Kilkenny to Dublin, Ireland October 5, 2026

Our first stop today was Kilkenny, home to Kilkenny Castle, the best preserved and most impressive castle in Ireland. It's over 800 years old, but has been remodeled numerous times over the centuries. The family lived in it until the 1950s, and then sold it to the historical society for 50 euros to ensure it's preservation.

Castle gardens with beautiful rose bushes

Breakfast room

Prehistoric elk antlers found preserved in a bog

16th century tapestries 

Portrait gallery, incredible hand painted ceiling and parquet floor

Cararra marble fireplace 

Kevin knew he was named after an Irish saint. We found proof in Ireland. 

We arrived in Dublin and stopped in a beautiful walled park in the middle of the city. They had an impressive garden with apple trees trained to grow on trellisses. 

We then did a bus tour of Dublin. It's the largest city and the capital of Ireland.  Pretty much just a big city.

The president of Ireland's residence 

Guinness Brewery 

We had a bit of a disappointment regarding Guinness. Many of us had signed up for an optional evening tour and dinner event for tomorrow night. Some big corporation booked the whole place both nights we're here, and Guinness canceled the tour groups.

We could have still gone on a self guided tour during the day tomorrow, but their actions led us to forget about visiting. 

Former palace is Prime Minister's residence 

I wonder if Kevin's grandmas relatives own this bar??

Beautiful ivy on expensive homes in one of the squares 

Daniel O'Connell was a very important historical political leader in Ireland.  Known as The Liberator, he led Ireland's Catholics to emancipation in 1829. He was the first Catholic in the United Kingdom Parliament. 

This statue is dedicated to him on a street named after him. In a 1916 rebellion, British troops fired on the statue. There are numerous visible bullet holes still in it.

A bullet hole is visible on the left breast of this angel on the statue 

St. Patrick's Cathedral 

Christ Church Dublin 

Jonathan Swift was from Dublin. There is a building with medallions depicting his story, Gulliver's Travels.

In the evening, we went on an optional dinner and Irish show. The dancers, musicians and singers were all top notch, many of them having performed in professional theater.

It was held in the largest thatched roof structure in Europe, and has been in the family for hundreds of years. 

We have a free day on Wednesday in Dublin. There had been a virus going around the bus with coughing and sniffling. We have both been fighting it, so are going to stay in and rest on our off day.

We are now two-thirds of the way through our trip, leaving Ireland on the ferry Wednesday morning and then finishing up in Wales and a bit more of England. 

Our route today. 

Blarney Castle to Tramore, Ireland October 4, 2026

Our first stop for today is Blarney Castle, home of the famous Stone of Eloquence, better known as the Blarney Stone. 

The castle is located in County Cork, and was built by the clan McCarthy over 600 years ago. 

First glimpse as we came into the small town of Blarney

The castle is not visible unless you pay to enter the 100 acre grounds. They've certainly figured out how to benefit from tourists. We paid our 19 euro senior rate and walked to the first view point.

Views of the castle.

At the center top is the stone to kiss

Closer view of someone up there laying on their back and reaching out backwards while someone holds your legs to kiss the circled area.

Post card showing view from top

One legend of the stone is that the Laird of the castle saved a drowning woman, who granted him a wish. He stuttered, so he wished for good speech. She told him to get a stone from the river and kiss it which gave him the gift of gab and eloquent speech. He then hid the stone at the top of his castle. 

Or, maybe this sign is the truth. 

We passed on that entire experience. It was 90 steps to climb to the top, and then the whole laying down backwards just didn't appeal to us, but several in our group did do it.

The castle grounds have beautiful gardens, I'm sure even more so in summer. They even have a poison garden teaching about poisonous plants. 

There was a stone circle. The story is the Laird had 9 children, 2 sons and 7 daughters. The 2 sons were killed in battle, so he knocked over 2 stones. The 7 standing are for the remaining daughters. 

Jamie Fraser, here I come!!

Harbor where 1950s movie Moby Dick was filmed

 

Our second stop of the day was the harbor town of Waterford, Ireland's oldest city, conquered by the Vikings in the 9th century.  

Reginald's Tower, constructed in 1253, is the only monument in Ireland named in honor of a Viking. There is also a Viking longboat replica.

Also in Waterford is the iconic House of Waterford. We looked around at some of the beautiful crystal pieces. The ones shown below were for sale from 25,000 to 60,000 euros. The Christmas tree didn't have a price. Not today!

Of course, they did have drinking glasses and vases for much less, only hundreds instead of thousands. 

The Irish tricolor flag was first flown here in 1848. It was designed by Irish nationalist, Thomas Francis Meagher. The green represents Protestants, the orange Catholics, and the white peace.

In the evening, we attended an optional excursion, a night of music and drink in a typical Irish pub. The entertainer, Richie, was a great singer and very funny. He sang some old and new songs. It was a very enjoyable evening!!

Our route for today. 

Killarney and The Ring of Kerry, Ireland October 3, 2026

The weather gods are smiling on us again today as we have beautiful sunshine with temperatures in the mid 60s.

We began our day with an optional excursion called the Jaunting Car Ride, a horse drawn buggy ride through part of Killarney National Park. 

The park is Ireland's first national park established in 1934. We saw red deer, native to Ireland; and Japanese deer, which were brought from England in the 1800s for hunting. 

Kerry cows supposedly produce the best cream, used in the creamiest of ice creams. I can attest that ice cream made with this cream is delicious!

This cottage from the 1830s is the only remaining thatched roof building in Killarney. 

Ross Castle, 15th century, overlooks the beautiful Lough Leane and mountains. 

Our driver, Mike, and horse, 12 year old Jessica, did a great job guiding us through traffic.

Killarney cathedral 

Highest mountains in Ireland, about 3,300 feet

Killarney Distillery and Brewery

The Ring of Kerry is a scenic drive with many spectacular views. It's across the water from our drive yesterday, where we couldn't see much of anything. 

Tim with his donkey, Paddy, and dog, Skye, was entertaining tourists at one of the pullouts.

We stopped at this place called Glen Beigh, which is known as a famous "thin place". Our guide has mentioned these thin places before. They are legendary areas where it is thin between this world and the other. Fairies are known to inhabit these areas. I didn't see any unless they were disguised as sheep. 😒

Across the water is the peninsula we were on yesterday 

Waterville is a small village Charlie Chaplin used to visit every year with his family. 

More scenery 

Our scenic route today