Corking Good Times

Except for the allergies anyway. We've done a fair bit in only 3 days in Cork. We seem to spend less time napping like old people when we're on a bit of a schedule.

After walking around town for the remainder of our first day, we then spent the second day at Blarney Castle. This was a lot better than I first imagined it would be as it includes the surrounding grounds, which are rather large. We also bought a ticket to tour the manor house which is on the same property. This was pretty interesting as it is still occupied by the family who own the estate at certain times of the year. We also climbed to the top of the old castle and kissed the Blarney Stone. Yay for doing clichéd touristy things. The poison garden at the bottom of the castle was rather interesting as well since it contained a lot of plants you would traditionally think of, like madrake and poison ivy, and a few others which were surprising, like the tobacco plant and marijuana (or a hemp plant in this case anyway).

Blarney House

Blarney Castle

The Poison Garden at Blarney  Castle

Sancha also had a great time ringing the Shandon Bells at St Annes Cathedral, which is right next door to where we are staying. She tried to play "The Final Countdown", but it came out an incomprehensible mess. I don't recommend using church bells as an instrument if you are going into the 80s hair metal business.

We also took a self-guided walking tour of Cork, which was a nice way to see what is around the town although it is a touch short.

One of the more interesting bars in Cork was Fred Zeppelin's, a rather non-traditional Irish pub with metal paraphernalia taking the place of the sporting memorabilia found in your regular Irish pub.

We spent our last day in Cork doing a dolphin watching tour (we wanted to go on the harbour tour, but forgot to ask when it was on). This was a great way to to get about the harbour and despite getting a face full of dolphin blow hole spit it was pretty enjoyable. The tour included a fair bit of history about all the islands in Cork harbour (second only in size to Sydney Harbour) including the naval base and serveral old forts constructed to defend against Napoleon's fleet, should they even show their faces in Ireland. We also learned a bit about the Titanic and the Lucitania, despite Sancha trying to steal our skippers jacket to keep warm.

Dolphins! I hear they taste just like tuna.

Blackrock Castle

Sancha looking stylish in her borrowed windbreaker and life jacket

One of the island forts around Cork harbour

Rocking the Wicklow's, Just like Quiet Riot Did

A day tour of the Wicklow mountains leaves one with the impression that all is as it should be in Ireland. Every stereotypical picture you've ever had of rolling green hills covered with grass is exactly what these mountains look like. Close up they are a little more interesting as there a great big rectangular gouges missing where licensed families were allowed to remove sections of the peat which was compressed into bricks and burned.

Our first stop was a little unconventional as our tour bus driver stopped off to purchase some tools for about 10 minutes. I felt like I was 10 years old and dad had told me to wait in the car while he stopped off at the hardware store. Turns out he had his shed broken into and all his tools stolen, so he was replacing them.

Our first official stop on the tour was while climbing the Wicklows and we had a glorious view of Dublin through the fog and rain. A lovely Irish day for a jaunt in the mountains.

Dublin is in there somewhere

Second stop was one of the many lakes in the mountains where I got to bounce around on some of the peat bog. It was the springiest ground I've ever encountered as I'm much more used to the hard, concrete-like packed dirt or clay of Australian soil. After enjoying the view of the lake, which didn't do much except allow the wind to pick up some more water and throw it at us, so we were getting rain from both above and below, we stopped for a much needed tea break in the shelter of the side of the bus.

Oceans of heather in the Wicklows

We continued along our way through the mountains accompanied by lots of stories of the area, from the mass grave of German airmen shot down or sailors washed ashore during the war, to the stories of billeted German children who lived in the area after the war.

The area we were travelling through was even more photogenic than our crappy cameras allowed for, it's been a staple location for lots of movies for many years. We stopped at a bridge used in the movie "PS I Love You". This bridge crosses the river Liffe which is just a stream at this point. We passed a valley that was used as part of the Scottish countryside in "Braveheart" and passed near the coastline that served as the beaches of Normandy in "Saving Private Ryan". Interestingly enough most of the Scottish armies as well as the invading Allies and defending German forces were all filled in by the Irish Reserve Army forces.

The Liffe is just a stream up here in the mountains

We continued upwards driving along roads that were perfectly safe except for the treacherous drop down one side. Although narrow and windy we got a great view of many of the valleys and we eventually stopped at a lookout point where we could see down to Guinness Lake. Named after the member of the Guinness family who owns the property this lake is very deep, and has brownish water that has been filtered through the peat to give it a deep, dark brown colour. Add to that the white sand beach that has been constructed at one end of the lake and you have something resembling a pint of Guinness when viewed from several hundred metres above.

