June 14/15 2012 Rock of Cashel, Cahir Castel, The Vee, Maranatha B and B, Blarney Castle, Beara Drive

Rock of Cashel

This morning we headed out from Killarney toward Cork although our ultimate destination was Maranatha B and B near Blarney.  On the way we stopped at the town of Cashel to tour an Irish Heritage site at Cashel Rock:   "A spectacular group of Medieval buildings set on an outcrop of limestone in the Golden Vale including the 12th century round tower, High Cross and Romanesque Chapel, 13th century Gothic cathedral, 15th century Castle and the restored Hall of the Vicars Choral."  Once inside a group of students on a tour were singing in the Choral and the sound was quite amazing.      

As we have discovered on our travels here and in other parts of Europe the old buildings require a lot of maintenance!  Scaffolding is a common sight and I can't imagine the expense of this.  

Beautiful views despite the overcast skies.  These crosses are every where! 

A beautiful ruin.

Cahir:  Guess what?  Another Castle stop.

What a flame that must have been. 

Loved the canon balls in the walls! 

The Vee: We drove on the Vee, a highly recommended scenic route.  The forested part looked ancient with huge mossy trees.  "The Vee is predominantly famous because of the breathtaking panoramic views afforded to travellers and sight seers going through the pass. The journey rises to about 2,000 feet (610m) above sea level above Bay Lough, and as it does so it gives wonderful views of a portion of the ‘Golden Vale’  between the Knockmealdown and Galtee Mountain Ranges."

The pesky rhododendrons look lovely to me! 

Unfortunately the weather wasn't cooperating but the views were still stunning and the turns thrilling.  

Upside down V.  The GPS was a life saver for all our travels in Scotland and Ireland.  

Before heading to Maranatha Bed and Breakfast we went to Cobh, a seaside town on the south coast of County Cork.  Originally this town was called Cove but the gaelic-ization of that is Cobh which it was renamed in 1920.  In between it was called Queenstown after a visit by Queen Victoria in 1850.  This is a beautiful port town and one of its claims to fame was that it was the last port of call of the titanic before its fateful maiden voyage.  It looked like a neat town but a torrential downpour prevented us from doing much except driving around and peering out the windows.  Didn't even take pictures.  Okay, we give....on to Maranatha.

Lovely country home with an interesting history. 

Olwen and Douglas Venn own this gorgeous home.  When we arrived it was dark and stormy really and as we approached the house it seemed surreal...like something out of a movie.  Olwen met us at the door and apologized for the "lashing rain and November type of weather."  It was a warm welcome but my feeling of being in a movie remained.  Olwen loves ornate French style decor and has been renovating the house accordingly.  It's something to behold.  

Peasant's room. 

Olwen spent some time here as a child.  I think her parents owned the house and ran it as a B and B.  At one time, during the war, it was a spa owned by a doctor and had Turkish Baths.  It sounds like it was a health retreat.  Douglas Venn is Canadian and Olwen has also spent some time in Ontario.  

This was the name of the house originally but now is the name of the 2 king bedroom.  

Yes, 2 King beds in one room.  Very decadent. 

Queen Ann and Cardinal Kenly occupied this palatial room! 

With this colourful breakfast room and view you hardly noticed the rain. 

How abut this for a breakfast room?

What can I say?

This is Blair's Inn on a sunny day, obviously not my picture.  But it was lovely! 

Olwen recommended Blair's Inn, 5 minutes outside Blarney,  for dinner and we took a cab and headed there.  What a great spot with excellent food and atmosphere and an exciting soccer game on the telly!  Hard to beat.

Blarney Castle and the famous kissing stone was on our list of things to do....well some of us.  But we all ended up kissing it since there were no crowds at this time of the morning, maybe because of the rain?  Supposedly if you kiss it you will become more eloquent.  I always thought it was for luck and I think I'll stick to that since I haven't noticed eloquence.  This stone is supposedly half of the Stone of Scone but I think it's blarney!    

This looked about to overflow...not surprising when you consider the rain we're having! 

Approaching the castle...anticipating the kiss! 

I thought this was funny but John looks a little stressed?

Another narrow road with cows on the way to Killarney.

We stopped at Bantry town for the daily pub lunch.  Here is the Snug Pub where we ate. 

Bantry town, crowded but colourful. 

Ring of Beara:  This is a spectacular coastal drive on the Beara Penninsula,  with windy roads, sheep and cows and great scenery.  

I noticed more colourful buildings in Ireland, maybe because their Heritage laws are less stringent? As we drove through little towns my eye was caught by the bright and sometimes gaudy paint on stores and homes.  

I'm the King of the Castle! 

We passed through a few colourful towns before arriving at Woodlands B and B in Killarney.  Patrick met us and showed us around his modest but comfortable home conveniently located within walking distance of the town centre.  We walked into town on a trail and enjoyed a great meal at Murphy's pub.  This is a busy tourist town and it was also Friday night.  It was hard to get a seat for dinner actually but we persevered and were not disappointed.