King Puck and Oliver Cromwell in Killarney

 The British are Coming!  Does this look Paul Revere?  This statue is King Puck with his crown, but every year in County Kerry a goat is honored.  Don't scratch your head, I shall explain..  An old festival, in fact the oldest in all of Ireland honors a goat.  Once a year a male goat (a puck) is captured and honored for 3 days in town squares.  The goat is well fed, and put high on a scaffolding to survey his territory.

 The goat is crowned King by The Queen Puck, who is not another goat, but an honored school girl chosen.  Once she crowns the King, the festivities begin.  There is music, food, and of course drink.  There is dancing.  The local pubs stay open later than normal.  At the end of the 3 days, King Puck is returned to the wilds to resume his normal life.

It is not known how long this festival has been in existence or perhaps how it all began, but......it is believed to be a result of The attempt of England's Oliver Cromwell's Raiders to over take Killarney, (Killorglin).  The goats were in the fields as Cromwell's Raiders tried to make they way to town, they spooked the herd of goats.  One said goat made it to town, tired and bedraggled.  Towns people immediately knew something was afoot.  They were able to fortify the town and ward off The English Invaders.  The Paul Revere Goat, certainly something to be celebrated.  The 3 day festival starts every year on August 10th.

*the 2nd and 3rd picture are a small town square where our tour bus stopped briefly.  No scaffolding there, and it wasn't the time of the festival, but apparently some towns/villages honor goats throughout the year.

County Cork, St Colmans and Kinsale

 Inside a beautiful old Gothic Style Church, St. Colman's in The Port of Cobh. (Kinsale)  It's also known as Cobh Cathedral.  Construction of the church took 47 years.  I've found conflicting information about when it began, 1867 or 1879; however...I've found the 1867 date to be more universally used.  It's truly breathtaking with such detail in the carvings, and the colors in the stain glass windows.

 It's a Roman Catholic Church.  Again dates vary when it was completed, 1911 or 1915.  The spire is 100 meters and is hard to capture in a photo; as you can see.........we tried but failed.

 The tower houses either 42 or 49 Bell Carillon.  In one article, it said 42, making it the largest in Ireland; in another article it said 49, making it the largest in Europe.  In either case, it is beyond impressive.  Perhaps it once was 42 and is now 49?

Our selfie with the Church and the sea behind us.  Myself, my husband, and our very good friend, Jane.  The church sits on a very busy corner and narrow road leading up a very steep hill.  Beside the road is a dramatic drop off to the sea.

Across the street from the Church you see this dramatic site of little houses.  These houses are all built into a very step hill that falls away to the sea.  This site is quite unique for several reason.  It's steepness, the fact that the houses are all attached; and from what we were told...they hold each other up due to the construction of the chimney.  They're small, quite old, and very narrow.  The upper window also plays an importance structurally.

This photo is not one of mine, but one I found on the net, taken by Bjorn Christian Tiorrissen in 2012.  The site says the photo can be used, but to please give credit.  This professional obviously was able to capture the dramatic site far better than we could with our cell phones.

My picture shoes the back of the houses from the walkway across the street from St. Colman's.  This photo shows the front of the wee little houses with the church behind.  We didn't manage to get to the spot where this might have been taken.  But, isn't it gorgeous!

Port of Cobh, Cork Ireland

 The Port of Cobh (pronounced Cove) was an added excursion we took one morning when about half those in our tour group had a relaxed start to their day at the hotel.  This town is famous for it's the port That both The Titanic and The Lusitania departed from.  It's a quint very picturesque village. This is right on the water front, a pretty park across from hotels and restaurants.  There's a gazebo that is used for outdoor events in the summer months.  It was a bit over cast the day we were there in September.  This park is right next to the ticket office and the port departure area for many ships departing with deportees, and immigrants, as well as The Titanic .

 This white building is the ticket office where one purchased their tickets for departure.

 This is what is left of dock that The Titanic departed from.  When the horribly sad news came of the sinking and loss of life, the gate to the dock was locked; NEVER to used again.  The Titanic records aren't clear as to the number on board who died, but the number is believed to be between 1490-1635.  Apparently there was mass confusion.  The ship had been given 6 warnings of ice bergs, but they were unable to see to avoid the trouble.  There weren't enough life boats for the number of passengers, and too many life boats left with too few passengers.  Records show the first life boat to leave held less than half the number it was meant to carry.  Sadly, that was repeated.  The ship was only 5 days into it's voyage when it was hit by the iceberg on April 14-15th, 1912.  Once hit, it only took 2 hours and 40 minutes to sink.