Guinness Lake

We headed down at this point and got off the bus for a short stroll down the road to view the waterfall and then head into the town of Laragh for lunch.

Glendalough Waterfall

After lunch we headed to Glendalough and the remains of a monastery. This was the home of St Kevin, who decided to become a hermit in an old copper mine halfway up an almost sheer mountainside. Of course people hearing about a crazy recluse living halfway up a mountain instead of doing the sensible thing and having him committed, decided the to visit with him and learn the scriptures. A wooden monastery was built by one of the lakes, which was eventually replaced by a stone monastery with a lookout tower and walls.

The tower at the Glendalough Monastery

Inside the church at Glendalough Monastery

One of the twin lakes at the monastery. St Kevins cave is supposedly somewhere up on the left mountain

Bonus Picture, Sancha lying in the heather

Extroverts Only Need Apply

We did another free New Europe walking tour around Dublin and I'm convinced that the tip-based structure is a winner for these guys. They seem to get a lot of enthusiastic tour guides who are a lot more outgoing and friendly doing the tours and we've had a much better experience from the tours we've taken from them.

Our tour guide was no exception to the personality type you'd expect to be doing something like this and the approved method of describing him involved the words "Epic Hair". He looked like a tall ivory walking stick with an orange wig stuck on the top and would have easily been at home as an extra in Braveheart (yes, yes, wrong part of the UK, bite me)

"You can take our walking tours, but you can never take... our freedom"

We started our tour from the City Hall and made our way round to Dublin Castle which is more of an English manor house now as the original was burnt to the ground and only one original tower remains. The statues over the two gates are also interesting as there is a statue representing Fortitude with a rather wimpy lion curled around his feet and another statue representing Justice. This statue is far more interesting as there are several conflicting stories about it's meaning. According to the Dublin Castle tour the statue is facing the castle to show that it was keeping an eye on the English rulers. According to another story the statue has it's back to the poorer inhabitants of the city, showing just what justice was like in Dublin. Interesting to note is that the statute doesn't have the customary blindfold either.

Following on to the back of the castle we learned where Dublin got it's name from the words "Black Pool" and of Jonathan Swift's stay at the castle and the history behind "A Modest Proposal" in which he suggested that to solve the poor's problem they should sell any subsequent children to the English noble classes so that they might dine on the succulent meat of Irish children.

Dublin Castle from the site that was originally the 'Black Pool'

We headed up to Christchurch which houses the remains of a Saxon lord named Strongbow who I'm pretty sure was most famous for his cider. I didn't really pay much attention to this part of the tour. At some point a crazy caretaker (let's face it, is there really any other kind) was cleaning the pipe organ and found a veritable middle-ages Tom and Jerry. The cat had chased the mouse into one of the pipes and gotten stuck. Instead of hilarity ensuing they both died and were mummified from the dry air. Like any caretaker who was a cider short of a six-pack he decided instead of throwing them out he would get a display case and put them on show in the church.

Christchurch is rather imposing

We headed on around the corner to the cities civic offices where there were remains of the cities Viking inhabitants found. Like all good city councils do when history gets in the way of building a nice shiny new council office they eventually got tired of waiting for the archaeologists to be finished and put a nice glass floor over the foundations and built the office anyway.

We forged onwards over the Liffe river, crossing the bank via the Ha'penny bridge which was built by the company that also built the Titanic (constructed right in Dublin, to be sure). We got a nice glimpse of all the scunners drinking along the waterfront as we walked to the O'Connell Bridge which is another icon of Dublin as it is as wide as it is long. We were treated to a short history of the General Post Office and it's role in Irish independence. We also heard a story about Father Pat Noise, a priest who used to rail against the evils of drinking and was eventually run off the bridge by a beer wagon and was commemorated with a plaque on the bridge. The trouble with this is that there never was a Father Pat and the plaque was placed there by pranksters.

