We arrived on a lovely sunny day without a cloud in the sky.
The population of the Republic of Ireland is over 4.5 million so it is the same as New Zealand.
Boarding the ferry at Fishguard in Wales
Our first stop is Waterford. This area is where the beautiful Waterford Crystal is produced. The craftsman ship in cutting the designs and turning them into master pieces is a sight to see. It tales 10 years to be trained by a master of cutting. The piece that caught both John and I was the Cinderella 's Carriage at the cost of €40,000.00 ( photo below).
We stayed at our first Irish B & B ( St Joseph's B&B). Anne and Terry made us most welcome and in the morning gave us a lovely Irish breakfast . ( Cereal then Black pudding, sausages, egg, bacon, tomatoes, and toast with jam ) this kept us going all day until tea time .
Our first meal in Ireland was at Rocking Joe's Diner . A very large hamburger which was very tasty and chips.
Cinderella's coach and horses.
From here we walked around an area called the Viking Triangle, looking at the different buildings. Then we visited the Medieval Museum where we saw artefacts that were amazing,dating back to as late as 2300 bc. They are on loan from the National Medieval Museum,Warsaw, Poland . There were medieval cloth's of gold vestments.
Old wine cellars and eating areas underneath the museum.
There was a hat which the King Henry the 8th wore, which is over 500 years old . It was displayed in a vacuum tube for preservation.
We also viewed the Great Charter Roll that was started in 1373 and continued for over 300 years. In it was recorded all of the events that happened in the county of Waterford.
No explanation needed
Whilst walking around we came across a glass engraver named Sean Egan. He decided to engrave a memorial glass sculpture of the 9/11 fire fighters that rescued Father Mychal Judge and he was New Yorks fire department Chaplin. There were 5 fireman who recused the judge and this is now engraved on many beautiful pieces of Waterford Crystal. I took a photo of the writing regarding the sculpture. It is very interesting , I hope you can read it.
Sean's sculpture of 9/11
Sean at work engraving a motorbike on Waterford Crystal
In Cork we stayed the night in a place called Kent House. This house was build in 1836 . The block of six houses were built as town houses for wealthy merchants. The main structure of the building is made from yellow brick and wooden latts. The main walls are 20 to 25 inches thick. It would of taken 30 to 40 men approximately eighteen months to build the house. . There is no foundations under the house, a large trench was dug and filled with stone, and the houses were built on top of this , and so over the years the house has settled several times . This accounts for the different floor angles and slants in the walls.
In the 1920's the house was used as a police station, for a short period , and the cell room still exists.
The house was taken over by the railway station (Kent Station). 1899 or there a outs and uses the. As management accommodation, because of its size and location. The trip from Dublin was over eight hours , by stream train. The mall also came by train , and each mail train. carried 15 to 25 men, including driver, stokers and checkers. They would use the house as a place to wash and sleep before their return journey to Dublin the next day. Since then they have been used as B & B's.
13th July
We went from Cork to Limerick. Along the way we visited Blarney Castle . We did not do the kissing of the Blarney Stone due to the large queue . This lays on 60 acres of sprawling parklands which include gardens , avenues, arboretum and waterways. (See photos below)
Blarney House on the grounds of the castle
Large tree on the grounds of the castle ( note how it has grown over the years with four trunks .
14th July
We travelled from Limerick to Galway. Here we stayed at the Galway University students accomadation
Campus. It was a self contained units suitable for our needs, at a great price. €210.00 euros for 4 people for two nights ( Well worth it).
On our way to Galway we visited another castle named Bunratty Castle and Folk Park.
This castle and park was a wonderful area to visit . They had buildings built to the style of the era of the
18th century from Blacksmiths Forge , Cashen Fisherman's House, weaver's shed , Bothan Scoir ( one room dwelling of a poor landless labourer. Many of these houses and their occupants we're lost during the Great Irish Famine.) School House, Byre Dwelling ( occupied by both the family and their miking cow) to keep warm in the winter) and many more other buildings . Whilst we walked around there were local people in the costume if the era. Wonderful to see. We spent over 4 1/2 hours looking around , because of a rain shower we missed a few things. We'll worth a visit here to view history.
