Ireland Day 7 ~

Day 7~

We are heading back to Dublin today to stay the night in Dublin and fly home tomorrow. On the way back to Dublin, we had several stops planned. The drive itself straight to Dublin would have taken at least 4 hours, but we also stopped at 3 castles on the way. The first was in the town of Adare. Adare is famous for the thatched cottages. Through town we stopped and took some photos of these cottages. They were adorable. None of the stores were open yet so we made our way down to the castle ruins. A “no entry” sign greeted us. We went in :-) We began to snap some photos before a group of workers came out of a shed and we were forced to explain ourselves. We asked if we could take a few more pictures and they let us. I think the main guy in charge fancied my mom . . . he kept talking to us and followed us back to the car. He told us that he was heading down to the Abbey shortly if we wanted to go see that as well. He also told us that the castle ruins were not open until May, they were doing some preservation work, and if the Big Wigs were not making a visit there today he would have shown us around! LOL. He then told us of a real castle being built in France at the present time, just south of Paris. He was going there as well. . . I think he was sort of inviting us! ( what is up with these European men?? They LOVE us Americans . . . every time I have been overseas we always get hit on several times!! I guess our homegrown boys don’t know what they have, eh?)

Anyway, we left Adare and headed toward the Rock of Cashel, also known as Cashel of the kings and St. Patrick’s rock, is located at Cashel, County Tipperary. The Rock originally served as the traditional seat of the Kings of Munster (southern part of Ireland) for several hundred years prior to the Norman invasion. Cashel is said to be the site of the conversion of the King of Munster by St. Patrick in the 5th century A.D. The buildings that are currently present date from around the 12th and 13th centuries. The rock and its edifices were presented to the Christian church as a gift . . . but I don’t recall at what time period. I think, don’t quote me, around the same time as the buildings (12th or 13 century). This structure/rock can be seen before ever entering into Cashel. My breath was taken away as I began to drive towards the town and rock. The structures were MASSIVE and beautiful. When on top of the rock, one can see for miles and miles on every side. Beautiful rolling hills of the countryside, quaint town of Cashel, a friary made for the friars at the base of the rock, etc. The scenery was some of the best that we have seen! THIS was my Ireland!! We saw a very educational film on the history of the rock and church. Afterward, we walked down to a little restaurant called Grandma’s kitchen were we enjoyed a nice heater and sheppard’s pie. Yumm!! The place was a bright pink building with yellow windows and the inside was almost as bright as the outside. The Rock of Cashel and it’s surrounding beauties were supposed to be our main stop and attraction for the day . . . little did we know what adventures lay ahead.

The inside of the chapel at the Rock of Cashel. . . . just to show the enormity of the structure!

Granny's Kitchen. . . where we enjoyed our meat pies

We decided to drive through Kilkenny on our way to Dublin because it wasn’t too far off the most direct path and I had heard that there was a lovely castle to behold. Kilkenny was a much larger town than we expected, but it had the same small, colorful European buildings and narrow streets that we had become accustomed too. It didn’t take us too long to find the Kilkenny castle, which was an extraordinary monument. We had to park several blocks away. We were able to get into the last tour of the day and the interior of the castle was just as beautiful as the exterior. All of the furniture and paintings were original from several different centuries. . most dating to the 15th century. The castle was also completely restored to how it would have been in Victorian days. This castle housed the Butler family for hundreds of years with the last Butlers residing there in the early 1900’s. The castle was sold in the 1950’s to the Irish government and restoration crew for a meager sum of 50 pounds. Can you believe that!!!!! I want to buy a castle for 50 pounds!! Sheesh. At the end of the tour we attempted to buy post cards of the inside of the castle (they wouldn’t let us take photos) at the bookstore. The bookstore, however, was closed. . . . bummer!!! After walking the grounds, my mother attempted one last time to bribe some workers to buy us some postcards from the closed bookstore if at all possible. I stayed on the outside of the castle, convinced that her attempt was in vain. Nevertheless . . . she succeeded!! And she didn’t even have to pay! LOL! She explained to the nice lady at the desk that we were in Ireland for holidays and that this was my graduation present for graduating from nursing school. The lady was so impressed that she produced several postcards and a pamphlet of the castle (all which cost euros) and gave them to my mom for free! She also told her to congratulate me and wish me well. Hehe. Luck o’the Irish!

Finally on our way to Dublin, we passed a sign about 45 minutes away from KilKenny announcing Kilkea Castle on a turnoff. I made a split second decision and we found ourselves on a country road on our way to Kilkea Castle. This castle happened to be a hotel and we once again asked about accommodations and were told to have a look around the castle. The castle was restored, but looked much more authentic and felt more like an original castle then did Dromoland. It was not as fancy, but was more unique. Parts of the stone walls were still showing through most of the rooms and the drawing room had an original fireplace with coal burning rather than electric. Kilkea Castle was built in 1180 and is the oldest continuously inhabited castle in Ireland.

I finally found him!!! My knight in. . . (rusted armor??)

We finally ended up at Lucan Lodge around 7:30, checked in and then strolled down to Courtney’s in Lucan for a wonderful meal of ham and cheese stuffed chicken . . . called Chicken applewood. The finals for some soccer game were playing and as a result the atmosphere was festive. The bar/restaurant was packed with people watching the game on several different screens. We found our way to a quite corner of the restaurant and enjoyed our last evening in Ireland. I was sad, and happy. Sad that I had to leave – yet happy that I was able to have this experience.