UK Roadtrip Take Two - Dublin to Blarney

21st September

This morning we were up showered, dressed, car packed and on the road by 8.30am, I was very impressed at us!  Our final destination Blarney, we had many stops programmed to stop at along the way!

First stop 2 hrs in, was Kilkenny. Here we wandered the town centre and visited the Castle.  Built in 1195 to control a fording-point of the River Nore and the junction of several routeways, Kilkenny Castle was a symbol of Norman occupation.  In its original thirteenth-century condition it would have formed an important element of the defences of the town with four large circular corner towers and a massive ditch, part of which can still be seen today on the Parade. The property was transferred to the people of Kilkenny in 1967 for £50 and the castle and grounds are now managed by the Office of Public Works. The Castle went through major renovations and restorations to restore it to its former glory post 1967 before opening to the public, as majority of the wooden floors and roof had rotted away and the stone work was crumbling underfoot. 

Next up, and the main stop for the day was Waterford. Home to the House of Waterford Crystal, we  embarked on a fully guided tour which took us through the home of Waterford Crystal’s manufacturing facility. During the factory tour we heard and saw exactly how the stunning crystal is made. The Master craftsman demonstrated the traditional methods that are still used to this day as they went about their normal work day. 

After the tour we embarked on a browse through the Waterford Crystal shop.  Too scared to touch much and a bit too pricey for our budgets we headed out to browse the town shopping, before hopping back into the car and making the 2 hour drive to Blarney.

In Blarney, our accommodation was a converted cattle yard on a working dairy farm.  A beautiful new building we highly recommend, our host met us at the door and gave us the full tour before we retired to our little beds!

Kilkenny Castle

 

Kilkenny Castle Dining Room and Grounds

Kilkenny Picture Gallery

Kilkenny Inner Courtyard

Coffee and lunch on the go!

 

The most expensive piece in the store: Cinderella's Carriage

The only blue Waterford Crystal Jug in existance

The spare NFL Trophy!!

 

The Tradesmen.  It is a 4 year apprenticeship and a further 3 years to become a master in one aspect of the craft

The spare 9/11 memorial piece, the main is on display at the closest Fire Department to the site of the Twin Towers

UK Roadtrip Take Two - Dublin Day Two

20th September




This morning it was an early start heading off to Trinity College and the Book of Kells.  A little birdie (thanks Rachael!) told us to get there early as the queues formed quickly.  After planning a list of areas we could park, we got parking in the first and cheapest place I had planned for us and we walked into Trinity College with all the other students.  Trinity College, officially the College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity of Queen Elizabeth near Dublin, is the sole constituent college of the University of Dublin.  The college was founded in 1592 by Queen Elizabeth I as the "mother" of a new university.  It was modelled after the collegiate universities of Oxford and Cambridge, but unlike these other ancient universities, only one college was ever established; as such, the designations "Trinity College" and "University of Dublin" are usually synonymous for practical purposes.
Trinity College is surrounded by central Dublin and is located on College Green, opposite the historic Irish Houses of Parliament. The college proper occupies 190,000 m² (47 acres), with many of its buildings ranged around large quadrangles (known as 'squares') and two playing fields.
The Library of Trinity College is a legal deposit library for Ireland and the United Kingdom, containing over 6.2 million printed volumes and significant quantities of manuscripts, including the Book of Kells, the book we were here to see!


The Book of Kells is an illuminated manuscript Gospel book in Latin, containing the four Gospels of the New Testament together with various prefatory texts and tables. It was created in a Columban monastery in either Britain or Ireland and may have had contributions from various Columban institutions from both Britain and Ireland. It is believed to have been created c. 800 AD. The text of the Gospels is largely drawn from the Vulgate, although it also includes several passages drawn from the earlier versions of the Bible known as the Vetus Latina. It is a masterwork of Western calligraphy and represents the pinnacle of Insular illumination. It is also widely regarded as Ireland's finest national treasure.


The illustrations and ornamentation of the Book of Kells surpass that of other Insular Gospel books in extravagance and complexity. The decoration combines traditional Christian iconography with the ornate swirling motifs typical of Insular art. Figures of humans, animals and mythical beasts, together with Celtic knots and interlacing patterns in vibrant colours, enliven the manuscript's pages. Many of these minor decorative elements are imbued with Christian symbolism and so further emphasise the themes of the major illustrations.


The manuscript today comprises 340 folios and, since 1953, has been bound in four volumes. The leaves are on high-quality calf vellum, and the unprecedentedly elaborate ornamentation that covers them includes ten full-page illustrations and text pages that are vibrant with decorated initials and interlinear miniatures and mark the furthest extension of the anti-classical and energetic qualities of the artwork. The script of the text itself appears to be the work of at least three different scribes. The lettering is in iron gall ink, and the colours used were derived from a wide range of substances, many of which were imports from distant lands.
The manuscript takes its name from the Abbey of Kells, which was its home for centuries, before being sent to Dublin for safe keeping. Today, it is on permanent display at Trinity College Library. The Library usually displays two of the current four volumes at a time, one showing a major illustration and the other showing typical text pages, and the entire manuscript can be viewed on the Library's Digital Collections Repository. Of course, with our track record in Dublin, an alarm had gone off within the exhibition the week prior, and as a result the book had been removed to the library's vault for evaluation and conditioning reports.  Instead on display was a very fine replica.  We were still able to see the exhibition and the long reading room in the library which were just as impressive. 
After finishing up in the library, we wandered out of Trinity College, and into the city.  We walked down the main street of Dublin and then back to the car through the Temple Bar District.  Here we found the typical Irish pubs with beautiful hanging baskets of flowers outside their doors. 
Once we got back to the car and had a snack, we piled in and drove out of the city to do some factory outlet shopping! We spent the afternoon there, stopping at Tescos twice on the way home to get dinner and then some more things we forgot!

