Tag: castles

Post author By barry
Post date October 5, 2022
1 Comment on Wexford

Some 6 or 7 years ago, Claire and I decided to get out of Durham for 4th of July and go somewhere different to watch fireworks. After a quick run through the local papers and websites, we decided on Butner, about 20 miles or so north. A town more famous for its variety of prison facilities, including the federally run minimum security establishment that housed Bernie Madoff, among others.

We quickly found the lake where the fireworks were supposed to be held, but we were practically the only people there. We got directions to a different lake. Same story. After a couple of hours and a glorious sunset, we went home, eventually to learn that Butner’s fireworks display had been held the weekend before. That’s forgivable on those occasions when July 4th falls on a Tuesday or a Wednesday, but not when it’s already on the weekend. Butner quickly became a running joke in our household, and then a simple punchline that needed to introduction. We’d just look at one another and say, “Butner!” without any obvious prompt. Always funny.

Wexford kinda filled that niche for us in Ireland, for a different reason. We’ve planned numerous trips to Wexford on our various visits, but somehow none of them ever came off. For our anniversary this past weekend we talked about trying again, but had to hold off till the last minute because we’re still waiting on the arrival of our main shipment of goods from the states. I expect every morning to receive a call from the shipping company to arrange a time for delivery that day, and every morning so far I’ve been disappointed. So Thursday night we cashed in a Hotels.com voucher and booked a room at the Crown Quarter on Wexford’s main quay for Friday night. A second night was unavailable, so we planned a busy day Saturday, and figured on catching the latest bus back to Youghal through Waterford.

When we checked in the woman at the desk warned us that there’s a disco on the ground floor on Friday nights, and we might get some of the bass coming through the floor, but that it would end by 12:30.

Pro tip: The disco at the Crown Quarter on the weekend runs right up to the legal 1 am limit, and is outside in the courtyard, where the sound carries extremely well into the rooms. Possibly even the best seat in the house. On the plus side, we heard both Come On Eileen and the Weezer cover of Toto’s Africa. So, a successful mini-vacation on that front.

Waterford itself is a quite lively place, lots of pedestrian activity along the narrow Viking era streets that make up the commercial district. Outdoor dining options everywhere, from cafes to white linen restaurants. We had dinner at the Thomas Moore Tavern where I ate some of the best mussels I’ve ever had, and Claire enjoyed the daily special of a local cod and spinach fritter with a beetroot carpaccio, which even I was able to take a bite of, and I despise beets. Even with appetisers, drinks, and dessert, the bill was only €80. We also had coffee and scones at Franks Place, and a quick lunch while waiting for the bus at Mi Asian street food.

Our big excursion for the day was the Irish National Heritage Park, a 100 acre site about 10 minutes out of town by bus. The walking tour of the park takes you through the various stages of Irish habitation, from the Neo-lithic era through the Norman settlements of about 900 years ago. Relatively educational, and not very strenuous. I confess I wasn’t paying attention to wheelchair accessibility. The park’s website states “The woods, paths and trails that lead through The Irish National Heritage Park are maintained as close to their natural state as possible, in keeping with the landscape as it would have been historically. Surfaces are therefore uneven and unpaved in parts. The installations and reconstructions themselves, are designed to reflect the actual experience of ancient and historical buildings. Care should be taken when accessing some of the low dwellings, the Ringfort stairways and all steps.”

The funniest part of our trip happened on the bus back, between Waterford and Dungarvan. A group of four teenage boys boarded, possibly at the Waterford Tech stop, possibly the one after. They sat in the back and were fairly loud. But shortly before disembarking at Crotty’s Pub stop outside Dungarvan to meet their girlfriends, they decided that a contest over who could say the word “penis” the loudest was going to be the most important thing ever. An utterly hilarious 5 minutes that I may never forget.

