Category: Ireland

Reflections on Ireland

SDSpivey

There are a great many things that are different about both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. Even different than London or the rest of Europe that we’ve seen.

Cars

Besides the driving on the left and sitting on the right, traffic is different between the Republic and UK. Road signs are mostly similar, but there is a contrast between the “feel” of the roads. I’m not certain I can say what, but there is something.

Despite there being no border control, I do not believe most Irish travel across the border very often. Currency differences, perhaps. This is leaving the people split into two groups that are no longer a cohesive Irish.

We drove down many roads that were barely wide enough to pass side by side. Some of the mountain roads did not even have any sort of guard rail (or even a wire fence).

One road was unpaved and only a car’s width wide. At one point, I looked over the side to see about 300 feet down. No kidding.

Drinks

Going into stores, the drink selection is small, do mostly to the small area available. Everywhere has milk, bottled water (still or bubbly), Coke, Coke Zero and Fanta Orange. Many also have Fanta Lemon and Club, another orange drink.

Both Fanta drinks were carbonated. The orange was not like US Fanta, it is more orange juice like, similar to Tang, but carbonated Tang. I have not had Fanta Lemon in the US, not sure if I’ve even seen it. It tastes somewhat like Fresca, although it has been a while since I had one of those.

I had a Sprite here. It included sugar and “sweeteners”, but it wasn’t labeled as diet.

I have only seen Pepsi in 2 grocery stores, in 1.5 liter bottles. Pepsi will never gain a true foothold here, the small stores just don;t have the space to have “extra” versions of drinks. Coke is the largest seller in the world, and will very likely remain here.

I bought an orange juice drink called Mi Wadi. It was a super concentrated OJ, being mixed with 9x water. It had an odd taste, but I got used to it after a few days. It also came in black currant and raspberry.

The bottles are also skinnier than what we are used to, likely due to the space restrictions in stores. They are thin enough, that it is hard to put one between your legs while driving. They tend to “roll” forward. I’ve never had that problem with US bottles.

Jams and Jellies

First off, don’t order jelly at a restaurant. What they call jelly, is gelatin or Jello, which can be found in small 3-4 oz pre-made containers at the grocery.

There are jams available, but I’ve only seen black current, strawberry, raspberry, and black berry. Occasionally, I see pepper (chili) jams, but I don’t really consider those.

Orange marmalade is quite plentiful. Although I’ve never cared for it, as it has strings of zest in it, making it tough. It normally has a bit of bitterness, perhaps as a part of the OJ reduction.

Many grocers also have lemon or tangerine. I did find a “shred-less” lemon marmalade, which is the closest thing to jelly I’ve seen. A couple years ago, I made a Mountain Dew jelly, this tastes similar. We’ve used about half the jar already, it is good.

Jams are made from fruit, jellies are made from just juice. I suppose that marmalade is jelly, with rind.

The small selection of flavors must have to do with the high cost of transport. It is cheaper to eat locally grown plants. Not many apple orchards in Ireland’s climate. Perhaps grapes in France and Spain are only good for wine making, not jam.

While I’m on jams and jelly, peanut butter is not popular outside the US, despite many cultures adopting peanuts into their cuisines. Thai is chock full of peanuts. Yet, all the Irish grocers we’ve visited had crunchy and smooth varieties.

Outlets

Countries throughout the world have adopted different plugs for their electric devices. Why? Obviously, to annoy me and to supply an industry to sell adapters.

The outlets in the UK and its commonwealth countries, including the ROI, use an awkward 240 volt plug, that has shut off switches for each outlet. Even the stoves have a shut off on the wall, to disconnect it from the mains. I don’t think my stove has been “disconnected” since it was bought.

There are a lot less outlets than we are used to, four in a room would be common.

The only outlet you will find in the bathroom might be a electric razor plug, which is physically different than all the rest.

Even the light switches are outside the door, or a pull cord inside. I suspect that a common kids prank it to flip the switch while a younger sibling is in there.

