Easter Break-Day 4

Easter Sunday-Cork to Shannon

During our stay in Cork we were at a Radisson hotel. On the evening of the 23rd we were meet with a notecard with a clue on it hanging from our door. The hotel staff had put together an Easter egg hunt for the kids in our hotel room. The kids thought this was the greatest and loved finding the 6 clues and were rewarded with four large chocolate eggs hiding in the lock box. The next morning we headed out early for our unorthodox Easter Sunday experiences. We started the day at the Swiss Cottage.

The Swiss cottage was built in the early 1800s for Richard Butler, the first Earl of Glengall. The cottage was built with the intention of blending in with the surrounding environment. So there is nothing about the cottage that is symmetrical. Every door and window has it's own distinct measurement and no two are alike. You were made to feel as if you were living inside a tree. We had a great time exploring.

The Rock of Cashel

Here is where the ancient kings of Munster reigned in 300-1100 A.D. This was also a place of great tribal wars as kings fought for the great fortress. In 1101 Murtagh O'Brien gave the Rock to the Church. This provided a great ecclesiaastical center for the growing Christian church.
This piece of wall fell off during a massive storm after being weakened by cannon fire in one of the many battles fought here.

Graveyard and Round tower. The round tower was the first stone structure built on the Rock after the Church took it over. It was used as a bell tower and lookout post. The monks would use this as a place to store their precious sacramental treasures.

St. Patrick is said to have baptized King Aengus at the Rock of Cashel. The 12th century cross was carved to celebrate the handing over of the Rock to the Church 650 years after St. Patrick's visit. This is just a replica of what once stood there. Over the years the wind and the rain have eroded the original and so they have moved it inside to the museum for protection. Many tourist can be seen trying to hug this cross as the tour guide explains an Irish legend of believing that if your arms could touch while encircling the cross you will never suffer from a hangover. I think I might have a better way.

Inside the cathedral.

From the grave yard there is a great view over the Plain of Tipperary, once covered by giant oak trees. In view is the Hore Abby. This abby was named for the Cistercian monks who wore simple gray robes, the same color as hoarfrost. We walked around the ruins and found it very peaceful and a reprieve from the overwhelming amount of tourist at the Rock.

After our tours we made a couple hours drive to the Shannon area where we stayed at a golf resort village. It came as a pleasant surprise to be staying in a town house where we had two levels, a full size kitchen, two bathrooms, laundry facilities, and one of the largest places we have stayed in yet since we have been to Ireland.

Easter Break-Day 3

Muckross House and Traditional Farms

After our morning swim we headed west to the Muckross House where we explored the gardens and learned a bit about the Victorian period. Queen Victoria stayed in the bottom floor bedroom for three nights. The gardens were amazing.
You could travel in style after you bargained out the right price for a carriage ride. We decided to use our good feet instead.

A great view of some of the garden.

The Muckross House from the side.

A couple of meters away is the entrance to the Muckross Traditional Farms. There are six different working farms on a walking route dating from the 1930s. As you walk along the path you stop off at each of these little farms and there is a farmhouse usually with animals and a farmer or wife to let you know a bit about life at that time. We watched as they baked soda bread over a peat fire and showed us where the kids would sleep and what chores they would do.
Real live piggy wiggy among many other of the farm animals here. We saw mules, donkeys, chickens, dogs, pups, cats, peahens, cows, and of course lots of sheep.
The boys enjoying the farm life? At least they enjoyed looking at it...

Real live Irish Wolf Hounds and I was told these were just pups!

We moved onward to our drive around the Dingle Peninsula! This was my favorite part of the trip and probably one of the prettiest places on earth. I kept telling Cam to pull over so we could take the same picture over and over. Here are a few of them...

Beehive Huts. They look like stone igloos and are surrounded by a stone wall in the middle of a pasture filled with sheep. They are around 4,000 years old and somehow have withheld their form. Impressive craftsmanship. These provided shelter for families and the hard life these original Irishmen endured.

One of our favorite pictures. This is taken from the western most point of Europe.

One of the many vacant stone farmhouses left after the terrible potato blight of 1845 that devastated the population. There once was 40,000 people living on the peninsula and today there are 10,000.

More of the beauty of the area in which photos just don't do justice.

We stopped off at the Gallarus Oratory built about 1,300 years ago. This is one of Ireland's best preserved early Christian churches. This is a view from the Oratory.

The church is still waterproof with the finely fitted stone walls. The door is facing west to allow the the evening light into the building. The small window facing east allows the morning light within.

An early Christian cross on the grounds.

It was a beautiful and peaceful way to end our breathtaking tour around the peninsula.

