The Rocky Road to Dublin

Okay, so, from Tramore we drove the next day northwest to the town of Cashel - home of the famous Rock of Cashel. The Rock of Cashel is a hill located in the town of Cashel in County Tipperary. It was originally the stronghold of the kings of Munster (the southwest quarter of Ireland - more or less). In the middle ages the Rock was given to the Church and from then on, became the site of various religious structures. It was largely ruined in the 1600's by Cromwell's jolly crew. For more details, see the Wikipedia article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rock_of_Cashel.

This sign was there in case you didn't know what the big damn rock in front of you was

The Rock of Cashel with the ruins atop it

The car park for the RoC was, of course, at the bottom of the hill. After a long, steep climb up a long steep path, we four old geezers actually made it to the top. Frankly, it was a real stress test. I was expecting a cardiologist with an EKG machine to be waiting for us. Alas, there was just a place where you paid money to see the ruins.

The view from the top of the RoC - what do you see? More ruins.

The cathedral on the Rock. It's pretty much intact except for the roof and the windows.

Inside Cormac's Chapel

We went inside a smaller church on the RoC called Cormac's Chapel. It has a stone roof and stayed pretty much intact during all the Cromwell nonsense. However, if you notice the little bits of color on the vaulted ceiling in the above picture, these are the remains of what are believed to have been some amazing frescoes - kind of an Irish Sistine Chapel. Unfortunately, the damp Irish climate pretty much destroyed them, and these bits of color are all that's left.

This was in the indoor exhibit at the RoC. I think it's supposed to be what's left of a cross set up by St. Patrick - patron saint of Ireland and, in the U.S., of green beer.

After having duly noted the Rock of Cashel, we set off for dear old Dublin (well, actually Rathcoole, a suburb of Dublin where we were staying at a B&B). Along the way, we traveled on some good sized chunks of divided, limited access highway - basically Interstates, except they are called Motorways in Ireland and the U.K. None of these existed when I drove around Ireland thirty years ago - I suppose they are a result of the recent prosperity and E.U. membership.

Well, in the fullness of time (a couple of hours or so) we arrived at our B&B in Rathcoole. Since it was still some time before noon, our rooms were not ready, but the lady who owned the place kindly let us leave our luggage in her sun room so we could rush off to Dublin and explore.

Our B&B in Rathcoole

Our original plan in staying in Rathcoole was to take a bus into Dublin - we most definitely did not want to drive in Dublin traffic. The B&B owner told us that we also had the choice of a tram line which had a station a few miles away and would take us into the heart of Dublin. After a bit of doing - the lady's directions were rather vague and the tram station was too new to show up on the rather outdated GPS we had- we found the station, parked in its extensive lot and took the tram (what we would call a trolley car or light rail system in the U.S.) into Dublin.

The Dublin light rail which is officially called the "Luas" (Irish for "speed") system. It began operating in 2004; there are plans to expand it. This picture is at the station where we boarded: "The Red Cow Station". In downtown Dublin the tracks are in the street like an old-time trolley.

After a pleasant, 35-minute ride, the tram deposited us at Abbey Street by the corner of O'Connell: pretty much the heart of Dublin. From there it was off to see the sights.

Roz cozies up to James Joyce - Don't tell Nora!

On our first of two days in Dublin, we opted to take one of the on/off tour busses. You buy a one day ticket good for as many trips on the guided tour bus as you want, and you can get on and off their scheduled stops (which are usually near tourist sites) as often as you please. I think that I will continue with our Dublin adventures in the next post. For now I will leave you with a short video that Michelle shot of O'Connell Street in the heart of the city. It gives some idea of the vibrant busy life of the place:

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Next: Dublin's Fair City, Molly Malone, and Guinness