Many of the stoves and appliances were difficult for us to figure out how to get them turned on. The ovens are small, about 10 inches high. No roasting a turkey on this island.

Squeaks and Maintenance

I don’t know if it is cultural or just the dampness, but everything squeaks, doors, floors, tables, water in pipes. You can expect a noisy floorboard in an older house, but not all over the house, in every house. These were not really old houses either, perhaps about 20 years old.

We went to a “fancy” restaurant, and the table had squeaks (and rocked).

The house in Belfast had a door into the living room. I noticed the top hinge only had one screw on each side. There weren’t holes where other screws had been, they only used 2 of the 8 screws needed.

The Derry house had mold, aka “rising damp.” An occasional mold popping up in the bath is to be expected, but not in a bed room.

Internet

Internet in the ROI is not very good. I am not talking about speeds, that may be due to the house owners getting a cheaper plan. No need to spend big bucks on temporary visitors.

I had difficulty accessing various sites at different times. A site that loads now, may not load at all an hour later. I even had recurring problems with Google Maps, strangely, I would get the maps, but could not get directions.

In Limerick, I could not get my notebook to connect via WiFi, even though my iPad and mom’s computer connected fine. Luckily I brought an Ethernet cable, just for such times.

In Sligo, the WiFi, itself, would go offline for a few minutes, but I think it was just that lady’s bad equipment.

Getting my email was also a nightmare, that may have been a problem with Brighthouse’s security, though. I couldn’t even access webmail via their site, no login page, just nothing.

I don’t remember any problems once we were in Northern Ireland. The speeds were better also.

The Google Maps problem returned when we re-entered the Republic.

Water

The kitchen faucets have separate holes for cold and hot. You are able to scald and freeze yourself at the same time.

We did not have a single shower that had hot and cold knobs. They all had temperature and pressure adjustment knobs, neither seemed to work well.

In Dublin, the water temperature would cycle every minute or so, as if someone was alternating between running a hot tap and flushing the toilet. It was a large place, they should have been able to supply a consistent temperature.

Roofs

About 99% of the roofs I saw were slate or thatched, with the rest being metal sheet or wood shingle roofs. We even saw a few sod covered.

I don’t think I saw a single asphalt shingle on the whole island. Do they stand up to snow well?

Donegal

SDSpivey

We packed up and left the freezing cottage this morning. They only seem to run the boiler for a few hours at a time, so the place never gets “warm”

We stopped off in the city of Donegal, at the Donegal Castle. It was more of what we would think of as a house, but it did have a wall around it. We arrived a bit early, they weren’t open yet, so we had to stand in the drizzle. Can’t complain much, the weather has been mostly clear and warm (for Ireland).

Then we went to a home in the National Park, Glenveagh Castle, again, not a castle, just a manor house.

On the way, the terrain changed dramatically. We were on a road with a bit of greenery next to it, but everything else we could see was brown and “dead”. Probably just hibernating.

Glenveagh went through several owners throughout the years, including 2 different Americans, who became the Earl of the house.

I was following the Google directions, but we were on the wrong road. Actually, it wasn’t a road, it was the bus path to the castle. I saw a bus coming, so I backed up a few dozen feet to a wider spot, so they could pass. The driver stopped and informed us we were going down the wrong path and redirected us to the car park. Turns out I was was almost there.

We had a long wait for the house tour, so we spent time walking around the gardens, still in the drizzle. There was a large group of 12-14 year old girls, obviously on a field trip. Fortunately, they were not part of our house tour, but there was a bus tour group that was, so it was a bit crowded.

There is a watch tower on the coast, almost straight north from Glenveagh, the Horn Head. I have no idea why it is called that, but it was cold and windy.

There was a small stone “hut” where the sentry would stand out of the wind and rain, while searching for invading ships.

I was uncertain if the car was going to make it up the steep road.

