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Saturday Morning Garden Blogging - Vol.19:1 The 5 senses of Éire [1]
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Date: 2023-01-07
My first time in Ireland in 2002, my sister-in-law Betty and some Irish relatives organized a family reunion, which a lot of us American family members attended.
Being bussed to our lodgings (Portlick Castle in county Westmeath, smack dab in the middle of the Island of Éire), the greenness of the land was noted, as was the smell of turf in the drawing room once we got there and had tea. (I’m trying to keep family pix to a minimum, but it’s necessary to show some so you can see the inside of, and around, where we visited.)
Portlick Castle, County Westmeath. Yea, it’s fugly!
Tea room at Portlick Castle
Portlick Castle was a beautiful example of newer, renovated architecture, meshed with old stone walls & fixtures, gradually being renovated, from when the castle was built in the 12th century.
Portlick breakfast room - original, slightly renovated, 12th century stonework walls/ceiling
My MIL on a Portlick staircase… Look at the architecture!!
A wee distance in back of Portlick is Lough Ree, a large body of water that flows into the River Shannon.
Portlick back courtyard, looking out on Lough Ree
Statue in Portlick back courtyard
There were two local horses that ran loose in the Castle courtyards; one of them stuck his nose on the tearoom window, scaring the heck out of us having our first tea! Being a horse lover, I then ran outside and began taking photos; that’s the start of the good pix I’m sharing with you. We found out later, castle management borrowed those horses from neighbors & turned them loose in the courtyard... to make our stay seem more true-to-life Irish. Too funny!
Horse in Portlick back courtyard
This gorgeous boo peeked at us through the tea room windows
Picturesque old-timey horse cart in the front courtyard
I visited one other horse at Portlick - Peaches - every day to feed her apples. Her owners boarded her on the Castle grounds - she was so gentle!! Some parts of the castle yards were still being renovated, so you see some mess in the background.
Me and my BIL petting Peaches
In the meantime, tons of sightseeing to be done… we visited Athlone, Dublin, Galway, Wicklow, and almost everything in between.
The remainder will be more of a pictorial, with lots of the story told in the photo captions.
If you ever get the chance to visit the Republic of Ireland, please do so. It’s soooo worth it!
Dublin — one of Ireland’s largest cities! Tons of fun at Temple Bar, site of the Easter Uprising against the British occupation, and exploring other endless historical sites also.
We visited Trinity College to see the Book of Kells (the artwork was GORGEOUS!) but no photos were allowed….
At the end of the day, hubby got sick from lunch, and threw up on the tire of the bus taking us back to Portlick, as we were loading to leave Dublin. The bus driver was very gracious about it, but one young relative heard him swear a few words under his breath, and told us cussing in an Irish accent just sounded really cool!
The General Post Office (GPO), scene of the Easter Rising against the British in 1916 💚💚
Edward Delaney’s Potato Famine Memorial exhibit — Dublin. This one broke my heart!
Happier scenes — Phil Lynott, from Thin Lizzy, statue — hubby’s favorite band!
Bunratty Castle and Folk Village - County Clare
Bunratty was our first touristy castle visit - it’s a very popular destination.
The castle was very impressive, but even better was the village surrounding it. It was set up to look like 19th century Ireland, and a lot of the buildings had actual thatched roofs and flowers growing up the walls.
Bunratty Castle tower with the Republic of Ireland’s flag flying proud!
Real thatched roof
Beautiful rose-covered cottage
Cutie in a Village pasture
City of Athlone, very close to Portlick Castle. We grocery shopped at Tesco in Athlone, and were surprised when Tesco charged a fee for plastic grocery bags (which America should have done YEARS ago!!). We bought permanent bags to use instead, and took them home as souvenirs. A few years later, American grocery stores got with the program and started selling permanent grocery bags like Tesco’s.
Church of Saints Peter and Paul (with the green roof) across the River Shannon
Seans Bar in Athlone. Almost every bar in Ireland calls themselves Ireland’s oldest bar!
Cliffs of Moher on the west Clare coast:
Harpist at the Cliffs
Rock of Cashel - A castle in Tipperary where Brian Boru (a renowned Irish warrior) was crowned king in year 978. It’s high on a rocky hill, helping the medieval castle dwellers to fight off attackers.
Cemetery at Rock of Cashel
Ballykissangel — Did you ever watch the BBC series called Ballykissangel? It was a really great sitcom set in Ireland, and hubby and I LOVED EVERY EPISODE! In 2007, we visited Avoca, one place in the Republic of Ireland where the show was filmed. The main scenes of BallyK took place in Fitzgerald’s Bar.
