Eire Travelers: Galway, tis!

It tooks us all day to get to Galway from Kilbrittain but we stopped at Bunratty Castle which is a restored castle complete with medieval village and animals. I'll include photos later. When we drove directly to our St. Jude's B&B without getting lost we were grateful! From here we did a lot of walking just like we did in Dublin. We walked to Eyre Square, ate at a Pub and waited for dark as we walked around until the parade start.

Galway

Sorry, no photos for a few days! We're in Galway and attended the Festival Fantasy Parade last night with a crowd of 25,000 that were here for a football game between Galway and Mayo. Mayo won at the last minute by one point! We were crushed into the crowd last night when the parade started at 10pm and had to be patient to make it back to our B&B. Today we went to Dunmore and were escorted around Gortnagoyne by Pat McWalter Steve's 3rd cousin! Thanks to Uncle Bill for introducing us to him! We saw the spot where the old Treacy home stood and met Kathleen age 84 who lived in the home as a child. More later... Tomorrow we go to the Cliffs of Mohr. I'll put more photos on when we get back to Kilbrittain in about 3 days.

Around the House

We were so happy to get back to the country after Dublin! I wandered out to the studio to look around and Tiger followed. We did a little washing. It's the custom to hang the clothes to dry to save electricity. This will bring back memories of the "good 'ol days" to me Mum! Things do smell fresh, I must say!

Return Route to Kilbrittain/ Stop at Rock of Cashel

There were the most impressive cloud formations on the way to Cashel! Cashel is a castle built on top of a rock of limestone. It was a valued fortress for the ancient kings of Munster 300 to 1100 AD. St. Patrick baptized King Aengus here about 450AD.
It was said that he accidently stabbed the King in the foot with his sceptor and the King endured it because he thought it was part of the service to understand the pain and suffering of Christ. It has been a coveted place for burial and it's said that you can't walk anywhere without stepping on a grave.





We had an early dinner here at Cafe Hans. It doesn't look like much but locals were lining up to eat. We had to wait about 20minutes for a table. The interior was contemporary and bright with nice art on the walls and the food was served ala gourmet plating...beautiful....and only about 14 euro for Lamb chops!











I have to say that it's frustrating taking photos that really don't give you the feel for the expanse of the vistas that we've experienced! Wish you could be here.

Christ Church Dublin

Steve and I attended an Evensong service here. This was the first viking episcopal church built inside the Dublin City wall about 1030AD by Sitriuc "silkbeard" king of the Dublin Vikings. There is a photo of the ruin of the original. The choir was spectacular and the service ended with a pipe organ concert. Those in attendance actually applauded afterwards. It was inspiring!

Dublin Castle

Dublin Castle is a government building where the head of the new independent Irish government was handed over to Michael Collins in 1922. Prior to that the British governed from here. Many heads of state have been welcomed here and all of the Kings and Queens sat on the throne here.














These are the ruins beneath Dublin Castle of the Viking Castle on the original spot discovered when new construction was underway.  There was a river Poddell that flowed around the castle and down here it is controlled with pumps.  Servants were sent out of the castle for supplies by boat to the Dublin harbor.  You can still see the arches in the wall and base of old towers.  Dublin is built on fill.

Driving to Hill of Tara

The next series depicts the Hill of Fugitives and the chamber inside carved with the Celtic swirl symbol.






This is some of the scenery enroute to Hill of Tara the seat of Kings of Ireland and the view of the sheep that clip the grass at Tara.