 A wonderful museum with information about the many ships that left this harbor loaded with immigrants.  Some by choice, others forced to flee Ireland.  As you purchased your ticket, you're given a ticket with the name of a real passenger and the ship they sailed on.  As you tour, you're to determine if your person lived, as so many didn't.  And, where they went; as well as something about their lives.

I was Annie Moore who sailed from the port on The Nevada in 1892.  She is depicted here with her two younger brothers.  She was the first person to be processed at Ellis Island.  Annie was born here in Cork on May 24th, 1874 and died in New York on Dec 6th 1924.  She is buried in Calvary Cemetery.  She died of heart failure after a very hard life of poverty.  For many years there was a mistake with her name  and it was thought a woman who lived in Texas was her; her story was more successful.  The real Annie had 11 children and never led a life of ease.  When she departed Cobh, she was one of 148 passengers.  She and her brothers were in steerage.  The trip must have been very hard.  Some records indicate she 15, while others say 17 at the time.

Hubby's ticket indicated he was Jack Roper who left Port on The Lusitania in 1915.  Jack was born April 7th, 1888 in Liverpool and died May 14th, 1952 in Liverpool at the age of 64.  He was one of the few survivors.  When the ship went down, he managed to save several passengers, most notably The Captain.  The met up once a year for a drink in Liverpool thereafter.  The Lusitania and so many of it's passengers perished on May 7th, 1915.  He was a very interesting person, left school at the of 13 to hit the high seas, as a cook.  After The Lusitania he spent some time on land before returning to the sea as a cook.  Interesting, for this voyage on The Lusitania he is listed not as a cook, but as an able bodied seaman.  Researches seem to feel that is indeed accurate, else he would not have been on deck and and able to save people.  No one seems to know why he wasn't a cook on this voyage.

There is a fair amount of speculation and research that indicates The Lusitania may have been sabotaged by Winston Churchill telling The Germans of it's departure and location.  The feeling is, by doing so, Americans would be outraged and would thus enter The War.  There's some food for thought.  I'm not sure he was known to be a "nice" man, so who knows.

By learning about the lives of the person on your ticket, you really make the visit to the museum quite personal.

I'm sorry we didn't get to spend more time here in Cobh, there was much to see.  Stop in next time for part II of The Port of Cobh

Waterford Crystal

 A memorial to Irish born, Father Mychal Judge, who worked hard with rescue workers during 911.  The NYFD was presented with a memorial, and a 2nd one is on display at the factory in Waterford. 

 During the economic downturn, Waterford Crystal changed.  It moved it's long time factory, and scaled back in size and number of employees.  Even so, everything is still hand made.

 As you tour the factory with your guide you're to watch the craftsmen as they work.

Our golf tournament, here in Columbus has a connection to Waterford Crystal.  We were surprised to see that.  You can tour the factory, and shop (if price is no object) in the show room.  We didn't get enough time to tour the town of Waterford at all, which was disappointing to me.  It's quite an historic town dating back to The Vikings.  A quick bite to eat and time to board our Insight Tour Coach again for another adventure.

County Kildare, The Irish National STUD Gardens

 Colonel William Hall Walker established The National Stud Gardens in the 1900's.  He believe you could tell how successful a horse could become on the racetrack by knowing their birthdate.  The grounds are quite pretty with flower gardens, water falls, serene bridges and lots of places to just sit and enjoy the countryside.

 Our tour explained how important breeding (covering) was throughout Irish history.  Currently their top stallion is Invincible Spirit.  Invincible Spirit was seeking protection from the rain so not in the picture.  He has fathered many champion racehorses around the globe.  At auction his offsprings can sell for millions!

 I'm sure the gardens would be prettier if you were lucky enough to visit on a day when it wasn't windy and rainy...though that's quite a trick in Ireland.  Though I did see a fairly sunny day in pictures when Queen Elizabeth was visiting.  She's a lover of horses, has been her whole life and has been here multiple times.

There's a nice gift shop and tea house to enjoy after your tour.  The hot pot of tea was just the ticket in an effort to dry off and warm up before heading back to our Insight Tour Coach.

St. Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin Ireland

 Eli Dillion

 George Bernard Shaw, known for many things, but I especially like several of his quotes:
"Life isn't about finding yourself, life is about creating yourself."
"Progress is impossible without change, and those who cannot change their minds can't change anything."

 James Clarence Mangan

 Jonathan Swift

 And more

 Honored in St. Patrick's Park (Cathedral).  So many gorgeous old cathedrals throughout the country.

 Oscar Wilde

 Yates........so many influential people.  What a lovely way to honor and remember them in this pretty park.

A bit dark, chilly and windy as you can see how wind blown I am in the foreground.  Some of my travel companions walking about behind me.  We managed a few minutes here between the rain drops.  Would have been nice to spend a bit more time and read all the memorials, and enjoy the flowers on a prettier day.

Map of Travels, Dublin post I
Trinity College, Dublin and The Book of Kells

Trinity College, Dublin Ireland

Despite our being on The Trinity College Campus in Dublin, Ireland as part of a tour group with Insight Vacations and a local guide, there were really campus type activities going on.  These tent areas are for what they call Freshers Week.  Each area was set up so student could learn about activities and social clubs on campus.

I thought the students must think it odd, to see so many tourists day after day on their campus.  But, I suppose you get used to it after awhile.

The top of the gate/arch.  Gorgeous old buildings.

The arch, as you can see is quite large.  AND look how green the grass is, we were in Ireland after all.  A cool, windy day, as you can see from the sky.  Weather doesn't seem to stop people in Ireland from being out and about.  After leaving the campus area, we walked and toured more in the area via our coach. 

Pop back in, as we tour a beautiful park that pays homage to some of the Literary Giants who hail from Ireland.  And if you missed the previous posts about this Irish adventure, please click Here for a Map of the entire tour.

Trinity College, Dublin and the Book of Kells, part I

 The Brian Boru Harp or Celtic Harp which is the official emblem of Ireland.  This is taken in the long room at Trinity College in Dublin.  Trinity College was founded by charter by Queen Elizabeth in 1592.  The oldest part of the library was built between 1712 and 1732.  This is one of the world's great research libraries holding the largest collection of manuscripts and printed books in Ireland.  This harp is the oldest to survive from Ireland and they believe it dates from the fifteenth century.

 The ceiling looks like a ship.  Each section is marked by a bust.  The books are not filed alphabetically by title or by author, but by size.  Since the shelves go floor to ceiling the largest books are the first layer and with each new layer/shelf the books become smaller with the very smallest at the top.  You can see how that gives them the ability to house more books.

 One view of the very tall shelf unit.  You could get a noise bleed climbing the ladder to get a book at the top.

Another view of the books.  Can you smell how musty the place is?

The library and campus get lots of visitors.  Tickets are required.  Prior to our touring the library, we had a local guide (a student) give us a tour of the campus.  The local tour guide was lined up by our tour company, Insight Vacations.

Touring Ireland and Scotland

This is a map of our travels through Ireland, North Ireland and Scotland.  Counting the day to travel there, and the day to travel back, this was a 15 day tour with Insight Tours.  The tour started in Dublin, then went south and then traveled along the coast, upward through the Ring of Kerry, northward again on the coast, inland a bit to Limerick and back to the coast, northward to Sligo Bay.

On day 9, we left Ireland crossed into Northern Ireland only briefly though.  Spent one night there and then across to Scotland via a ferry from the Port of Larne, docking in Cairnryan, Scotland.

In Scotland you can follow the path northward, along the coast often up to Inverness before heading southward to Edinburgh.

We traveled approximately 6,925 air miles, 25 ferry miles from Northern Ireland to Scotland and if the map I plotted on line is right maybe 4,000 ish in our jaunting around?  I need someone better with maps than me to look at it.

Our tour guide, Robbie with Insight Vacations is a walking encyclopedia with information.  So much history, hard to absorb it all.  Really enjoyed ourselves.

We book our airfair using rewards points to help with the cost, and didn't fly business class.  I would have preferred to do that.  Hubby can sleep anywhere, I find it hard.  Plus would have been nice to get feet up, but...we thought we'd give it a try.  Might also have been nicer to arrive a day early to rest before starting the tour, but when you do that, you don't get your transportation from the airport to the hotel.

Trying to re-start my travel blog, it's been soooooooooo long since I've posted.