We stopped off in the nearby town at a cafe for lunch. I decided to try the Sprite. They have Fanta orange, but it is more like Tang. The Sprite wasn’t labeled at diet, but it had no sugar. I kind of feel sorry for a diabetic who comes to the US and drinks a regular Sprite, they would spike their blood sugars.

We tried to see another castle, but we arrived just before 5 and the gates were already closed. Bummer.

We then headed for our new “home”, well home for at least for a few days, in Derry/Londonderry. There is an ongoing dispute what the name of the city is or should be. Check Wikipedia for an interesting tale.

The place we are staying is at the very top of a very steep hill. Think San Francisco streets and multiply by 2. The roadway is too narrow to turn around, so I have to back down into traffic, no big deal.

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More caves and gardens

SDSpivey

We set out for the Marble Arch caves, just across the border in Northern Ireland. We were about half way when Mom realized she didn’t bring her British pounds, all we had were Euros, but they did accept credit cards, so no problem.

This cave system had an entrance that was a lot less steep than the Mitchelstown caves.

After a short walk, 6-7 minutes, stopping to view interesting formations and get history, we arrived at the end of the area we could walk. The cave is normally flooded, so we climb into boats and continue our tour, in style. At least as much style as one can have in the dark, while being dripped on by water soaking through the rock, and ducking our heads to miss low hanging ridges.

Alas, our ride wasn’t for the whole trek, we had to dock and continue on foot, like peasants.

There was a short segment that had no handrails or walls beside us, just water flowing on both sides of us. It was kind of strange, knowing that if the water level increased just a touch, we’d be walking in the water.

The guide would stop and allow everyone to reassemble. At one of these stops, I was looking down at a small “valley” and was just thinking about taking a picture, when it rippled. It wasn’t a valley at all. I was looking at the reflection of the ceiling in the very still water.

At this point, the guide explained that originally they would have to end the tour here, the roof was too low to allow another boat crossing. But some smart dude had the idea of splitting the sea like Moses. There was a walkway with short walls on each side that held back the water, allowing us to continue walking.

After completing the tour, we climbed stairs through what looked like a WWII steel bunker tunnel. At the top, we waited for remainder of the group, then passed through another door, only to find 150 more stairs on the outside to climb. Mom was winded, but so was I.

There was absolutely no cell signal there, but I did know that our next destination was just a few minutes down the road, no map needed.

We were at Florencecourt, a still functioning farm manor house. We bought our ticket for the next tour, but it was an hour and a half wait, so we strolled around the gardens and had a bite in the cafe.

Many of the building were no longer needed, like the carpenter shop, laundry, or the saw mill, and were converted into small museum sites. Part of the tour took us into the original kitchen and servant’s duty rooms. It really did feel like Downton Abbey.

Originally, the plan was to go to an abbey, but after buying the tour tickets, I realized that this tour would not be over soon enough for us to drive to the abbey before the last entry. Instead, we found another museum nearby, the Enniskillen Castle Museum. A museum about castles? We weren’t sure what it was about, but we’ve seen so much Irish history, but really haven’t learned anything about current Ireland. Turns out it is a museum inside what was a garrison, not what we would think of as a castle.

It was only 25 minutes before closing so the clerk didn’t charge us, but we didn’t have a lot of time to see it all. It turned out it was a tribute to the local soldiers in WWI, WWII, and the Napoleonic war. History, but at least more recent history.

Glencar and entering the UK

SDSpivey

We stopped off at a small water fall this morning, Glencar Falls. It is only 50 feet or so high, but the largest we’ve seen so far.

I spoke with someone there about if there is any path to drive up the mountain. He didn’t really give me an answer, but he did tell me about trees that were planted on the mountainside, with the light and dark trees forming a Celtic knot. I’m not sure if it is true, I didn’t see it.

Then we headed for the Organic Center, where they teach about responsible gardening and soil management. It mostly looked like any Lowes or Home Depot garden center, even most of the plants would be the same.

