Hello again London!

With our flight from Heathrow not departing until 10.15pm we had a day to spend in London which wasn't hard to fill. We stayed in a nice little hotel in Brook Green, Hammersmith - they just happen to be upgrading to a boutique hotel so the builders woke us with their noise early!

We navigated the tube again and headed to Covent Garden to catch up with...

Our cousin Gerard and his girlfriend Jess happened to be in London the same day, they were flying out to Morocco early evening. As Gerard and Jess live in Perth we don't get to see him much so it was a great chance for a lemonade at the pub!

After saying goodbye to Gerard and Jess we headed to Brown's Hotel in Mayfair (just one street over from Bond St) for High Tea! Yum!

 

We then strolled to our favourite Underground Station...

And headed to the shops! We managed to fit in some last minute shopping at the very big Westfield at Shepherds Bush - even managed to find some shoes. Then we jumped on the tube again to start our very, very long journey home via the hotel to pick up our cases and then out to Heathrow - home time!

 

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Nearly there!

On our last day in Ireland what would be better than visiting another castle! We thought it would be terrible to leave Kilkenny and not to have visited Kilkenny Castle, especially seeing that it was right across the bridge from our hotel.

The castle was originally built in the 1100s, surprisingly like most things in Ireland, following the Norman invasion! Strongbow built a wooden castle on the site which was replaced by his grandson in the 13th century. The castle was owned by the Butler family from the 1390s until they sold it to the 'Office of Public Works' (they manage a great number of historical buildings in Ireland) for the grand sum of fifty pounds!! Bargain!!

The Butlers were connected to royalty with the fourth Duke of Ormond being Elizabeth I's cousin. He once showed his affection for his cousin by presenting the head of one of her rivals, his arch-enemy, picked in a jar! I hope he gift wrapped it!

After our visit to the castle we jumped in the car and headed for Dublin, said goodbye to Noreen (our navigator for the past few days), caught a cab to the ferryport to board the Jonathon Swift. It might have been a swifter journey across the Irish Sea, only an hour and a quarter, but it was rougher with moderate conditions! I'd hate to take the journey on a rough day! We then caught a train to London ready for our flight home which leaves at 10.15pm tomorrow night. We arrive in Melbourne very early Friday morning!

 

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It couldn't last forever!

After a week of spectacular, but very un-Irish, weather, today it was windy, cool and a bit rainy! But on the upside we feel like we've experienced the real Ireland, it's almost as if the green changes in the gloom into a brighter, richer countryside.

First stop today was Waterford where we went on a tour of the Waterford Crystal Factory and learnt how they get from this...

Molten crystal being blown into a mould

To this...

A Master Engraver at work

To this...

We did suggest that we could just take this now but they didn't think that was such a good idea!

Or this!

The showroom at Waterford Crystal

From Waterford we headed down some tiny country lanes to the even tinier village of Ahenny, home to very ancient Celtic crosses which have been replicated many, many, many times over! But these are originals which date from the 8th Century!!

The Ahenny Crosses

After a very quick stop for afternoon tea in...

...we headed to the Rock of Cashel, an amazing place that has been the seat of Kings and Bishops since the 5th Century when it is said that St Patrick converted the King of Munster to Christianity. A section of the complex has been restored but the Cathedral is a spectacular ruin and the beautiful Cormac's Chapel is currently being preserved. They have built a scaffold and roof over the top of this ancient sandstone building to give the porous stone a chance to dry out, the scaffold has been in place for three years and could be there for a few years more.

The Rock of Cashel

 

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Why did God invent whiskey?

So the Irish wouldn't rule the world! Or so they say in Ireland. The locals are pretty proud of their whiskey - it's better than the stuff you get from Scotland or America and is the only one you should drink. Our visit to the Jameson Distillery in Midleton this afternoon was both informative and entertaining. We went on a tour of the old factory, learnt about the history of the company and the process of making a good drop! Included with our ticket was a complimentary drink in the bar at the end of the tour. Col was kind enough to offer to drive and Jo-Anne got to participate in the whiskey tasting experience! We might have to change to Jammy!!!

