Blarney-Waterford

It was a very soft day in Ireland today... in other words it was very foggy and raining, and very Irish!

View from hotel in Kenmare

It was a good day to go to the Blarney Castle though, as the weather was in keeping with the sombre mood of the Castle. We drove out of Kenmare, and I have to admit I was glad to move on... the hotel we stayed in was nothing spectacular, and it smelt of mould. Also, because of the wedding on Sat night, there were heaps of people there, and there were kids everywhere... They kept running up and down the corridor outside our rooms until quite late. Those amongst us who were teachers tried to give them the eyeball, but to no avail. The question was... where were their parents...???? However that was answered about 3.30am in the morning when the adults started wandering down the corridor speaking quite loudly to each other... Not a good night for sleeping all round!

It was a lovely drive through the irish mist to Blarney. Again because of the Year 4s studying castles I was really interested in the layout and structure of the building. There were ruts in the brickwork at the top, and one of the guys pointed out that they were for holding the hot wax or boiling oil which was poured onto the enemy below. Also I love the murder hole which was basically a trap door built over a hole in the top of the castle, which had nothing beneath, so the victim plunged to his death below. They certainly had their "ways and means" in those days.





I had every intention of kissing the blarney, and I climbed to the top without any bother, but when I had to lean backwards I got really dizzy, so had to sit up. Consequently I didn't actually kiss the blarney, but I blew it a kiss and reckon that was near enough. You have to sit down and lean backwards - all too much for me!!!




The grounds around the castle were lovely and the trees were all just changing colour, so were fantastic.



Next came the highlight of the day - born to shop!!!! Next to the Blarney CAstle is the Blarney Woollen Mills, which is probably the biggest gift shop in Ireland. Bernard had been promising us all trip that we would have some time today, and sure enough we had an hour or so to just cruise through the shop. I could've spent a lot more time there (and money!) so it was just as well we had to move on.


So back on the bus again, for the drive to Waterford, which took about 2 hours. Unfortunately there was a very serious accident on the motorway, so we had to detour, and that cost us some extra time.

When we reached Waterford, we barely had time to check in before we were taken for a walking tour around the town. Our guide was a professor of Archaeology at Trinity and was immersed in the history of the place. He told us the story of Dervila (not quite sure of all these spellings..) who was married to an old and ugly King who only had one eye. Anyway, Dervila ran away with handsome young Dermot (we all know another Dermot who would fit this bill!). Anyway long story short again. They lost the war and went to England to get reinforcements and the leader who came over was Strongbow. He ended up marrying Dermot's daughter, and Irish Princess, thus joining together the English and the Irish, and when the daughter died, the English took over the Irish lands, and history was changed forever...


He also told us of the Vikings who were the original inhabitants of Waterford, and this town had over 1000 inhabitants. Along with Dublin was one of the biggest towns in Europe. He showed us the Viking fortifications, and there is one that is still standing and has been in constant use since about the year 1000. It was a fascinating tour. I love hearing all this history, and he was a wealth of information.

Waterford square


Blackfriars Abbey


Waterford - Reginald Tower. Still in use after 1000 years

No sooner had we finished the tour than we were all bundled in the bus again to go out to Murphy's Pub, which is in the sticks outside Waterford. It's obviously set up for tourists, but they played the irish music - both traditional and popular.



We all got a free drink and 2 hours of music then we came home again. I haven't been homesick one bit on this tour, but when they played "Too-ra-loo-ra-looral" the eyes got a bit misty. It reminded me of dad and how he used to sing it to all the grandkids. It's become a family tradition now, and to hear it in this context, just made me a bit bleary eyed!I must admit I've sung that song to my little "babies" a few times too... Just as well I had my pint of Smithwicks to console me!



Tomorrow is the last day of the tour. Can't believe it's gone so quickly... Going up through Kilkenny tomorrow then on to Dublin, and it's all over red Rover... Then I'm off in my hirecar....

I have to admit, in one way though, that I'm ready for a break from the bus. Whilst it has been great to have the company and the commentary and the organisation, it will be nice to do my own thing for a while.

But I am so blessed to have been able to see ireland this way, and hear all those mad stories from Bernard, but also to learn about the Irish people both past and present. I guess that's the beauty of travel.