Cork and Kerry

First of all, I must apologize for not posting in a few days.  I've been a little sick, and have been too tired to post at night.  That being said, I now have three days to make up for.

    On Thursday, we took a road trip.  We drove on winding, bumpy roads from Trim (near Dublin) to Kinsale, on the southern coast.  On the way, we stopped at the Rock of Cashel.  The Rock of Cashel is a very large lump of rock with some very old buildings on it.  

Once the seat of the kings of Munster, it was given to the church in 1101.  The round tower in front was built the same year.  Then came Cormac's Chapel (currently covered in scaffolding), the main cathedral, housing for the choir, and the archbishop's personal tower.  Cormac's Chapel, the oldest building we're allowed into, was named after Cormac McCarthy, one of the kings.  It contains the remanents of paintings on the walls and ceiling.  The blue paint was very expensive and rare at the time.  The colors are surprisingly vibrant.

The cathedral, built in the 13th century, is done in the Gothic style, as illustrated by the domed roof over the center of the building.  You can see a bit of the chapel's scaffolding too.

Outside, there is an amazing view, as the Rock of Cashel is the highest point in that area.

                               You can certainly see a lot of cows from up there.

    After that, we continued onto Kinsale.  Kinsale is a lovely little town with terrible roads.  It's very colourful (the buildings, I mean), touristy, and reminds me of Provincetown.  On Friday morning, we took a walk out to Charles Fort.  The star-shaped fort was built in the 16th century, and was used all the way up to 1922.  It is situated so that any vessel entering Kinsale Harbor would have to pass within 150 meters of the fort.  The cannons could fire about 400 meters.  However, it is very vulnerable to the land side.  In the only battle ever fought there, the enemy attacked from land, and eventually captured the fort.

                                          A 19th century cannon on display

We spent the rest of the day exploring town.  On Saturday morning, we left Kinsale and headed to the Dingle Peninsula.  On the way we stopped at Timoleague Abbey.  It is now a graveyard, but the walls of the abbey are still there.

Our next stop was Drombeg Stone Circle.  This stone circle is aligned with the winter solstice.  Situated near a natural spring, there are also the remains of a stone house and what is thought to be a cooking pit.

Buried in the middle of the circle was found a vessel containing cremated remains.

    The drive to presented some us with some spectacular views.  We went through the mountains of the Dingle Peninsula (the tallest being 3,130 feet high).  The area did remind me of the Cascades a bit.

       Now we are in Dingle Town.  Last night we experienced some live music in a pub.  Today we'll do the Dingle Peninsula loop drive.  There's a heat wave right now, so we'll probably go swimming after.  It's still vacation, after all!