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.