Shamballa Cruising Yacht Club: Ireland: Castles, Churches, Cliffs and Clouds

We left the sunny and hot Balkans for Ireland where it rained every day of our 7 day road trip through the southwest. It didn’t rain continuously but there were showers every day, sometimes we saw glimpses of the sun for a few minutes but mainly it was gray, cloudy, cold and wet. Still the beauty of Ireland managed to shine through the gray drizzle.

The beautiful green fields of Ireland

Rivers and Churches

Map of our road trip

We picked up a car at Cook airport and set out on our road trip. We had planned this trip only a few weeks ago and as it was peak season, affordable accommodation was not easy to find. So our route in part was planned by where we could get accommodation – the down side to being spontaneous. Our first stop for the night was Lismore, about 30km northeast of Cork. The Mount Mellery Monastery was just around the corner from our B&B. This was establish in 1838 by the Cistercian (Trappist) monks. The complex was very pretty in a beautiful setting.

Mt Mellery Monastery

View from the Monastery

We went into town to the Lismore Castle built in 1185 by Prince John (of Robin Hood fame) and owned by the Earls of Desmond and later the Cavendish Family who still own it today. The 12^th Duke of Devonshire still today maintains an apartment in the castle, thus little of the castle building is open to the public. The gardens are superb and one section of the castle has been made into an art exhibition space. The exhibit was quite a modern interactive display which seemed quite out of sync with a 12^th Century castle but the more we interacted the better we liked it.

Lismore Castle

The gardens

Some of the flowers in the garden

The interactive light exhibit

Cool water vapour trails

We continued northwest and found another castle to explore at Cahir. This castle was built in the 1300’s by the O’Brien family and is one of the largest castles in Ireland. It is very well preserved with one of the few still operational portcullis which has been used in films such as Game of Thrones and Braveheart. The tour guide was excellent and hit just the right note for bringing the history alive.

The castle at Cahir

Gate at the castle

The portcullis

Our stop for the night was in Bunratty, just west of Limerick. The next day we went north in search of the parochial house used for the very funny TV series, Father Ted.

Could that be Bishop Brennan's car?

We then drove north to Kinvarra, the home of the Galway Hookers. The Pardey’s (sailing heroes for us) had made a video of the annual races of these magnificent boats and we have been intrigued ever since. The races were to be in a few weeks and we didn’t see any boats in sail but we did see a few anchored in the harbour.

Galway Hookers with the long bowsprit

In full sail

Castle ruins like this are scattered everywhere

We continued along the coastal road drive of The Wild Atlantic Way through the Burren National Park – a beautiful and desolate place.

The barren Burren

Burren coastline

Rugged Atlantic coast

The next day we explored Limerick with more castles and churches. First we went to King John’s Castle. The displays in this 13^th Century castle were very well done and we had great fun exploring. Next to a fabulous 12^th Century church, St Mary’s Cathedral. This Anglican church is the oldest building in Limerick still in daily use and just oozes 900 years of history.

King John's Castle

The re-enactors

St Mary's Cathedral

Cromwell's troops are said to have sharpened their swords on the pillars of the Western door

One of the highlights of the church are the beautifully carved Misericords (mercy seats). These wooden structures had a folding seat which worshipers could lean against for support during long periods of standing.

The Misericords (mercy seats)

The wood carvings on the seats

The next day we headed south to Foynes. This small industrial town was the centre of flying boat operations across the Atlantic in the 1930’s and 40’s. There was quite a nice little museum there with well presented exhibits.

The flying boats compared to a 747

A full scale model we could walk through

The main street of Foynes

Our stop for the night was in a nice B&B just outside Tralee. By this time we were in desperate need of some clean close and were shown to a launderette Tralee style – an outdoor kiosk in the middle of a car park by a petrol station.

Tralee outdoor laundrette

The next day in clean and fresh clothes we headed for Dingle Peninsula. What an amazing place! We went through Conor Pass with its amazing views despite the fog and drizzle, then to the quaint village of Dingle, filled with tourists. After a nice lunch in one of the great pubs of the town and a short walk along the harbour, we headed to Dinquin, the site where Ryan’s Daughter was filmed.

View from Conor Pass

The cairn providing some shelter from the wind

Dingle harbour

Ruin of the old schoolhouse from Ryan's Daughter

Cliff views

Finally we stopped at the ferry quay for the Blasket Islands – the most rugged port I have ever seen.

The ferry quay at Dinquin

Ferry mooring up and off loading passengers

Passengers alighting on the quay

On our way back to Tralee we passed through Annascaul, birthplace of the Antarctic expeditioner, Tom Crean. We passed a pub called ‘The South Pole’ and thought it was a tourist gimmick. As we were driving through I Googled Tom Crean and found out he was on three Antartic expeditions with Scott and Shackleton and part of the heroic survival trip to South Georgia following the loss of the Endurance stuck in pack ice. Crean opened the pub, The South Pole Inn, when he returned to Annascaul, married and started a family. Fellow Antarctic expeditioner Bob (Macquarie Island 1982, Casey Base 1986) couldn’t not stop to pay respects. The pub was full of photos and memorabilia – a real treat.

Tom Crean's pub

Our final day on our road trip was spent in Killarney. I wish we had planned to spend several days here as it is a stunning area. We had a very nice tour of Muckross House and gardens on the edge of the Killarney National Park where Queen Victoria once stayed. The whole area just begs for days of trekking and bike riding.

Muckross House

Nice front yard

The valleys of Kerry

Lady's View - a favourite with the Queen's ladies

We returned the car in Cork and took a train to Dublin for our last day in Ireland. The sun finally came out and we walked the streets taking in the atmosphere. Despite the foul weather, Ireland is a magical place.