Tuesday, January 8, 2013

Ireland: Day 9 {Drive from Dingle to Kilkenny}


Day 9 was fun, but also I was starting to get sad becuase the end was in sight. Why do wonderful trips have to end?? After leaving Dingle we made a quick stop at Inch Beach. It was beyond pretty but just a wee bit COLD.


We saw a few random cows on the beach.



As we drove through County Kerry we paid a visit to Muckross House in Killarney. Muckross is not the family name, it actually means “the peninsula of the pigs”. The Herbert Family of Muckross were the original owners of the estate. One of the most interesting things about Muckross House is that Queen Victoria came to stay with them in 1861 during her visit to Ireland. The family had 6 years notice of her visit and spent that whole time preparing – and the Queen only stayed two nights!! Can you imagine? Don’t even get me started on how much they spent… if I remember correctly the house cost £30,000 to build and the preparations for the Queen’s visit totaled in at £80,000!
Here’s a view of the house. Despite the funny name, it’s not too shabby…. 😉

And view of the “yard”. So GREEN! And pretty Muckross Lake.

We couldn’t take any pictures on the tour of the house, but it was really interesting. If you like Downton Abbey I think you would definitely appreciate this tour!
We wondered around the Muckross Gardnes for awhile.

We had a long drive from Dingle to Kilkenny, so most of the afternoon was spent driving, driving, driving… with a few pit stops such as this one.

Gotta have a few road-side jigs after a few hours in the car.
We had PLANNED on going to the Rock of Cashel, but as luck would have it… we arrived at the entrance door 5 minutes too late for the last tour. Sad day. But it did allow for the chance to explore this 12th Century church we happened upon en-route to Kilkenny.


The photo below and on the right is a shot of the castle we saw near the church. Not your typical American sight!



We had a great stay that evening at Butler House in Kilkenny. Not only were the rooms HUGE (no exaggeration) it had the coolest courtyard, views, and building. See my next installment for a shot of the exterior.

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