Monday 5^th August

We set out early for Wales enroute to the ferry to Rosslare, Ireland. At the last minute we decided to stay a night on the way as it was a bit far to go to board the ferry at 1.30 pm.  It was a great decision as we thoroughly enjoyed a leisurely trip through Wales and stayed the night in Camarthen. Then just a short hop to the ferry port in Fishguard.

 

 

Tuesday 6^th – Wednesday 7^th August

Arriving in Rosslare after an enjoyable journey we spent one night in a comfortable AirBnb nearby then travelled to Cork taking in some fabulous scenery on the way. We were particularly taken with the lighthouse at Hook’s Head. As well as the picturesque setting, its history is fascinating. Hook Head Lighthouse is at the tip of the Hook Peninsula in County Wexford. It is one of the oldest lighthouses in the world and the second oldest operating lighthouse in the world, after the Tower of Hercules in Spain. (thanks Wikipedia) The current structure has stood for 847 years.

After a busy sightseeing day, we checked into a beautiful AirBnb in Midleton near Cork. We pretty well exclusively book with Airbnb and Booking.com as we find them both to be reliable in terms of accuracy. It is also handy sometimes to be able to cancel on Booking.com without penalty. As Airbnb hosts ourselves we also like to support our colleagues working hard in the sharing economy.

We met Jim’s lovely niece, Katie and her partner Paul for dinner. We had such a great time catching up it wasn’t until the next morning that I realized we were talking so much I forgot to take any photos. As Katie said “Always a good thing when we lose track of time talking.” We hope we will see her again before we leave.

Thursday 8^th

Today we had a very frustrating backtrack to pick up my phone that I had left behind at the Bnb. Luckily it was only an hour back, not the whole day

The long and bloody history of Ireland is tragic and endlessly interesting. Famine cemeteries and the ruins of cottages left from the Great Irish Potato Famine of 1845–49,  illustrate a time when an estimated one million people died and another million people emigrated out of a total population of around 8 million. Countless families were turned out of their homes to roam the roads and Ireland was changed forever. As a result, the population of Ireland dropped by 25% and has never returned to its pre-famine number.

We stopped at the site of the The Kilmichael Ambush near the village of Kilmichael in County Cork.  On 28 November 1920 thirty-six local IRA volunteers commanded by Tom Barry ambushed and killed seventeen members of the Royal Irish Constabulary‘s Auxiliary Division.  The Kilmichael ambush was important as it occurred a week after Bloody Sunday, and marked an escalation in the IRA’s fight for Irish nationhood.

 

After backtracking to Midleton to pick up my phone we took the direct route to Kerry and were happy to arrive at Fuchsia Cottage in Castlemaine.  Yes, the home of the Wild Colonial Boy! Another cosy cottage where we had facilities for cooking a meal if we didn’t want to go out. Of course it was raining!!

         

Websites

Camarthen Castle

Hook Head Lighthouse

The Great Irish Famine

The Kilmichael Ambush

Castlemaine in County Kerry

Join us soon for our report on the ancient and famous Puck Fair in the town of my ancestors – Killorglin.