Thurs. May 1 - Our first afternoon in Dublin commenced with a visit to Helen Dillon's house and a walk about her garden. Mr. Dillon greeted us and gave a little talk. Afterwards we were given tea & cookies. (Lovely garden with 2 mallards in it.) At 6pm, back at the Davenport, we left for the Brazen Head Pub which is Dublin's oldest pub. Between our dinner courses Johnny Daly told stories about the history of Ireland, their fairies and leprechauns. I enjoyed an egg salad, Irish lamb stew and chocolate cake. Back to hotel about 10 pm.

Fri. May 2 - (sun/clouds/cold wind) Left on bus @ 9am. Drove through Donneybrook area of Dublin - views of 12th Century buildings. Saw lots of gorse (bright yellow flowers) on hills. Travelled through village of Ashford, 1 hr. south of Dublin. Visited Ballyknocken House, Co. Wicklow. In the front yard was a Cordyline palm tree (a.k.a. cabbage palm). Watched Katherine, owner of the Ballyknocken B & B, make scones in her cookery school building. Afterwards she served them hot to us with butter and rhubarb jam and tea. Enjoyed touring her B & B and then were off to Waterford. En route drove through Rath Drum. (Rath = round house; drum = hill, bally = home or dwelling). To Arklow on the coast by noon. Drove through Ferns, a diocese. The Normans arrived here in 1169. Saw Enniscorthy on the Slaney River and through Clonroche then New Ross, founded in 1207, on the River Barrow. Arrived in Waterford, on the River Suir, by early afternoon. At the Waterford Crystal Factory we had lunch followed by a very interesting tour. We ended the afternoon in the Waterford gift shop which displayed the wonderful glass ware. Marvelous! (heirloom pieces to be sure) We stayed at Dooley's Hotel in Waterford where we had dinner.

Sat. May 3 - (cloudy/cool) Left Waterford @ 9am. Drove through Knockanore, a lovely little village which has a stone bridge over a river. Passed Lismore Castle - a private home of Duke of Devonshire. It is not open to the public but can be rented, complete with butler. On through Fermoy, which was built in 1793, on the River Blackwater. Next to Castletownroche and Annes Grove Gardens. Toured garden which was lovely and fascinating, in spite of the cool wind. Through Mallow - arriving at Blarney at 1:45. Had a snack and walked to the castle. The most energetic of our group climbed up the 127 circular steps. We visited the Blarney Woolen Mill store which was quite large with wonderful goods spread over 3 floors. About 4 pm we took off for Killarney. Drove by the River Lee in the Lee Valley. We passed from Co. Cork to Co. Kerry. There are many lovely houses along the road, both attached and detached, painted in all the colours of the rainbow: yellow, blue, white, grey, green, pink, salmon, etc. Also, lots of stone walls, sheep and lambs. Continued our drive through Macroom, a stronghold of the McCarthys. (McCarthy, also MacCarthaigh, is the oldest name in Europe, from before Christianity). After 1 ½ hr. drive we reached Killarney. We had an excellent buffet dinner at our Killarney Towers Hotel. Afterwards we were driven to the Siamsa Tire Theatre, the National Folk Theatre. We were entertained with a marvelous mime, dancing, and singing production, portraying the four seasons, accompanied by a 5-piece band.

Sun. May 4 - (cloudy/sunny/cold wind) Outside of Killarney we stopped at a meadow to take pictures. (by Lakes of Killarney) The picturesque background showed several small islands dotting a large lake. There was also a ruin of a round stone tower by the meadow. Upon our arrival in Kenmare we saw the estuary of the Kenmare River. We had a chance to visit the shops of this lovely little town. Back to Killarney by 1 p.m. After lunch we had a jaunting car ride (4 of us in a horse-pulled buggy) driven by a jarvey. We rode through part of the Killarney National Park which is adjacent to Killarney town. We ended our ride at Muckross House. After a little walk in the lovely estate garden we enjoyed a tour of the house. Queen Victoria, Prince Albert, 4 of their 9 children, plus an entourage of 100 stayed at Muckross House for 2 nights. The trip was planned 6 years in advance. Very extensive renovations were made for her visit, including a fire escape from her bedroom. She took her own bed and linens wherever she travelled. Another excellent dinner in our hotel that evening. Afterwards we walked to St. Mary's Church to hear an American ladies' choir perform.

