Ireland - Should I Put on Sunscreen?

More Ireland

I spend a few days with Dave in Dublin as his “consort”, which is what he called me all week. How sweet. I explored the city by morning, worked in the hotel (The Schoolhouse - very nice) during the afternoon, then met up with Dave/friends/coworkers at night.

After the week in Dublin, we headed Southwest for a weekend of exploring. Before we left, I tried to read up on my Irish history, since most of what I know is hearsay, family lore, or was learned in an Irish bar in the U.S. All of which are no way to really appreciate the history of such an amazing, historically rich place such as Ireland.

Therefore, I took seriously the task of reading the ever-so-in-depth history section of my Ireland guidebook (I am nothing if not a rigorous researcher). I learned a few facts about Ireland that surprised me:

• St. Patrick was freakin Welsh!
• Red hair and freckles were introduced to Ireland by Viking (Scandinavian) invaders in the 10^th century.
• It is not a good thing to tell people you are Scotch-Irish. They were brought in by the Brits during the 18^th century to take lands from the Catholic owners who wouldn’t convert to Protestantism and behave. 
• Catholics owned less than 5% of the land in Ireland by the 19^th century.
• Three million people died or emigrated out of Ireland during the potato famine (which was totally bogus since Ireland had plenty of food at the time actually). To put that into perspective, there are only 4 million people in Ireland today.

The Weather
I have a completely jaded view of Ireland, especially Dublin. The weather was so beautiful, it was sunny and in the upper 60s. Really. It doesn't even get that warm in the summer most of the time. Everyone was so happy, outside walking around, having picnic lunches - it was a great time to be wandering the city.

Lovely parks in Dublin.

The canal near the hotel.

Who wants a Guinness, I do - I do.

 Kilkenny

Anyway, on Friday we rented the world’s smallest car and were off to the Sunny Southwest. We stayed in Kilkenny; why Kilkenny - I don't know. Well, I didn't want to be in the middle of nowhere and didn't want to stay at a country B&B where we might have to drive after drinking. Kilkenny had a decent downtown with restaurants, bars, and lots of medieval structures. Kilkenney is also the home of Smithwick's brewery - yeah! Except they brew Budweiser there now - boo! We stayed at the San Antonio B&B (nice name, I know), which was fine but nothing special.

BUDWEISER (not Smithwick's), that is just sad.

Could there be a better name for a kebab restaurant!

Also in Kilkenny, I saw quite a few ringers for my Grandpa Riordan. And here is my aunt Peggy with the Queen - though aunt Peggy is much thinner and hotter. This really makes me want to explore my family roots in Ireland a bit more, especially before my mom comes to visit this summer.

This was in Cashel, and no - that isn't really my aunt.

 

Dave Might Be Gay
We also did a drive around (i.e. got lost and yelled at each other in the car) and went to Waterford, Dungarvan, and through "The Vee" in the countryside. It was your usual gorgeous countryside in between our various stops. In Waterford, Dave wanted to do the Waterford Crystal tour - not kidding. OK it was actually pretty cool to see them hand-make all that gaudy crystal.

We also went to Dungarvan for lunch because it is supposed to be a "foodie" paradise. We must have really been there in the off season because most places were closed and we ended up having burgers and ribs for lunch at a pub - tasty but not stellar in any way.

I am a lucky, lucky woman.

Castles, Monasteries, and Old Stuff

 WOW WOW and WOW. I am a sucker for ruins of old monasteries, towers, and churches. I got my fill on this trip. We could barely drive a few miles without me having to suddenly pull over so we could check out some gorgeous, crumbling structure. I'll leave you with a few of my favs, especially Cashel. All the photos are here if you want to stalk us and see them.

 

Jerpoint Abbey.

 

Cool (but not really  all that old) castle in Lismore.

 

It's OK y'all, he's Mormon and will go to hell anyway.

 

Cashel - so amazing!

 

In Cashel - the ugly new building next to the pretty old building.

 

Amie below, and Cashel above on the hill.

Hore Abbey, and Dave being a douche.

I'll leave you with this to ponder. It was outside some old church ruins in some random town we drove through whilst fighting and getting lost. I like the word "whilst". I plan to use it more often, along with "wanker" and "twat", so I sound more British.......