The PENguin Blog

 From Kinsale, a delightful place, touristy in just the right degrees, we went on to Unionhall on the coast. In truth, we could have used another day in Kinsale, it was that charming. Mostly you have here a few views from the drive. The trip was short and we made a couple of stops, but it was mostly a take-it-easy Sunday, in part because Sharon seems to have come down with a somewhat nasty cold.  Monday, on to Kilarney.  Note the date 1642. The English Civil War was bad enough in England, worse here.  No, not all Ireland is in ruins, but they sure are fun to photograph. This site, presumably has never been deconsecrated and is used as a cemetery to this day often by successive generations of the same families.

Saturday dawned bright and clear, a perfect day for a walk along the harbour from Kinsale out to Charles Fort at the mouth of the harbour. The fort was constructed in the 1670s and decommisioned only in 1922 when the British Army left Ireland. It was a “new” style star fort, harder to attack than the traditional, and along with the old fort, James Fort on the other side of the mouth of the harbour, it was meant to protect the significant port. Scilly walk, along the harbour. Rosa was glad to get out and get some exercise A couple of views of the harbour Some views of the fort, which resembles nothing so much as an abandoned village, which in some ways it is. Those of you who have followed her travels know of Rosa's love of ordinance Two views of the harbour, at high and low tide, a difference of about three and a half meters. After walking almost six miles we were ready for a rest and dinner. We ended the day with ano...

From Kilkenny it is a short drive on the motorway to Kinsale, less than 200 km, about two and a half hours, unless you are us. Than all sorts of things are possible along back roads. In fact, we were no more than a few kilometers from Kilkenny when around a corner there was this tower and ruins with a warning to stay off the farm property. Not an historic site, just another abandoned tower. The landscape is littered with them. If we had stopped for each we would still be out there.   Another few kilometers down the road we came across our new home and my new ride. We'll b e moving in as soon as we can, like the Butlers, depose the current inhabitants. But we did have to stop in Carrick, to see Ormond Castle. We were first acquainted with the Butlers, who built Ormand, as well as earlier taking over Kilkenny Castle, between the 14 th and 16 th centuries, in Kilkenny. It seems that from the 13 th to the 18 th centuries they were all over this part of Ireland, ...

St. Canice's Cathedral, Kilkenny of Kilkenny. Our second day in Kilkenny. The Two Cats of Kilkenny. Get it? Sharon said it was dumb.  Anyways, if Wednesday saw us looking at the castle, Thursday began with a more modest air. This ancient town, once tremendously important before the Christian era, before the Normans,  is home to the Rothes House, or houses, really, since it is a series of conjoined houses belonging to a prominent family of Tudor merchants. And it gives us a rare glimpse into how the merely wealthy, as opposed to nobility or the common person, lived. You get a sense from Anne Hathaway’s cottage in Avon, but they were comfortable English farmers as opposed to wealthy Irish merchants.   The house from the street Daughter Anna says this is a good look for me A well in the courtyard between the first and second houses The back of the second house From there we were off to the Cathedral of Saint Canice and then to the...