Peat used for burning in the homes to keep warm and to cook with.
In the evening it was time for a visit to a local pub for a glass of Guinness to celebrate Marg's birthday.
A great evening had by all.
Marg's birthday drink at a local pub in Galway
15th July,
Today was a day for relaxing and going for a drive around the beautiful area of Connemara whist out driving we called in to see the Kylemore Abby. (Photo's below).
This area is a mountains region on the west coast of Ireland. The low land's in the area are mostly peat
Bogs, from which the locals harvest the peat for the use in their fires for winter.
Rows of peat stacked up drying for next winter.
Peat ready for bagging for the winter. It is a family job to gather the peat for winter . Some homes still use it for heating the cooking pots over the fire. The smell from the peat burning is yes different.
We notice while driving around the amount of rock walls outlining paddocks were everywhere. It was very impressive. The area we noticed had very few trees.
We travelled on The Wild Atlantic Way
, The fishing village of Clifden west of Galway
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16th July,
First thing this morning we had a look around a few shops in Galway and found a couple of Celtic books for folk art painting.
We drove from Galway to Dublin via the country route to avoid the motorway tolls . It was very picturesque . Stopping off at Athlone for a coffee. Athlone is famous for its Viking settlement and the caste. Today Athlone is regarded as the capital of the Irish Midlands and the gateway to the West.
We are in Dublin for 2 nights staying at a B&B close to the train. So train riding will be our transport for this time in Dublin. The Celtic meaning of Dublin (Dubh Linn) is black pool.
Our first afternoon in Dublin was to check out the tourist attractions and a place to eat. Marg even got a welcome kiss from a local Garda ( police) on the beat after we stopped him for some advice. Very friendly people here in Dublin.
17th July,
Dublin gave us a beautiful sunny day ( the Lepricorn's where smiling on us) .
First stop was Croke Park ( GAA Museum and Stadium) which was only 10 minutes from where we stayed. It is a very expressive stadium .Here they play a game called Hurling . The hurling ball can travel at 160 k a hour when the game is in progress. The height of the building is 70 metres tall. Seating for 72,000 and standing room for 10,000. The ground size is 150 mts by 95 mts. The grass is mowed every day by 3 groundsman and it takes 8 hours to complete this task. The tour around the stadium took 1. 3/4 hours from visiting the basement to see how the behind the scenes works to the corporate boxes and the photographers box. To the teams lounges and dressing rooms.
On game day there are 2000 staff and 82,000 spectators.
32 County's are repersented in the green balls and 70 orange balls are for the time it takes to play the game in minutes. The above balls are made out of Waterford crystal that took 12 months to make, as each ball was engraved as a Hurling ball. It is arranged that what ever a team is playing, the balls will change colour to represent the colour of the county that the players are from.
Players dressing room
Orange top is the champions team colour
and to represent their county.
The Guinness factory site covers 55 acres
We then went around Dublin on the Hop on Hop off bus.
Dublin main Post Office
Mode of transport for tourists around Dublin City
We decided to go and see a Movie whist here especially as it was filmed where we had been walking here in Dublin. Mrs Browns Boys. A great laugh and we'll worth seeing. After the movie we went next door to a pub for tea and enjoyed the rest of the evening listening to a band singing Irish music and Irish dancers. A great way to spend a wonderful time in Dublin .
18th July
Our last day in Ireland . We travelled down the coast visiting a few towns towards the ferry for Wales .
Whilst walking around Wexford It was very clear to us that there are still a lot of thatched roofs. This is now a dying art.
We also came across a very small house between houses . It is being lived in.
All four of us had a wonderful time touring Ireland and meeting some very interesting people on the way. Many souvenirs were brought and will be worn with great memories.
