of Dunloe for a group picture.

These standing stones were found in the nearby field and moved close to the road for viewing. They have Ogham writing on them. This is a very old form of writing consisting of a center line and radiating lines to the right, left, or across the center line. These stones are good examples of ogham writing.

We passed through Killorglin, a small village that holds the Puck Festival each August, at least since the 1600s. They capture a male mountain goat, a puck, and crown him king. They used to sacrifice the goat at the end of the festival, but no more. The first day is The Gathering, the second day is Fair Day, and the third day is The Scattering. This statue going into the village is in honor of Puck.

We stopped for a photo opportunity, and this man had set up shop on the roadside with his dog and donkey.

               He was selling dried peat.

He was also making St. Bridget's crosses from wild rushes and selling them.

We stopped at the Skellig Experience visitors center for lunch and to see an interpretive film.  We didn't go out to the islands. It seems to be a very challenging climb up the hand hewn steps to see the stone beehive huts. Lots of Star Wars fans are visiting the site of the 6th century monastery.

                     View of Lough Leane.

Jaunting Cars and Ross Castle

This morning we took a ride in the jaunting cars, otherwise known as horse drawn carriages. We took a lovely drive around Killarney Park to view Ross Castle. We got there before it opened, so we just got to view the outside.

              Our driver took a picture for us.

Our driver, Raymond, was quiet a character. He kept the jokes coming. According to Liam, the men from Co. Kerry are always the butt of the joke. In fact, people make a career of writing Kerryman jokes. Raymond was both clever and funny. He is a fisherman in the winter and drives a jaunting car in tourist season.

View of the jaunting car in front of us.  Per Raymond, the horses work 2 days on and 2 days off, and they get new shoes every month.

Thatched cottage along our route in the park.

     Wild yellow irises along our route.

Ross Castle, built for the O'Donoghue chieftains in the first half of the 15th century.

                   Ricky with the cannon.

Killarney Avenue Hotel

We are spending two nights at this hotel. It is in downtown Killarney, from the Gaelic "Cill Airne", meaning church in the sloe grove. This is a lovely town and very nice hotel.

                           Front of the hotel

                      Flowers in the lobby.

Door from the pub to the outside seating

Wood panel carving in the breakfast area

            Ricky in front of the hotel pub

Blarney Castle

This place has a reputation as a tourist trap, but we found it delightful. The gardens and grounds were breathtakingly beautiful, landscaped with all types of flowers.
I walked up the steep spiral stone staircase to see the Blarney Stone. It was purportedly brought from the Holy Land during the crusades. I am somewhat skeptical. No kissing for me, but I did get a picture.
The castle was owned by the McCarthy clan, and dates back to the 1400's.
Close by the castle is a site purported to be an ancient druidic site with dolmans, or standing stones.

Flower lined walkway.

Ricky at the dungeon entrance.

Blarney castle upon approach. It is under renovation and has scaffolding around part of it.

Sitting at the base of the castle looking up to the Blarney Stone.

Spiral stone staircase up and down to the stone.

This man was sitting with his legs dangling down, helping people lie down and stick their heads off the edge to kiss the curved stone. Since it is so famous, seems it should sparkle or something, like a gemstone. Lol

Standing stones near the castle. Legend has it that a king returning from war rode past the stones. He had 7 daughters and 2 sons, but lost both sons in battle. He had 2 stones pushed over, leaving 7 stones standing. The stones are known as The Seven Sisters.