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We are back in Green Bay, safe and sound.  If there is a final word on our trip it would be Gratitude.

One of our favorite roads

We are grateful that all the major things that could have gone wrong, didn't.  The biggest one is not being killed in the rental car.  The guy at the rental desk said about 1/3 of the cars come back with some damage (granted he's the guy who tries to sell you the insurance). 

I am personally grateful that my feet did not literally fall off.  We walked so much more than I have in a long time.  We are grateful the B and B's that we booked turned out to be nice.  It's a little bit of a crap shoot choosing something on-line.  We are grateful to Claire at the Kinsale Council taking pity on ignorant tourists and waving our $48 parking ticket (we didn't see the sign).  We are grateful for trains and planes that ran on time. 

We are very, very grateful our return flight was able to land in Chicago.  It was just

starting to snow when we landed.  The snow soon turned into a blizzard as we drove between Chicago and Milwaukee.  By the time we stopped for breakfast/lunch or dinner in Sheboygan (one is always confused about time after a long fight), we learned that since we landed in Chicago over 700 flights had been cancelled.

But perhaps on an even grander scale we are grateful for where we live.  Ireland is a beautiful country and you should consider visiting.  However, the country which is smaller than Wisconsin, is poor in natural resources.  As one Irishman told us, even today it's almost a rite of passage for many families to have children grow up and leave Ireland and never move back, not because of choice but because of necessity.  We spoke to many people who have children, brothers and sisters in the U.S., Australia and Canada.  So with this in mind, we are grateful to my ancestors, the Blaneys, the Earlys, the Hogans and Brodericks who left Ireland to start a new life in the U.S.  

We sincerely enjoyed our trip and we enjoyed blogging about it.  To us, it was just another way to journal about our experience.  We know that not everyone was hanging on to our every word but it was our way to inform the people who were interested.

In closing, I remember Cathy's late uncle, Bob Ahasay, who told me, "If I get to heaven and I think I will, I'll recognize it because I've been to Ireland. "

Thanks for sharing in this adventure!
                         Ken and Cathy

Guinness and Dublin

Our Saturday began with a 

tour of the 

Guinness Factory.  

There are 3 million pints of beer brewed here EVERY DAY!  The tour was unexpectedly fun.  We were inside Guinness for almost three hours.  Highlights included a small "how to taste a Guinness" the "how to properly pour a pint of Guinness" (and drink it), a taste test of a citric Guinness and finally a pint of Guinness on their top floor 360 degree overlook with great views of the city!

Knowing that we had precious few hours of daylight in which to tour the rest of the city, we took an Uber to St. Steven's Green - think Central Park but in Dublin.  The driver, like most Irishmen, was conversational and informative.   At 4:00 we finally settled down for lunch in a pub.  

We walked the iconic Grafton Street a final time to soak in the Christmas lights and atmosphere.  

We walked the quad at Trinity College before stopping at a pub in the Temple Bar area for a  ceremonial round of Baileys and some traditional Irish music before walking back to our apartment.   

It was a great day.  

Dublin

Brazen Head Pub

Saturday was another "moving day".  We said good bye to  Kinsale and drove to Dublin where we delightfully turned in our rental car!  Cathy nearly cried for joy.  We left our bags at our rental and set out to see the city.

Today's sights included lunch at The Brazen Head,

Ha'penny Bridge

Ireland's oldest pub, the Ha'penny bridge, Temple Bar, Molly Malone (The Tart With The Cart), Grafton Street, a quick stop in for prayer at the Carmelite Church and a coffee/hot chocolate on a street corner cafe.  It was  a wonderful and exhausting day!

Temple Bar

She Wheeled her Wheelbarrow...... 

Nollaig Shona Duit
Merry Christmas

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving in Kinsale - or as they call it here, Thursday, started with a walk to the

parish church for 8:30 Mass.  The church was built in the 1830s and I think the founding pastor presided at the Mass.  We struggled in the beginning when we repeated the Confiteor (through my fault, through my fault.....) but we dug in and the rest of the Mass went well.  After Mass we lit two candles and said a Memorare in memory of our parents.  

