The Irish Riviera

The Irish Riviera was a bit of a disappointment yesterday. We ended up driving to Youghal (pronounced ya'll) where we saw the outside of a folk museum. I can't say when it is open, whenever high tourist season is. Pretty much any day between Easter and Thanksgiving that they feel like opening it. But they make no commitments on the sign. We did see an old, pretty church, St. Mary's. Approx. 70% of churches are St. Mary's, not a super creative bunch the Irish. In Clonmel alone there are two St. Mary's, old and new. The church was surrounds by the remains of the town wall and tower, and the graveyard and grounds were very pretty.

Next was the town of Ardmore, home of St. Declan. He is claimed to pre-date St. Patrick in bringing Christianity to Ireland. The church ruins have some interesting carvings on the outer wall, dating from the 9th century, but not original to this church. The roofless, doorless church ruins also housed (for safe-keeping) some ogham stones. Ogham was a primitive language in Ireland consisting of what now appear to be only straight lines. This rock is of particular interest because it is the longest passage of Ogham ever found. There were also very pretty views of the beach and cliffs below.

We left Ardmore and drove along the coast of the Ring peninsula. Described in the guide book as being the real, rugged, Ireland, there were some pretty views when you could see over the hedges. Described by Rachel as "that barn yard smell is so strong I'd expect to halfway up a cows butt." Lovely. Perhaps she was just getting queasy from the narrow windy roads and my terrible terrible driving.

We concluded the trip in Dungarvan. Where I made a spectacle in the tourist office by knocking over everything on the counter. (Why yes, I am a professional moron, here's my card) I also made my first visit to a pay toilet. 25 cents for up to 20 minutes (warning light will come on after 18 minutes) in my own private self cleaning toilet. Comes with complimentary soap, water, and hot air. It was much less disgusting than the free public toilet I used in France. Dungarven was a bit of a disappointment. There was a ruined castle, and a museum of Waterford country maritime history. But otherwise we just wandered around and then found a place to eat lunch.

Rachel did say she didn't want to go anywhere too cool, since Trey wasn't with her. So, I think, mission accomplished there. I just hope it didn't scare her off for good. There are lots of nice places to go, so perhaps I should focus on these in the next post. We do have a bank holiday weekend for May Day, so we'll be off doing something fun this weekend.