Overcoming My Fear(s)…

I hate to make Dublin sound like a drag (we’ll be back there later this week to really explore it), but WOW did we have a great time exploring the southeast of Ireland today! The weather was perfect (in the upper 60s and low 70s) with sun throughout the day.

We started the day off by grabbing a rental car right in Dublin, so we could start the trek down south. Bryan gave driving (on the opposite side of the car and road) a go first! He navigated the busy city streets well, although it was certainly an adjustment.

We drove about 30 minutes and reached our first stop of the day… Our Lady of Saint David Church. On my mom’s side of the family, we are fortunate to have a family tree on my grandfather’s side dating back to 1840. The ancestor at the start of this family tree was baptized at this church. When we arrived the parking lot was crowded, and we found that there was a mass going on (we decided it would be rude to go into the church halfway through the service), so no one was available in the office. However, we still found it to be enjoyable to take photos and were impressed by the size of the church, and what a nice little town this was!

As for the rest of our day, I must say a huge “thank you” to all our family & friends that shared great travel insights about their time in Ireland to make our adventures here possible (Uncle Don, Aunt Christine, Uncle Ken, Aunt Lisa, Uncle John, Aunt Patti, Alex & Tessa, Ed, Samantha & David, Pam, etc.). Sorry to those I missed 🙂

After strolling around the church grounds, it was time to keep heading south to the Rock of Cashel. We really debated if we should make this stop or choose the coastal drive south to stop at the House of Waterford Crystal. Since the weather was so gorgeous, we decided all of our time should be spent outside today.

As we exited the highway and turned a few roundabouts (I think we literally circled about 40 of them today), we saw the structure peeking around the corner and were quite impressed by it size and the contrast of the stone structure against the blue sky. As we walked up the hill to this gem we saw Irish dancers and a musician performing…it was a nice addition to really affirm “we’re definitely in Ireland” as we stared at this giant formation from rock. Too much to detail in this post, but you can read about the over 1,000 years of history here (suprise, another time in history where Royalty leveraged the church). The remains of this site were beautiful and the rolling, vibrant green hills really took our breath away as we walked to the tallest lookout point. We also spotted the remains of 12th century frescos painted on the ceiling for a visit from King Henry VII and the original gargoyles used to warn off any lingering evil spirits (Celtic tradition) inside the small chapel (built of sandstone Vs the local rock used for the rest of this site) used for coronations during the 12th century. Finally, the other areas of this structure was full of many large arches… during this time in history, they learned if they pointed (Vs rounded) the arch they could get more height. Great stop!

Later in the day we had a tour booked at the original Jameson Distillery in Midleton, so as we double checked timing we decided to make a quick stop as we passed through Cork at their English Market for a late lunch. We parked about 2KM from the market, so we could try to get a little extra exploring in during this short visit! The waterway with large arched bridges leading into the city center greeted us, and we both decided very quickly that Cork will need to be somewhere we return to spend more time on a future trip (Already planning our return: Cork, Cobh, Kinsail, maybe slide up to Waterford then, etc.). The English Market was pretty busy for 2PM on a Monday, and we could tell the vendors had been busy all day (appears locals and tourist utilize this option for plenty of fresh options). The Market stretches from Princes Street to the Grand Parade and is known for its mid-19th century architecture, and locally produced artisan food after being started by a homesick French woman that married an Irish man. Queen Elizabeth II visited the market in 2011, where she was served by fishmonger Pat O’Connell ( we popped by this stand and saw a beautiful seafood selection…too bad no cooler or kitchen for us!). We decided to grab a pork & leek sausage, sliced and served over roasted potatoes with grilled onions and a Thai chili sauce (almost just ordered sausage on a bun until we saw this option). While the photo may not appear appetizing, this box of food resembling a Chinease take out carton hit the spot! Perfect lunch before we made our way to tour the Distillery and taste some wishkey!

