Revisiting Ireland

Saturday, August 31

When we started planning this trip, we asked Jan to keep travel down as much as possible, and that actually worked out very well. When we were on the move from hotel to hotel, we asked Paul to avoid the motorways and let us see more of the country we were visiting. That was especially important for me, because on our previous trips I got to see only the roadway in front of me when I was driving. It just wouldn’t have been safe for me to start rubbernecking and looking around while I was sitting on the right side of the car and driving on the left side of the road! Paul handled this request with complete aplomb, and he even went out of his way to take us to interesting places on our drives. I discovered that everyone is right: Ireland is beautiful! If you’re ever planning a trip to Ireland, we have only the best things to say about hiring a car and driver from Mike Ryan’s Executive Hire Chauffeur Service. Our experience couldn’t have been better.

Kilkenny

This morning Paul picked us up shortly after 9:00 and headed out on the road to Kilkenny. We had visited the town, the largest in the county, on our first trip to Ireland in 2006, and this time we didn’t go back to the castle. Don’t miss it when you’re there, and if timing is right, enjoy a picnic in the garden. Kilkenny is much bigger than Kildare, and it’s supposed to be a good place to visit for arts and crafts. For us, there were several things to see there that we hadn’t included on our earlier visit. We went first to St. Canice’s Cathedral, maybe a vague memory in our minds, maybe not. As it turns out, we did visit the Cathedral before, and we have photographs though the memory has faded. The round tower on the grounds did look familiar, though. In fact, I do remember climbing to the top and taking photographs from up there. My favorite is one of a pigeon nesting in a narrow window about halfway up the tower. I’ll have to look that one up!

We did pay the admission and go in the Cathedral for a visit, but nothing sparked a memory for either one of us. the whole place was open for us to wander around in without any sections being roped off or anything, The 1853 Bevington and Sons organ had been rebuilt and enlarged in 2008, according to the visitor’s guide we picked up on the way in. It was fun to examine, with an absolutely huge open wood looming over the prayer chapel north of the chancel. Seeing the console off in the north transept, with a monitor on it made me smile, but not as much as hearing a recording when I read the line “Do you hear the music?” on the guide. There was a playback mechanism on one of the columns, triggered by a motion sensor. I didn’t laugh out loud, though I had to work not to.There were many other interesting elements to see, so I think both of us would recommend a visit if you ever find yourself in Kilkenny.

Paul then drove us to the Dominican church, the “Black Abbey,” but we didn’t get to go in because Mass was in progress. After that, we went to Rothe House, a reconditioned medieval house (with additions through the nineteenth century), part of which had just been opened when we were there before. Of course, back then we were relying on guide books printed well before our trip, so we didn’t even know about it. We walked through the whole thing, three linked houses, each from a different century, and goggled at the skull of a giant deer. There were a few stuffed people about, not our favorite thing, but the garden was really nice. They even give away the apples on the trees! The house is  worth a visit, especially if you’ve never been through one of those houses.

Cobh

After Kilkenny we rode on toward Waterford, skirting the town, and at Jan’s suggestion moved on to Youghal for lunch. We had been through this part of the coast before, but this time I got to see it. Somewhere above Dungarvan, we stopped for a real look around and a photo op. The pull-off spot on the highway was above a gentle slope that led down into tidal flats with the sea beyond. Even though the tide was out, leaving some interesting looking mud flats, it was absolutely beautiful, and the weather couldn’t have been better. Having a few hills to either side just made a nice frame for the view.

When we got to Youghal for lunch, we went to a little cafe that Judy and I would never have seen on our own. For us it was a fish and chips day, with more fries in a little metal bucket. Paul helped us out tremendously when he made our train reservations for the following Monday. Jan had suggested we wait until we got to Cobh to make the reservations, but Paul said it would be cheaper to do it online. And the schedule turned out to be something that would have scared us both if was had done it ourselves. More on that later. After lunch we walked through the town, checking out the clock tower, and got back on the road to Shanagarry.

The stop in Shanagarry was something of a disappointment. We had the stop on our itinerary because Judy wanted to visit a pottery shop there. We rode past a sign, but Paul said the place he was supposed to take us was farther down the road we were on. It turned out to be a general craft shop with cafe, nice in its way, but not what Judy wanted to see. There were craft studios in the basement, but not one for Stephen Pearce, the potter Judy wanted to visit. Paul inquired and learned that “the potter down the road” had retired. The stop wasn’t a complete loss, though, because there were a couple of books on display that gave both of us a good laugh.

On the way into Cobh, Paul drove us past the Cathedral–St. Colman’s. My word! Neo-Gothic vertical gone wild! There were enough side turrets and gargoyles for a place twice that size. But I digress. We got to the WatersEdge Hotel, schlepped our bags up the steps to our room, and went over to the Cobh Heritage Center. Cobh was the last stop for the Titanic back when the town was under British rule and called “Queenstown.” (After 1922 the name reverted to Cobh.) There are a lot of memorials and historic displays about that event around the place. And Cobh was also the place the survivors of the Lusitania were brought during WWI. More memorials.

