Colorful Kinsale

 

Note:

It's so much better to read this blog on a computer or larger iPad.   

There is really no comparison to seeing the photos on a small phone screen vs a computer sized screen. 

The photos are so much better when you see them larger.

Now - as Paul Harvey would say  - The rest of the story:

Our month on Blackditch Farm in County Wicklow having passed in a flash, we sadly said goodbye and headed south about 3.5 hours to our next stop,  Kinsale, in County Cork.

Our home for the next two weeks was a newer home in a residential development just up the hill from town.   Over here they have different names for home types.   "Detached" housing is a stand-alone house.  "Semi-detached" is a duplex.   A "terrace" house would be a unit with 3 or more homes.   Our home in Kinsale is a semi-detached.

Our place is on the left

A nice sitting area out back

On the way to Kinsale we stopped at a roadside fruit stand and scored the absolute best Strawberries that we have ever eaten!   I wish we had bought several flats.   Normally we get a small container and always some go bad.   These were gone in a flash.

Amazing Berries!

It's a beautiful drive from Wicklow to Kinsale.   Much of it near the coast.

This is our second time here, so heading out on foot we had a good idea of where to go first.   

Waterfront pups

Kinsale is known as a real "foodie" town and is loaded with lots of great restaurants.   Can you believe that we did not go out to dinner once in the two weeks we were here?

Many of the villages in Ireland are very colorful.   The buildings all painted in bright colors.   It sure helps to brighten up the cloudy days.   The photos below are just a small representation of all the colorful buildings in Kinsale.

Kinsales Main St

Colorful Kinsale

Colorful Kinsale

Colorful Kinsale

Colorful Kinsale

We revisited the Ringfinnan Garden of Remembrance.    Established by Kathleen Murphy on her private land, 344 trees are planted, one for each of the 343 fireman who died at the twin towers on 911 plus one tree for Father Mychal Judge, the FDNY Chaplain who died when the South Tower collapsed.

Gate to the garden

One of the men who died in the tower that day was Capt William (Billy) Burke jr.   Billy was a life-long friend of Kate.   His death was a story of sacrifice in service of others.  I encourge you to read these two links as they are interesting reads.  Especially the second (non-Wiki)  He was just one of many who died selflessly that day.

Billy Burkes Tree

A wider view of the garden

Katheen Murphy had been born in Kinsale but worked for 40 years. as a nurse in NYC.  This story tells a bit of her life and decision to create the garden in Ireland.

Occupying a strategic coastal location, Kinsale's protected harbor has been guarded by the twin forts Charles and James Forts occupying opposite sides of the inlet.  Both were built in the 1600's.   While both are degraded from their original conditions, Charles fort is the better preserved of the two and was our destination for a visit.

Entrance to Charles Fort

View into the fort and the inlet beyond

Much of the fort was burned during the Irish Civil war and roofs and interiors of the buildings are largely missing.

Charles Fort was built as a Bastion Fort (star shaped).   This design allows for the defenders to have a clear shot along the forts walls to repel any invaders.

View from one bastion along the curtain wall to another bastion

Below is a view from further into the inlet.   You can see the fort on the left side of the photo with the sea beyond.   On the extreme right of the photo is the approach into Kinsale harbor.  Leading into the background is the River Bandon which winds its way further inland.

While here I was able to arrange a nice surprise for Kate.   Years ago we met 2 wonderful ladies, Jackie and Caroline up in Seward Alaska.   Both are from Ireland but living in Boston.    We affectionately refer to them as "The Irish Chicks".   We've kept in touch over the years and have been able to meet up from time to time RVing around the states.    It turned out that Jackie is from a town 6 miles from Kinsale and they would be here while we were, so I planned a surprise rendezvous.

Since we'd be going to a house out in the country, I made up some story for Kate that we were going to a farm to learn something.   Her mind was running fast and she was prepared for all sorts of activities including cow milking lessons.

The Irish Chicks Jackie (L) Caroline (R)

It was a pretty drive over to Jackies house.

Beautiful County Cork - green rolling hills.

