Day Four...

The Rock of Cashel

In County Tipperary stands this majestic tribute to Romanesque Gothic architecture. The Rock of Cashel (Carraig Phádraig) or Cashel of the Kings is a magnificent castle ruins with a surprising history. Legend has it that on a mountain 20 miles away, St. Patrick banished Satan which caused the rock on which he was standing to be hurled to this spot. The castle was built on this sight by the Kings of Munster. It was here that King Aengus of Munster was converted to Christianity. During his baptism, the story goes that St. Patrick accidentally pierced the Kings foot with his staff. The King, thinking it was part of the ceremony, remained strong. Apparently St. Patrick kept his head! 

Most of the building dates from the 12th and 13th centuries, except the round tower on the left which was begun in 1127 and completed and consecrated in 1134. One of the most interesting things we learned about castle ruins in Ireland, is that during the 1700's, the British empire added a "roof tax". Anyone who had a second home, which a castle on a persons property would be considered, would have to pay a tax according to how much roof the structure had. As a result, the roofs of many an uninhabited castle and manor house were either torn off or burned, exposing the interior and leaving these remarkable buildings to crumble in the harsh weather over the centuries.

This is a view of the tower. The door of the tower is actually a story up from the ground. To have the door on the ground floor would have been too much pressure, causing the tower to crumble under the weight. When this castle was first completed, it was covered in plaster to protect it from the weather, and then whitewashed for decoration, as was the case in all castle construction.

This is what remains of a fresco original to the castle and uncovered during restoration. Below you see a rendering of what this fresco would have looked like.  Sad to think that so much is lost to centuries of neglect and disuse.

This is the courtyard of the castle. On the lower left is a piece of the left tower that fell around 1976. Glad I wasn't standing there when that happened!

There are so many interesting details as you can see. The many faces that are carved were either to honor the saints, patrons that were generous, or sometimes to ward off evil. I wonder which category this guy fit into!

This castle was laid out in the shape of the cross. 

Notice the chevron carvings and again more faces further in. This part of the building has more remaining fresco, as you can see in the above room.

In this picture you can see small square openings along the castle wall. These were actually where timber scaffolding was placed. As the walls were constructed, they were built around the timbers, which were simply sawed off and covered over with plaster upon completion. Over time, as the plaster crumbled, the timbers rotted, leaving the open spaces.

Jared and Nathaniel are checking out the remains of an incredible High Cross that stood 24 feet tall at the wall. Unfortunately it was struck by lightening during a terrible storm in 1976.

What a beautiful country!

From the castle wall you can see Hoare Abbey, (also known as St. Mary's), named for the yew tree.

The slabs you see on the floor are graves with the names of different people on them.  I don't know if the people are actually still beneath the slabs, but were originally buried there. 

Just thought you would like to see what I had for dinner. This is Fish and Chips, the chips being wrapped in paper as is the traditional way. We have tartar sauce on the side. I asked the waiter what the green stuff was.  He looked at me like I was the most ill-informed person he had ever met. "Those are mushy peas, mum." Yep, thats exactly what they tasted like!

Continuing the Journey...

 Later on Day 3

 Driving around Ireland is such an adventure! No, I'm not referring to the scenery, although it is splendid. The excitement comes in driving on the wrong...oh, excuse me...the left side of the road. I was not the driver, thankfully. Jared was our chauffeur and only frightened us half a dozen times! Actually, he did an excellent job. The roads were all quite narrow, as you can see in the picture above. The yellow lines here are cautionary, warning you against getting too close to either side of the road. The actual road is only one and one half car width, so beware of on-coming traffic!

 We stopped for lunch at the beach, which was very rocky, but abundant in sea shells.

Windy and cold, but Gracie braved it!

This is one of the many "Potato Famine" cottages along the way. These are homes that were left behind  from families that either died or fled the great famine in Ireland from 1845-1851. The famine was caused from a blight that affected the potatoes, destroying the plants. Since poor Irish farmers depended on the potato harvest to feed their families, this was devastating. Over a million people starved.

On a lighter note, as we drove along, we spotted this castle ruin in some farmers pasture.  There was a sign along the road that said we could access it from the farm.  So we drove up the lane and turned into the farm. All was quiet. Not a soul around. We pulled up to the gate and noticed in a tree by the farm house a dead black bird hanging from a branch.  We decided to leave....

This is called the Gallarus Oratory.  It's about 1300 years old and is an example of dry rubble masonry, made from gritstone, from the area. It was built by early Christians. It is still waterproof after centuries of wind and Atlantic storms.

Picture from inside Gallarus. It was used for church services but not fitted with benches, as early church goers would have stood for services. And we complain if we can't sit on the soft seats when we go to church???

