Tralee is a familiar name to us, with it being linked to the annual Rose of Tralee competition and this was our destination for the night. Limerick was on the way so we made that our first stop of the day. A very helpful attendant in the car park gave us a couple of suggestions for places to look out and off we went. We looked through the Hunt Museum, gazed at the river flowing through the town and had brief look at the local cathedral. As we were leaving, I felt a limerick come to mind. Of course during my years of teaching I had often had children both read and write limericks so it seemed appropriate.
There was a young lad called Steve
Who without his Maggie would grieve
So he took her away
On an Irish holiday
And had such fun, they didn't want to leave.
We arrived in Tralee mid afternoon, found our accommodation, and then headed out onto Dingles Penisula. This area is listed in our guide book as one of the ten must see/do in Ireland. It certainly was a beautiful drive and our only disappointment was that a heavy cloud/fog came down and blocked our views which would have been spectacular. The road was very narrow in places and it was easy to see why wide vehicles were prohibited.
We were somewhat disappointed with Tralee. Even though it was a much smaller town though Galway, we had expected to find a few more pubs and restaurants to choose from. It looked like it was suffering quite a lot from the downturn in the economy. Perhaps in ten days time when all the Rose of Tralee contestants arrive would be better time to be there.
Blarney was on route to our next destination and after singing about kissing the "Blarney Stone " in the school song "Irish Music" it was another must see on our tour of Irealnd. Blarney Castle is set in 60 acres of grounds and we were pleased we had plenty of time. We spent a good three hours walking through the grounds and gardens, as well as going into the castle itself. The "Blarney Stone" was right at the top, with of 100+ steps to climb. Stephen wasn't keen to kiss the stone but after making it that far I was keen to give it a go. If Winston Churchill could do so could I, and legend says you will improve your eloquence. Of course it isn't for the faint hearted as you have to lie on your back and lean well done over the edge of the castle to reach it. Fortunately someone is there to help you as well as some safety bars in place. Photo taken to record it for prosperity and we went to look at the Poison Garden. Here there was a large collection of poisonous plants and we took lots of photos as I can see it would make an interesting article for the Herb newsletter.
This tree was in the Rock Close garden, a magical and mythical garden with stone circles, fairy rings and a witch's kitchen. I am sure that Margaret Mahy must have been here to visit at some stage and that it was the inspiration for her story "Crinkum Crankum ". This tree is so much like the tree in that story. I was very sad to read of Mahy's passing recently and this tree brought back many of her writing memories for me.
Kilkenny was our destination for our last night and it wasn't far too far away. As we still had some time we stopped in at Cashel, the site of yet another castle. This one was set on a large rock outcrop which would have given views across the surrounding plains. We climbed the rock but chose to see the town from a different perspective by riding in a horse and carriage. PJ was our driver and guide, and Jessie was the Clydesdale. The town was very quiet at 5pm as all the locals were inside glued to the Olympics on TV. t,k,heir very own boxer was competing for gold, which she won.
Kilkenny was an excellent choice for our last evening. We found a great wee pub to enjoy our last meal and then we settled down in the bar for the rest of the evening to listen to the entertainment. The band was a local called The Raglan Rogues. John and Willie were both accomplished musicians playing a range of instruments to give a traditional Irish sound. We completed the evening with an Irish coffee (Lisa in Downpatrick had first introduced us to these) and purchasing the CD as a momento.
All that was left to do on Friday morning was a two hour drive to Dublin airport and as we didn't need to be there until early afternoon, bwe had time for a couple of hours wandering around yet another pretty town. In Ireland there is a lot if pride in how their town looks as well as a competitive aspect between them, and Kilkenny certainly was looking grand!
All it took to get back to England was an hour's flight. Jessica and Andrew were there to pick us up and so it was back to Duston for the next stage of our trip.
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