We were greeted Saturday morning with the news that Papa was ill and we would have to travel on without him. Lucky for him, our driver Gene had stayed in Dublin with another driver, Richard who volunteered to come back to the hotel at noon to pick him up and bring him to us at the Irish National Stud Farm, about an hour south of Dublin. Not only did Richard do the transporting, but he got Papa some medicine for his ailments and even called to check on him later in the day. It was our first experience with Irish hospitality...Richard really went above and beyond!
So we met with Gene and discussed the day. Gene is from County Cork, in the tiny village of Glengarriff (which we will visit later in the trip). He proved to be an excellent driver and tour guide, and we came to like him very much through our seven days. We called him our little leprechaun, because he seemed to magically appear when you needed him. He was not obtrusive nor too talkative, simply informative and helpful. (Though he did make things up when he didn't know the answers to our questions lol) He had a strong Irish brogue, and he spoke very fast. For the first day or so, it was hard to understand him but then we caught on.
We left Dublin as a group of 6, and headed down the highway to thoroughbred country. Horse racing is big in these parts, and we were headed for the Irish National Stud Farm. We did it mostly because the kids would enjoy it, but I think we all did and we all learned a lot about studs and mares and stud fees, etc. I didn't know there was such a science to it all! We also learned that the Irish have a bit of a fascination with The Simpsons - having four miniature horses named Homer, Marge, Lisa and Bart - good thing because my kids have that same fascination these days. The Stud Farm also includes some beautiful gardens dedicated to St. Fiachra and a Japanese botanical garden. The Japanese gardens have a lovely story about life, from birth to death that I narrated as we walked through. We had a fun time, and I would definitely recommend this to anyone driving south from Dublin!
After the Stud Farm, we headed further south to Cashel this time as a full group of 7. We ate lunch in a little cafe in town and then walked up to the Rock of Cashel. This cathedral dates back to the 12th century and that anything remains at all is incredible considering its age. A lot of the cathedral has fallen to the ground and lies around it in rock form. There is also a cemetery that contains graves from the 1500s and even earlier. The history of it all was a lot to take in. The views from the Rock are also wonderful, as it sits on the highest point for miles around.
After Cashel, we drove to Kinsale where we stayed in Acton's Hotel for one night. Kinsale is a pretty little coastal town. I could have spent a bit more time there...we only arrived at 6 PM or so, then left by 10 AM the next morning. We ate dinner at The Blue Haven and all had a nice meal. We walked around the little town and the area down by the harbor. We got some ice cream and then turned in for the night. Notable - ice cream in Ireland was more like custard...very sweet, and different from what we get in the States.
That was our first day traveling the countryside of Ireland. I am glad we visited both the Stud Farm and Rock of Cashel - a bit of fun and a bit of history made for a very enjoyable day.
Notable - the weather to this point was great, in fact we didn't encounter a drop of rain until Tuesday when we visited the Cliffs of Moher. The temperatures were in the 60s but it feels very warm when the sun is shining bright. The days are very long, sunrise at 5 AM and sunset between 10 and 11 PM depending on where you are in the country.
The next day we set plans to head to Blarney Castle, and Glengariff (Gene's village) before heading on to Killarney for our next two nights.
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