Another old stone church with slate roof that we found along the way...it still has a bell in the tower.

This ruin is Kilmalkedar Church (Cill Mhaoilchéadair in Gaelic), founded by St. Maolcethair who died in 636. This church was built in the middle of the 12th century in the Irish Romanesque style. It originally had a stone roof. The cemetery surrounding it is still used today. It was interesting to walk around, as most of those bumps you see in the grass are actually headstones that are no longer standing or readable.

View of the graveyard from inside Kilmalkedar.

This is an early sundial...

This is called an ogham stone. It dates from the 4th century, and has the Ogham alphabet or the "Celtic Tree Alphabet", noted by the carved lines you can see on the sides. Legend has it that the hole in it was used by ancients to strike a bargain. Two people would stand across from each other, touch thumbs through the hole and "swear before God" on the graves of their ancestors. It was also used to renew wedding vows.

One of the many grave markers.  Notice the shamrocks.

We wrapped up the day with dinner in Murphy's Pub in Dingle. Mandy said they had the best Irish Stew she has ever tasted! Of course it was the only Irish Stew she's ever tasted...

So in case you were wondering, this is what a real Irish pub looks like.

And that wraps up Day three for us.

Ireland-Day Three...

Ahhh Ireland! As I stood on this promontory looking out to sea, I was breathless with the wonder of this incredible island. The turquoise water sparkled in the sunlight of this perfect day and I marveled at the varying colors in the cliff face. This is the beautiful Slea Head Drive on the Dingle Peninsula, County Kerry.

As we started on our drive we were thrilled to have sunny skies, however the wind was strong and cold. I personally had four layers on!

All along the way we found amazing examples of stone work, always the grey stone of the area, and picture-worthy!

Don't you love spring?

All of these "hedges" are actually stone walls that are completely over grown with ivy, gorse, ferns and various bushes and grasses. They are every where, separating the farmers fields.

This is Dunbeg Fort, one of the few remaining monuments to the ancient inhabitants of the "City of Fahan" dated from 580 B.C. to the 11th century A.D. Its not really known if these were built for defense, rituals, status or simply as a dwelling, but the subterranean tunnel that was found beneath it during the excavation of the sight suggests defense. The pictures below give you a closer look.

Two of the ancient inhabitants....oh wait, no! That's me and Doug!

This is near the sight where "Far and Away" was filmed. We have a video of the actual sight, but you will have to wait for that to come out on Dougs' iMovie!

Another site nearby. Here you see Nathaniel standing in the doorway of another hut, called "Beehive Huts". This would house a single family and were built without mortar. The stones were placed with a downward and outward tilt to shed water, with an opening at the top covered with a flagstone. This method of building is known as corbelling.

Doug is pointing to a stone that was found at this site, with an inscribed cross.

I couldn't resist taking this picture, with the horseshoe shamrock on the door and the bush growing out of the stones on the side of the house. You can see where the original thatching would have connected to the top, just under the slab to the left. But I guess the metal and plastic have a certain charm, don't you think???

Day three...to be continued.

Day Two

 Torc Falls

 Of all the weeks in the Spring that we could have arrived in Ireland, we happened to choose the one week of sunshine.  We would call it "the luck of the Irish", except we are not Irish! Ireland had thus far experienced one of the wettest and coldest winters in their history making way for a late spring. But how beautiful it was to walk to the Torc Falls in one of the oldest oak forests in Ireland.  The Celts valued oak and took great care with the stalwart trees which we were very grateful for as we walked through these ancient woods alongside the above crystal clear creek.

As I ambled along the creek side, I could easily imagine how tales of fairies, sprites and hobbits could have come about. It was truly magical!

Here you see Doug, ever ready with his camera, Nathaniel and Annabelle...

Further proof that Doug was indeed on this holiday with us!

We stayed in a cottage in Killarney, County Kerry. This county has many areas that are Gaelic speaking only, thus all of the road signs are in both English and Gaelic.  I asked one lady what the trick was to speaking Gaelic (what a stupid question, I know) and she just looked at me quizzically and said rather hesitantly, "Ya know, thars' no trick, you jist haf to know't." From then on I "was keepin' me-self to me-self!"

A bit of Irish foliage...

Nathaniel, the explorer...all boy!

Mandy and her mom...

Above the falls. Every where we went, there was a picture to be taken. In the pool at the bottom of this bridge we counted about 10 euro in coins. We left it there of course...

The view from the top. Notice the "Jaunting Car" in the foreground.

On the way home, we noticed this old church. Not an unusual site, but so typical of the stonework and slate-roofed churches. Even though it was abandoned, the door had a fairly fresh coat of bright green paint.