2012 IRELAND TRIP

FEBRUARY 19
Blarney Castle***Cork***St Finn's Cathedral***St Mary Dominican Cathedral***Kinsale
County Cork (Irish: Corcaigh, meaning "marsh") is our destination today. BLARNEY CASTLE was built by Cormac MacCarthy, the King of Munster, nearly 600 years ago. The main attraction is kissing the Blarney (Irish: an Bhlarna, meaning "the little field") Stone, the legendary Stone of Eloquence, at the top of the tower. The sprawling parklands include arboretums and the Poison Garden with toxic plants like Wolfsbane, Mandrake, Ricin, Opium and Cannabis.

ST FIN BARRE'S CATHEDRAL (Irish: Ardeaglais Naomh Fionnbarra) is an Anglican church in Cork which was designed by William Burges between 1865 to 1879. The cathedral is on the site of the monastery founded by St Fin Barre. The main entrance has statues of The Wise Virgins on the left, the Bridegroom in the center, the Foolish Virgins on the right, the Last Judgment on the top.

ST MARY'S DOMINICAN CHURCH, was visited next. It opened in 1839 and designed by architect Kearns Deane. The church's façade has six fluted ionic columns which support a pediment upon which rests a statue of St Mary. The altar has the 14th century statue of Our Lady of the Graces which is said to have miraculous properties.

The CITY OF CORK which started as a monastic settlement was founded by St Fin Barre in the 6th century. Viking settlers later founded a trading port here in the early 10th century, then King John granted the city's charter in 1185. We passed by the Cork Opera House, the Crawford Art Gallery, an art installation of an upside-down cow lodged on a tree, and Cook Street.

Later we had lunch at The Streat Cafe on Cook Street.

Next destination is the colorful town of KINSALE (Irish: Cionn tSáile), a fishing village on the coast and sits at the mouth of the River Bandon.

By the time we got back to ADARE VILLAGE it was dark. We parked the car on Killarney Road and ate at BILL CHAWKE'S BAR (now owned by the late Bill's son Charlie, who is the most famous publican in Dublin). I ordered Chicken and Mushroom Vol-au-Vent (hollow puff pastry) which was quite tasty and went well with my Beamish beer. On the way back to the Manor we passed by the Holy Trinitarian Abbey, built by the Fitzgerald Clan for the Trinitarian order of monks in the early 13th century, and the Village Hall which was constructed in 1911 by the 4th Earl of Dunraven for the people of Adare.

FEBRUARY 20
Waterford Crystal***Cahir Castle
On our way to County Waterford we had a minor tire rim problem so we took the car to a mechanic and the manager drove us to the WATERFORD CRYSTAL showroom and factory while they worked on the car. We saw beautiful crystal pieces and how they were designed, formed and manufactured. Very enlightening visit.

Bart walked back to the mechanic and picked up the car and the repair cost was very reasonable. A quick drive through the city, we saw the Waterford Cathedral and the Theatre Royal Waterford. We passed by a MacDonald's so we had a quick lunch.

CAHIR CASTLE (Irish: Caisleán na Cathrach), is on an island in the river Suir in County Tipperary. It was built in 1142 by Conor O'Brien, Prince of Thomond, on a site of an earlier native fortification called a cathair (stone fort), which gave its name to the place. Granted to the powerful Butler family in late 14th century, it changed by 1542 when the first of the Barons Cahir was created. In 1650 the castle was surrendered to Oliver Cromwell, during his conquest of Ireland without a shot even being fired. In 1961 the last Lord Cahir died and the castle reverted to the Irish state.