Day 8: Dun Laogharie to Kilkenny

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Monday, October 11: We woke up fairly early for us—about 7:30! Repacked after three nights in the same place, loaded our car, and checked out of the Royal Marine Hotel. The Royal Marine is a grand old historic hotel in Dun Laoghaire and it was a wonderful place to stay. We learned that Queen Victoria, Laurel and Hardy, Frank Sinatra, as well as Michael Collins (hiding out with his mistress), have stayed there. It was a beautiful morning in Ireland and we walked down the East Pier to see Dublin Bay (the water, not our favorite pub back in Ames) and back—about two miles. The Pier is a busy place with walkers, joggers, bikers, fishermen, and mommies with strollers. We stopped back at the Harbor Bar for a shared lunch of fish and chips and then found the Tourist Information booth at the ferry building to get directions out of Dun Laoghaire. The woman at the TI chastised us for using the bus in and out of Dublin and said the DART was the better way to go but we realized that we used the bus route to get out of Dun Laoghaire so we were familiar with the route and were clued in. We were on our way to Kilkenny in no time. We drove on the Motorway all the way, which made for a fast trip. We made one stop in Leighlinbridge to check out the castle ruins and bridge. We found a Kelly’s Bar but it wasn’t open so we stopped in at Meaney’s (named after a previous owner whose last name was ‘Meaney’) for a pint. Mary was our friendly bartender and Agnes was holding down a stool at the end of the bar. They provided good conversation about the economy, the USA, the town of Leighlinbridge and several other topics, including the fact that the name of the town is pronounced with a "Lough" sound at the start (go figure). We did not stay long and arrived in Kilkenny around 4:00 pm—too late to see the castle. We found our accommodations with just a little confusion. We were reserved at the Butler Court and we stopped at the Butler House. It was good to learn that the Butler Court was just next door to the Butler House and we were soon checked in to a lovely room—the best we’ve had on out trip. John and Yvonne have a wonderful inn with a beautiful little courtyard right in the heart of Kilkenny. Continental breakfast was provided in the room so it was stocked with fresh fruit, cereals, and a small refrigerator with milk and juices, as well as the usual tea/coffee. We fell in love with the town. After dropping off our bags, we walked down to the Hibernian Hotel for a pint on the sidewalk in front of the hotel. We watched traffic, people and just enjoyed the sunshine. Did I mention that it was a beautiful day in Ireland? We then strolled up to The Marble City, a Mediterranean-themed restaurant, and enjoyed a small pizza, which was surprisingly delicious. Now it gets very strange. We headed up the street to John Cleere’s pub for some evening music. We walked into the pub and someone yelled out “Ed Kelly!”. Low and behold, in a pub in a town, with at least 25 pubs, in the south of Ireland, sat Mike and Jo, fans of FreeStyle and friends of Dave and Piper. We knew they would be in Ireland in October but what a coincidence they would be in the same town, the same pub, at the same time, as us! The highlight of the night was the traditional music. Two players—guitar and concertina—and soon people in the pub were up singing songs, reading poems or telling stories. It was the “craic” we had been looking for (unlike the 'crack' Mike took to his head when he ran into a television rack above our table). There was no way we were leaving. We closed down the pub and headed for our inn at the other end of city centre. We explored medieval passageways between streets on the way home. The night was balmy—a continuation of what we hear is unusual weather for this time of year. We keep telling people we brought the sunshine with us and they have no reason not to believe it.

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