Ring of Kerry, Jaunty Car, Castles and The Blarney Stone

 Blarney Castle sits on over 60 acres of gorgeous parklands.  There are gardens, walk paths and more.  Plenty for those who may not be up to the physical task of climbing up and up in The Castle where the narrow circular steps are quite step and one way.  A bit of challenge also if you're claustrophobic.  I had to keep concentrating to move quickly up where there would be openness.  The view from the top is breathtaking.  You can look in all directions...even if you don't plan to kiss the stone.  This is hubby below.

 He wanted to kiss the stone.  That also is rather physical, and you're pressed for time, as the long to do so is quite LONG.  We did fairly well, as our tour guide got us there at an off time.  You lie on your back, bend your neck and head down to kiss the stone which is beneath you.  I wasn't keen with the position, as a person with some back issues.  Our friend who's pictures are in this post (her's were better than hubby's), wasn't keen on kissing a dirty stone where hundreds of thousands have put their lips.  I would guess about 1/3 of our tour group kissed the stone.  There were 39 of us.  I think about 2/3rd's climbed to see the sites.

 This is the estate house.  No longer lived in.  Beautiful flower gardens all around.

 Not a view you see often, or at least we didn't.  We do not have on rain coats, and I actually had removed my jacket and pushed up the sleeves.  We had a nice lunch outside and it was comfortable.  The ONLY meal we were able to do that.  This was after the kissing of the stone and walking the grounds.

 Another view of Castle, giving you an idea of it's height.

 One cool morning we left (optional excursion) our hotel early with about 2/3rds of our party for a Jaunty Car trip through gorgeous park lands.  The Killarney National Park is quite large and very pretty.  Martin was our driver.  A senior citizen who'd been doing this job a very long time.  He told us his Father had also been a Jaunty Car Driver.

 We were bundled up, but enjoying the ride.

 Later in the day we traveled throughout the Ring of Kerry.  Lots of pretty landscapes, sheep everywhere.  Stone walls everywhere.  And Green, Green, Green.

 Jane in the foreground, me right behind her in one of the narrow passages; but you can see here we weren't closed in.

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.

Cork, Lusitania and The Easter Rising/Rebullion

Memorial to all who perished in The Lusitania.  This is Cork.  This is located in the town square.

 A very pretty little seaside town, lots of pretty flowers, and lots of little pubs.

 A sidewalk memorial to those executed in The Easter Rising/Rebellion.  Their names are Capt Mick Leahy, Seamus Fitzgerald, Paddy Wheldon, Jack Stack, Joe Reid, Ernie Fowler, James O'Connell, William O Regan, Donald Healy, William Ralph, Bunny Reid, Liam Ahern, Jack O'Connell, also Pat Curran IRB, John Dowling ICA, Liam O'Brien IRB

The back of the stone.  If you look directly across the street, you'll see the ticket office which is directly in front of the long locked harbor where the Titanic departed from.

The Easter Rising, also called The Easter Rebellion started on Easter Monday, April 24th 1916, and ended on April 29, 1916.  It took place primarily in Dublin, but also in Meath, Galway, Louth, Wexford and Cork.

The Rebellion was against The British.  The leaders of the rebellion hoped for help from Germany since Germany was against The British in WWI.  They did obtain one shipment of firearms from Germany.  They also expected their fellow Irishmen to join them once the fighting started and they declared a free Irish State.  Most Irish did not support them.  There were approximately 1600 followers of the cause.  A small number easily handled by The British is a handful of days.

Somewhere around 2,000 were killed or injured during the standoff.  The leaders were than executed.  Once the leaders were executed The British continued with martial law, and arrest some 3,000 citizens they believe had been involved, or supported the rebellion in anyway.  Those arrested did not have any trials to determine their guilt or innocence.  The British sent about 1800 of those 3,000 to England where they remained prisoners, never having a trial.  The quick executions, mass arrests, and imprisonment turned many Irish against England.  This made those executed Martyrs of the Cause.

**These aren't my pictures, but my friends Jane's.  Her's were better than mine.

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