We jumped over the border into Northern Ireland, just for the heck of it. There was barely even a sign letting you know, definitely no crossing guards.

Driving around aimlessly, I stopped at a stop sign (because you’re supposed to) and suddenly noticed an old castle right next to me.

I found parking right there and we walked up. A sign on the castle gates stated we needed to enter through the cafe. There were several signs stating that the cafe was now open, but the cafe operators obviously did not read them, their door was locked.

We made a very quick stop at the Sligo Abbey ruins, in downtown Sligo, before going back to the Aldi to get some things we needed, like dish soap and salt, things that should have already been here.

Onto to Sligo

SDSpivey

I was tired yesterday, going to bed at 8:30, without the sun going all the way down yet. But we did arise early enough to get a fresh start on the nearly 4 hour drive.

There was really nothing en route for us to stop and see. We arrived in Sligo (pronounced sly-go) about 1:30, and weren’t supposed to check in until 4, so we detoured and followed signs for Parke’s Castle.

It is a small 3 story 17th century castle, right next to large Lough (Irish for lake) Gill, surrounded by mountains. Totally worth the admission price, well, it was free since the courtyard was under renovation, still enjoyable.

There was a small “lay-by” beside Colgagh Lough where we pulled off the road and took a few pics of the view.

We still had plenty of time to kill, so we tried to find the Sligo Gaol, but it seems to now be just another government complex, with bars on the windows, at least the employees can’t escape.

Hungry, we tried to find a quick bite, but there wasn’t any parking along our route, until there was a Texaco station with a restaurant inside. Semi cafeteria style, where you tell the lady what you want, and she puts it on the plate. Wasn’t bad, but wasn’t great either.

We went ahead and drove to the AirBnB and I crashed out for 2 hours. When I arose, mom was sitting in a chair, also crashed. Perhaps this is going to be a lazy evening for us.

Cliffs of Moher

SDSpivey

We went to the Knappogue Castle, but there didn’t seem to be anyone around.

Google said they were open daily at 10, it was almost 11.

Mom found later that they are not open to the public. That is lame. If you don’t want me in, shut your gate and don’t put up signs that encourage me to come.

We headed to the Cliffs of Moher, on the west coast of the island.

It was very beautiful, vibrant green grass with yellow dandelions, deep azure blue water, and pure white waves breaking against the rocks below.

But, it was cold, around 50° and the wind was blowing hard, since there was nothing at sea to slow it down. It had rained as we drove, but the sky cleared and the sun helped warm it just a touch.

We had to climb the walkways to the top-most point, several hundred feet above the car park, huffing and puffing, with small kids just bounding past us as if gravity worked oppositely for them.

Then we had to come down and go up the other side. I specifically chose that order, because there is a watch tower on the second summit. If we had gone there first, Mom wouldn’t have wanted to go up the “plain” side.

A small plane flew past a couple times, we were higher than the plane. Ridiculous.

Somehow, Mom always has stamina to still go through the gift shops, despite all of them having the same crap, … um, I mean they have quality merchandise, chosen specifically for each site.

Highs and Lows

SDSpivey

The Rock of Cashel is an 12th century church, built upon a large rock outcropping, high above the surrounding area.

We started out towards the Rock of Cashel, but I’ve had problems with Google maps directions not working properly. This was the case this morning. I headed in the general direction, with the hopes that it would work a bit later.

30 minutes later, still no directions. I turned onto a semi-important looking road, since I knew we’d have to go that way, but wasn’t the right one. Fortune did smile down though. I spotted a reasonably nice looking castle just off the road. It looked like someones home, but there was a sign that said open, so I pulled in. The sign said it was Farney Castle.

We rang the bell and an older gentleman, Cyril Cullen, came to the door with a big smile. He invited us in for a tour of the house, starting off in his gift shop, where everything was made by himself.

Lots of porcelain figurines and statuettes lined the shelves. Most were superb quality.

