Ireland – Blarney Castle and Cork, Ireland – April 17th
Thursday was a regular work day for Deborah and Shaun, so we were on our own for the day. Deborah dropped us at the bus station first thing that morning and we went to Blarney to see the castle and grounds and kiss the Blarney stone. When we arrived, I made Morgan do the castle/kiss the stone first because I know busloads of people go there every day and thankfully we beat the crowd! This is probably the oldest castle we’ve been to – it was built in 1446. We toured the rooms and walked up the narrow spiral staircase up to the top level where the Blarney stone is built into the battlement. We each leaned back to kiss the stone, which supposedly gives you “the gift of the gab”- aka great eloquence or skill at flattery. So I’m sure everyone will be very impressed with our new skills the next time we are home or a visit! In addition to the castle, we walked around the property seeing the Blarney House, the Rock Close, the Witches Stone, the Wishing Steps, the caves, and the Poison Garden. This turned out to be a great time of year to visit since there were flowers blooming everywhere – though we were pretty lucky we didn’t have the typical April showers! We were really lucky and had nice weather (even some blue sky!) the entire trip.
When we finished up on the Blarney Castle grounds we walked around the town a little and stopped by Blarney Woollen Mill. It is a huge store that carries everything Irish (wool clothing, Waterford crystal, Celtic jewelry, etc). We would have loved another piece of Waterford crystal, but didn’t want to carry it around all day and have to worry about getting it home in once piece.. so I went for a tartan wool scarf. Now I just have to wait for the fall when it gets cold enough to wear it! We took the bus back to Cork and had lunch at the English Market. After that we walked around the city seeing: the Huguenot Quarter, St. Peter and Paul’s Church, City Hall, St. Fin Barre’s Cathedral, St. Anne’s Shandon Church (where we got to ring the bells!), and finally the Cork City Gaol (the city jail). Between St. Anne’s and the Cork City Gaol we had a long (uphill) walk up Blarney street – the longest street in Ireland. Deborah’s apartment is at the top of the hill, so we definitely got our exercise for the day.
After our day of sightseeing we went back to Deborah’s place where Shaun fixed us all an Irish dinner – bacon and cabbage, turnips, and potatoes. It was delicious! After dinner Shaun took us on a drive to Kinsale while Deborah went to choir practice. We stopped at two different points near the Old Head of Kinsale – one near a beach and one up on the cliffs, right near the entrance to the golf course. We also stopped by the old Charles Fort, an old star fort that used to defend Kinsale harbor. After that we had our first Guinness of the trip at the Spaniard in town. Next we headed back into Cork to meet up with Deborah at Callanan’s – another pub that is popular with locals. Everything closed at midnight this night since the bars couldn’t sell alcohol on Good Friday so we headed back home after Callanan’s. Thankfully we took a cab so we didn’t have to walk up the hill to Deborah’s again!
a map of where we went on Thursday – by bus up to Blarney and with Shaun out to Kinsale/ Old Head
Cork – drinks at Callanan’s
Cork – drinks at Callanan’s
Kinsale- the Spaniard – our first Guinness of the trip
Kinsale – The Spaniard
Kinsale – funny street sign
Kinsale – Charles Fort
Kinsale – Charles Fort
Kinsale – walking around Charles Fort
Kinsale – Charles Fort
Kinsale
Kinsale – pub with a wedding reception going on
Kinsale – long way down..
Kinsale – Shaun and Morgan
Kinsale – just beautiful!
Kinsale
Kinsale
Kinsale (the area behind us up on those cliffs is the golf course)
Kinsale – old fort area is now a golf course
Kinsale
Kinsale
Kinsale – he looks angry!
Kinsale – maybe happy cows come from Ireland? They have a pretty nice view..
delicious dinner made by Shaun!
Cork City Goal – after Morgan locked me in the stocks!
Cork City Gaol -Morgan trying out the stocks
Cork City Gaol – view of the yard where they walked in circles for exercise- no talking. Just like Downton Abbey!
Cork City Gaol – one of the creepy hallways not on the tour..
Cork City Gaol – See the clothes folded outside the door? If you had previously escaped from jail, they made you take your clothes off at night and put them outside hoping to deter you from breaking out again!
Cork City Gaol – trying out a cell
Cork City Gaol – inside one of the wings
Cork City Gaol
cute house on the way to Cork City Gaol
heading down the hill to Cork City Gaol (here you can see the outer wall)
Deborah’s place
Who knew Cork was so hilly? Reminded us of San Francisco!
Blarney Street – walking to Deborah’s house
cute pub near St. Ann’s
St. Anne’s Shandon Church – view from the top – Heineken Brewery building
St. Anne’s Shandon Church – view from the top – Those are all kegs at the Heineken Brewery!
St. Anne’s Shandon Church – view from the top
St. Anne’s Shandon Church – view from the top
St. Anne’s Shandon Church – view from the top
St. Anne’s Shandon Church – view from the top. This is the Monastery next to where Deborah lives.
St. Anne’s Shandon Church – view from the top
headed up to the viewing platform
St. Anne’s Shandon Church – view from the top
St. Anne’s Shandon Church – ringing the bells. Morgan played Frère Jacques.
St. Anne’s Shandon Church – ringing the bells!
St. Anne’s Shandon Church
St. Anne’s Shandon Church
St. Fin Barre’s Cathedral
St. Fin Barre’s Cathedral
St. Fin Barre’s Cathedral
St. Fin Barre’s Cathedral
all the signs in Ireland had the Irish name over the English name
Cork – looking down the River Lee
The National Monument on the Grand Parade
colorful door in Cork
Cork – Holy Trinity Church
colorful doors in Cork
colorful doors in Cork
Cork City Hall
Huguenot Cemetery memorial
Carey’s Lane in the Huguenot Quarter
St. Peter and Paul’s
St. Peter and Paul’s
St. Peter and Paul’s
St. Peter and Paul’s
St. Peter and Paul’s
St. Peter and Paul’s
St. Peter and Paul’s
Cork – English Market
Cork – lunch at the English Market
Cork – lunch at the English Market
Cool old trash can near Blarney town square
Blarney Castle gardens
At the Blarney Castle on a beautiful day! A nice couple from San Francisco took our picture.
Blarney Castle – Morgan with the Witches Stone – do you see the face?
Blarney Castle – Bog Garden
Blarney Castle – Bog Garden
Blarney Castle gardens
Blarney Castle gardens -I look tiny next to that huge tree/bush. It was beautiful!
hanging out in the gardens
Blarney House
Blarney Castle – Poison Garden – yep, that is a huge pot plant in the middle of the cage…
Blarney Castle – Poison garden
Blarney Castle – people waiting in line to kiss the Stone
Blarney Castle
Blarney Castle – view out the window
Blarney Castle – view from the top of Blarney House
Blarney Stone
Blarney Castle – Morgan’s turn
Blarney Castle – kissing the Blarney stone
Blarney Castle – you walk up a narrow spiral staircase to get up to it
Blarney Castle – Witches tower
Blarney Castle – leaning back to kiss the Blarney stone!
Blarney Castle
Blarney Castle – here you can see where you lean back to kiss the stone