Mass was followed by a "mini" Irish breakfast in town consisting of egg, toast, sausage, ham and hash browns.  There was a defibrillator across the street mounted on a wall.  I wonder why.  We worked off some of the breakfast by strolling the streets of Kinsale.  Have I mentioned driving?  Pictured here is a two way street that we have driven many, many times.  (Click on the photo to enlarge it).   

Even though we felt like the only four people in Ireland celebrating Thanksgiving, we gave it our best.  Using "Slingbox" we were able to tap into our TV at home and were able to watch most of the Macy's parade.  We also bought and ate a rotessiere chicken, some kind of do-it-your self stuffing, mashed potatos, bread, corn and a Guiness!  But most importantly we enjoyed each others' company.  While we all miss our friends and family it's been a Thanksgiving we'll never forget.   

Kinsale

Kinsale:

View from our living room

Just a note about where we are staying.  We found this place on VRBO.  It's half of a duplex and is a 5-10 minute walk down to the village center (5 minutes down and 10 minutes up).  Staying here costs less then a bed and breakfast and allows us to prepare and eat meals.  The unit we chose is ideal.  It has a nice size kitchen and a nice size living room.

Our fireplace 

Cathy and I bought two, little battery lit Christmas trees, Kathleen brought along some Christmas lights for the mantel and Erin brought along a scented candle and a Christmas CD, so our little home is truly charming.  

On Wednesday we took a walking tour of Kinsale.  We learned of the many Irish tragedies in which the city played a part, the sinking of the Lusitania, the failed battle of Kinsale (which defined a divided Ireland to this day), the jailing of American citizens for their support of General Washington and the defeat by Cromwell who rode his horses down the aisle of the nearby Abbey.  

After lunch we drove to a 9-11 memorial that the guide had told us

In memory of Fr. Judge

about.  A local woman had been a nurse in New York.  She had worked closely with many of the fire fighters killed that day.  The Irish woman was moved to plant a tree for each fallen fighter back in Ireland. Each tree holds a small plaque with a firefighter's name.  Many of the trees had NYFD hats hung on them, some had NYFD shirts or memorial cards hung on them.  We found the tree planted for Fr. Mychal Judge, the FD Chaplain.  While it took some searching we also found the tree holding the name of the father of a friend of Kathleen's who had been killed by one of the collapsing towers. It will be nice for her to know that even in Ireland, people remember and pray for her father and for her family.  

The four of us stopped at a shop to look at Aran sweaters.  The shopkeeper proved beyond a doubt the theory that there is not an Irishman alive who can tell a short story.  He has 31 first cousins living in the U.S. and if another customer hadn't walked in, he would have told us each of their life stories.

After completing our grocery shopping in preparation of tomorrow's feast Kathleen and I payed a visit to Our Lady of Mount Carmel church, over looking the city.  The sun was setting and the church was growing dark as the priest popped his head out to say "well, let me at least put on a few lights for you", which he did.  

It was a good day.  

Kathleen, Erin and Jameson

On Saturday, Cathy and I jumped into the death mobile and drove to Cork. Cathy held out a sign which read "Blaney" and look who she found!  

We stopped at a grocery on our way back to Kinsale to pick up some food staples.

The girls were pretty sleep deprived so we watched a Hallmark movie and off to bed they went - for 11 hours.  

Sunday began with a quick walk to Mass at St. John the Baptist which was built in 1839.  Mass was followed by a walk-a-bout in the cobble stoned village and a "grand" lunch.  On our way back to our new home we stopped at Multose Abbey which is over 850 year old, part of the Church of Ireland.  