Front of Jameson Distillery

Col's new business venture!

Make mine Jameson's!

We even have our own door at Jameson's!

Earlier in the day, after a drive around Cork, we spent some time in the coastal town of Kinsale. Found a good coffee shop, wandered the streets and shops and went to mass at St John the Baptist.

View over the bay at Kinsale

We are sure they have meetings about what colour to paint their houses and shops!

Sign we saw outside pub this afternoon - 'Beer garden open. Free sunshine & wi-fi'. They are loving the weather here and flocking to the few beaches there are.

And just so you can see how cute our Evie is!!!

 

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Our Saturday drive.

Today we went for a big drive! First destination was the town of Dingle on the amazing Dingle Peninsula. The Peninsula is full of winding roads, spectacular mountains and gorgeous views - it even has some beaches! We didn't see Aunty Gezza, we think they've moved while we've been away.

The beautiful view from the road

Dingle was a busy little place today with a run/bike ride on, bus loads of elderly tourists and lots of people out to enjoy the beautiful day. We had a wander through the shops followed by yummy fish and chips on the foreshore.

Dingle

Then, because it was such a hot day, we headed to the beach! Apparently the thing to do in Ireland is to park your car right on the beach!

Despite what the locals thought, it definitely was not hot enough to go swimming!

 

 

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She couldn't wait!

First of all, and more important than what we got up to on another beautiful day in Ireland, we were very excited to receive a phone call from Alisha and Darren at 4.30am this morning (our time) to let us know that Evie Ann Johnston had entered the world!!! Little Evie weighed a healthy 8lb 11oz and was born at 11.20am (AEST). We have already had a FaceTime chat with her and her mum and we could tell that they both can't wait for us to get home! Now we can buy pink things!!

Welcome to the world Evie Ann Johnston!

Now to our day!

Following our stay in Galway last night we headed for Dunguaire Castle at Kinvara. The castle was built in 1520 and was once owned by Oliver St John Gogarty (we went to his pub in Temple Bar the other night). Lady Ampthill lived in the castle until 1972! Today it is open to tourists and hosts the occasional medieval banquet which includes literary recitals and music.

Dunguaire Castle

We continued on to the Cliffs of Moher which are massive! Mother Nature has definitely worked her magic in this neck of the woods. The cliffs rise to a max height of 214m over the Atlantic Ocean. You get a great view across to the Aran Islands, Galway Bay, Connemara and the Kerry Mountains! We climbed Mr O'Brien's tower for a better view - obstructed by the turrets - but we didn't see any puffins.

Cliffs of Moher

O'Brien's Tower

We drove the narrow, windy roads towards Limerick with a detour to the town of Shannon!

 

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It's not a long, long way to...

...the other side of the country! Today we drove from Dublin on the East Coast of Ireland to Galway on the West Coast via Trim, only about 220km.

In Trim we visited St Mary's Primary School where Jo-Anne's friend Coilin is the principal. He gave us a tour of their lovely school and we were able to visit a couple of classrooms where the children sang for us and asked questions about spiders and snakes and koalas! We also had a special performance by the school band of some traditional Irish songs complete with tin whistles and a concertina!

We also visited the local landmark - Trim Castle - which has been preserved rather than modified or restored and is an amazing place where you get a better idea of what life was like in these strongholds. The Castle was a Norman stronghold (they invaded after the Vikings!) and was way ahead of its time as far as military architecture. We went on a guided tour where we learnt all about the history of the place over hundreds and hundreds of year including its system of defence and its sewerage system - gross! After our steep, winding climb up the keep we were rewarded with a beautiful view over Trim and the surrounding countryside.

The Keep at Trim Castle

The view from the top!

The day finished at Galway Bay where the locals are enjoying the beautiful weather (we overheard one lady complaining about how hot it was in Galway today - 24 degrees!) and we got to take in some of the gorgeous scenery.

And now we're in Galway!

 

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Dublin continued...

Apparently they had one of their four sunny days in Dublin today! The weather was absolutely grand!!!

