Today doesn’t look as promising weather-wise, as yesterday …. On our way back to Dublin.  

Cahir Castle-1172 AD, has 3 courtyards.  The proper name for the castle (I am not even going to try to say it) means …“old stone fort of the fishery”. 800 plus yrs old is from medieval times. 

The river with fishing weirs was the 1st line of defence, then the wall on the outside & long bows that shot out of the openings on the walls. It was erected from sold limestone rock and is atop limestone rock & surrounded by the river

Butler family owned it from 1375 for loyalty to King Edward 3rd until 1961 for almost 600 years until In 1964, the last Bulter died with no heirs. As a result it was passed onto the government.  The eagle represents power and protection of the castle and people by the butler family. 

The town was built in the 17 century

The courtyard was added in 16th century. 

Holes in wall were where the beams were used for the living space above and the floor for the animals below (which helped to keep the people warm). At one spot pointed out to us, that there was the Michicolation— murder hole…. Where if the invaders made it through the rest of the defences, had boiling fat poured over them to slow them down.  Ouch!!!

Central part, through the arch, in 16th century had 50 people living and working…. helpers. 

Round tower was the prison tower. In 1599, a cannonball is stuck in wall when the British lead by the Earl of Essex attacked the castle…. It was the only really successful attack. The family were allowed to back in but after 2 other attacks, one in 1650 when Oliver Cromwell attacked they surrendered and they never moved back in . 

The family toilet is in the tower where the cannonball is stuck.  

The walls are 6-8 feet thick. 

Banquet hall has a heated floor now. It has saved the mortar and walls from mould and decomposion. It has great acoustics and it used for performances even today. 

Roof is made of sold oak with the struts built like a Viking ship

It is the finest medieval castle in the country 

Next, Kilkenny is largest walled city in Ireland. Kilkenny Castle was built in 1397 but although some of our group went in, we did not take the tour. The castle was also owned by the Butlers. 

It a beautiful sunny day. Yesterday was pretty good too. Maybe “whoever has the rosary beads at the back of the bus is working their magic”…. lol!

In this area they can’t get enough people to work in the hotels…. It is jumping off place to see other places in the area. 

Going for a ride on the horse carts is good thing to do in Killarney. Price doubles on a rainy day…amazing!!!

Largest container cranes in world made here in Killarney for German company, Liebherr. The village built the airport and hotel have the owners bring the factory here.  When those cranes are transported to Cork to be shipped,they close the highways at night because the roads are too narrow. 

The  mountain range Magillecully Reach….

Killogrin ……. Stopped at the 18-19th century Kerry Bog Village and Red Fox Inn…. had an Irish coffee at 9:30 in the morning… yummy!

They are putting in bike trails using the old rail beds all around the “Ring of Kerry”. Sounds familiar???? 

Daniel O’Connell- politician that abolish of slavery across British Empire, etc 

In the 6th century … Brendan, the Navigator discovered Americas 1000 years before Columbus.  Father Hugh O’Flaherty, the Scarlet pimpernel of the Vatican, saved about 4000 allied soldiers and Jews people during the war- got pension for life from France. The three of them were all from the village of 1300 people ….  Garranearagh, Ireland. 

Cable to America and Europe is protected by the navies of Britain, America and Russians 150 miles off the coast from here  in Waterville….. lovely.

Skellig Islands…monks brought Christianity to the world from those islands  

Scarriff Inn for lunch

The country is cutting down all the spruce for native trees. At one time it was thought the spruce were a good thing. 

Last evening after I posted yesterday’s blog, several of us took an Uber to a pub that advertised Irish music 7 days a week…..@7:30, for dinner as well. Food was great but music was “Guns and Roses” at 9 pm. Disappointed we all were.

Our guide today is Alan

Price of housing is so costly “because they quit building public housing 30 years ago so now there aren’t enough homes and no one to build them”….. sounds familiar. 