Sunday was Mass and Monday was a tour of the Jameson Distillery in Midleton, about 50 minutes away.    It was a great tour.  ALL Jameson and Powers whiskey is made here.  It is the only Jameson Distillery in the world.  Following the tour there's is a taste test with three generous shots of whiskey: Jameson, a Scotch whiskey and an American whiskey - seriously!  Then they give you a ticket for a whiskey at their bar!!  Now, this place is in a small town - 20 minutes from anywhere so they must realize that people drive there!  How is this a good idea?  Needless to say, we also had lunch there.  We later found a movie theater and saw Fantastic Beasts, The Crimes of Grindelwald before driving home.  Great day.  

Leaving Cobh

Before leaving Cobh we made one last stop at the Cobh Historical Center.  We spent two full

Annie Moore and her
Two brothers

hours walking through the exhibits which could have been characterized as the  Emigration from Ireland (the country's population is still lower than it was before the famine), the Titanic and the Lusitania.  Cobh was the last stop of the Titanic before its sinking.  The Lusitania was torpedoed off the coast of Cobh.  The survivors were brought to the shoreline hotel where we had slept the night before and many of the dead were buried at the Old Church Cemetery in Cobh.  

Click to enlarge

At the historical center there is a statue dedicated to Annie Moore.  She emigrated from Ireland and was the first official immigrant to enter Ellis Island.  There is a similar statue of her at Ellis Island. 

There was a small quote from President Kennedy on the wall.  It read, "Most countries send out oil or iron, steel or gold or some other crop but Ireland has had only one export and that is its people."  Since the 1700s, it is estimated that between 9-10 million people have emigrated from Ireland.  For perspective, the total population today is 4.8 million.  

On to Kinsale!

Cobh

A two-way street in
Killarney

Today was one of those unexpected pleasure days that happens every now and again when a person travels.  The weather was once again "soft".   There was no reason to continue our stay in Killarney so we headed off in the general direction of Cork.  The driving was going well so we continued to a smaller city, called Cobh (pronounced Cove).  We had been here 17 years ago and when we were here we enrolled the girls into a school for part of the day.  The city holds fond memories for us and even back then we said we'd like to come back when we retired.  

Cobh is the home of St. Colman Cathedral.  It sits upon a great hill overlooking the

harbor.  We ducked into the church to say a prayer and to soak in it's beauty.  It is truly a beautiful church and dominates the city.  Later, as we strolled the dock area, the sun came out and the world seemed a better place.  

The city of Cobh was the last stop of the Titanic before it left for New York, so there is a Titanic experience/museum in town to which we availed ourselves today.  

The port of Cobh was also the port of exit for many of the Irish during the famine years.  During the famine 6 million people left the country, 2.5 million of them left from this port.    

It is truly a beautiful city and we'll be sad to say good bye to it tomorrow as we head to Kinsale.  

Ring of Kerry

We've learned that people eat a little later over here.  Cathy & I stopped into a restaurant on our way to the cinema (I said "movie" and I was politely corrected).  The menu featured early bird specials from 5-7:30 p.m.!

I have mentioned the fare that comprises a traditional Irish breakfast in earlier posts., sausages, ham, eggs etc.  With this in mind, it only makes sense that we came across this, just down the street.  The defibrillator booth is very much like a phone booth here, no phone but it does have a defibrillator.

We took a day long tour around the Ring of Kerry today.  The weather was a little "dewey" or "soft" meaning it rained off and on all day.  There was still some stunning scenery.  

Part of the tour included a brief stop at a famine village.  

There were actual time period buildings, supplemented with recreations of buildings used during the time of the potato famine.  We are so very grateful that my descendants left Ireland.  It was a terrible time in this nation's history and they suffered more than most of could have endured.

Part of the tour included a lunch (ok, I see the irony of going right from the famine village to lunch) in the small village of Waterville.  In the village there is a life size statue of Charlie Chaplin placed in a place of prominence.  It seems he spent a good deal of time here.  Who knew?

Upon returning to Killarney we checked out St. Mary Cathedral, another unexpected gem!

Limerick

There once were two folks from the states.