Our day began with a witty guided tour of Trinity College, built in the 1400s by Elizabeth I so her subjects wouldn't have to mix with the French and other nationalities to gain an education. The College is also known as the University of Dublin and houses the famous Book of Kells. The Book is a reproduction of the four gospels and is believed to have been produced in the late 800s by the monks of Iona. It is lavishly decorated with Celtic patterns and hand written on vellum (calf skin). After being stolen by the Vikings and narrowly escaping fire and invasion throughout the centuries it is now safely housed in the Library at Trinity.

The Trinity College Library - books are organised according to size!!!

Trinity College

The HOHO bus then took us to the Guiness Storehouse where we had SEVEN floors of Guiness history and information to gather. This is ranked as the number 1 tourist attraction in Ireland! The floors take you through the process of making the brew, the advertising, coopering (making the wooden barrels), transport, cooking with the product and finally... the tasting! On the seventh floor the Gravity Bar provides you with a complimentary pint and a 360 degree view of the city of Dublin - not a bad spot for a bar!!

 

Jo-Anne's first Guiness!

After a failed attempt yesterday, when we wrongly assumed that St Patrick's would be the Catholic Cathedral, we tracked down St Mary's Pro-Cathedral. We are not sure what a pro cathedral is but we found it! The building is quite different to others we have visited, and there have been a few! It was dedicated in 1825 on the site of the ancient monastic foundations which would have been shut down by Henry VIII at the time of the Reformation.

St Mary's Pro-Cathedral - the Catholic one!!!

After a bit of a wander, a bit of a shop and a bit of a rest we thought we would head out for dinner. It was then that the area of Temple Bar got us - hence your daily blog being a wee bit late! There is live music everywhere! You can go from one rendition of 'Whisky in the Jar' to another and another and another as you walk down the street! Unfortunately our cash ran out so there was no more Jameson's for us!

The Oliver St John Gogarty

 

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Our day out in Dublin!

After a much needed sleep in we finally ventured out into the streets of Dublin where we encountered Molly Malone!

Then the difficult decision of which HOHO bus to take, we finally decided on the green one cos we're in Ireland!

 

First stop was the lovely Christ Church Cathedral of the Church of Ireland. There has been a church on this site since 1028 and here we tried to make sense of the Viking and Medieval history of Dublin - not an easy task but definitely interesting.

Then we walked a few blocks down the street to St Patrick's Cathedral which we assumed was the Catholic Cathedral only to discover that it's another Church of Ireland Cathedral!! (What happened to the one Cathedral per city rule?!) A church has stood on this site since the fifth century as it is believed that St Patrick baptised converts in a well in the park next to the current Cathedral. Jonathon Swift, author of Gulliver's Travels, was Dean here from 1713-45 and is buried in the Cathedral. The Cathedral has a choir school and we were lucky enough to hear some of the boys practising with their teacher.

Last stop for the afternoon was Kilmainham Gaol which operated between 1796 and 1924 where we learnt more about the modern history of Ireland. Our guide told us about the rebellions of the 19th Century and the Potato Famine where people committed crimes to get into gaol as at least there they would get food every day. We learnt about the 1916 Rising and the leaders who were imprisoned briefly in Kilmainham before being executed. It was interesting to hear that whilst the general public didn't support the rebellion the execution of its leaders really turned public opinion to the point where the leaders were idolised and considered to be martyred. Afterwards we explored the museum and learnt more about these events as well as the War of Indepence and the Civil War. A lot to take in and make sense of!

The stone breakers yard at the Gaol where the leaders of the 1916 Rising were executed.

Despite the wish of many to forget the events that took place at Kilmainham Gaol, it was restored and opened as a museum in 1966, just in time for the fiftieth anniversary of the 1916 Rising. Since then it has also been used as a film set - In the Name of the Father was filmed here.

The newer part of Kilmainham - look familiar?

Tomorrow - back on the HOHO bus and on a mission to find the Catholic Cathedral! Who would have thought it would be so difficult in Dublin?!

 

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