Times have changed in Ireland. Used to be that once a woman married she had to quit working. It took till 2010- that you were allowed to ask a doctor for condoms. Then in 2015- same-sex marriages were legally allowed by “a vote” …. the first in Europe.

1980-18%(so govt said)-60% (otherwise thought) was the unemployment rate. In 2025 there was only 4% unemployment. 

In 1996-3rd level education became free… so now there are no “trades”. 

Dublin is main headquarters for all tech companies in Europe. Apple paid 13 B tax in ‘24. 

Kilmaingam Gaol… housed political prisoners from rebellions for independence…including execution of 14 leaders of 1916 Easter Uprising.

Stopped at Kilbeggan-the oldest whiskey distillery in Ireland, for bathroom break & coffee/tea. Walking back to the bus we were hit with hail.

Athlone… army base, has a connection with Palestinians. The city was founded by Vikings because of the River Shannon connection. Stopping at Sean’s Bar, the oldest bar in world is in Athlone. 

“Timmy”… tells us about Athlone and Sean’s Bar. It’s been around since 900 AD.  Walls from the building from the 1700’s were made with woven wicker & horse hair (wattle).  There is a patch on the wall but rest is in national museum. The floor is sloped toward the river because it provides a drain toward the river Shannon when it floods. The tidal estuary is 102 kms long but the river is 360 kms long. Most towns are built around a castle but here in Athlone, the pub was built first in 900 AD …. The oldest established bar in the world. Named Luain’s Inn originally, renamed Sean’s in 1954(?)

Athlone had first stagecoach in Ireland. 

“Timmy”…(I think he was a bartender owner of Sean’s Bar) was writing a manuscript the “old” way…. by hand” using info gleaned back and forth, from the museum in Dublin ….  19 years in the making …. for a book, a history channel and Netflix documentary …..was cancelled because his dogs ate his manuscript. He’s working on it again.

Monks turned perfumes from Spain into whiskey. Aquivit (water of life) made from whiskey, Vikings started in Ireland.  Irish monks were the biggest bootleggers in the work. Whish-kababa, (from the original town’s name Ishikeran… not sure if that the exact name…. Became “whiskey” after 12-13 drinks.

It used to be that 8-14 pints of beer were the rations/day in the army.

“Blind drunk” comes from ….”first take off the barrel is pure Ethel alcohol must not be drunk because it will cause blindness. “Hungover” comes from the drunks being draped over a boom til they sobered up. 

Irish whiskey must be aged 3 years plus 1 day…. So that it is older than Scotch whiskey which is aged 3 years. 

Galway…. Is a university city. We walked over the “raging” River Corrib on a pedestrian bridge, then walked alongside to the harbour. There is the lovely old pedestrian street “Shop Street”with shops and pubs, of course….. and Lynch’s Castle from the 15/16th century. Then back across to the cathedral. Along the way were a bunch of teens from a private school celebrating a pre-grad…. all dressed up but some were “pissed to the gills”. They did not impress our guide.

I’m tired and want to go to bed so there maybe some errors… sorry

We had a nice breakfast at the hotel. We are to do a walking tour of Dublin today according to the itinerary.

We start pretty much from St Mary’s church.

Apparently at the museum, there is a fish trap that they have found, proving Ireland has been inhabited for 7000 years. Our guide also shows us a picture of a tomb with a roof-box proving the Irish knew for 5200 years, how to tell the seasons.

There have been over 600 uprisings over the years in attempt to gain independence. At the courthouse, part of a wall has different colour bricks. In 1976…IRA bombed it. That’s the patch up. 

1170…. Normans arrived in Ireland 

Guinness brewery has been around since 1759 

Adam and Eve’s is the Church with dome. It was originally held in a tavern with masses held secretly because during 17 century religion was not allowed. 

Liffey River….was originally 6 times as wide as it is now. When the Vikings came, the Poddle River converged with the Liffey river where a culvert is seen.  Apparently there is a statue of 2 women with shopping bags talking to each other. It is referred to as “The hags with the bags” sculpture. It’s referring to “gossiping” that Irish are famous for…. lol!!!

