9/8 – This morning we had our morning meal.  Gertie provided a menu and I chose a poached egg on toast and Fred an omelet.  Both included fruit and pastries to start, “porridge” for the mid-course, and then our choice.  (I later decided that a 3-course breakfast was a bit much for me.)  Gertie was very “Grandmotherly” and when the porridge was served, she scooped the brown sugar for us, plopped it on top of the porridge, and poured the whiskey (!) over it to dissolve it properly.  “This is where the magic happens”, she would say.

The eggs were fresh from her hens, the strawberries were fresh from her garden.  This is September mind you!  Fresh strawberries?  Really? We learned that Ireland has an extended Spring due to its cool temperatures and rainfall.  Even when speaking about the summer, Gertie seemed to refer to it as something long passed.  To me, the first week of September IS Summer, but not in Ireland – it’s moved into colder temperatures and seasons.

Blue and white flags seemed to be everywhere we drove in county Waterford and even in neighboring counties.  We found out each county has their own hurling team and Waterford was in the finals.  Waterford’s colors were blue and white.  We even saw this van all painted up and on display as we drove through a small town.  Unfortunately, Waterford lost the championship to Galway.

Our plan today started with a tour of caves that were noted to be in the most natural state.  These were the Mitchelstown Caves.

>>>So here is where I talk about navigating with Googlemaps offline.  I’m a staunch supporter of offline Google maps.  However, it makes a point of taking you the shortest route possible.  Some Many, of the roads in Ireland are less than what we would consider one-lane roads here and have hedges, or worse – stone walls, to define them.  Credit cards would exclude Ireland from their CDW coverage.  We understand why.<<<

We traveled the “scenic” route to the caves.  It included a place called “The Vee”, where we took many photos.  And yet, another “scenic” route return.

The view from “The Vee”.  Notice a trace of road on the far left and another road just below it.  They are the same road.  There’s a hairpin curve out of frame on the left!

We were the only ones on the cave tour.  They are upgraded to the extent that concrete steps have been poured and pathways set. They even host events and concerts in the caves.  I know that there are more popular cave tours in Clair County, and I didn’t want to be part of a large tour.  So in that scenario, Mitchelstown Caves filled the bill.  They were very interesting and the story of their discovery and the features within them were cool.

After that, we headed back towards Kilcannon B&B and stopped to visit the Towers Walk.  The full name is the Ballysaggartmore Towers Loop walk.  Reading the signposts, it all became that much more interesting.

“The Ballysaggartmore Towers only exist due to one couple’s petty jealousies. As the story goes, Arthur Kiely-Ussher inherited an estate at Ballysaggartmore when his father died. Arthur had a brother John, and the two brothers married two sisters, Elizabeth and Margaret. Arthur and Elizabeth were envious of Strancally Castle, John and Margaret’s palatial residence, so Arthur set out to one-up him. He was only able to build two entrances (The Grand Lodge and The Towers) and the Servant’s Tunnel before running out of money.

To make matters worse, the country was in the grips of the Great Famine and while many landlords reduced rent, Arthur evicted tenants who couldn’t pay rent and then knocked their houses down. He was so disliked, a group tried (unsuccessfully) to assassinate him. Arthur eventually died in 1862 and would probably loathe the fact that his “folly” is available for anyone and everyone to enjoy!”

It started raining as we walked the loop, but it was a pleasant walk and after crossing the creek with the “towers” entrance, we made our way up to a small waterfall and returned to our car.

It was a short drive to the small town of Lismore, a town developed around a grand castle.  The castle itself is on private property, but the gardens are open to explore for a small fee.  It was raining when we got our parking spot, so we opted to go to a nearby pub for a cup of tea and scones.  It didn’t take long for the rain to subside and we returned to the castle to explore its gardens.  There is a small admission price to enter, but well worth it.  The grounds are quite extensive and there were interesting artifacts here and there – including two very large chunks of the Berlin Wall.

Although Lismore Castle is now a private residence, the grounds are open to the public for a small admission charge.  It was well worth the price as the grounds are quite extensive.  There were interesting artifacts here and there as well – including two very large chunks of the Berlin Wall.

Dinner that night was at 360 Steakhouse in Dungarvan, a place Gertie recommended.

Ever see a picture of a place and decide you must go there?  Such was Dungarvan.  It’s not on many Ireland itineraries, but I thought the harbor and colorful buildings were something special.  Fred and I figured out where those great pictures were taken from and scurried across the bridge before our dinner reservations that first evening to take our own fabulous photos!

9/9– Another great breakfast by Gertie and we were off to the Rock of Cashel.  This was a touristy spot, to say the least.  But very close by, was a very non-touristy place, the Hore Abbey.  We found a great parking spot, off the road (which we later realized was not the norm), and explored the Abbey.  By the time we ventured out of the pasture that was the entrance of the Abbey, everyone was parked helter-skelter on the road!

It didn’t get any better on our walk to the Rock of Cashel.  As long as you left 8 feet to allow two-way traffic, it was a parking spot.

At the RoC, we paid the entrance fee and realized that just because a place charges a fee, doesn’t mean it’s any better than the free sites.  In contrast to Jerpoint Abbey, this was no more well preserved and packed with people.  It was with a bit of difficulty that we took pictures without hoards of tourists in them.  Our best bet was to take pictures of anything 10 feet and above.

 Rock of Cashel as viewed from Hore Abbey.  We preferred Hore Abbey.  It was just as interesting and far fewer people.  Rock of Cashel has an entry fee – further proving that just because you have to pay to see a sight, doesn’t mean it’s more worthwhile!

We drove a short distance to Athassel Abbey and explored.  We were the only ones there.  It was a place I had “virtually” explored on Googlemaps to figure out where we should park! But after Rock of Cashel, figured if we left enough room for a car to go around us, all was good.  It was interesting, but not a must-do.

Then we went to Glen of Aherlow, at the big Christ statue, and found the geocache nearby.

Dinner that night was at The Tannery – my birthday! And it did not disappoint!

 The approach to Athassal Abbey.  You had to navigate some stone steps in a low wall to get into the field to get there.  It was very deteriorated and had extensive graveyards within the walls.

The Adventure Continues>>>