Killarney to Limerick

Partly cloudy

Unfortunately, we seem to have left our only bottle of shampoo back in Tralee, so we had soapless showers this morning, but at least we had towels. The hostel was set up with a self-serve breakfast of Muesli, toast and coffee, to which we added some bananas and yoghurt, and we were ready to hit the road.




The bus trip to Limerick took us through several small towns, like New Castle and Castle Island, that looked very middle class and suburban, and one tourist town, Adare, which boasted a castle, a golf course, and a very pretty park.

We got to Limerick by 11am, and found the Railway Hotel right away, as it was just across the street from the station. This is an old hotel, very art deco. Jim is trying to use up the camping food we did not consume on the trail, so today for lunch we had a tuna, cheddar and pepperoni sandwich, with packets of mayonnaise, mustard and brown sauce (what is in brown sauce? We had it in London too…). A once in a lifetime sandwich.

Properly fortified, we set out to do our walking tour of Limerick. This is a working class town, and the streets were full of people. This was the first time since Dublin that we saw people of color in any great number, or heard other languages spoken on the street. We passed several Asian groceries, and several businesses that catered to the Polish population according to their signs.

We walked through the southern end of town to look at the Georgian architecture, and walked by the address where we could have paid to see a reconstruction of Frank McCourt’s hovel for 6 euro each (we opted to pass on that one…)






We strolled through People’s Park to see the restored Victorian drinking fountain, which provided water for both people and horses.













We walked up O’Connell St. to see the statue of Catholic emancipator Daniel O’Connell.












We continued uptown, crossing the River Shannon at Matthew Bridge, stopping in at the Hunt Museum.










We visited St. Mary’s Church of Ireland Cathedral, founded in 1168 by the King of Munster.








The cathedral contained rows of black oak misericords, (mercy seats) which are special benches built to support the clergy and the choir, who had to remain on their feet during long services. There is a place to rest your elbows, and a little fold down seat to rest your bottom, so that it looks like you are still standing…. They thought of everything, didn’t they?






Soon our walk took us to King John’s Castle, built in the 1200s by the only King John of England, a little man nobody liked very much.










The castle was actually built over the ruins of a Viking settlement, constructed 200 years earlier, and partially excavated for our viewing.











The castle was built right on the river, and was in active use in wars right up to 1922. How I love to look at things of great age and appreciate the people who built them. Americans just don’t have anything that ol.!

View of the River Shannon from the top of King John's Castle






























This is an archer's window in the turret - just wide enough to aim an arrow through...

This is the Treaty Stone, right outside the castle, where the treaties that ended the Williamite War were signed in 1691. (This is William as in William and Mary...)





An old wall on a city street - being preserved, or coming down?

Tralee to Killarney

Rainy

We pulled on our full rain gear for the short walk to the train / bus station in Tralee this morning. I was anxious to leave the hostel, so we didn’t stay to make ourselves breakfast.

The bus trip to Killarney took only 40 minutes. Once there we checked into the Railway Hostel, a busy youth hostel with a European flavor, and kids hanging out in the lobby, watching TV, surfing the internet, and making plans for their next stop.

All the rooms were named for TV characters or animals – we got to stay in the Chimpanzee Room! This is a very nice hostel, bright and clean, with a window, a skylight, and, most importantly, towels!

The rain cleared after a while, and we walked through town, checking out the tourist shops and those selling Irish woolens and Galway crystal.

We also toured the Friary and St. Mary’s Cathedral, which was at the far end of town – built in 1855, it was not that old, but pretty impressive, and had a transplanted standing stone on the front lawn.

I collect plates from all our travels that hang on my kitchen wall, and found a nice one that said, “Slainte” (SLAN cha), which means “to your health” or “cheers”, and got my mom a gift from Cork.

The Fodor's Guide was right about Killarney - there really isn't too much here of interest!

We got back to our room early, had dinner in, and read for a while – I finished my second novel, which means tomorrow’s quest will include finding a bookstore, and a new book to read.

I listened to the birds singing outside the window, and wondered if there were more birds here than at home because I’ve been acutely aware of them throughout our trip. I came to the conclusion that I’m probably just hearing the birds because we’ve been sleeping with the windows open everywhere we’ve stayed. There are no screens on the windows here, they are just open. Why don’t I open the windows at home?

Tomorrow we travel north to Limerick, a working class town with some history and a castle!