Claire and I agreed that we were glad not to have visited Wexford prior to our choice of settling in Youghal, because it would have been a tempting alternative. But living so far away from the bigger city of Cork, not to mention the likelihood of not having an ocean view, would have been second best. But we’ll definitely be back. But not to the Crown Quarter.

Tags Boats, castles, food, Harbor, Irish Heritage, Vikings

Buses Ireland Kinsale Traveling

Kinsale

Post author By barry
Post date March 7, 2020
1 Comment on Kinsale

We took the bus down to Kinsale the other day. It’s a picturesque port town near the mouth of the River Bandon, accessible via a 45 minute bus ride from downtown Cork. It probably caters a little more to the tourist trade than either Cobh or Midleton, despite not having a major specific draw like the distillery or the Heritage Center. Even so, enough of the restaurants and coffee shops were open, to make a full day of it. And it turned out to be a pretty nice day for taking pictures, so I did a lot of that.

We started with coffee and pastries at The Poet’s Corner bookshop and cafe. And, seriously, their scones were the best I’ve had on this visit. And I’ve had more than my share the past 5 weeks.

I’m going to divide the pictures up into waterfront, and town, and mostly post them without comment.

We had fantastic skies most of the day.

Like most Irish towns, Kinsale has old churches and castles, not to mention some old pubs. Not all of them were opened on our visit, though.

*Some people think that’s the best kind*

*Your basic 330 year old pub, sadly, not open for business this early in the day*

Houses and house names in Kinsale seemed to me to exhibit more of a sense of humor than some of the others I’ve seen.

*I understand you need a special invitation to spend the night here*

*Nobody knows what goes on behind this one*

And just an amazing little street that we happened to turn up on our walk.

I’m hoping we’ll get another opportunity to go back and spend some more time in Kinsale before the month is out.

Tags Boats, castles, Clouds, Doors, Harbor, Lobster

Blarney

Blarney Gardens…oh, and there’s a castle there, too

Post author By Claire
Post date March 6, 2020
1 Comment on Blarney Gardens…oh, and there’s a castle there, too

When we toured Ireland in 2017, our favorite city was Cork. One of the reasons we liked it so much is that it’s not really much of a tourist town. It’s scenic and there’s lots to do, and there are a few shops where you can buy souvenirs, but doesn’t have that Tourist Trap feel of summer in downtown Galway or parts of Dublin.

Outside of town, though, there’s Blarney Castle, site of the famed Blarney Stone, one of the biggest tourist destinations in Ireland. Fortunately for us, (1) it’s a short ride on public transit, so less than €2 each way, and (2) it’s way off-season, so it wasn’t crowded at all.

This sign was a fair distance from the castle, indicating how long the lines can be in the summer. We did not wait on any lines.

The real surprise of the trip was how large and lovely the gardens are. We didn’t even walk all the paths, as there are some that extend outward through the fields and forests and along the river, and around a lake that we didn’t even see. Even so, we spent more time walking through the gardens than we did in the castle itself.

Daffodils and crocuses at the base of the castle.

We followed this trail along the river to the Fern Garden, but we could have continued on a nearly 2-hour hike through the forest and around a lake.

An unexpected find, and an unidentified flower.

There are also a number of impressive trees throughout the arboreteums. I thought they some looked familiar, and indeed, they were not native, but were cedars from Northern California.

In addition to the castle, there is a much newer (1874) building on the property, a mansion that was currently closed for renovations. That is one downside to touring in the off-season…sometimes things are simply closed.

There are a cluster of gardens on the other side of the castle with whimsical names — Wishing Steps, Witches Kitchen, Druids Circle. They all sort of blend together though, in fact, we got a bit lost trying to figure out what was where. Is that the Sacrificial Altar? Or just a tree stump? Is that big tree the Irish Tree of the Year, or some other big tree?

There was also a “Pinetum”, essentially an arboretum focusing on pine trees, that struck me more like a rock garden. Also, another waterfall, and a pond.

