Ireland: Day 9 (from Kinsale)

There's a café on the ground floor of the Old Bank House, which is reserved for residents' breakfast till 10.30 - checkout time, and conveniently, also the start of parking restrictions where we'd parked, i.e. we'd have to pay to park from that time. And it was the only place on our travels that served baked beans for breakfast! (in a little pot). Cool.. I love 'em.

We passed through Cork city on the way north, but didn't stop. Honestly, I spent nearly two years living there, and while, of course, you could find something to do if you had to - still I couldn't think of a single thing worth stopping for as we were passing through. We did stop in Blarney though, parking in the famous Woollen Mills (largest Irish shop in the world). It's walking distance from there to the famous castle, although - unlike in times past - you can't even enter the grounds without buying a ticket. Which we didn't do - that infamous stone they get the tourists to kiss is (a) hard to get to, involving a climb and being held as you bend over backwards above a sheer drop, and (b) simply part of an ancient urinal. Instead, we meandered along the railing, through the car park till we got a bit of a view:

On our way back to the Woollen Mills, we stopped off at a gift shop to the side - where we made more purchases than in all the time we subsequently spent in the "largest Irish shop in the world". And let not the Blarney Chocolate Factory be forgotten - a little shop at the side of the road, it's a treasure chest of sweet delights. Purchases were made there, too. For the woollen mills, however - although we walked their length, and marvelled at their goods: well, partly the problem was that, despite the break in the weather, it was still hot, and woollens just didn't do it for us..

Not hungry enough for lunch yet, we drove on - by the time we got to Charleville, we were hungry enough, and from my time driving to and from Cork on this road, I knew the East Ocean Chinese restaurant was worth a stop. The town was busy, and we were lucky to get parking - we were also lucky with our timing, as they were close to closing for lunch. I'd only been here for dinner previously, and I see for lunch they close the back section, and have a simple, one-page menu of the most popular choices. Fair enough, and we ordered - and were simply, quickly, and satisfyingly fed. We didn't bother with dessert, and afterwards wandered across the road to a curio shop. Where we saw some curious things, but none that tempted us to buy.

Back to my mother's, then, and a few hours to relax before the evening.. we had booked tickets for a banquet at nearby Bunratty Castle. First, mind, a last dash to Dunnes in Ennis, where Helen had a mind to do a final shop. I instructed her that she had 15 minutes.. and 15 minutes we spent (less, actually, I think). Then a quick drive along the main road, and we found ourselves at Bunratty with 20 minutes to spare. Just nice. As you come from the Ennis direction, the castle - hidden by trees - is on you before you know it; the road curves around the corner of the castle itself.

We continued to the car park, and got out in lashing rain. We found ourselves in the company of a hen party (well, that promised some fun!) and followed them through the entrance, into the gift shop, which wisely stays open till the start of the later performance of the evening. We browsed but didn't buy, ultimately continuing through the folk park to the castle itself, led by young ladies in unwise high heels, rather fetching floral garlands on their heads. They usually have a piper at the entrance, but not in this weather:

Inside, we climbed the spiral staircase (fear not, there's a handrail) to the entrance hall, where folks in medieval garb served us mead, before they took the podium for a brief lecture on the history of the castle, then broke into a madrigal:

 

(As ever, more pictures here.) Downstairs again to the banqueting hall. We were assigned seats depending on the number in our party, and found ourselves seated decently close to the entertainment:

Seating is on benches at long tables, and you are furnished with a knife and some napkins - otherwise, just a finger bowl and a bowl for drinks. Jugs of white and red wine are provided, and a larger jug of water; all are unlimited for the duration of the meal. The menu is given on the banquet website - despite the description of "spiced parsnip soup" to start, we thought it tasted more of oxtail; this you drink by lifting it to your mouth (very practical, I think). Spare ribs - the ultimate finger food - to follow, along with chicken served with diced vegetables: all easy enough to skewer with the knife, the same you use throughout. The only relaxation of the cutlery rules is when they provide you with a spoon for dessert.

We were fed well enough, although I don't think many managed the full meal before they came to clear away; it's just that bit slower, when you don't have the implements you're used to! And the wine made us very merry, as the entertainments started in earnest, and we joined in a singalong. Finally, we wound our careful way into the night, passing again through the giftshop, where they were still willing to sell us mead. But no, home to bed for us.

The following day was the day of our flight back to London. Flying with Ryanair, we couldn't check in for free until a week beforehand - so we waited until we visited my friend's house, and checked in using her computer. This was just two days before the flight.. now, they obviously fill from the back (hoping you'll pay for a better seat), because when we checked in, as early as possible, for our outbound flight, we were allocated seats in the very back row of the plane. Checking in two days before the flight, however, we were allocated seats all the way up in Row 3! You have been told..

We arrived at Shannon airport in good time, intending to eat before boarding. Unfortunately, Helen had a bag to check, and Ryanair bag drop doesn't open until two hours before flight time - so we ended up getting a meal deal from WH Smith, as the public café closes at 2, it transpires, and the only other option for full meals is past security. When we did eventually get that far, the queue was horrendous, anyway - the Green Army was on the march (and I wished them luck). So we grabbed a table at Zest!, a new food option beside the pub. Well, the pastry I had was good (not as good as that at Kylemore, mind), but I will NEVER again order those lukewarm chips.. ugh.

