Erin Go Bragh - Killarney and Cork

 

Ross Castle 

We could've spent more time in Dublin. After all, we stayed five nights in Paris (see here and here), had a great time and didn't see anything of the rest of France (except from what could be seen from our plane seats). Certainly one full day in Ireland's capital isn't enough. But this trip might be my only visit to the Emerald Isle, and I wanted to see more of the Republic than just its biggest city. And so we hit the road in our rental car. 

Our first destination was Killarney, a town of 14,000 in County Kerry, more than four hours by car from Dublin according to Google Maps. It would've been quicker to have taken the toll road, but I'm a cheap bastard who knows the scenery is uninspiring when you're on a motorway. Our more leisurely drive took us through some small towns and villages, and past farms and fields, and cows and sheep (the latter much to Amber's delight). We only made a couple of stops along the way, the first in a County Tipperary village with the pub-sounding name of Horse and Jockey. Unfortunately there wasn't much to see, at least where we stopped to use the facilities, and have a coffee and a Mars bar:

Despite the Irishness of the scenery it wasn't easy to stop and take photographs, thanks to the narrowness of many of the roads on which we drove. My daughter made a few attempts from the front passenger seat, but none of them succeeded in conveying what it was we were driving through and past:

Ireland marks the seventh country where I've been behind the wheel of a right-hand drive vehicle (the others being Japan, the U.K., Thailand, South Africa, the Seychelles and Australia). I actually enjoy being on the "wrong" side of the road, and I intend on incorporating rental cars into my itineraries on future visits to Japan (and hopefully elsewhere):

The other stop we made was for lunch at a roadside pub in Dromagh called the Sandpit House. I had the fish and chips:

The girl enjoyed dessert:

The frustrating thing about driving and stopping at a roadside pub is knowing I can't (or shouldn't) have a pint for the road:

It was around 15:30 when we rolled up to Ross Castle, in time to buy tickets for the 16:00 guided tour, the only way to access the interior:

"Castle" is a misnomer. It's actually a medieval tower house, erected by the O'Donoghue clan in the late 15th century, who controlled the Killarney area at the time. The castle was designed with defense in mind, as described in this Wikipedia article:

The tower house was set up next to Lough Leane, the largest of the three lakes in the Killarney area:

We had a look at the small museum while waiting for our tour to begin:

As should be evident from the above photos, Ross Castle eventually fell on hard times, ultimately decaying into the ruin it is today. The interior, however, has been restored in recent years, with rooms featuring authentic furniture and tapestries. Unfortunately, photography isn't allowed inside, so you'll have make do with this description of the floors...:

...as well as these photos which I cribbed from here:

Afterward the girls went down to the water to look at the ducks:

From Ross Castle it was a short drive to our accommodations for that night. The Castlerosse Park Resort was just that - a resort with its own golf course and indoor swimming pool, to complement its location close to Lough Leane. There was also a footpath heading into downtown Killarney. We had dinner at the onsite Mulligan's Pub, where we enjoyed the lake view, which I took in while partaking of a Smithwick's, one of Ireland's most well-known beers after Guiness. The Smithwick's brewery was founded in Killarney in 1710, though the brand has now been part of the Guiness empire since 1965:

After dinner we went outside for a better look, though the golf course prevented us from getting too close to the water:

The temperatures for this day and the following would hover around 30°C/86°F, which for a country with an oceanic climate like Ireland meant it was scorching. Obviously not used to the changing climate our room did not have an air conditioner, so we had to sleep with the window open all night (the same would apply at the three other establishments where we lodged for the remainder of the trip). At least it was cool the next morning as we made our way to breakfast to enjoy another look at the lough:

The hotel dates from 1960, but the Browne family that founded it had a history in Killarney dating back to 1587, receiving an aristocratic title in the early 17th century from James II. The 6th Earl of Kenmare, whose portrait prominently hangs in the lounge, was quite the drinker, gambler, playboy and womanizer, as gleefully told to me by Amber, who had obviously done her research:

While Shu-E relaxed back in the room, my daughter and I went for a walk before checkout:

With the benefit of hindsight it would've been nicer to have stayed longer at the Castleroose - it is a resort, after all, and there appeared to be enough in Killarney to keep us busy for a few days. The main reasons for booking the resort were its close proximity to Ross Castle and the fact that rooms in the area were already in short supply when I went online to make a booking in Killarney a couple of months before our trip. 

