Kilmuckridge & Dublin

Friday afternoon, 27th June

Off the car ferry at Rosslare Harbour and away up the coast of Ireland! We went the scenic way through Wexford, Blackwater and onto a pretty town called Kilmuckridge (by the way, in Ireland, 'Kil' means 'church', so that is why so many towns have that word in their name). We found a lovely old couple who ran a B&B called 'Cosher', funnily enough, it was walking distance to a pub! A couple beers and a great meal at the Sean Ogs Hotel, finished off, of course, with an authentic Irish Coffee...

Saturday, 28th June

Fairly early start, we again followed the scenic route northwards towards Dublin. We visited a town, well off the beaten track, named 'Avoca'. This is the town they used in the production of 'Ballykissangel'. You can see why they picked this place as it is a living postcard. Then onto Dublin to find some accommodation.

We initially didn't want to stay in Dublin, we liked the idea of staying out of major cities and using 'park and rides'. We went to a town named Bray, 20 minutes by train (the Dart) to Dublin, but had no luck with a B&B...so into Dublin we went.

Not too much drama, except no hotel in Dublin seems to have parking? We stayed at a very nice hotel called the 'George Frederick Handel Hotel'. Named after the composer, and built on the site of the first rendition of 'Handel's Messiah' in 1742. Also, right next door to the classic Irish Pub, 'Darky Kelly's'! The area around there is known as 'Temple Bar'. The place is swarming with cobbled stone streets, pubs, pubs, pubs, pubs and restaurants. A lovely area that never sleeps. Even more so tonight, as we arrived on the Rainbow Parade night. Kind of like our Mardi Gras. Temple Bar was thumping and you couldn't move! So we walked a little way to the Catholic heart of the city, St Patrick's Cathedral. Less than 20 metres away is a spring where it is believed St Patrick himself baptised new Catholics in his conversion of the Irish. We lit a candle for Phil and then went looking for food and drink. We found some room at the Arlington Pub, nearby, then pushed on for a good long walk around the town.

Sunday, 29th June

After brekky (the Sallylunn Bun from Bath), we got our usual spot on the top of the red tour bus. Another beautiful sunny day as we took in the sights of this amazing town. Places such as the Phoenix Park, which is big enough to hold two Central Parks of New York inside it, amazed us. We even saw a herd of deer grazing! Then a good walk about town, and a beer or two, we later met up with Jane and Steve Barnett.

A few beers, and a Guinness, at the Temple Bar IN Temple Bar, then to a traditional Irish Restaurant, seemingly run by Italians? Anyway, I liked the food and it was great to catch up with Jane and Steve and swap travelling stories. We then made our way to another pub, and finished the night with another lovely Irish Coffee. Great fun!

Monday, 30th June.

Up early today and over to Trinity College. Being in Dublin, I always thought Trinity College was Catholic, due to the trinity name and the fact it houses the Book of Kells, but not the case. It was started by Queen Elizabeth 1st in 1592 and possesses millions of books. The list of former students is amazing. Jonathan Swift, Oscar Wilde, Bran Stoker, Samuel Beckett etc. We inspected the Book of Kells, an amazing artefact that was painstakingly created by a group of monks around 400 AD, 150 years before St Patrick arrived in Ireland. Did you know St Patrick was actually a Welsh man? Go figure...

(Above photo perhaps some inspiration for Monty Python - where was Brian, the not so brave?)

Anyway, we also did a tour of the college, lead by one of the students. Amazing history, including a story about a Faculty Dean, around the 1800s, who was disliked by his students, got upset by having stones thrown at this bedroom window. Long story short, he came out with a gun. Not to be outdone, the students came out with their guns, the result was the Dean was shot dead on the college grounds. Although charged, the students were found Not Guilty, but were expelled for throwing stones! Irish!

We then headed out of the city of Dublin and continued to head north towards Belfast. We got a B&B just on the edge of town near the University. We had time for a long walk, through the Botantic Gardens, and the top of the city. What a stunning place! Then a light meal and drinks at a close by Pub, and then to bed, up early again tomorrow.

 

 

Posted with Blogsy