Finally on the plane, we weren't going anywhere fast - turns out all that rain we'd been missing had fallen on Gatwick instead, where it had knocked a hole in the runway. We did get back eventually.. rather exhausted, rather impressed, rather determined to return and do the bits we'd missed. We did see and do an awful lot during our stay.. we did enjoy ourselves. And we do recommend it!

Next blog post - back to London.

Ireland: Day 8 (Bantry to Kinsale)

Nearly there. We're now up to Friday morning, which is market day in Bantry - so, after checking out and moving the bags to the car, we explored the market, a short walk from the hotel. First though, we said we'd pay a quick trip to Bantry Museum, up some steps on the other side of the square - as advertised in that booklet we'd picked up. It's small - just two rooms, cluttered with stuff of varying age collected by the historical society. But you know, it's very interesting - plenty of local memorabilia, and we were happy to sign the visitors' book and give a small donation.

A stroll around the market also offered some interesting possibilities, and this time we could buy what we were looking at! Indeed, the rain didn't deter us, and an interesting purchase was made. Local markets can be good for finding the unusual.. and that was it for Bantry, as we headed, at a leisurely pace, for Kinsale - the end of the Wild Atlantic Way, and where we were to meet an old college friend of mine for dinner.

Our first stop was in Skibbereen, where I'd seen in the booklet there was a heritage centre, with a famine exhibition that sounded interesting. We found this without difficulty, parking outside, and went to the reception desk - where we were asked whether we wanted to be depressed first, or afterwards. We decided to take our depression first, and were directed to the famine exhibition, to the left.

They're right - this is an excellent exhibit: very informative, quite moving. Skibbereen, it seems, was one of the worst-hit areas, making it an appropriate site for such a display. Information boards, graphs, and videos with actors representing different typical characters of the time, (some with narration by Jeremy Irons, who owns nearby Kilcoe Castle) all combine to tell the saddest of stories.

I knew it was basically caused by potato blight, but never understood the intricacies - now I've had it explained. It seems that food was available for purchase - but, as explained painstakingly in one of the videos, whereas this was all right as a supplement when the poor had a basic diet of potatoes, they could never afford to have potatoes replaced entirely! As for living near the coast, and having a diet of fish.. in one of the great tragedies of the time, thinking this to be a short-lived problem, they pawned their fishing boats to buy food. By the time that was gone, there were still no potatoes to sustain them - the famine lasted for six years, the money ran out, they had no way of getting food.. The population fell by half, between death and emigration, and has hardly increased since. It's a shock to realise that the population of the whole island is still only just over half that of London..

Moving on, we watched a much cheerier video about the nearby Lough Hyne, a marine lake and Ireland's first marine nature reserve. And then had a stroll around the gift shop - an American (by his accent) was researching his genealogy in the corner; they do that here too. After all, this area would have been one of the prime ones for emigration..

And so on to Clonakilty, by which time we were hungry enough for lunch. Market day here too, and oh boy. Helen remarked that this was the first really busy place we'd found in the whole country! What with traffic, and one-way streets, we had some trouble getting to our preferred car park (courtesy of that booklet again). Well, we eventually did, and wandered a bit - unfortunately, we didn't have much of an idea where to eat. The local Londis had some kind of a promotion, a mini red double decker open top bus travelling the streets.. For our part, when we came across O' Donovan's, the menu looked decent and we ate at the self-service there. And afterwards? The traffic had vanished. Huh.

Soon after leaving Clonakilty, we left the main road, taking a secondary road to Kinsale. And so we passed through Timoleague, where we stopped, seeing the sign for the Friary. Free to enter, it's a fascinating ruin - something of a maze as you wander through its existing doorways:

Again, more photos here.

And at the information board at the entrance, you can read about how it was a major centre of learning, until successive waves of English soldiers put paid to that.

Up the road, Timoleague Church is worth a look, with its spiral timeline in the grounds, although we hadn't the energy to climb to see the interior:

Further along the road, we came to Ballinspittle - famous to a generation of Irish people as the home of the infamous "moving statue". She didn't budge for us though..

And so to Kinsale, in a return of brilliant sunshine, and in the midst of what seemed like a classic car rally. We parked in the town's main car park, by the harbour, and paid for a couple of hours' parking - that's all we needed, until the parking restrictions eased for the evening. And we went in search of accommodation.. this, unfortunately, was the very first place where we had trouble in finding it, the first two places sold out for what seemed a large wedding. Third time lucky - trying in the Blue Haven, we were sent two doors down the road to the Old Bank House, also under their ownership. We were glad to discover there was a small lift - and although it was almost twice the price of anywhere else we stayed on this trip, and breakfast was extra, we were glad to have a bed. And the rooms were undoubtedly lovely:

We'd both now about reached the limit of travelling.. after a brief stop to refresh ourselves, we were off to pick my friend up, in Garretstown:

Brought her back into town, where we ate conveniently, and deliciously, in the Blue Haven's Bar & Bistro - quite the most delicious meal I had on the whole trip. And enormous sundaes on the dessert menu:

Bade farewell (for now) to my friend, who got a cab home - and bade farewell to the Wild Atlantic Way, as the next day we were to head inland, and back north..