Temple’s Bar is not because there are lots of bars but because of when the river was much wider, a sand bar was built to Sir William Temple’s big fancy house. It is I n the left bank of Dublin… a bohemian and artist section. 

Large Viking settlement now is covered by city hall. The Vikings traded in gold and silver … and slaves (the most valuable were monks) … Vikings were not literate but monks wrote their info. 

 In the area of the fish market we are told about Molly Malone, who was a fish monger that sold her body at night…..Red light district….. hence “the tart with a cart”. Near here apparently Handel … wrote “The Messiah” of which was performed in 1742. 

Christchurch Cathedral-built in 1040. It is inside the walls of Dublin. Normans built it. They were stone builders. 12th century Saint and archbishop Lawrence O’Toole’s heart was kept inside the cathedral. Thieves stole his heart from the cathedral in 2012 but it was recovered 6 years later. 

50,000 Irish were killed during WW1  and commemorated at a peace garden

Guinness family built accommodations, at reduced rate for poor people, men’s hostel, are all these red brick buildings …. near St. Patrick’s church. They are near the employment exchange turned city hall 

Cost of 2 bedroom apartments in Dublin, are 600-700,000 Euros. Yikes….. more than ours!

St Patrick’s …. National church of Ireland but is Protestant …  is outside walls of Dublin. 

There was a huge storm (hurricane)in Ireland in 1839.  In 

1909 when British national pension started, to qualify, question was if  you were born at time of big storm. 

Walls of Dublin-Dublin Castle, the seat of British rule for over 700 years.  Lots of work is being done on it because from July-Dec,  Ireland will hold EU presidency here. 

-1740/41- was the potato famine. 

Blue is colour of Ireland not green as one would imagine. 

In 2011… Queen Elizabeth came and laid a wreath… was very significant. 

Trinity college for boys from age 15. No girls were allowed until 1969.   Book of Kells has survived for over 1200 years, is at Trinity College. We didn’t see it. Maybe when we come back…. 

OMG it rain while we were out on our tour. One of the reason I think there are so many pubs, maybe that, the Irish had to get out of the rain somewhere… lol!

Yesterday I sent out a short blurb saying that we would be going. And then someone pointed out that I dated April 21….. not March! Oops!

We caught the bus on Royal Oak Drive that would take us to the ferry and then on to the Vancouver airport. As the bus driver parked it, he said that the ferry that we were to catch was not going … mechanical issues and that they were sending another. I am certainly glad that there originally was to be 3.5 hours between arrival at the airport and the plane’s departure time. Everything fell into place….. no waiting around but not rushing either …. yeah!

March 23/26-Our first stop is Reykjavik. Guess what? It was snowing….not surprising since it is Iceland. The plane was delayed in leaving because it had to be de-iced. That’s a first for me.

We were met at the airport by a fellow from Exoticca Tours named John Fearghail and then a driver took us to our nice hotel in Dublin. We did not do anything for the rest of the day ….just napped.

I thought I could do all of Sydney in one go but ….. so here goes the final.

The 12th was wet and windy… not so nice but we took a catamaran “Captain Cook Cruise” around all the massive numbers of bays that make up Sydney Harbour. Our first of 2 times we got off is Watsons Bay. Smallish settlement with lovely waterfront homes. What a surprise when you walk up and over the hill….

Next stop that we got off at… Manley

Thanks for coming along on my journey…. Gail

This post will basically be just pictures of the city.

The first group are of our entry into the harbour. It meant if we wanted to see the grand entrance and welcome by a water-spraying fireboat, we had to be up at 5 am.

Next, a walk later on the 10th, around the neighbourhood called The Rocks…. Predominately George Street. It was first inhabited by sailors and convicts in the early 1800’s.

Next day we walked and walked…. Along the waterfront by the Opera House, Botanical Gardens, Mrs Macquarie’s Chair& Road.