Ireland Pictures for the weekend

Three days of Ireland pics in one post.

First, Saturday:



This is the Wicklow Mountains, south-southeast of Dublin. It's a different sort of area, not the lush green that most of Ireland was. Different vegetation, I guess. The hills are very pretty, although they aren't what I'd call "mountains." They are probably the tallest things in Ireland, though, so I guess they qualify by default. This is also where the author Anne McCaffrey lives, although I didn't know that when we were there. The little town of Avoca is in this area as well. It's mostly known because of the BBC series Ballykissangel, which is shown on PBS in some areas. We hadn't discovered the series when we were there, though, or I would have made a point to at least drive through the town.


Sunday's Picture:


A round tower at Glendalough, another ancient religious site. This site was built in the 6th century and destroyed by English troops in 1398. This tower is more intact that the one at Monasterboice, and you can see the cone-shaped roof that makes it look like a pencil. This was a very pretty place, and very popular. We skipped the visitors' center, since we arrived right after a busload of tourists. There are also some other religious buildings at this site, including St. Kevin's Church.


Today's picture:


One of the five bastions of Charles Fort - County Cork, on the south coast of Ireland. This was one of the neatest places that we went. Charles Fort is an old star-shaped fort, built in the 17th century, and one of the largest military forts in Ireland. It's a very neat place, and the guide doing our tour was very interesting. We were there for almost two hours, and could have stayed longer if they weren't closing fo rth enight. When we were there, there was some debate on how to restore the fort - should it be restored back to the original 17th century site, or as it was later on?

Charles Fort is near the town of Kinsale, which is apparently famous for its food. I wasn't impressed with our eating experiences there, but then I'm not a foodie. The food leans toward the gourmet end, both in food and in price. It's a very small town with very narrow streets, so driving was a pain. Also, no parking in town. We finally found a free parking lot on a hill above the town, and would walk down to eat or whatever. Someone on that hillside had a lawn that must have been a real trick to mow, as it was on about a 45-degree slope.