Then there was the Fairy Glade. I wish our grandkids had been with us, because I’m sure they would have had better luck spotting the fairies than we did!

So after several hours touring the gardens, we finally went up to the castle.

Unlike other castles we’ve seen, which have essentially been military fortresses, people actually lived here. But it was also a fortress. So, instead of having a coat rack in the front hall so you could hang up guests’ coats, there was a “murder hole” so you could pouring boiling oil on their heads.

Some parts are in better repair than others. There was also a tower similar to the one on the right that was surrounded by scaffolding as repairs were being made.

There were a few other people around, but really, we had the place almost to ourselves. The rooms are cold and mostly dark, and except for the main hall, small, with claustrophobia-inducing doorways and stairwells. You could really get a sense of how bleak life must have felt even for those who could afford the fancy real estate of the time. I don’t think you would really be able to get a good sense of the space crammed in hundreds of people, cranky from being on line for over an hour, just wanting to kiss the damn stone and get back to the bus to the cruise ship.

No, the ceiling isn’t that high…the floor is missing. There would have been another floor, so the fireplace would be in a normal position, not halfway up the wall. It did allow for a nice shot looking down at the entryway, though.

It’s a long walk up a very winding staircase to get to the top. In some places the ceiling is quite low. Once at the top, though, you’re rewarded by fresh air and a lovely view.

The castle grounds, and the village of Blarney.

We had the ramparts to ourselves except for two very bored looking workers who are there specifically to help lower people down to kiss the Blarney Stone. I was glad to see they had a bottle of disinfectant spray nearby. There are some odd traditions in this world, but this one strikes me as one of the dumbest. Even if there weren’t a pandemic going on, no way am I going to kiss some stupid rock.

After this we poked around in some shops, but most of the restaurants were closed, so we caught the bus back into town.

Tags Buses, castles, gardens

Blarney Buses Ireland

Blarney

Post author By barry
Post date February 28, 2020
1 Comment on Blarney

It’s been substantially wetter in Cork, and indeed all of Ireland, this February than normal. So we’ve kept our eye on the forecast for sunny, or at least cloudy days, in order to explore the surrounding areas.

Blarney, or at least the Blarney Stone, wasn’t high on our list. But it is an 800 year old castle, and it does have a nice set of gardens, and, most importantly, it’s a 20 minute bus ride in the local zone, about 2 Euro each way.

Wednesday was our day.

The bus stops adjacent to the Blarney Woolen Mills, which, having been shuttered 45 years ago after a 150 year run, is now a tourist destination where you can purchase all manner of Irish woolen goods and trinkets. And i guess there are some folks who come to Blarney just to buy a sweater, but i assume it’s mostly the kind of thing you do after climbing the castle steps and kissing the stone.

Only 1 restaurant in town, and the one at the mill, were open when we were there. I was having a hankering for sausage rolls, and they weren’t on the menu at either, so we skipped it, and ate when we got back home.

Anyway, from town, you can get your first view of the castle.

*Actually, this photo is from the castle grounds, but the view is essentially the same as from town.*

Had a nice chat with one of the groundskeepers, who seemed eager for a break, about native species, invasives, both in Ireland and North Carolina, some of the odd ferns growing on the grounds, whether he had given names to the trees he was tending. He had an interesting theory that, after the last Ice Age, almost all of Europe and much of the Americas had been denuded of plant life, so whatever took in the aftermath couldn’t be considered invasive. I told him about kudzu, so maybe that data point will lead him to modify his philosophy.

*One of several waterfalls on the grounds*

There is, of course, a lot of history on the grounds. This old lime kiln, where limestone was converted into quicklime to use as fertilizer, fascinated me. On the placard was a reminder that “lime enriches the father, but impoverishes the son.” Referencing that the continued use of lime as a fertilizer ends up depleting the soil in the long run.

