t

A Week In South West Ireland (1/8)

 

These pictures were touring around the South West coast of Ireland in October 2004.

  

 

 

We flew to Cork Airport from Stansted and picked up a hire car which gave us the freedom to tour around the south west corner of Ireland for the following week. We'd only pre-booked a bed and breakfast for the first night, after that we just found somewhere to stay depending on where we were each evening. This map shows many of the places we visited as we travelled clockwise around the coast. Place the cursor over the map to see where this area lies relative to Dublin.

 

 

 

 

 

 

We arrived Saturday evening and after picking up the hire car made our way to Castlerock House B&B at Carrigaline. We even managed a drink in a local bar suggested by our genial host John. Bars close about 12:30am Saturday nights - very civilised!

Sunday morning we had our breakfast in the conservatory, though the beautiful view of the river was somewhat obscured by the driving rain on the windows. We made our way to Blarney Castle north-west of Cork where Mark managed to cut his forehead on the roof of a cave. The gardens were very enjoyable to wander around.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

One side of the castle - a tall and imposing view.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Many visitors come to Blarney Castle and climb one of the spiral staircases to enjoy the beautiful views and to kiss the Blarney Stone. This is believed to be half of the Stone of Scone, which was owned by Scotland. Scottish Kings were crowned over this stone because it was believed to have special powers.

I decided to leave the kissing to others - I didn't fancy laying over that hole!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here's another view of that hole from below.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The gardens contained an interesting variety of plants. The weather in this part of Ireland is generally quite mild allowing a range of plants which prefer a warmer climate in which to grow.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

These trees were fascinating with their glossy bark.

 

 

 

 

 

 

In the afternoon we drove to Cobh (pronounced cove). I was probably a small child the last time I saw a sweet shop window laid out like this. I'm less tempted to go in now!

 

 

CLICK HERE TO CONTINUE

Return To Home Page