After that, we walked a bit, and while Judy rested and tried to cool off in the room (no AC but nice windows and breezes), I decided to walk up to the Cathedral. After all, going into new churches I run across is sort of what I do. That was a hike and a half, mostly because I made a silly decision along the way. I took Paul’s suggestion and didn’t take the steps up from the waterfront, but followed the street back through the town, intending to continue along a switchback and get to the Cathedral along a somewhat gentle slope. But when I got to the big Lusitania Memorial before the switchback street, I saw another street that went directly up the hill toward my goal. I was feeling pretty good, so up I went. And went, and went. When I finally took a side alley toward where the Cathedral should have been, I came out farther uphill than I needed to be. Damn. The interior wasn’t as impressive as the outside, but the view of the town below from the Cathedral grounds made the hike, complete with huffing and puffing, worth the effort. Just look at this panorama shot!

When I got back to the hotel, Judy and I went to Kennedy Park and just chilled a little before we went to dinner in the hotel: a shared goat cheese appetizer, followed by mussels for Judy and salmon for me. Judy ended the meal with an Irish Coffee, but I opted for a couple of shots of Bushmill’s back in the room. I know. I shouldn’t have been drinking whiskey from Northern Ireland while I was in the Republic of Ireland the entire trip. But Bushmill’s was cheaper at the off-license place in Kildare. 😉

There are more photos of Cobh here. The page will take a while to load, so consider carefully before you click on the link.

Sunday, September 1

Midleton

Of course every day on a holiday adventure should be filled with new and different experiences, and this day certainly was different. In a good way, which isn’t always the case. We popped up at 7:00 after a restful and cool night, though who wouldn’t enjoy a night in a room that looked like a Wyeth painting! But when we hopped downstairs at 8:00 AM we discovered we were the only people in the restaurant! Sunday morning after a Saturday night in a resort town. We should have realized we would be among the earliest diners. That was OK, because both the coffee (for me) and the tea (for Judy) were ready. Already a perfect start. We just had a quiet breakfast with no one else dining in the whole room. 

I’ve mentioned our driver, Paul, before, but I haven’t said enough about him. He’s a small guy, eager to help us and full of information. Jan was right when she said could expect our driver to be our guide. Well, that was an understatement. He was not only our guide, he was also a private tour director. 

He had planned to pick us up early, saying he had something to show us before our scheduled “Jameson Experience” at 10:00. Midleton wasn’t that far away, but early was OK with us. We were ready to go on time. The “surprise” stop was well worth the early departure; Paul took us to the Kindred Spirits Choctaw Monument. I had read about it before we left home, but I didn’t realize we’d be this close to it. We didn’t have long because there was no on-site parking, so I would love to go back. Next life, maybe. If you’ve not seen it, think about what it meant for the Choctaw Nation, just a few years after the Trail of Tears, to raise money and send it to Ireland to help people starving because of the “Potato Famine.” That was church for us.

We moved on to the main event of the morning: The Jameson Experience. The Irish whiskey distillery started out in Midleton, moved to Dublin, and now is back in Midleton. Though the actually operations are for the most part in new buildings adjacent to the old one, the original buildings are used for aging barrels of the famous product and for tourism–for which we were the most grateful beneficiaries. Their tour is similar to all such places we’ve visited. We saw an introductory film, we heard some of the history of Irish Whiskey as we toured the grounds, and we got to see some of the original old equipment, much of which is still in working order. Unique elements make a difference, and the original water wheel (200 years old) and two 81,000-gallon vats, along with the largest pot still ever made were indeed unique. And we saw only one stuffed person on the tour, a definite plus.

As all such tours do, this one ended with a guided tasting experience, actually one of the better ones we’ve been through. Along the way we had been told about differences in the way Irish, Scottish, and American whiskies are distilled. That set us up for a testing that compared Jameson, Jack Daniels, and Johnnie Walker. Not a bad one in the lot, and the differences were clear.  After this, we were all herded back to the bar at the entrance, where we were each treated to a full-size drink of our choice: neat, watered, or in a cocktail. That was an unexpected perk that set this experience off from others we had enjoyed. Just about the time we started talking with a couple from California, Judy and I were escorted into a separate glassed-in area for a premium tasting. Turns out we were the only people who had signed up for that part. And we enjoyed it thoroughly. 

Cork Racecourse

After our time at Jameson’s, we were off to the races–literally. As it turns out, the Cork Racecourse isn’t in the town of Cork at all, so we rode through/around Cork, then through Mallow before we reached what was once called the Mallow Racecourse. Branding strikes again. Mallow is in County Cork, and that’s the more notable name, I guess.

We had tickets to the upper enclosed level of the stands, which was nice because the day was clouding up and getting windy. By this time, lunch was on our minds, so we made good use of our time before the first race by visiting the carver. Roast beef, lamb, veggies, including mashed potatoes, though we passed on the fries. We’d had enough of those by this time. The races were fun to watch, of course, but we had a different experience this time, being up on the top level, inside, and stepping out on the narrow balcony only for the two minutes of each race. To be honest, losing more than we won was another reason we didn’t have as good a time at Cork as we did at Curragh. It was still a fun afternoon, and Judy enjoyed staying in and watching families with small children. Racing in Ireland is very much a family affair. 

Paul drove us back to the Waters Edge, made sure we knew how to get to the train station, and went on his way. I checked out the walk, just to be sure we wouldn’t miss the train the next morning, and made it there in less than two minutes. We had a light supper in the restaurant, enjoyed our now customary libations, and slept well, secure in the knowledge that the morning would bring another adventure. You can find out about that here. 

More photos here.