2 On the Road

Ireland Trip - Dingle Peninsula

View along Dingle Bay on the North Atlantic coast.

The next four photos are a panoramic view from left to right from a scenic viewpoint.

A closer view of the scenery in the above photo.

This was the only fence we saw where the stones were placed vertically.

Notice how narrow this road is.

We stopped at Clogherhead Strand because we read that there were stones here that had an design like a map. We didn't find any of them. Dang tourists must have picked them all up!

What we did find were these aqua blue rocks. Very unusual color. I took a small pebble this color home with me.

View of the North Atlantic on the other side of the peninsula continues in next two photos.

Ireland Trip - Muckross House and Gardens

Information from Wikipedia: Muckross House is located on the small Muckross Peninsula between Muckross Lake and Lough Leane, two of the lakes of Killarney, 6 kilometres (3.7 mi) from the town of Killarney in County Kerry, Ireland

Muckross House is a mansion designed by the Scottish architect, William Burn, built in 1843 for Henry arthur Herbert and his wife, the watercolourist Mary Balfour Herbert.. With sixty-five rooms, it was built in the Tubor style. Extensive improvements were undertaken in the 1850s in preparation for the visit of Queen Victoria in 1861. It is said that these improvements for the Queen's visit were a contributory factor in the financial difficulties suffered by the Herbert family which resulted in the sale of the estate. In 1899 it was bought by Arthur Guiiness, 1st Baron Ardilaun who wanted to preserve the dramatic landscape.

It was bought by a wealthy Californian mining magnate William Bowers Bourn, as a wedding gift for his daughter Maud and her husband Arthur Rose Vincent.

Killarney National Park was formed principally from a donation of Muckross Estate, which was presented to the state in 1932 by Senator arthur Vincent and his parents-in-law Mr. and Mrs. William Bowers Bourn II, in memory of Senator Vincent's late wife, Maud. The park was substantially expanded by acquisition of land from the former Earl of Kenmare's estate.

The front entryway of the house has a plethora of mounted trophy heads, including an enormous rack of antlers from the Irish Elk (extinct), found preserved in a local bog. The photo above is a ruin and cemetary we saw on our jarvey (horse and buggy) ride to the house and gardens.

View of one of the lakes.

Side of the house facing the lake.

I forgot how old this cedar tree is but it's old.

Double-click to read this info. We were not allowed to take photos in the house.

Our jarvey.

Ireland Trip - Cahir Castle

On a rock in the middle of the River Suir, this medieval fortress can trace its history from the 3rd century, when a stone fort, called a cathair, was first built on the rock. It was built in 1142 by Conor O'Brien, Prince of Thomond. Cahir Castle was built in the 13th century. Granted to the powerful Butler family in late 14th century, the castle was enlarged and remodelled between the 15th and 17th centuries. It fell into ruin in the late 18th century and was partially restored in the 1840s. The Great Hall was partly rebuilt in 1840.

You can see that some of the structures are different from others.

We climbed up this set of steps to the top of a wall that surrounded the keep.

Jolene and I took photos in a complete 360° arc from the top of the wall.

Here you can see some of the town and the stairs we climbed to get to the top of the wall.

This building was built 200 years after the keep on the opposite side of the ground.

Jolene snapping photos from the top of the wall.

Time to go back down the stairs.

The first floor had a good view out the window and a big fireplace.

The next room over was the garderobe, aka the bathroom. This alcove was the toilet. Clothing was hung over this opening every evening when someone stirred the contents so the fumes could come up the opening and fumigate the clothing.