Hiking Day 9 Castlegregory to Camp to Tralee (Caislean Ghraire – An Com) 6 miles

Bright and sunny

Today we complete our circle by returning to Camp, after a lovely breakfast prepared by our host Sheila Rohan. Jim had porridge (oatmeal served with cream and honey), salmon and eggs (known as a Scottish breakfast). I stuck with Muesli and scrambled eggs.



We set out through Castlegregory and returned to the beach by way of several RV parks containing many walking and gardening senior citizens, out to enjoy a beautiful Sunday morning. We passed acres of yellow flag iris in bloom.





We walked along the water’s edge for about 3 miles, having to remove our shoes at one point to wade across a river that emptied into the bay.






Unlike yesterday’s cloudy quiet, today the beach was filled with families, sweethearts and dogs happily fetching sticks out of the water.






The sky was gorgeous and we saw an egret perched at the shore. It was a brilliant walk!










Our guide instructed us to leave the beach when we saw the church steeple at Kilgobbin. Isn’t it amazing that we’ve made it all the way around without ever knowing the name of a single road?

We saw something that looked like a castle, and thought we’d better check it out, and sure enough, it was the church steeple.


From the church it was a short uphill climb back to Camp, and the familiar Ashe’s Pub where we’d eaten fish and chips the week before.


We ate our lunch at the picnic table outside the pub, and had one more Guinness while we waited for the bus that would take us back to Tralee. As we finished our lunch, the Germans arrived again! Kirsten, Daniel and Timor joined us in a final toast, and we rode back to Tralee together, parting ways at our respective hostels.






We went back to Finnegan’s Hostel (the place with no soap or towels…) dropped off our packs, and walked to the train station to see about tomorrow’s schedules to Cork or Killarney – we haven’t decided where to go next.






We strolled back through Tralee Park, finding a Five Senses Garden, and a bust of Rose Kennedy surrounded by roses in bloom.










We spent some time in St. John’s parish church, which has a really magnificent central altar, then, as we walked through the gardens, found not one, but two headstones of priests named O’Keeffe (my family name) who had lived and died here in Tralee.








Back in our room, we pondered our next destination. I had wanted to go to Cork to see where my grandfather came from, but without a real address, that now seemed like a poor reason to make the trip.








We had consulted several travel guides that said there was absolutely nothing to do but shop in Killarney, but it was supposed to rain tomorrow, and that didn’t seem like such a bad idea…. Killarney it is!

Hiking Day 8 Cloghane to Castlegregory (An Clochan – Caislean Ghraire) 9 miles

Overcast in the morning, sunny in the afternoon

This is St. Brendan's Church in Cloghane - St. Brendan of Kerry, or St. Braendan the Navigator, is quite the celebrity around these parts for sailing around for seven years in a leather boat, starting around the year 512 in search of the Garden of Eden. He came back with lots of stories of sea monsters, and claimed to have found Paradise, but his accounts could never be verified. One legend says he actually discovered America...

Today’s walk is advertised in our guidebook as 18 miles of walking on Ireland’s longest beach. We asked Mr. O’Dowd if there as an interim place we could stay to divide the one day into two, and he informed us that NOBODY walks all the way to the tip of the peninsula; they just get off the beach and walk straight to Castlegregory, shortening the walk by half.




After yesterday’s climb, 9 miles instead of 18 sounded just fine to us. After a lovely French toast breakfast, with our packed sandwiches, we set off for a walk on the beach.






Except for the very occasional man and his dog, and one lone surfer, there was not much action here, considering it is a holiday weekend.





We’d been told to look for the golf course as the place to turn off from the beach. Guess what? Every piece of land in Ireland looks like a golf course (until you spot the cows)!





Jim found the correct turn off, and we walked a mile or so into the little town of Castlegregory. Here's us again reflected in a traffic mirror at the corner of a one lane road...


















We stayed at the lovely Castle House B&B (with cows in the yard!)







By late afternoon, the Germans had joined us (Daniel and Timor walked the whole 18 miles, Kirsten took a cab straight to the B&B) and the parking lot filled with holiday weekend guests.




We had tea and home-made fruitcake in the parlor. As always, we were ready for supper by 6pm, but Ireland runs on a different schedule. Because it stays light past 10pm, the restaurants don’t get crowded until late, so we are usually alone enjoying the early dinner seating.





We walked around town and saw some interesting advertisements - a fisherman upside down in a barrel in front of a pub, and a man pulling his cart and plowhorse, advertising "Guinness For Strength!)








We had an above average supper tonight – I had penne pasta with smoked chicken, mushrooms and sundried tomatoes, and Jim had a chicken curry (and a Guinness of course). Tomorrow, it’s back to Camp!