Dublin or Nothing

Well, when last we left our intrepid explorers, we were about to board the on/off Dublin tour bus. The Bus left from O'Connell Street near the River Liffey - pretty much the heart of Dublin City. The Liffey flows through the middle of Dublin and O'Connell Street crosses it on a wide bridge. We were also near the General Post Office or GPO which figured in the heroic but failed attempt at Irish independence known as the "Easter Rising" of 1916.

The GPO on O'Connell St. The Irish freedom fighters of 1916 occupied the building. After bitter fighting they were forced to surrender to British forces.

After the rising was put down, the British executed a number of its leaders as a stern warning. Like most such brutality, it backfired, creating martyrs and winning more support for the cause of independence.

A statue of Daniel O'Connell, who won the right for Irish Catholics to vote, be elected to Parliament, and enter the civil service.

This angel decorates the base of the O'Connell statue - note the small hole near her elbow; it is a bullet hole from the Easter Rising.


This statue is on O'Connell St. near the GPO. It is James Larkin a founder of the Irish labor movement.

At any rate, the bus continued along O'Connell St. and across the Liffey taking us past a number of Dublin historic sites. I'll post some pictures Abe took along the way.

A street in Dublin


The river Liffey - sometimes referred to as "Anna Liffey" in Irish song and poetry


A side street in Dublin. The weird yellow thing coming at you is an amphibious vehicle which is used to give harbor tours. The US Army used to call them "Ducks".


Some of the lovely Georgian row houses for which Dublin is famous. The doors are often decorated with much pride and individuality.


One such Dublin row house door.


The Bank of Ireland - this building was originally the Irish Parliament House in the 1700's

The offices of the Taoiseach or Prime Minister



St Patrick's Cathedral - interestingly, it is a Protestant Church of Ireland (Episcopal) cathedral


A statue of "Molly Malone", Dublin's favorite fish monger. Who knew she had such cleavage? The tour guide on the bus told us some blarney/malarkey about her supposedly "moonlighting" as a hooker (not that she actually existed - it was a song). Dubliners call her the trollop with the scallops.

I have to say that the bus tour was fun, the tour guide regaled us with a combination of real history and pleasant blarney. Supposedly, Dubliners are noted for having a wry or even warped sense of humor even for Ireland. Well this guy had one and we loved it.

Its was getting on about lunchtime at this point and, as the bus was approaching the stop for the Guinness tour, we decided to hop off, take the tour and get something to eat.

There is no longer a tour of the actual brewery. Instead, you tour the "Guinness Storehouse" which contains various exhibits, a restaurant, bars etc.

Roz at the entrance to the Guinness storehouse

A sign welcomed us to the tour

This sign pretty much explains the process demonstrated in the exhibits

After touring we ate lunch at the Guinness restaurant located on an upper floor of the building. This was the view from our table.

The final phase of the tour was a free pint in the "Gravity Bar" on the top floor. Roz and Michelle enjoy some of Ireland's finest.

The view from the Gravity Bar

After the tour of the "Storehouse", we hopped back on the bus for the trip back to our starting point. Once back by the GPO, we decided to cross the O'Connell St. bridge on foot to explore an area of Dublin called the "Temple Bar". This is a neighborhood along the south bank of the Liffey which contains many pubs, restaurants etc. It is a very lively area and seems popular with young people.

Roz, Michelle and I on a cobblestone street in Temple Bar

We wandered about the district checking out some of the sights and the pubs until hunger pangs once again overtook us. We found a pub with food and live music and settled in to soak up some local color (as well as food and booze).

Roz in front of "The Oliver St. John Gogarty"

The pub was named after a historical character of early 20th century Dublin: Oliver St. John Gogarty. He was, among other things, a physician, poet, author, and participant in the Irish war for independence. Gogarty was also a sometime friend of James Joyce and purportedly served as the model for Molly Bloom's lover Blazes Boylan in "Ulysses". At any rate, the place had all sorts of paintings of famous Irish literati.

Inside Gogarty's Roz cozies up to Oscar Wilde and William Butler Yeats - she just can't resist those Celtic literary types! Must be her librarian's training.

Michelle and I in Gogarty's

Abe and Roz sat across from us.

The music was lively and the food and beer were good. At this point we decided to call it a day and made our way back to the Luas on Abbey street and thence back to our car and our B&B.

