Ireland - Cork

We stayed an extra day in Cork. There really is a lot to see in the area, not to mention the city itself. yesterday was a full day! Today would be the same.

We got up early to make the short trip to Blarney Castle. We wanted to be there just before opening so I could use my drone to take some arial photos. None of us had ever been there before. The land around the castle is so expansive, that idea was scrapped pretty quickly.

From the entrance, it's a short walk across the grounds before you can get a glimpse of Blarney Castle. It is worth the wait. The first view is beautiful with the castle slightly elevated above the grounds as we approached.

First view: Blarney Castle

Blarney Castle

Looking up the tower, that balcony section makes Blarney Castle truly unique.

There were caves under the castle. We all ventured part way in, Matt went a little farther. The castle dungeon was allegedly at the end of the cave.

Matt in a cave under the castle

With few people ahead of us, we climbed the tower to kiss the Blarney stone. If you ever visited a castle, you know the tower is a circular staircase; similar to a lighthouse. This tower was no different... except, the staircase gradually gets narrower as you approach the top, and the ceiling gets lower.  It gets so narrow, my shoulders were nearly touching each wall on the sides; so low that I had to bend over and my camera backpack was stuck against the ceiling. I had to take my backpack off.

The Irish have tales about the wee people...  Ancient Irish people were pretty small; based on the doorways in the common living areas.

Brynn took live photos of each of us kissing the Blarney Stone. Sadly, nobody took her picture. I didn't know until afterwards. It didn't occur to me. I usually take scenic vista photos and rarely photograph people. In fact, most of the people photos in this blog posts were taken by Brynn or Grace. Still, I felt really bad being the bad dad.

Kevin Kissing the Blarney Stone

Brynn enjoying the view from the top of the tower

View from the tower

Like most castles, the wooden roof and inside have long since rotted away. They are just skeletal remains; reminding us of their former glory.

The inner area of the castle

The next two photos are exceptions to my not taking photos of people. I felt it was better to be behind the camera, rather than in front of it.

Grace, Brynn and Matt

Grace and Matt

We only saw a small portion of the grounds surrounding the Blarney Castle. These ferns gave me the feeling that  a dinosaur would be around the next bend.

Fern Trees

Instead, is was a waterfall.

In another garden, there was the Witch Stone.... what do you think?

The Witch Stone

While walking through the gardens, it started to rain. We felt blessed to have such a beautiful morning here. Now, with the rain and the crowds pouring in, we headed back to Cork.

We had lunch at the English Market. There were plenty of vendors for meats and sweets. We chose a sit-down restaurant with counter service. The special for the day was a ham with cheese, tomato and red onion toasty. A toasty is a toasted sandwich. That was my choice.

English Market

It wasn't long after we finished lunch, that the skies started to clear again. So, we took our own walking tour of Cork to see some of the sights.

Two branches of the River Lee run through the city of Cork

As the stories are told, if the angel on St. Fin Barre's Cathedral were to fall three times, then end of the world would come. The angel has fallen twice.

Angel on St. Fin Barre's Cathedral

Angel on St. Fin Barre's Cathedral

St. Fin Barre's Cathedral

On a drunken dare a few years ago, some college boys decided it would be a great prank... to steal the angel... Then it would never fall again. After they sobered up, they felt guilty and turned themselves in. However, due to their actions, it was discovered the bolts that hold the angel on were badly rusted and the angel would have fallen soon if not for the boys prank. The boys were let go without punishment because they prevented the end of the world from coming.

With all the walking, my foot and hip were staring to bother me.  So, I returned to the house. Brynn, Grace and Matt continued on to the Glucksmann Gallery, located on the Cork College Campus.

Glucksmann Gallery, Cork College

 There were Ogham stones on display there. Ogham Stones were the first form of writing in the Irish language. It's a series of lines carved into stone; similar to Viking Runes. 

Ogham Stones on display

For our last night in Cork, we decided to try a local pub with more traditional music. We found a quaint little pub with live music playing and ducked in. We all agreed, Matt (my son, not son-in-law) would love the place. He was unable to make the trip this time.

Sinn e´ Pub in Cork

Later in the night, or  early in the morning... it all runs together after several pints... The pub was thinning out. 

I went to the bar to order another pint of Beamish. I was in Cork, not Dublin. Murphy's and Beamish are the local stouts here. Guinness was not in short supply, though.

The bar maid explained it was past closing and she could not serve us. A few minutes later, she called me back to the bar and said, "What the hell! What did you want?"  and served one last round.

A man came and sat with us. He was from England and travelled a lot. We talked about everything and nothing at all. 

We must have all looked like good friends. Another man came up to our table. He looked at my camera and asked if we wanted a picture of the group. I said sure.

He took a photo, then tried to stand on the stool brace, but slipped off while taking another photo. He laughed and said he would take care of the camera, there was nothing to worry about. Then, He moved towards the door while looking through the view finder.

As you can see in the photo above, Brynn is on the end. She was up in flash standing next to the guy who was still looking through the view finder. He moved the camera around then turned his head to see Brynn next to him and said, "What? You think I'm going to steal the camera?" Brynn told him if he wasn't, then he should just take the photo...

After trying to coax Brynn back to the table, unsuccessfully, I must add... he took the photo.

Then, without missing a beat, he turned towards his friend at the bar; took a photo of him and handed the camera back to me.

Brian

As we were leaving, our photo friend came up and gave me a hug. He said, it was all just a prank. Brian, his friend, bet him a pint the Americans would not trust him with the camera. He thought he won because I let him use it. When he saw Brynn next to him by the door, he couldn't take the photo. He wasn't sure if he should laugh at how fast she moved, or cry for loosing the pint.