*I like to think of these as the servants’ quarters, but in reality it’s a residence built in more recent times (late 19th century) by the family that currently owns the castle*

This formation of nine rocks, 7 standing and 2 toppled, supposedly dates back centuries. The story is that the king on the land, father of 9 children, led his people to a war in which he lost both his sons and so, in mourning, toppled the two stones representing them.

There was also this fallen dolmen, whose portal i passed through. Perhaps i now have some mystical powers.

On to the castle itself! We obviously were not the first to be here.

Also had some company on the way up.

The view from the top is pretty spectacular.

And, finally, the great stone itself. It’s the smooth, almost bluish thing at the bottom of the wall. And no, i didn’t put my lips on it. But i did tip the two attendants who help contort you into the ridiculous position you need to assume in order to get your face near enough to kiss it.

Tags Blarney Stone, castles

Blackrock Buses Cork City Ireland

The planetarium inside an inflatable igloo inside a castle

Post author By Claire
Post date February 21, 2020
2 Comments on The planetarium inside an inflatable igloo inside a castle

Yesterday we walked four miles east and a bit south of the city to the Blackrock Castle Observatory. There was a clear blue sky when we left, within 10 blocks there was a few minutes of sleet, then it was lovely enough to remove our coats, and by the time we arrived at the castle there were gale force gusts of wind. The walk took us through some of the more posh residential neighborhoods than we’ve seen thus far, as well as a couple of small villages/neighborhoods, and a stretch along the Lee River.

The base of the castle — the squarish part below the towers — was built in the late 16th century to intimidate pirates who were sailing upriver and wreaking havoc. Later, when England was at war with Spain and the fighting spilled over into Ireland, the towers were built, although the war ended without the fort ever being used in battle. It went through a number of uses in the ensuing centuries, primarily as a sort of country club for the wealthier citizens. There were a couple of fires that destroyed any of the furnishings and tapestries that we normally associate with castle life. By the end of the 20th century it was a restaurant and event center. In 2007, the Cork Institute of Technology had the winning proposal of what to do with the property, and along with the City of Cork turned it into the science center it is now.

View from below the castle. The circular display in the foreground is for spotting landmarks on the view of the river.

This is not just a science museum for kids, but also a working observatory. While we were getting the tour, a young scientist worked his way through the crowd and into the lab that we were viewing through glass doors. They have a telescope, but the Irish climate does not allow for a lot of clear skies for viewing. So the scientists there focus on software development that they share with other observatories.

It isn’t as big as other kid-oriented science museums that I’ve seen, but the kids who were there were clearly enjoying themselves. In addition to the few exhibits, interactive and otherwise, there is the planetarium.

I’ve been to planetariums (planetaria?) in New York and San Francisco, and even the one in Chapel Hill is a sizable auditorium with the sort of show that evokes Ooohs and Ahhhs.

The planetarium at Blackrock Castle was nothing like those.

Inside a room in the castle stood a dome made out of fabric: the inflatable igloo. You enter through a rather, um, evocative slit between two inflated tubes, into a small chamber no bigger than a person, then through another slit. The room inside is maybe 15′-20′ in diameter; there were roughly 10 adults and 8 kids at our show. In the center is the planetarium apparatus; the audience sits on the floor in a single row around the edge of the circle. The presenter sits on the floor, too.

The show itself was very basic: what’s in the sky tonight, when is the best time of day or year to view various planets, a bit about some constellations. The presenter runs the show from a tablet, and she seemed to be fairly new to it as there were a few Ooopsies as she sped through months instead of hours, or couldn’t get the button to work to highlight Ursa Major.

But it was utterly charming. Unlike auditorium shows where everyone is suitably hushed, this was more of a conversation, with kids shouting out comments or questions, smaller ones squirming in their parents’ laps. It may not be Hayden planetarium, but it was a hit with the kids, and families were lined up for the next show.

We took the bus back into town, our first foray by (double decker!) bus. The castle is also the starting point for a greenway that extends several miles south along the river, so we will likely take the bus out there again at some point and enjoy the walk.