From the Castleroose Park Resort we drove into town to do some laundry for the seccond time during this holiday (the first being while we were still in Paris). The three of us went for a walk while the clothes were going through the washing cycle. The local museum had an exhibit on Live Aid but the building wasn't open at that time of the morning: 

Passing a roadside shrine on the way back to the laundromat: 

Splashed across the front page of the local newspaper was a story on Jamey Carney, who had been found dead at her home in Killarney four days before, the victim of an assault that resulted in fatal head injuries:

With the laundry finished we drove to the west side of the town center to have a look at St. Mary's Cathedral, described as Ireland's finest neo-Gothic church and the seat of the Bishop of Kerry. It was built in stages between 1842 and 1912:

It was free to enter and very quiet inside. The stonework is colorfully lit by the stained-glass windows:

From the cathedral we drove to the Muckross House, located in the expansive Muckross Estate, now a national park. Completed in 1843 this neo-Elizabethan stately manor went through several owners before being presented along with the estate as a gift to the Irish nation in 1932:

With our pre-booked tickets we could take our time visiting the various rooms, such as the Dining Room, the opulent curtains of which were installed for the visit of none other than Queen Victoria in 1861:

The Main Hall. The Waterford Crystal chandelier was only installed in 1970 when the house was first electrified:

My wife's interest was piqued by the hand-painted Chinese silk wall covering in the Billiard Room:

Peeking out the window at the lawn and Muckross Lake:

These creepy dolls were located in one of the children's rooms. The one on the left reminded me of the postmortem photographs of the Victorian era:

At one point while driving from Dublin on the way to Killarney the previous day we passed a cemetery practically overflowing with Celtic crosses. I was going too fast to make a quick stop but alas there was no opportunity to turn around further along on the narrow road so I could go back to get some photos:

The Boudoir, one of the rooms reserved for Queen Victoria's use during her visit:

The queen and Prince Albert. The latter didn't accompany Victoria on her 1863 visit due to his having died two years previously:

After seeing the house we had lunch at the cafe-restaurant in the arts center. Much is made of portion sizes in the U.S. but many establishmetns in Ireland were very generous in how much they put on their plates:

Ireland, where bottled water is named after poets and writers:

After lunch we took a stroll around part of the grounds surrounding the house. Or at least Amber and I did, as Shu-E retreated to a shady tree to escape the heat:

It was there I rediscovered the childhood pleasure of lying down on cool grass:

From the Muckross House and Estate it was around a 1¼-hour drive to our next lodgings, the Shandon Bells Guest House, located in the heart of Cork, Ireland's second-largest city: 

From the B&B it was 15 minutes on foot to the city center. It was apparent these Irish lads have not seen much sun in their short lives:

We ended up at the English Market, a Victorian covered market, home to various stalls selling fish, fruits and vegetables, meats and all kinds of specialist goodies:

Unfortunately it was about one hour from closing time, and many of the stalls were winding up operations for the day. The next day would be Sunday, meaning the market would be closed:

For dinner that evening we ended up for the first time at a Nando's, a South African fast casual restaurant chain specializing in peri peri chicken. I started off the proceedings with a Portuguese  beer:

I had the ½ chicken: 

Later I switched to a local craft beer with which to finish off the meal. Nando's was somewhere between a Denny's and a TGI Fridays but at the time it served its purpose: 

On the walk back to Shandon Bells: 

The next morning we had breakfast outdoors by the River Lee. I wish I could welcome a new day like this every morning (weather permitting): 

After checking out, we puts our bags in the car, then crossed the street to have a peek at the campus of University College Cork, established in 1845: 

Being a Sunday morning the grounds were very quiet, but the Stone Corridor, a covered walkway on the north side of the main quad, was open. Inside is Ireland's largest collection of Ogham Stones, dating from the 4th to 6th centuries CE and carved with runic inscriptions. Pity I didn't actually take a photo of one or two of them up close:

This sculpture of monks more resembled the Dementors from "Harry Potter":

I'm sure Cork deserves more than the single night we devoted to it, but our time was limited so it was back in the car to head to our next destination. However, before leaving Cork completely behind, we made one more stop. And no, it wasn't Blarney Castle with its kissable stone. Rather, at my wife's suggestion we drove to the Blackrock Castle Observatory, originally built in the 16th century: 

The fortification is now home to a science center and observatory. The former was of particular interest to our daughter: 

Cork's harbor served as the departure point for 2.5 million of the six million Irish people who left their homeland for Canada and the U.S. from 1848 to 1950. I don't know if my great-grandmother was among them:

The SS Aud was a Norwegian merchant ship launched in 1907. The Aud that ended up scuttled in Cork Harbour in April 1916 was actually a German vessel called the Libau which was attempting to smuggle arms to Irish republicans preparing for the Easter Rising: 

The top tower of the castle was closed but we could still go outside for a view of the surroudings:

There's a café-restaurant in courtyard but it was still too early for lunch, and Shu-E had another destination she wanted to check out so it was back on the road:

Our next (and penultimate) destination would be Kilkenny. Stay tuned...

Before U2 unfortunately came along, the most popular Irish rock band had to have been Thin Lizzy, fronted by their charismatic (and ultimately doomed) bass guitarist and lead vocalist Phil Lynott. The band is best known in the U.S. for songs like "Jailbreak" and "The Boys Are Back in Town", but "The Rocker" has always been my favorite tune of theirs (the album version is considerably longer):