FEBRUARY 15-29, 2012
Dublin***Adare Village Flew out of JFK on Aer Lingus and landed in Dublin's Aerfort Bhaile Átha Cliath the next morning.
I met Heidi, Linda and Bart, who flew out of Chicago's Ohare, at the airport where they landed just about the same time I did. Then we picked up our rental car and started our merry way along Ireland's narrow roads and "wrong-side-of the-road" driving. All the driving will be done by Bart.
RUSSBOROUGH HOUSE, County Wicklow (Irish: Cill Mhantáin, meaning "church of the toothless one")
First stop was the Russborough House, an example of Palladian architecture, designed by Richard Cassels for Joseph Leeson, 1st Earl of Milltown and built between 1741 and 1755 and now a museum with the last owner Sir Alfred Beit's family's art collection. Unfortunately it was closed for the season.
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ADARE MANOR, County Limerick
Continued our driving through Counties Kildare (Irish: Cill Dara, meaning "church of the oak"), Laois (Irish: Laoise), Tipperary (Irish: Thiobraid Árann) to Adare (Irish: Áth Dara, meaning "ford of [the] oak") Village in County Limerick (Irish: Luimneach) and checked in at the imposing Adare Manor. We unfortunately did not stay at the castle but at one of the modern townhouses in the compound. Our townhouse had three bedrooms, each with its own ensuite bathroom on the second floor. The main floor had a spacious living room with a flat screen TV, huge kitchen, dining room, an office/library with a sofabed, and a den.
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WHITE SAGE RESTAURANT, Adare Village, County Limerick
After dropping off our luggage at the townhouse, we went to dinner in the Village at the White Sage Restaurant, one of just 14 restaurants in Ireland to merit the Bib Gourmand status from the Michelin guide, one of just five in Munster and the only one in Limerick. It is located just outside the Adare Manor property and snuggled in a row of charming thatched cottages. I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of the food, Irish cuisine with French influence. Appetizer was flash-fried pork rillettes with sweet-sour onion and raisin relish; main course was crisp, duck confit, with choucroute, puy lentils and chorizo; dessert was chocolate fondant, cranberry-pistachio compote and chocolate ice cream. Kudos to Chef/Proprietor Tony Schwarz and his amiable wife Bobbie.
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FEBRUARY 17
Newcastle West***Abbeyfeale***Ardfert Cathedral***St John's, Tralee
DESMOND HALL in Newcastle West (County Limerick) was built in the 15th century and may have been a seat of the Knights Templar. Next stop was Abbeyfeale where we had a minor car problem fixed by a very kind English mechanic who did not charge us for his services.
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ARDFERT CATHEDRAL in Tralee, County Kerry, was a monastery founded by St Brendan The Navigator in the 6th century. The ruins consist of three medieval churches and early Christian and medieval grave slabs. The earliest building is the cathedral which dates from the 12th to 17th century with a Romanesque west doorway, a magnificent 13th century east window and a spectacular row of nine lancet windows in the south wall.
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TRALEE (Irish: Trá Lí, meaning "strand of the River Lee"), is the largest town in County Kerry, and saw the Dominican Priory of the Holy Cross and St John's Church plus a lot of colorful Irish pubs and inns.
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From Tralee we drove towards the DINGLE PENINSULA (Irish: Corca Dhuibhne) and enjoyed the scenic views of the countryside and the Atlantic coast.
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FEBRUARY 18
Ross Castle***Muckross Priory***Muckross House***Torc Waterfall***Kenmare***Ring of Kerry
ROSS CASTLE, the ancestral home of the O'Donoghue clan, built in the late 15th century, was our first stop in the Kilkerry National Park. The castle was amongst the last to surrender to Oliver Cromwell's Roundheads during the Irish Confederate Wars, and was only taken when artillery was brought by boat via the River Laune.
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MUCKROSS FRIARY, built in 1448 for the Observantine Franciscans by Donal McCarthy Mor, was next. It had a violent history, been damaged and reconstructed many times and the friars were often persecuted. The cloister and its associated buildings are complete and an old yew tree stands in the center. The monks were finally driven out by the Cromwellians in 1652.
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MUCKROSS HOUSE, a Tudor-style mansion built in 1843 by Scottish architect William Burn for Henry Arthur Herbert and his wife Mary Balfour Herbert, has 65 rooms and was visited by Queen Victoria in 1861. It was bought in 1911 by a wealthy California mining magnate William Bowers Bourn as a wedding present to his daughter Maud and her husband Arthur Rose Vincent. In 1932 it was presented to the Irish nation and became the nucleus of the Killarney National Park.
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TORC WATERFALL was a nice surprise along the way. Painting is by Mary Balfour Herbert.
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Lunch was at a picturesque town called KENMARE (Irish: An Neidín, meaning "the little nest").
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RING OF KERRY is a very scenic 179-kilometer circular road. Enjoyed the drive before calling it a day and returned to Adare Manor.
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