Then he led us into the next room, filled with wool sweaters, caps, blankets, etc.

Rule number 1: never buy something that you are going to have to carry.

They were not pushy at all, allowing us to browse, while they would tell us about each piece. Many of his designs were worn in adverts and by models.

He even donated an inauguration dress to a family friend, Jackie Kennedy.

The walls in the round tower were over ten feet thick at the base, wide enough to hide a staircase inside.

There were many artifacts from the castle’s history, as well as his own. This was the best preserved old building we’ve seen so far. If only they allowed pictures inside the house, but it was their actual home.

After the tour, we were once again in the gift shop. We browsed some more. There were so many items I would like to get, but no possible way of them surviving the trip home in my suitcase without breaking. We did get a couple small figurines that looked sturdy enough.

Now we have been to Blarney, Killarney, and Farney.

I reloaded the maps, and they were working, so we continued to the Rock of Cashel, still about 20 minutes away.

I rounded a curve and it was visible in the distance, sitting high.

The church is under restoration, but the grounds are beautiful. The views around weren’t too bad either.

I think it would have made a better spot for a castle or fortress than a church, but for some reason they didn’t wait the 8 centuries to ask me.

We really were not looking forward to climbing into a dark, wet, cold cave, but we were close by and Mom’s maiden name is Mitchell, so we had to go to Mitchelstown.

On the M8 motorway, I saw a info sign for a castle in Cahir, so we diverted. The rain had stopped, for a bit, at least.

Unlike many castles, so far, it was right in the middle of the village of Cahir, with houses and shops within 100 feet or so, we had to park in a grocery parking lot.

It was very well preserved or restored, but it was just a museum piece, no one lived in it.

Many (all) of the roads here are narrow and have walls or hedges nearly right next to them, but the road to the Mitchelstown Caves was the smallest, almost wide enough for an American SUV, but intended for two cars to pass. Yikes!

The entrance was unimpressive, just looked like a concrete stairway to someone’s basement. Upon actually going down these stair, they quickly became steeper (and wetter), taking us down over 300 feet. The caves travel over 3 kilometers, probably more, they have not yet been explored fully, even after nearly 100 years.

The guide pointed out interesting formations, many that kids had named, and get a history and information about the cave system.

They occasionally have concerts or movie nights in the cave. Once they had a sushi chef prepare and serve a meal in one large room.

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Muckross and Castle Ross

SDSpivey

Another rainy morning finds us on a 2 hour drive to Muckross Manor House and Castle Ross, in Killarney, County Kerry.

This finishes off the southern half of the island. We have visited 13 of the 33 counties, with at least 12 more definite, in just over a week.

Once in Killarney, we arrived at the Castle Ross and walked up the hill to it. Everything on this island is uphill.

All tours are by guide, and the next available wasn’t for about 2 hours, so we browsed around outside and then decided to head over to the Muckross house until the tour was ready.

At the Muckross house, there was a tour shortly available, but we already paid for the other. We would have to jump back and forth. Oh well.

We walked the gardens for a bit before heading for the castle tour.

They didn’t allow photos inside the castle, but I took one quick one at the end. What where they going to do? Throw us out, we were leaving anyway.

It sucks a bit, this was the first castle that had decent windows for lighting, but couldn’t take photos. Plus it was really nice inside.

Going back to Muckross, we find that they were sold out of tours for the day. With the rain picking up again, we called it quits for the day, not arriving back until almost 8pm.

Long day for so little done.

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Just a bunch of Blarney

SDSpivey

We went down to Cork, to the Blarney castle, home of the blarney stone.

It was rainy all the way down, worrying us about being too wet to spend the time out side.

Just inside the park, I saw a sign stating that they were employing anti-drone technology. Strangely, I haven’t yet heard of any, barring that of shooting a net over it as it flies low enough.

You have to walk over a short bridge that crosses two rivers at once. More remarkable, the rivers cross themselves, one goes through a tunnel under the other.

