IRELANDOctober 28 – November 4, 2010

Arrival and Killarney

I can’t believe I’m finally here!

Shannon Airport

Our comfy coach. The doors open on the left!

Our Tour Bus

Our home for the first 2 nights

Killarney Towers Hotel

We didn’t spend much time in here.

Killarney Towers hotel room

My first pub meal. They put potatoes with everything!

Honey Ham and Potatoes

These things were everywhere you looked.

Castle and Roundabout

We sang up in the choir loft. What a sound!

Cathedral

Our inspiration!

Cathedral Stained Glass

Killarney Vale(Killarney Valley)

The highest mountain range in Ireland

Killarney Vale 1

Sky, pasture, mountains and lake

Killarney Vale 2

…with horses!

Killarney Vale 3

Our one fair-weather day

Killarney Vale 4

Small houses dot the hills.

Killarney Vale 5

Breathtaking vistas

Killarney Vale 6

The town is nestled between mountains

Town of Killarney

Bunratty Castle and Folk Park

Like Old World Wisconsin, but Irish

Bunratty Castle and Folk Park

…plus a castle!

The Castle

Watch out, Vikings and Normans!

Cannons

The castle was basically a big room with 4 towers on the sides

Castle interior

Where the regular folks lived

Cottage

The Irish talk funny!

Slippy

Ruins and River

Ruins

Dingle Town, Bay and Peninsula

Dingle Peninsula and Bay Area

Map

Irish towns are cute!

Dingle Town

Fishing boats

Boats in harbor 1

…and more fishing boats

Boats in harbor 2

…and yet more boats!

Boats in harbor 3

Rolling up the nets

Nets

He said he didn’t mind having his picture taken

Fisherman

Fungie lives in the bay

Fungie

Of interest to fisherfolk only

Fish types

A gray sky, but a gorgeous beach!

Beach and mountains

Someone was actually surfing!

Beach

40 shades of green!

Fields 1

I could totally live here.

Fields 2

The green is worth the rain!

Fields 3

Emerald fields and mountains

Fields 4

That’s the Atlantic Ocean in the background!

Fields 5

Green fields, dotted with sheep

Fields 6

This way to the beehives!

Beehive huts 1

Monks lived here.

Beehive huts 2

Old technology meets new

Beehive huts 3

These huts are about 1400 years old!

Beehive huts 4

No mortar or cement – just stone

Beehive huts 5

I made some friends.

Cats

This river ran right across the road down the mountain. Scary!

Mountain river

…right under the bus.

Road

Far From Home was filmed around here.

Shore

Yikes!

Steep

Farming isn’t easy on the mountains!

Farm

The omnipresent sheep

Sheep

Scary road, with islands in the distance

Mountain road

Monks built more beehive huts on these islands.

Blaskets 1

There were people living on these islands until the 1920’s.

Blaskets 2

Quick, take a picture before it rains!

Blaskets 3

This is where the lead singer from The Cranberries composes

Small town 1

Mountain town

Small town 2

Surprise shrine

Roadside shrine

Zzzzzzz….

Sleeping Giant

That fence went all the way over the mountain!

Stone fence

This name was just too cute

An Cupan Tae

Fish fry by any other name…

Fish and chips

Look what we found by the road

Windmill

Blarney Castle and Woolen Mills

I chose the castle first

Signs

There it is!

Castle

It’s a ruin, but it’s an impressive ruin.

Castle up close

Watchtower?

Tower

From the top of the castle

View 1

It looks so small from up here!

View 2

Smack!

Kiss

It used to be a mill, but now it’s a wool shop.

Mill

The mill wheel

Wheel

The Dunbrody

One of the “coffin ships”

Dunbrody exterior 1

Based in Wexford

Life Saver

Lots of lines!

Mast

This ship is an exact replica

Wheel

Only first-class and crew were allowed meat rations.

Barrels

This passenger was bringing 5 children to the New World.

Steerage passenger

First class was allowed above decks at any time.

First Class passenger

These passengers got mattresses and sheets

First Class bunk

This kindly captain once gave up his cabin to a sick passenger.

Captain's cabin #1

However, most captains were not this kind.

Captain's cabin #2

You did NOT want to be on the lower bunk!

Lower steerage bunk

Everybody in the family, plus their luggage, needed to fit!

Steerage bunks

It would be a really tight squeeze.

Steerage bunk 2

They were only allowed above deck at certain times to cook food.

Steerage bunks 3

And first-class passengers could make steerage go back down.

Food

6 by 6 feet!

Allocation of space

Imagine the noise, the smell…and the hope!

Painting

The Granville Hotel

Hotel #2 Exterior

Very fancy!

Hotel #2 area

We didn’t spend much time here, either.

Hotel #2 our room

Glendalough, a 6th-century

monastic center

The arches for the gates are still standing.

Gates

The monastic center was actually an entire town or community.

Cathedral ruin

There were farms, houses, workshops, and churches.

Cemetery

The circle represents the sun and moon.

Cross

Many monastic centers in Ireland had these belltowers.

Tower 1

They also were beacons for pilgrims (and invaders!).

Tower 2

We sang “Irish Blessing” in here

Church

All original stonework, over 1,000 years old.

Ireland 183

More crosses

Crosses

Some crosses told Bible stories with pictures.

Market cross

For grinding grain

Grinding stone

Rain was falling, and the river was high.

River

Sheep again!

Sheep

Once all Ireland was covered in oaks.

Trees

Dublin

On the way to Dublin

Pub

Third hotel

Hotel #3

Busy streets, protesting students

Streets of Dublin

In Dublin’s fair city, where the girls are so pretty, I first set my eyes on sweet Molly

Malone…

Molly Malone

Bridge over River Liffey (the sniffy)

River Liffey

So, why are the doors different colors?

Doors 1

One version says it’s so drunk Irishman can find their own door

Doors 2

Another version says all doors were painted like that…

Doors 3

…until Queen Victoria died, and the English aristocracy ordered all doors

painted black.

Doors 4

But the Irish got their country back in the 1920’s, and they repainted their

doors again.

Doors 5

He was important at Waterloo.

Duke of Wellington monument

Jonathan Swift lived in Dublin.

Gulliver

Ireland only allows America’s ambassador headquarters here, because the USA was the

first to recognize Irish independence.

American ambassador

Dublin has about a million churches!

Church

The Pope said Mass here.

Pope cross

Ireland’s president is a woman.

Ireland's President

We heard some traditional music here. See the pints?

Pub

Causey Farm

We learned a dance (sort of)

Dancing

This drum is fun to play!

Bodhran

Herding sheep in the rain

Herding sheep 1

With nothing but shouted commands…

Herding sheep 2

…the sheepdog brought those sheep from one end of the field...

Herding sheep 3

… to us!

Herding sheep 4

The Merry Ploughboy

Kind of dinner theater

The Merry Ploughboy

Traditional music

The Band 1

Lots of audience participation

The Band 2

He only has half a fiddle!

The Band 3

This guy’s hands moved so fast, they were a blur!

Guy with Bodhran

Things to remember…•Transporting the Dead Sea Scrolls•The Wild Rover•Crazy mountain roads!•Rain, rain, rain!•Student demonstration•Taxes•Benefits of teaching and police officer work•The Guinness mouse joke•The school fundraiser•The bog•Making sodabread