The plaque commemorating Father Pat Nois

We then walked down to Trinity College, a bastion of Protestant education in Dublin where Catholics were not allowed to study until only recently. We were regaled with the tale of a bored student who, instead of studying for his exam, was reading the Universities charter in the library one night and found an interesting passage. Apparently Trinity College still has a section in it's charter that allows anyone riding a white horse and wielding a longsword to be treated to a free meal and a pint when they arrive at the University. He decided to test this out during the exam and was promptly told "no" by the exam supervisor. The supervisor thought this was so unusual he was telling the Chancellor and was informed it was still part of the Universities charter. The student was provided with a steak and a pint during the exam, which probably went some was to helping him not feel so bad afterwards when he was informed that he hadn't quite read the whole passage properly. He also needed to provide a stable boy as his horse had wandered off and ruined the cricket pitch. In cricket season. Explusion time.

Rumour has it that if you pass under this structure as a freshman you'll never graduate

We finished our tour in St Stephens Green, a fantastic park in the heart of Dublin. I quite enjoyed the statue dedicated to Wolfe Tone, and we were encouraged to mimic his preferred method of greeting people. Our last story of Dublin was of the many attempts that Ireland has gone through to achieve independence and the many bitter feelings towards the English, for such terrible bastardry as exporting food from Ireland during the potato blight, and to each other as those who thought a part-Republic was better than nothing and those who wanted a united free Ireland.

Wolfe Tone and his preferred greeting

Dalkey & Kilmainham Gaol

After spending a few days in Dublin walking around Dublin city learning about Dublin's history, enjoying a short boat ride up the River Liffey which divides the city north and south, socially and culturally; we decided to head out to Kilmainham Gaol. 

Kilmainham Gaol opened in 1796 and closed in 1924.  It worked as a men's, women's and juvenile prison, because men, women and children shared the same cells.  Also some of the leaders of the Easter rising of 1916, the War of Independence and the Irish Civil War were imprisoned and executed there.

The Victorian Wing before the restoration of the Gaol

Walking through one of the many corridors of the Gaol

one of the original cells with name of prisoner carved into doorframe

When the prison was opened Ireland was in the midst of famine.  Even though Kilmainham Gaol was considered the scariest building in Dublin, because public hangings were common and there was no heating or light in the prison cells, many people still committed crimes on purpose to be imprisoned there.  During the famine, for many poor people the prison was the only place where they got food and shelter against the cold.  So they had better chances of surviving inside than outside the prison.

The restored Victorian Wing

Kilmainham Gaol is definitely one of the most best tourist attractions in Dublin. The stories about the prison were really interesting and seeing the cells as well as hearing the stories about prisoners there made the tour fascinating.

Private hanging space of the Gaol

Our next day was spent taking the train out to Dalkey (approximately half an hour away by the DART (train) from Dublin).  Dalkey reminded me of parts of the Southern Highlands in New South Wales, although the Southern Highlands is not a medieval town, it does have many beautiful houses which is home to some rather rich people and celebrities.  One of the more famous celebrities which has a home in Dalkey is Bono, from U2.  The photographs below are just an example of some of the homes on offer on Colimore Road, Dalkey.

However, our main reason of travelling to Dalkey was not to admire the homes, but to see the remains of two castles on the short main street, one Archbold's Castle which had 3 storeys and battlements. The other Goat Castle and the harbour of  Colimore along with Dalkey Island which is home to another Martello Tower and the ruins of St Begnet's Oratory.

Goat Castle takes its name from the Cheevers family who owned the castle in the early 1600's.  Cheevers comes from 'chevre' French translation of 'goat'.  The goat features on their coat of arms.  The Castle dates from the early 1400's when Dalkey Sound was used to off load goods from large ships bound for Dublin.  Some of the goods were transferred to smaller boats and transported by sea to the city.  The tour of Goat Castle had a different approach to most tours whereby they had actors that were dressed up in medieval costumes and presented the tour as if we were back in the 1600's.

Goat Castle otherwise known as Dalkey Castle

 Next to Dalkey Castle (Goat Castle) is a stone Church (that has been destroyed).  It was dedicated to St Begnet and dates back to the tenth century.  It was interesting walking around this site.

St Begnet's Church and 10th century cemetery

From here, we walked down Colimore Road to the coastline of Dalkey, again, it was very beautiful with crystal clear waters and many fishermen.

Colimore Harbour, Dalkey

Whilst we were enjoying the scenery and taking a short break, the weather decided to turn ugly and suddenly grew very grey, at this stage, we decided to head back to the train station and return to Dublin.