Mon. May 5 - (sunny with a cool wind) The morning was free for shopping which we did with a vigor. I bought a lovely soft green Aran cardigan at the Aran Woolen outlet. Late a.m. we drove through Inch to Dingle in the Dingle Peninsula. En route we stopped to look at the lovely coastal scenery (it reminded me of Hawaii). From Dingle we drove on narrow twisty roads which Tom, our driver, mastered so well. The scenery along Slea Head Drive was, on our right, of fields with sheep, cattle, low stone walls and mountains, and on the left - ocean and high cliffs. We saw many small beehive homes of stone that the poor used to live in. The closest land to the west from that point is Nova Scotia! Back to Dingle and then on to dinner at a restaurant near the end of a long peninsula at Castlegregory, Dingle Peninsula. I had fried Brie, duck, and Bailey cheesecake. Afterwards we were entertained by a man playing the guitar and a lady singing Irish songs and playing a small accordion. It was a lively and fun performance. Back to our hotel in Killarney for sweet dreams!

Tues. May 6 - (sunny & very warm) We drove thru Tralee and then Listowel. Boarded the ferry at Tarbert for a 20 min. ride across the Shannon River to Killimer. From there we drove to Liscannor Bay and to the Cliffs of Moher. The cliffs are incredible and what a vista! There is a walkway stretching quite far both to the right and left of the central viewpoint. After a quick lunch we browsed in several shops that are nestled under berms and are very unobtrusive. From the bus we saw the Aran Islands. Mid-afternoon we arrived at Bunratty Castle which was built in 1460. It is now a national monument located in a folk park. We strolled about the grounds and had a castle tour. At 5 pm we were driven to our hotel, the Dunraven Arms, in Adare. We crossed the Shannon estuary on a bridge at Limerick - an old Viking city. (The movie "Angela's Ashes" took place in Limerick). At 8 p.m. we headed back to Bunratty Castle for a medieval banquet which started at 9:30 pm. First we gathered in the great hall where we were served mead (a honey wine) and were entertained by a violinist and a harpist. All staff were dressed in costumes of the period - long dresses for the ladies and pantaloons with stockings for the men. After our mead we were ushered to the banquet hall. We were seated at long tables. Parsnip curried soup was the starter followed by plates of spareribs. Our only utensil was a sharp knife with which to spear our food. Next came plates with vegetables and chicken, to be eaten with fingers or the knife. The staff sang while accompanied by the violin and harp. At 11 we trooped into a basement room for tea then headed back to our hotel.

Wed. May 7 - Left at 9am and drove into Limerick, through Tipperary and Cashel and arrived at Kilkenny, on the Nore River, by noon. Enjoyed a tour through Kilkenny Castle, lunch afterwards, then drove through Carlow and on to Dublin. Had a couple of hours for last-minute shopping before we were off to the famous Abbey Tavern in Howth, about 10 mi. north of Dublin. Following a very nice dinner we were enthralled to watch some Irish dancing. Following that was a lovely young lady singing Irish songs accompanied by 4 men playing instruments. We arrived back at our hotel at 11 to finish our packing.

Thurs. May 8 - Up for an early breakfast and off to the airport by 8:15. The end of a lovely trip but I look forward to more with the gals of Broad Horizons!

IRISH TRIVIA

The prefix KIL designates the original site of a church. Killarney = church of the sloe tree.
Sloe berries (wild plums) are green to start and turn black when ripe. Put the berries and sugar in a bottle of gin, leave 2 months, and it becomes sloe gin - a liqueur.
MAC = son, i.e. MacDonald. O = of, i.e. O'Hare,of the family of Hare.
Fitz and DeLa are Norman prefixes for surnames, derived from Fils de (son of).
Bally = town or home i.e. Ballyknocken.
Mal = bad or dangerous. i.e. Mal Bay.
Ireland and England were part of Europe until the Ice Age ended. With the flood of waters, England and Ireland were separated from Europe.
Wicklow is now about 50 miles east of western Wales.
Bright yellow plants covering a field is rape (canola) and is used to make oil.
Sir Walter Raleigh introduced the potato to Ireland.
Hiberian is old latin for Ireland, which means 'winter'.
Scotland is Germanic and means 'the land of the Irish'.
Slainte means 'health to you' (a toast).
The police are called Garda.
There are 30 counties in the republic of Ireland and 6 in North Ireland. North and South were separated in 1920.
Ireland is divided into 4 provinces: Leinster, Ulster, Munster, and Connacht.
The Irish flag is orange, white and green.
Whiskey is an original Irish name and the Scots adopted the name. Whiskey has antibiotic properties. If you are getting a cold, heat some whiskey, add some brown sugar and lemon with cloves stuck in it. According to the Irish, their whiskey is much superior to the Scotch whisky. It is distilled 3 times and most Scotch is twice. Jameson's is the most popular. Barley is used in Irish and Scotch whiskies. Corn is used in American bourbon and distilled once. Canadian whiskey is made from rye. In 1759 Arthur Guinness started brewing a dark beer called Porters, now known as Guinness. He was the son of the bishop's brewer and lived in Cashel.

Cead Mille Failte! (a thousand welcomes!)