Next: Trinity College and the Book of Kells

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

Stoned at Blarney

The next morning, we got up and had our adequate if ordinary B&B breakfast and set off again. Our next stop was the lovely harbor town of Kinsale. Parking was a bit of a problem, but we managed to find a spot along the harbor sea wall. With Abe's help, I was able to get the car into the spot without any damage to it or anything else.

Kinsale harbor - where we parked is across the harbor from this viewpoint.

We wandered around the streets for a while. Kinsale is a very pretty town with some interesting shops.

A street in Kinsale

After a bit, we stopped for lunch in a small cafe. Forget what we had, but I'm sure it was good. I would have remembered if it was terrible. After lunch, we set out for Blarney.

Blarney Castle is a fifteenth-century fortification which was built on the site of earlier castles. It is located a short distance west of Cork City. The castle is basically a square tower with some outer walls - not too different from Bunratty Castle. The main difference is that Bunratty has been restored while Blarney is still mostly in ruins. Also, there's the stone.

This sign purported to give the origin of the term "blarney" as referring to smooth talk, flattery and just plain B.S.

Now, yes, the stone. The "Blarney Stone" is located in an outside portion of the castle battlements high atop the castle walls. Why it is there and how it got there is anyone's guess. What it is, is also up for grabs. It has been claimed as being everything from a chunk of the Wailing Wall to the stone upon which the King of Ireland was crowned. I rather suspect that the stone and the legend of kissing conferring eloquence upon the kisser is, well, blarney.

Nevertheless, we all dutifully trooped up the steps to the battlements and stood in line to kiss the stone. One is held on to by a strapping Irish gentleman while literally bending over backward to kiss the rock.

Roz kisses the stone

I don't know if we all became more eloquent or not, but it makes a good story.

Blarney Castle - the stone is high up on the left

The view from the castle battlements

There was also a manor house near the castle. Presumably it was built after things got civilized enough to preclude the need for fortifications. We did not take the tour since we had already seen Muckross House which is probably the finest manor house available for touring in Ireland.

Blarney House

From Blarney, we took off for our next B&B located in the seaside resort of Tramore.

Tramore was a real seaside resort town with a wide sandy beach, an amusement park, arcades and a "boardwalk" (actually a cement "promenade").

The Tramore promenade with the amusement park to the right, the beach is on the left.

Tramore wasn't the pretty little poscard town that Kenmare and Kinsale were - not that it was ugly - but it was the kind of "real" place that real Irish families vacation and was interesting for that if nothing else.

After a good seafood dinner in a local pub recommended by our host at the B&B, we called it a day.

Next: The Rock of Cashel and Dublin City.

Ring Around A Kerry

The next morning after our medieval banquet and Irish malarkey evening, we arose bright and early for the splendid second "B" in B&B - an Irish B&B breakfast. Yeah, right. We had all entertained visions of baskets of steaming buttered scones, homebaked this and homemade that etc. etc. Well, the fact is, what you get served is decent but ordinary food such as an Irish family would eat themselves. Let's face it, most people don't stay up all night baking and so on. We Yanks are spoiled by U.S. B&B's where the draw is the fancy breakfast, otherwise you would stay in a Hampton Inn or something. In Ireland, I think the draw is the fact that a B&B is generally a cheaper alternative to a hotel. Which is fine. However it was a little disappointing.

At this B&B in Bunratty, we were given a choice of breakfasts. Abe, Roz, and I chose the scrambled eggs and smoked salmon. The eggs were OK, the salmon was great. Michelle ordered the pancakes. When they arrived, she determined they were the frozen, pop-in-the-toaster kind. I'm sure that this is what the lady B&B owner serves her own family and doesn't think twice. Did I mention that Michelle makes killer, from-scratch blueberry pancakes? Oh well. Also, Michelle did not like the Irish version of bacon - which I like. It's kind of similar to Canadian bacon, but in strips, very lean. Michelle thinks our fatty bacon is tastier. Pretty much all the breakfasts at B&B's were similar: decent enough, but very ordinary.

Anyhoo, from this point, we headed south into County Kerry and the sights around Killarney and the famous Ring of Kerry.

Our first stop was Killarney National Park, located just outside the town of Killarney. There we came across the semi-ruined Ross Castle on the shores of Lough Leane. The castle was once the stronghold of the O'Donoghues.

