Exploring Tipperary


Advertisement
Ireland's flag
Europe » Ireland » County Cork
September 22nd 2018
Published: September 22nd 2018
Edit Blog Post

After a really rough night we were relieved to find conditions much smoother on arrival at Cobb. Some staff said it was the roughest weather they’ve ever seen, but all was calm and serene as we motored into Cobh Harbour. After a quick brekky in La Terraza we joined our coach on the dock for our 1 1/2 hour drive to Cahir (pronounced care). We also saw Lismore Castle along the way, the Irish Home of the Dukes of Devonshire. The 9th Duke of Devonshire was married to Fred Astaire’s sister, and she lived there until her death in 1981. We’ll be visiting Chatsworth, their English Home, when we return to England next week. First featured stop was a guided tour of Cahir Castle. This castle now belongs to the government because the last owner had no heirs. The great hall is used for community functions so it has central heating.

After Cahir Castle we drove on to the Bru Boru heritage centre at Cashel where we had a lovely 3 course lunch and a beer, followed by the walk up to the castle on top of the limestone rock which was deposited during the ice age. This castle was slighted by Cromwells men, but the grounds are still used as a cemetery for the town people. Queen Elizabeth II has visited this ruin, apparently when she was visiting a renown horse stud nearby. It was the only place she has asked to visit in Ireland, apart from horse studs. After an informative guided tour we boarded our bus for our trip back to Cobh. Cobh is a really busy town, being the European headquarters of Pfizer (and where they manufacture little blue pills), and Apple, to name but two.

There was a bus load of tourists from Europe - our tour guide was rather unhappy with them. The bus brings all their food (from their cheap supermarkets at home) and the driver does all their cooking. The only input to the Irish economy is admission prices and maybe some souvenirs. They don’t employ local guides either.

We returned to the ship just after 5. Dinner at 7 in the restaurant - smoked salmon, steaks, coffee panna cotta and limoncello sorbet!

We had planned to visit Cahir and Cashel in 1990, but our naïveté in traveling the Irish countryside and our phenomenal jet lag caused us to stop short. Our last visit to Ireland was 1995 and the roadway infrastructure has really improved, thanks to the EU apparently.


Additional photos below
Photos: 17, Displayed: 17


Advertisement



Tot: 0.27s; Tpl: 0.012s; cc: 10; qc: 48; dbt: 0.0863s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1; ; mem: 1.2mb