We got there 15 minutes after everything closed at 6pm (damn!!), but we still got some great outside pix! It was like coming home!
Fitzgerald’s Bar — where the bulk of BallyK was filmed!!
Galway - we visited our cousins Bob and Tina in Galway, and had a wonderful time! They have their own greenhouse and garden (I know you all will LOVE that!!) and are dog people like my hubby and I are!
They kept asking us if we wanted to go to McDonalds for supper, and we were like, “Uh, no please, let’s go anywhere else…” trying so hard to be proper, until we discovered they were asking about McDonaghs, the best seafood restaurant in Galway. We didn’t understand them because of their Irish accents. It was a lovely meal after all!
Bob & Tina’s back yard. I’ve aspired to this since we visited!
Galway ruin down the street from Bob & Tina’s
Galway Bay — it’s beautiful!!
Cousin Bob grinning because he finally got us to McDonaghs!
At the homestead… We visited the dairy farm hubby’s mom grew up in, in County Leitrim, owned at that time by her older brother Charlie, to be passed down to his sons. A bunch of us American relatives got to milk cows for the first time… thank goodness Uncle Charlie was a patient man!!
Uncle Charlie’s cows grazing on the homestead
This tank chills/stores 2 days worth of milk, until a dairy processor carts the milk away for bottling
A neighbor’s herd. I just love this cutie’s face!!
Homestead’s border collie Pete lying by the peat (turf). He was such a good boy!!
Aunt Maura’s beloved poppy garden at the homestead
The family in front of the homestead — Uncle Charlie and Aunt Maura (middle row, far left) are no longer with us
Farney Castle is a historical castle owned (at the time) by Cyril Cullen, a popular knitwear and porcelain designer, whose 4 daughters are known as the Cullen harpists. We visited Farney my second time in Ireland, and I was thoroughly gobsmacked by the owners’ art offerings and their graciousness. Absolutely LOVED their resident peacocks!!
Hello!!
Inside the Farney Castle gift shop - note the peacock outside the window!
Beauties on the castle windowsills
Connemara Celtic Crystal - They were a serious competitor to Waterford at the time, especially now since Waterford Crystal’s been sold to a foreign entity. The owners were so gracious to let me photograph inside their facility (VERY rare!) The pieces this shop made are beyond gorgeous (as shown in the final photo!)
Crystal etching expert giving the family a demo
Unfinished crystal etchings at Connemara. Notice the pieces with the gorgeous Irish Claddagh design!
Finished Connemara Crystal pieces…. beyond gorgeous!!
Wicklow, a mountainous place south of Dublin, was where I got my first sniff and sight of real, honest-to-goodness heather. Lovely place!
Farmers let their sheep graze in the mountains at Wicklow
Gorgeous view through a ruins’ doorway
Finally got to see & smell heather in Wicklow. The scent wasn’t strong, but the flowers were gorgeous!
Family reunion at Portlick. So many people in these photos are no longer with us. We’re not sure about Andre, the boy from Chernobyl that hubby’s cousins were sponsoring in Ireland to get him away from the radiation to help him heal. He went back home to Ukraine a while after we met him in 2002, and our family lost touch with him. Hope he’s safe, especially with Putin’s folly!
Andre from Chernobyl; hoping he’s safe back in Ukraine!
Aunt Bridie asks, ‘Would you like to dance??”
A few more random photos…..
Bridge over the River Shannon, by King John’s Castle, Limerick
Fuschia-colored wildflowers outside of Allwee Caves
Our cousin’s wife Helen giving the wedding bagpiper the look of a lifetime!
Stinging nettles… Oh Hell No!!! Stay FAR, FAR away from these!!
The prerequisite Irish sheep photo ❤️❤️❤️
I could have shown everybody soooo many more photos, but I’ve got a feeling this diary is already too long. Hope everybody enjoyed the pix, and again, if you ever get the chance, definitely visit the Republic of Ireland. ‘Tis a gorgeous country filled with beautiful people! ☘️ ❤️ ☘️
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The Republic of Ireland has a very rich history of fighting against invaders… but it’s really long and drawn out so, too much info for this diary. If you’re interested now, I advise reading...
A series of 5 great historical novels detailing the Republic of Ireland’s troubles & tribulations written by Morgan Llywelyn. Her Irish Century series, reaching from 1916 thru 1999, explains a lot of how the Irish citizens, including my and my husband’s relatives, fought to keep their country out of the clutches of ruthless English invaders. Well worth a read, if you’re so inclined!
(Sorry about the crappy link — I couldn’t get any of the better links to stick!)
GoodReads:
www.goodreads.com/...
Sláinte !!
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