After entering the castle and starting the 100 step climb, I noticed that the walls are around 8 feet thick. The inner walls weren’t that thick, but you wouldn’t have to worry about noisy people in the next room.

There were small rooms off the spiral stairway, so we could make short breaks from the long climb. None of the rooms in the castle had privacy (or windows to close). Even the lord and lady would have slept in a communal room.

There were two “garderobes”, small rooms where you did your “business.” Yes, in front of whoever also happened to be there. It was the place where you would “guard your robes.” The ammonia flumes would kill fleas.

We made it up to the tippy top of the castle, wind blowing strong. there are slots running the battlements, where you would drop stones or shoot arrows down upon invaders at the bottom. Even with steel bars running across, you feel as if you’d fall through. I managed to crawl up and stand on the battlement to take a photo. It was only knee high, but extremely hard to do, without anything to help you balance, and a very long view of the ground below. I tell myself I was mostly scared to drop my ipad, even with the best case, it wouldn’t make it.

Watching others get out and kiss the stone, we realized that our backs really wouldn’t bend that well. Especially after all the walking we’ve been doing.

Plus, who wants to put their lips on something that thousands have already put theirs on. Eww.

The park is large, with plenty of flowers and trees. What caught my attention was the Poison Garden. There are lots of poisonous plants like hemlock, wisteria, and poison ivy, but many I didn’y know that were poisonous, like rhubarb and rosemary… wait, we just ate both of those things this week. Ah, good bye sweet world.

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There once was a man from …

SDSpivey

As much as we hated to, we had to leave the warmth and tranquility of Wexford and the Round Chalet.

Our next stop was near Limerick, a 3 hour drive, but first there were a few items yet to be seen.

In the middle of the town of Wexford, there is a ruins of an old church, Selskar Abbey, so we headed over.

It was a bank holiday, so I was uncertain if we had to still pay for street parking, so I did. Better safe than sorry. As we walked up to the gates, there is a sign stating that tours are given daily, at 3pm. is was only 10, so we could not go into the grounds to see it. Oh, well.

We then zipped up the highway, back towards Dublin, to Enniscorthy. There is a castle that is listed on all the brown “informational” highway signs, so it must be something to see. It is now a government office, and closed on bank holidays, of course.

Spying a steeple, we walked up (and I do mean up) the hill to St. Aidan’s Cathedral, an actual functioning church. Most old churches we had seen were no longer functional or had limited services. We went in and luckily there were only a few parishioners inside. Still, I didn’t want to be rude, snapping pics everywhere, so I just grabbed one from the back, as we were going out the door.

Driving down yet another skinny road, mom needed to pee. There was obviously no stores or petrol stations. I spotted another church ruins and was able to do a U-turn and park close to a wall, for privacy, there wasn’t anyone about, except a terrier across the road that just sat and looked at us.

We found the place easy enough. It is right next to a small park, with a small river running down beside it.

It is a 2-story, and a lot more room than the two of us need. We even have a spare bedroom.

I had received instructions from the owner that we needed to call the local manager, but we don’t know how. Since I wasn’t able to check my email for a few days, I didn’t know if I could send one or not. Fortunately, his wife was on their computer when I sent is, so he was able to get there in about 15 minutes. We weren’t going to have to sleep on the grass. Hurray!

We had dinner reservations (yes, like civilized folk) at Bunratty Castle, so we changed and head out.

The dinner was “by hand” no forks or spoons, only a knife to cut and pick up the food. Or using your fingers. It was served in 4 courses, a soup (good), short ribs (good, but messy), chicken and vegetables (juicy meat but not much flavor), and a small cheesecake (yum).

Period songs were sang and played on violin and harp throughout the evening by the hosts and hostesses, while we sat on benches at a longtable.

The castle was about 100 feet tall, but only 3 floors. Very tall ceilings. Very narrow spiral stairs. Mom loved those.

After returning, it was almost midnight, off to bed.

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