Ross Castle - Killarney National Park


Roz and I on the boat dock by Lough Leane - one of the famous lakes of Killarney

Our next stop was Muckross House: an 1843 Victorian Mansion designed and built by a Scottish architect. The family were wealthy and owned extensive property in the Killarney area. In 1932 they donated the estate to the Irish government and it formed the nucleus of the national park. We toured the house, which is decorated with period funiture and art. It was pretty amazing.

Muckross House - quite the little cottage


Another view- showing the porte-cochere or coach entrance

The Muckross House was also surrounded by some killer gardens. In Ireland's rainy, fairly mild climate, gardens are kind of a national pastime.

A view of the gardens and lawns


A sort of rock garden was part of the display


Finally, a close-up of some amazing rhododendrons in the gardens

After all too short a time at Muckross and Killarney National Park, it was time to hurry off to our next must-see: The Ring of Kerry. What's that? Well, in County Kerry, just to the south west of Killarney, there is a peninsula which is pretty much required on the tourist circuit. I'll let Wikipedia describe it: "The Ring of Kerry (Irish: An Mhór Chuaird) is a tourist trail in County Kerry, south-western Ireland. The route covers the 170 km circular road (N70, N71 and R562), starting from Killarney, heading around the Iveragh Peninsula and passing through Kenmare, Sneem, Waterville, Cahersiveen and Killorglin."

The Wiki paragraph above describes a trip around the Ring in a clockwise direction. We took the trip in a counter-clockwise direction. We did this for a number of reasons. One was we wanted to end up at Kenmare at the end of the day (where our B&B for that night was) and the other being the very practical one that the road around the Ring has some spectacular (read: steep cliffs) ocean views. By going the direction we did, we were assured that in left-drive Ireland, we would hugging the inner, or mountain side of the road and not the side with the steep drop-off. We were glad we did. Actually, the guide books claim you should go clockwise since the big tour buses go counter-clockwise and you won't get stuck behind one. I'd rather get stuck behind one than meet one head on on those roads. As it was, I don't think we saw any tour buses on the whole Ring.

The Ring was quite spectacular, both in the general scenery and in the ocean views. But it was, at times, a slightly scary drive. On a scary scale of 1-10, I'd give this about a 6 with the Road to Hana in Hawaii being a 9 and the California coast highway north of San Francisco about a 7.5. Had we gone clockwise, it would have been more like a 7.

One of the Ring's spectacular ocean views - not sure why the greens came out so vivid in this shot

Another ocean view - this is more typical as it was a cloudy day

A hillside with farmhouses

Michelle, Roz and I at a lookout

About half-way through the Ring, we all started to get a bit hungry. Fortunately, at this point we were entering a town called Caherciveen. We picked a likely-looking pub pretty much at random, and were rewarded with a lunch of delicious fishcakes with a side of what the Irish call potato wedges and we would call steak fries. Carherciveen was an interesting-looking town and like many places in Eire, I wish we might have had more time to explore.

The main street of Caherciveen at night - a picture from the Web. Notice that even the main street of a town is fairly narrow.

We left Caherciveen and continued on our rollicking way along the cliffs and hills. Eventually, at about the three-quarter mark, we came to the town of Sneem. Hmm... Sneem, wasn't he one of the pirates in "Peter Pan"? We stopped at bakery here for some tartlets/pastries which hit the spot quite nicely.

We stopped at this bakery in Sneem

Finally, we made it to the end of our epic drive and pulled into our B&B in Kenmare. If the name of the town rings a bell, it is a street in downtown Manhattan. It seems the street was named by early 20th century politician "Big Jim" Sullivan for the town where his mother was born. Ah, the Irish are sentimental S.O.B.'s.

Henry Street, Kenmare

After checking in and freshening up, we piled back into the car and headed into Kenmare proper for some dinner and hopefully some music. We were not disappointed on either count. Kenmare and the village of Kinsale are currently competing for the unofficial title of "culinary capital of Ireland." Once upon a time that might have been something of a joke. It is anything but, these days. We chanced upon a place called "The Coachmans Townhouse" in the heart of Kenmare. We had an excellent dinner and got to hear two young musicians: the Connor brothers play.

The Coachmans Townhouse, Kenmare

The Connor brothers

These two young fellows played guitar and electric fiddle and performed some really wonderful, foot-tapping music and I have to say, it was one of the highlights of out trip.

Then, afterward, it was back to our B&B and rest up for the next days sortie.

Next: Kinsale and Blarney