From here, we made the 20 minute drive into Midleton which looked like a nice town (huge school as we exited the motorway, and all we passed was well maintained). We pulled right up to the entry gate and parked to kick off the tour. We arrived a bit earlier than our tour time, so at check in the friendly staff simply suggested we join the group ahead of us. Bryan had no complaints about getting a head start 🙂 We walked through each step of the triple distilling process in the original disterllery and as we made our way through part of the 15 acre location we got a glimpse of the modern day production site (noted to possible be the most modern Distillery worldwide). I was fascinated to learn about the iron support bars running through “The Grain House” to support ~250 tons of grain, the steam engineen used in the process (at the time it cost £800…now equivalent to ~€2 Million, yes there is a conversion from Pounds to Euros there), and more about the labor intensive jobs needed to complete the process (I.e. An individual was dedicated to shoveling coal in the Wash Still to fuel a massive fire under the copper kettles for 9-10 hours at a time… over that shift they’d shovel ~400 tons of coal!). From here we learned about the difference between barrels, the aging process/angels share, and spotted the Academy for bar tenders, etc. to be educated on the product they serve (very rarely open to the public), before we made our way to watch a few of the tour group members (Bryan was picked as a lucky participant) distugish the difference between Scotch, Kentucky Whiskey, and Irish Whiskey as the rest of us sampled a small taste of original Jameson. Then, it was time for all of us to move to the formal tasting room for a pour and our official certificates (starting to feel like I could make a new profession with all the “certifications” we’ve started to collect here…too bad we didn’t have time to collect one more from Heineken in Cork ☺️). I opted for a Whiskey Ginger while Bryan enjoyed a Jameson on the rocks (and the rest of my Jameson & ginger.. still working on drinking this stuff 🥃). From here, it was off to our next stop…

(This can hold 34,000 gallons!)

The famous Blarney Castle. Although we knew it would likely be a “touristy stop” we couldn’t come all the way here and miss kissing the Blarney Stone. We arrived just about an hour & a half before closing and we’re pleased to see a very light crowd…perfect timing! Especially as we circled our way up the 127 spiral steps to the top of the castle and my fear of heights kicked in (I’m also really not a big fan of confined spaces, so if it was crowded I would have been miserable on this climb). As I fought through my unsteadiness/freeze fright it was amazing to catch a glimpse from the window or briefly exit the stairwell to walk throug another layer of this massive castle. When we reached the top the view was spectacular, although being outside with some exposed openings to the ground below definitely had my nerves tense. I knew what was next…hang upside down by one of these openings to kiss the Blarney Stone. Eeeekk! I really started to have second thoughts and the ledgend goes that those who kiss the stone “receive the gift of gab.” I think we all know this isn’t really something I need more of ☺️ However, as we reached that end of the castle the sediment “you only live once” boosted my confidence to finally lay down and trust in the attendant that held on to my legs so I could make the reach and kiss the stone! Bryan had no concerns and quickly got a kiss in too before we made our way down to check out the rest of the grounds which included a Poision Garden (used for creating poision or positive uses, but the old expression “it will either kill you or cure you’ could not be more apt), the Blarney House that sits in the arboretum, and various side gardens/trails/fountains/waterfalls (unfortunately the water sources were dry, so no waterfall viewing for us). Definitely a worthwhile stop, and haven’t noticed any side effects of chatting more yet 😉

It was time to move on to Killarney for the night, so Bryan tossed me the keys to give driving a try (we assumed we were hopping back on the highway)….welp, this is the second time the “overcoming fears” theme rings loudly. We rented a GPS and it has been just fine, except apparently the fastest way to Killarney is by back country roads vs the motorway. I think Bryan was glad he had enjoyed some whiskey to calm his nerves and he truly has the patients of a Saint as I got acclimated to driving on the most narrow, winding roads we’ve encountered yet. As if that wasn’t enough, the speed constantly fluncuated from 80KM down to 50KM back to 100KM throughout this hour journey. Luckily, we only had a few times other cars were behind us, so we could take our time through some of the more treacherous turns with zero visibility. I almost ran us off the road the first time we passed another car on a turn going 80KM, but then started to quickly get more comfortable and my passenger was glad to no longer be brushing up to any branches on his side of the car. We also had one other scare when passing a home with two dogs laying out front… both decided to run across the street in front of me, but luckily I was easily able to dodge them with an empty road around us for a brief moment. Eveytime the GPS ticked down on KM remaining was a huge relief and I’m pretty sure Killarney will now always hold a place in my heart from the relief I felt turning the roundabout into our hotel parking lot! At the very least, I do now feel prepared to drive anywhere…We’re just waiting to get stuck in a heard of sheep still 🙂

Blogging this morning because we simply enjoyed a relaxing evening exploring this town full of many tourist; but, still made for a fun, lively evening. We stayed at the Killarney Court Hotel for easy access on to Ring of Kerry/Dingel today, so had a brief walk into town. It was fun to watch the area come to life as we got closer to the city center and saw a lot of street performers, shops, and crowded pubs. Our hotel staff recommended the Porter House. When we walked in it was packed, so I suspected a wait…however, they quickly found us a cozy table tucked in the crowd near the live music. We had a blast and excellent food – Bryan chose the steak sandwich, as we learned while ordering the chef here was a butcher by trade, and I had a huge bowl of fresh seafood chowder. We also enjoyed some local pints, including a cider for me we had seen go by on a truck earlier in the day (Orchard Thieves).