While the sun shone once again for us in Ireland, it would be a sombre start to our day with a visit to a nearby famine graveyard.
The graveyard is down a dirt road, and though it's not totally forgotten, it does suffer from some neglect....
The quiet solitude is haunting....
and moving...not a burial stone, not a single name anywhere....a single cross and stone memorial yet over 3500 died in this area in 4 years in the mid-1800s....
From there, we drove - rather quietly - to Cashel, St Patrick's Rock, commonly known as the Rock of Cashel (pronounced CASH-el)
Cathedral and castle built right into the rock...
Thank goodness it was also in English...Irish is such a different language than English.
Note a large piece of the castle on the ground....
Interesting display of how people lived in these structures...
back in the cathedral, frescoes on the ceiling...
a tomb from the 1500s...
Some terrific views too from the Rock...with the ruins of Hore Abbey on the left, just visible beyond the wall in front of that person in the white...
ah, a better look...
the replica - looks pretty real to me! - of St Patrick's Cross, with Sheila pointing out something of interest...
Ah, the real one, inside and protected from the occasional Irish rain...
"Despite the fact that St. Patrick's Cross was created in Ireland during the 12th Century, it was not built in the traditional Irish style of the period. The Cross, which is held on the Rock, is built in the Latin Style, which had two pillars running parallel with the main body of the cross, with supports at either side. One face of the monument depicts Christ's crucifixion, while the other shows the image of an abbot or bishop, perhaps representing Patrick himself."
well at least those archers had a nice view, when not being attacked that is...
nearby in the town of Cashel, the ruins of Dominic's Friary....
From Cashel, we drove through Cahir over The Vee back to the Moonarch B& B. The Vee is a twisty mountain road, with this particular part forming a distinct V....
and some terrific views of Ireland countryside...
and to end this day, back to Kilkenny of course, this time to Daniel J. Bollard's place...looking good for 115 years old...
And guess what John and I had?
then yes, back to the Moonarch for our nightly Irish Coffee. The next day would be our last full day i Ireland and we would actually see some Irish rain.
Excellent blog!
ReplyDeleteThanks Resty! glad you enjoy it!
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