The Emerald Isle Part 3: from ancestral roots in Tipperary to Belfast

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15 AugustRain, heavy, cool and wet all day! Cut our losses on the scenic tour stuff, and went to Ross Castle which was a very old castle keep, took a guided tour then visited Muckross House, which was also excellent, entry by guided tour only, lovely stately home. Drove to Nenagh and found an excellent B and B - Abbey View, Sharne the owner is a real character. Had everything you might possibly need and lovely décor with excellent Irish breakfast for 60 Euro. Generally, like in the UK, the B and Bs were excellent and quite good value at around 50-60 Euro double, very comfortable with huge Irish breakfasts. We really liked the Irish equivalent of black pudding which is called white pudding and an entirely different taste and texture to its UK cousin! A bit like a spicy hash brown? Had dinner at the Hibernian Inn downtown, nice roast meal. We noticed that they had some old photos of Queen Street and Castle St on the wall, which are the streets that Nana Lang was born in, and where the family butcher shop was. We found out from a couple of older locals at the pub that for political reasons, the names were changed after Ireland got its independence from the UK, to more appropriate names!

16 August In Nenagh, spent the morning looking around the Castle and the town, visited the old Jones's butcher shop (Nana Lang's Mum was Bridget Jones!) on Castle St, it is now a carpet place but the butcher's rail for hanging the meat is still above the shop window. The father of the 2 Slattery brothers who run the carpet shop bought it off Ben Jones in 1951, and they both remember the Jones butchers. We visited Matt Hassett, a local lawyer who was married to one of our relatives (the late) Ann Jones. Called in to Toomavera en route to Dublin, but sadly our relative there is unwell and we weren't able to catch up with her. Her hubby is still running the local off licence though at age 85! So to Dublin. Stayed at the Marino conference centre accomm there, which is a teachers training college hostel, basic but fine. Went to have dinner in town but the bus didn't arrive, apparently this is quite common, the bus drivers in Dublin are very unionised and not into giving service. One came along during our vigil at the bus stop, but saw the nearby traffic lights were about to change, so just carried on driving! So we drove to a local pub for dinner there, nice food.

17 August in Dublin , took the bus from a different stop today! Went to National Archives, for genealogy stuff, unfortunately they closed at 12.45, but it is a lovely old building, and we managed to find Bridget Jones's birth record, took the hop on bus around Dublin which we enjoyed and it was a good way to see the city sights, especially as I had a very sore foot (which continued with me to London unfortunately - I blame the Guinness although not sure if it was gout). There were two routes, city and port, then we had a drink in Temple Bar, which is rather touristy and over-rated, but maybe because it was a Saturday. Went into the Trinity College grounds for a wander but skipped the big queue to visit the Book of Kells as we weren't really interested in it anyway. Off to the Guinness factory, which you do on a self-guided tour. Place was unrecognisable from our previous visit30 odd years ago, very touristy now. Had a Guinness up the top at the end of the tour and then walked back into town but my foot was very sore by now, so a quick dinner and home by bus. Big day out!

18 August Left the Dublin hostel and visited the Marino Casino! It is not a gambling house however, but a small pleasure garden house built by Lord Charlemount on his estate. On the same ground as our hostel in fact. The neo-classical architecture and quirky twists of the design were intriguing, and it was a free guided tour! Drove out to Powerscourt Estate in County Wixklow and visited the beautiful gardens (the old house itself is just a shell basically after a disastrous fire), had a great seafood chowder lunch there, then a small accident in the car park - Blu backing into a car going too fast in a VERY busy car park. No major damage to either car, but a hassle getting hold of the rental insurance people etc. on the phone, especially as we were trying to ring the UK from Eire on my phone which had the wrong sim card for Eire. It slowed down trip back to Belfast, which is only 2+ hours away. Finally got to our hostel which was a really good backpackers in the Queens University area. Except for the strange bed, a double bunk with the bed on top, and a sofa underneath. A bit Irish maybe? Not the easiest to get in and out of. Had a poor nights sleep! Had dinner at a great wee pub down the road, Beef and Guinness pie and very entertaining fellow pub patrons. Irish are a very friendly bunch really!

19 August Back at the hostel, in the morning we found that John had done our washing for us overnight, all ready and folded, at a small charge which was more than worth it! Had breakfast at hostel, which was provided, then went down to catch the hop-on bus, waited an hour then rang the company, finally got going about 11 but it was worth it as we got to see the Shankhill and Falls Road areas as well as the town itself. Got off in town for a walk around, visited city hall and stopped for a whiskey at the pub in Victoria Square. Went back up to the uni quarter and visited the beautiful Queens University and the Botanic Gardens, then picked up the car and drove out to the airport. Sorted out the car stuff at Enterprise. Short flight on Easyjet to London. Arrived Gatwick 7.30pm, caught train to Victoria, then tube to Aldgate East, glad to get to the apartment! Very tired and hungry, had tea about 1030 up the road at a great Turkish cafe. Alister came in about 3:30, he had been on an organised pub crawl in Camden Town. Thought we had better get up to greet him as we hadn't seen each other since early March - but very tired the next morning!

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Photos

St Aldophonsus, Limerick
Maurice and Bridget Walsh got married here?

Nenagh, Tipperary
Nana Lang's birthplace

Dublin
love the name of this building!