The Book of Kells Exhibition

 

 

The Long Room in the Library

Trinity College

 

Temple Bar

UK Roadtrip Take Two - Dublin

19th September


Today was another day, and it could not have been worse or more stressful than yesterday if it tried!


We woke this morning and hung out at home for a while before heading off around town.  With my googling and planning the night before we knew almost nothing opened before 1000 here but we were still early to the first shops we went to!!  First good sign of the day, a nice person left a paid parking ticket in the machine for us to find and use!


From our little spot of shopping, we headed into the city to go to the Guinness Storehouse.  Guinness is synonymous with Ireland and no visit to Dublin is complete without a trip to the Guinness Storehouse – the Home of Guinness, or so we were told!

Located in the heart of the legendary St. James’s Gate Brewery in Dublin, the site has been home to the Guinness Brewery since 1759, when Arthur Guinness signed a lease for 9,000 years. The Guinness Storehouse building dates back to 1904 and is built in the style of the Chicago School of Architecture. It was once the fermentation plant of the brewery and is now a seven-storey visitor experience dedicated to the history of the making of this world famous beer.

The Guinness Storehouse is the Home of Guinness, where you can discover what goes into the making of each and every pint, and learn about the incredible brand history stretching over 250 years. The tale unfolds across seven floors shaped around a giant pint, which, if filled would contain 14.3 million pints of Guinness. We learnt about the age-old art of brewing that makes Guinness so distinctive; and were able to visit the Tasting rooms, a multisensory tasting experience designed to help you appreciate the distinctive taste of the iconic stout, from the very first velvet sip to the last lingering drop.  It was unique experience wandering through the storehouse and a fascinating tale of the process of how Guinness is and was made.  To finish off the experience, your ticket (if you are over 18!) gives you one free pint of Guinness to enjoy.  I had mine in the Observation Deck on the 7th floor, with some blueberry extract added to take away the bitterness of the hobs.  I definitely recommend going if you are ever in Dublin and definitely adding the blueberry extract makes Guinness that little bit sweeter!


After we finished here we went for a walk almost into Dublin City centre but not quite.  Might as well make use of the free parking at Guinness hey!? We came back to our car and departed the city centre, going for a bit of scenic drive around, mostly due my poor navigational skills and our lack of knowledge of Irish road rules (I'd just got used to the UK system again too!).  We finally made it out and headed out to visit the Irish Girl Guide Headquarters and shop, where Mum and I spent far more than we needed too!


By then it was late afternoon/early evening, so we headed out to the major shopping mall/retail park Mum and I had found the night before and had a wander through there, ending up in Tesco buying our dinner!

 

How they make the barrels

 

The Tasting Rooms

The Guinness Harp and Advertising

 

UK Roadtrip Take Two - Holyhead to Dublin

18th September

Today started off as normal, we got up and sorted our luggage into the car and locked up our little house behind us. We already know our original ferry had been cancelled due to the weather, and we had been moved to a later ferry at 2pm instead. This meant we had more time in the morning to sort ourselves out and do a bit of shopping when we got to Holyhead. 

We found Holyhead and the city centre with no problems and wandered around for a while before getting into the car to head to the ferry.  This was when I found out my phone had decided to go for a walk by itself.  Thankfully a lovely lady had found it and through a very tense 45 mins later, several calls to Australia and back, I managed to meet her in front of the Co-op and retrieve my phone. Thank God for honest people. 

This put us running a bit behind schedule.  We struggled to find a petrol station to fill the hire car up before returning it to the Hertz man.  We must have literally been the last bus load of people onto the ferry as they literally shut the doors behind us.  BUT, we made it onto the ferry!

The ferry was massive! Very nicely set out, with lots of different rooms and forms of entertainment.  We settled our selves in the bar in a booth with two cushy arm chairs. Unfortunately there were no window seats left, but we could see around and outside enough.  The first half of the journey was pleasant enough, the Captain had warned us of rough seas and you did sway a little when you walked around. It wasn't until the second half of the journey the sea sickness started! Let's just say there is definitely no career in the Navy for me!

Once we arrived in Dublin, it was reiterated to us that we were the last on, as all our luggage was the first to come off the boat! So we collected them all, piled them onto a trolley and went to find the Hertz man here.  But there was no Hertz man. 

Our car was waiting in the City for us to collect not at the ferry. 

And the City car rental place was closed.

And our Airbnb Lady was waiting at our accommodation to meet us. (We had informed her of the change of ferry time, however had assumed we could be there straight after we docked).

So now we had to catch a taxi to our accommodation, throw Nan out to organise that and Mum and I took the taxi out to the airport to organise the car.

Thankfully the nice ferry lady rung us a taxi (who took 45 mins to appear!!) and we were on our way.  We threw Nan out the car as we passed, and continued on to the airport.  Again, Thankfully they had an appropriate car we could use as the one we had hired wasn't there!

Mum and I made it back to our Airbnb, stopping for milk along the way and making several unintentional detours when we missed the turn offs and corners and finished a VERY stressful day with a nice cup of tea.  Sorry for the extra grey hairs Mum and Nan!