Easter Break-Day 2

Ring of Kerry

On our drive to the Ring of Kerry we passed this craft shop with the Quinlan name on it. Pretty cool to see a shop with your last name on it. Who knows maybe it was a distant relative?
The gorse was in full bloom and covered most of the hillsides which I thought added brightness and beauty. Farmers here would disagree as they are a nuisance, hard to control, and very prickly.

Our first ring fort was a stop at the Staigue Fort. The fort was built sometime between 500 B.C. and A.D. 300. They didn't use any type of mortar so it's amazing to see how they meticulously cut the rocks to fit together. There are different thoughts as to what these forts were used for. Some believe that the people who built them used them in times of tribal war. Or that herders used these forts to keep their cattle in to keep them safe.
Some believe that they were used as a type of amphitheater where tribes would meet for important meetings or ceremonies. It was a striking image to walk through those thick stone walls and stand inside and realize that we were standing in something possibly made before the time of Christ.
We stopped at several scenic pull outs for the amazing views of the Atlantic Ocean against the cliffs of the Kerry Coastline.
We stopped at the Derrynane House where Daniel O'Connel (Ireland's most influential pre-independance politician who fought for the rights and equality for the Catholics) lived. It was a pretty estate and was surrounded by coastal lands that are now a national historic park.

The kids played on the beaches and rocks surrounding the estate and didn't want to leave.

Some views of the Ring of Kerry.

Easter Break-Day 1

Belfast to Cork

We got a chance to explore a bit more of Ireland as the island was celebrating Easter. The kids got two weeks off from school and Cam was off also. So, we drove as far south as we could and then headed back up the west coast of Ireland.

The weather was amazing for our trip and the whole island is still amazed at how warm and sunny it has been. Warm is 55 to 60 degrees here, hot is 65 degrees. We made our way from Belfast to Cork ( a 5 hour drive) with a stop at Kilkenny Castle. We took a short walking tour of the castle with the highlight being the family-portrait gallery and the gardens.
It was so warm (at least 63 degrees) that we couldn't resist splurging on ice-cream cones from the ice-cream vender. We hopped back into the car and drove the rest of the way to our hotel outside of Cork in Little Island. The Raddison hotel was a perfect location for us and for our exploring plus it had a great pool where we all went swimming an hour every morning.

Mount Stewart

For this Saturday's adventure we took off to another National Trust Property. This has got to be one of my favorites! I felt like I was walking through a fairy tale. The property was absolutely breathtaking.

We took a tour through the Stewart House. The house is still used by the family. They have 20 or so rooms on the other side of the house apart from the tours.

The gardens had fountains, manicured shrubs, ponds, every flower you can imagine, stone work, and a peace that enveloped you as you walked through it.

Soaking in the beauty of God's Good Creation.

We took a walk around the lake on the property and saw and fed many ducks and swans.

Enormous beauty!

And the fun continues...

Elise came down with what they call a "breakthrough disease" of chicken pox. She was vaccinated in the States and then exposed to the wild virus here. She was very crabby last week and then broke out with chicken pox on Friday. She only had 25 or so marks on her back that didn't quite look like the normal chicken pox but after putting all the pieces together it's the only thing that made sense. Thankfully, it wasn't a bad case and she is back to her normal self today! She's trying to see the chicken pox herself in the picture.

Last Saturday we drove an hour to the little town of Newry to meet our good friends, Kevin and Alison from England. They were staying in Dublin and we met half way to spend the afternoon together. It was a beautiful day and we enjoyed seeing a cathedral and a castle. We had a nice lunch with our Belfast Baps and Irish Soda bread beside the canal.

Inside the cathedral in Newry.

Rough Week

Since the last posting things have gotten stranger. We continue to struggle with coughs and colds and sleepless nights. Yesterday, Elise was trying to help clean up and accidentally knocked over a heavy wooden TV tray that landed square on my baby toe. The toe turned black and blue and began swelling immediately. Unfortunately, the timing wasn't that great because we had to leave and get the other kids home from school. So, I hobbled up the 1/4 mile or more up to the kids' school using Elise's stroller for support. Then when we got to school Elise decided to walk along a short wall and fell over backwards and got stuck between the wall and fence. I am sure I looked hilarious trying to lift Elise up while standing on one leg while she was screaming the whole time. I finally got her right side up and she was fine, just frightened more than hurt. This morning Elise has a horrible cough that sounds like it is coming from the depths of her lungs. I am just hoping and praying that it isn't pneumonia. My toe is all sorts of fun colors and painful to walk on. It will be an interesting next couple of days. It's hard not to wonder how I am going to manage with my only source of transportation (my feet) in jeopardy.