Colimore Harbour & Dalkey Island in the background

Another view from Colimore Harbour, Dalkey

A Day Trip to Northern Ireland

Leaving Dublin we got onto the motorway, recently developed mainly to get the trucks out of the city.  However, when they built the motorway tunnel they didn't compensate for the European trucks and Dublin Port Tunnel was built 3cm too low for the super trucks which still have to go through the city.  Dublin seems to have not a great deal of success in construction.  Another example would be the The Millennium Spire, which was supposed to be finished in 2000, however it was finished in 2003, no longer able to be called the Millennium Spire and now goes under several 'alternate' names (such as "The stiffy in the Liffey"). 

First stop of our Northern Ireland tour was a place called Carrick-A-Rede and Larrybane.  Carrick-A-Rede means "the rock in the road".  The road in this case is the sea route for Atlantic salmon on their westward journey past Carrick Island.

Sancha crossing the rope bridge

For over 350 years fishermen have strung a rope bridge 30 metres above the sea to allow them to cross and access the best places to catch migrating salmon.  The views are spectacular once you cross and I also managed to get over (just told myself not to look down). It was an achievement to say the very least since I hate heights.

Larrybane Headland

Larrybane or Laragh Ban means the ancient white site, and is the name of the limestone headland lying to the west of Larrybane Bay.  An iron age fort stood on the headland around 800 AD.  Absolutely stunning views of not only the headland but also over the sea to the Scottish coast.

Next stop was Giant's Causeway about a 10 minute journey from Carrick-A-Rede.  I was eager to see this UNESCO World Heritage site as I had read so much about it and seen a ton of beautiful photographs in tourist brochures.  Let's just say, I wasn't disappointed.  The rain and the wind managed to hold off for this trip too, thankfully.  I have noticed that Australia seems to have the whole safety issue(s) down pat when it comes to cliffs and viewing platforms - they actually have the area surrounded by fences or wooden boxes.  Here, however, there are only a few fences, you can basically just walk out onto the cliff in most places and see the sheer drop below. All the while hoping that no big wind storm is going to suddenly approach and blow you off.

Giant's Causeway Headland

I was intrigued with this site as the Giant's Causeway has formations of unusual six sided basalt columns and numerous walking tracks around the headlands. It is also tremendous for photography. After closer inspection, some of the photographs I took came out as if I had painted them.  I wished that we had longer to explore the headlands as I spent most of my time around the Giant's Causeway stones, such a surreal environment set against a green (headlands) and blue (atlantic ocean) background gave off contrasting colours in the stones.  I loved it.

Giant's Causeway Basalt Columns (it's a photograph, not a watercolour)

Then it was time to head to Derry (or Londonderry, depending on who you ask).  We stopped for a quick photograph of Dunluce Castle which would have been nice to have time to wander through, but I guess with tours you are always running out of time or waiting for someone who has made the group late.  However, Dunluce Castle is gorgeous and is thought to be the most romantique and picturesque Castle in Ireland dating back to the 14th Century.   Our bus driver had a great saying though "Do you know that song by U2 'With or Without you?, well if your late, we will be going 'With or Without you'" (we thought that was pretty funny).

Dunluce Castle in Portrush

After about an hour and a half's drive we arrived in Derry.  The town is also known as Londonderry by the English, and is one of the longest continuously inhabited places in Ireland.  The name Derry derives from the old Irish word 'Daire' meaning oak grove.

Once we hopped off our tour bus we joined a walking tour of Derry, somewhat disappointed that we had such a large group (50+) as it was difficult to hear at times and we were also restricted to what we saw, because moving a large group of adults and children is somewhat slow. We started off with a tour of the City Walls, one of most visibly striking historic features of the city is the historic walls.  It is the only remaining completely walled city in Ireland. The walls were built between 1613 and 1618 by The Honorable The Irish Society as defences for the early 17th Century settlers from England and Scotland.  The prefix London was thus added to the name of the city and the city became known as Londonderry.  The walls which are approximately 1.5km in circumference act as a unique viewing promenade and form part of the walkway around the city.

Historic City Walls in Derry

My favorite part of the walking tour was the famous murals that are throughout the city which have had the world's media attention in both the Bogside around Free Derry Corner and the Fountain which are testament to the role Derry played during 'The Troubles'.  They are known as the Bogside Artists, the series of 12 large-scale murals depict key events in Northern Ireland since 'The Troubles' began in October 1688.

Bogside Mural

This was our last stop of the tour and we began our journey back to Dublin.

Giant's Causeway Basalt columns

Giant's Causeway Basalt Columns with Headland in background

Free Derry Corner

Derry or Londonderry Loyalists side

Giant's Causeway