When at Limmerick they went through the gates,

Although they were scared 

For driving they dared

T'was the Whiskey that sealed their fates. 

St. John Cathedral

As bad as that is, it should give you a hint that we stopped in the city of Limerick. Our only stop was at St. John's Cathedral where apparently the big donors are pork butchers (See photo).

 

Click photo to enlarge

We made it safely to Kilarney, the city known for it's natural beauty.  Killarney is home to the Ring of Kerry, the Lakes of Killarney, Muckross Abbey and is not too far from the Dingle Peninsula.  However we may have run out of luck with the weather.  It is currently pouring outside with more rain predicted for the next two days.  We are assessing our options over a nice cup of hot tea.  The options include dinner, a movie and maybe topping the night off with some traditional music and a Guiness. 

Even I figured out "don't fall off
A cliff"

I'm only now starting to understand the meanings of some of the highway signs.  Some need more

Traffic Calming does nothing to
Calm me.  

explanation than others.  We've learned that a "Traffic Calming" is an abrupt narrowing of the road just outside a village or city.  The road is artificially narrowed by significant curbs.  A slow down sign must not have been doing the trick.  

Out into the rain we go!

Cliffs of Moher

Greetings from Galway!

Today we decided to leave the car at our B and B and take bus tour.  It was a smart choice.  We left at 9:00 and arrived back at the B &B at 6:00.

The tour started at a 16th Century castle known at Dunguaire Castle.  

We proceeded to a Wedge tomb in the Burren area dating back to

2500 B.C.   After which we stopped at a pub for Guiness Stew and a Guiness for lunch.  Only in Ireland can you pull up to a pub door with 52 passengers and have a quickly served lunch.

The next stop was the reason we came to Galway.  The Cliffs of Moher is like the Grand Canyon.  You may have seen it before, you may have built it up so much in your mind that you feel it won't measure up - but like the Grand Canyon, it doesn't disappoint.  The Cliffs rise 700 over the Atlantic Ocean!  We were lucky to get some good photos in before the rain and wind hit.  It was spectacular!   

There were a few additional stops on the tour and we got some good pictures and had a super day!

We returned to our B and B and went to the corner pub for dinner.  You can see by the photo that they

decorate pubs a little differently here for the Holidays

On to Killarney!

Galway

Before we left Ballintubber, we had a last Irish Breakfast with our hosts, Bridget, Sean and their son.  This breakfast was even bigger than our previous breakfast feasts!  We had three kinds of sausages, cereal, juice, coffee, ham, scones, Irish soda bread, eggs, tomato and fruit.  She seemed genuinely surprised when we couldn't eat it all.  "Here dear, take this plastic bag and take the scones and breads.  You can have them with a cup of tea later in the day".  After chatting we discovered that Sean, Bridget, Cathy and I had all been on the same plane from Chicago to Dublin!  What a small world!

The ride to Galway was mercifully only an hour long and the roads were....fine.  We walked the coastline of Galway Bay.  Any of us who grew up in an Irish household listening to Dennis Day and Bing Crosby singing Irish Music remembers the song, Galway Bay.  It reminds us all to watch the sun go down o'er Galway Bay.  

                                     

We later ducked into a coffee shop to wait out a short rain and strolled the pedestrian mall where the shops and windows were already decked out for Christmas.

We later visited the Galway Cathedral.  Ancient looking for being built in .....1965!  I was wearing shoes older than that.  Inside they were practicing for a concert tonight commemorating the 100th anniversary of Armistice Day.  We are seeing lots of photos and news about Theresa May and Emmanuel Macron and we were wondering if the anniversary was as big of a thing in the US and we were also wondering why Trump was not with May and Macron.  

Add caption

We came upon St. Nicholas Church.  Cathy:  "Is it Catholic?"  Me:  "It was".  (See previous post regarding Cromwell).  

Finally we made arrangements for a bus tour which will bring us to the Cliffs of Moher tomorrow.   After a stroll up to the street for a quick pint it was off to bed!