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Friday 6/22

Arrived in Ireland on Friday morning.  The airport originally housed dirigibles and seaplanes in the nearby River Abbey.  Met our guide, Robin Collins, and driver, Stefan, and boarded our bus (called a coach in England).  This was Robin’s last tour before his retirement.  We enjoyed both of them immensely even though at times they were disorganized, and they got lost five times in the first few days.  We learned that Ireland has only 4M people, while Northern Ireland called Ulster, has 1.7M. Robin said that Eire is the name for Ireland in the local language.   Richard, the guide for the other coach, was also very well educated and likable.

We immediately got lost looking for Bunratty Castle and Folk Park, and we drove into Limerick and then turned around immediately and drove almost back to the airport.  We did get to glimpse the 12th century King John’s Castle in the distance, but this appeared to be unplanned.

 Bunratty Castle, http://www.shannonheritage.com/Attractions/BunrattyCastleFolkPark/  built in 1469, is a cross between the earlier Norman Castles and later Gaelic tower houses. It is a rectangular tower with three main floors and four, six-storey corner turrets. It has been furnished with the finest collection of medieval furniture in the country, thus preserving a vital part of the Celtic heritage.  We walked up to the main room and looked out several archer windows.   There was light misty rain, but this was better than the frequent rain that had been falling across most of the United Kingdom.

The Folk Center shows buildings preserving early Irish life. Peat fires were burning in many of the buildings. Later we drove by areas were peat was being mined. The Byre House, a late 19th century farmhouse had a small bedroom and attic sleeping quarters like what I image Nana Guldi would have lived in when she was sent back to Ireland from Brooklyn as a child. 

Arrived at the Killarney Towers Hotel in downtown Killarney, where we enjoyed the swimming pool and hot tub. The Friday night buffet had exquisite vegetables.  Unfortunately, many rooms were over the bar which was obnoxiously noisy until late in the morning.  We could hear the noise but were too tired to be bothered much.