Today was castle day.
We drove from Ennis down through Limerick and
Tipperary on our way to the Rock of Cashel.
The rock of Cashel, also called St. Patricks Rock, is one of
Ireland’s most spectacular archeological sites and one of the most tour-bus visited sites as well.
Some of the structures on the site date back to the 11
th century.
The views from on top of the rock are unbelievable.
After a quick coffee in a local eatery, we climbed up the rock and spent a good amount of time enjoying the ruins.
Down below the rock lies Hore Abbey, a 13
th century monk compound that was accessible by a 1 km hike.
It was almost completely unvisited by the other tourists and after a minute or two, Sam and I had the site to ourselves.
Sam found a recently killed pigeon at the back side of the site and assured me it was killed by a cat or other critter.
I think he made a sacrifice to the Benedictine monks whose souls still haunt the place.
Plus he had a little blood on his upper lip.
After leaving Cashel, we drove down to the town of
Cahir.
The castle at Cahir – begun in 1142 - is a feudal fan’s dream come true.
A river, a moat, turrets, big walls, and dungeons all in one of
Ireland’s largest and best preserved castles.
It is National Trust Heritage Week, so not only were we able to enter the sites at no charge, but many of the staff workers were dressed in period costumes.
It was like a Renaissance Fair without the turkey legs.
From Cahir we traveled to Bunratty Castle, a structure built in the 1400s by the McNamara family. The castle tour which is combined with a Folk Park has a feel of a theme park – you pay your fee, bring the kides and stay the day. There were probably even turkey legs for sale. We were too late in the day for admission to the park, so we opted for a quick pint in the shadow of the castle at a bar called Durty Helens. A small group of motorcyclists were touring on Harleys and BMW bikes nearby.
That evening back in Ennis, Laura and Helen opted to stay at the hotel and make it a quiet evening.
Sam and I walked into town for some drinks and to find dinner.
We went into a pub and had a couple of pints with the locals.
Interestingly the older fellas were drinking Guinness, the young guys were drinking Budweiser and the young women were drinking ‘alco-pops’ – similar to the malt beverage Zima kind of crap in the States.
We went from there to find dinner. The funny thing about Ireland is that many of the restaurants serve a wide range of international food. I’ve seen more Cajun Chicken in Ireland than I see in Texas. It’s fairly difficult to find Irish food. We settled on a meal at the Thai Palace and had a wonderful dinner. Who knew – the best Thai food in a while was to be had in western Ireland and was served by a Polish woman named Maria. Thanks, European Union!
Today was castle day. We drove from Ennis down through Limerick and 
Down below the rock lies Hore Abbey, a 13th century monk compound that was accessible by a 1 km hike. It was almost completely unvisited by the other tourists and after a minute or two, Sam and I had the site to ourselves. Sam found a recently killed pigeon at the back side of the site and assured me it was killed by a cat or other critter. I think he made a sacrifice to the Benedictine monks whose souls still haunt the place. Plus he had a little blood on his upper lip.
After leaving Cashel, we drove down to the town of 
That evening back in Ennis, Laura and Helen opted to stay at the hotel and make it a quiet evening. Sam and I walked into town for some drinks and to find dinner. We went into a pub and had a couple of pints with the locals. Interestingly the older fellas were drinking Guinness, the young guys were drinking Budweiser and the young women were drinking ‘alco-pops’ – similar to the malt beverage Zima kind of crap in the States.
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