Kinsale is only about 20 min or so from Cork City so we headed in for a visit.   Like may European Cities, Cork is infinitely walkable.   Very pedestrian friendly.    The second largest city in Ireland, it has a population of about 120,000.      

Oliver Plunkett St in the city center is one of the streets that is mostly pedestrian.

Oliver Plunkett St, Cork

Colorful Cork - the Frisky Whisky Bar

A fancy looking Starbucks

No trip to Cork is complete without a stop at the English Market.  So named  back in the 1800's to distinguish itself from the nearby Irish Market.  Considered by many to be one of the finest covered markets in Europe, it has about 130 fresh food vendors.    Once can do all their grocery shopping under the one roof, returing home with really fine products.  There has been a market operating on this spot since the 1700's but the current building is of mid-19th century Victorian Architecture.

Butcher section at the English Market

Fresh Fruit/Veg at the English Market

While here I found a well rated self-service dog wash so I took advantage of the opportunity.   I had finally found proper clippers that I could trim the dogs with, so I wanted to give them a bath and a proper clipping to keep them looking good.

Since the dog wash was near Cork, we decided to make an encore visit.    On the prior days visit, I had enjoyed a street band named "The Ferrymen" playing Irish Music while Kate was running in and out of the shops.   Thankfully they were still here and so the dogs and I parked it and enjoyed the tunes.

"The Ferrymen" 

The Ferrymen are well known in these parts and have even played in the US

When Kate came out of the stores they were playing an upbeat jig and she grabbed this old gent and the two of them started dancing.   (I hid under a rock till it was over)

On Friday - our last day in town, we hooked back up with Jackie for a walk along the coast and lunch at an outdoor pub overlooking the coast.

The flowers here just grow wild everywhere.   This is the side of the road across the street from where we had lunch.

On Sat June 21 it was time to pack up and hit the road again.

2 Dogs loaded??    Check. ✔

Check out time was 10am and check in time at our next stop was not till 4pm so we had 6hrs to kill and only a 90 drive.    So - I had planned a long winding route along all of the coastal roads.   Strung together by the tourist associations its called the Wild Atlantic Way and covers about 2,500 km.    We used every bit of our 6 hours to drive the coast roads....  sometimes we were on very narrow single track roads.

A beautiful sea view awaits around every curve

Moving further west and south, the coast becomes more rugged and the skies more cloudy.   The west side of Ireland is the more rainy side.

Our last stop enroute was Mizzen Head - the most southwesterly point in Ireland.

Near Mizen Head

A break at Mizen Head

Approaching our home for the next 2 weeks, we turned off of R572 and up a single track road for about 3/4 of a mile.   Our home is brand new, 4 bedrooms, and located in a quiet beautiful rural setting.

Here's just a couple of photos of our new digs.

Home sweet home

Looking from Dining area towards entry and TV Room beyond

Kitchen and dining

Our driveway

Our neighborhood

Now....   just a little bit about using the map tool included with the web version of the blog...

If you are viewing the blog on a mobile device you have to select the web version (at bottom of the page) or view the blog on a computer.

So this map shows where we've been the last 83 days since arriving in Paris up to today...

 If you want to see where we are right this second, or where we've been you can view that map by clicking on the "where are we today" hyperlink on the right side of the page.   See circled link and red arrow below.

This generates the map with last 6 months up to today.
You can zoom in and out

I have the map programmed to show you the last 180 days, but you can change that if you'd like.

I clicked on the "where are we today" link on the right side of the blog page, then selected the last 2 years to see where we've been....   This is what the map dished out.

Our last 730 days travels.

To change the timeframe to see more you click on the icon marked with the red arrow below.   That brings up a box for you to input how much time you would like to see.   I find it helpful in finding places that I've been and want to go to again but cant remember exactly where it was.

The red arrow points to the icon to change the amount of time to display on the map

The map data goes back to 2014 and our first trip to Alaska.   If you select "all" for the time period, there is a lot of data, so the map might take a few minutes to load.

There's a lot to see over here in West Cork and County Kerry.    That will be the subject of our next post.   Till then, thanks for riding along and see you down the road.