Around Every Corner

Tam hit it on the head this morning:  Just when you think nothing could possibly top what you have just seen, you round a corner and BAM, there it is.  You've just seen something equally as amazing.  The only thing, I think, that could stifle the blarney of an Irishman is the beautiful southwest of Ireland.  Sometimes it just leaves you speechless.

Before I forget, and I won't won't elaborate why ( I will say, to the chagrin of my brothers, I'm sure, that Greenore still tops Midleton - - so far), we had dinner and celebration (good craic), at The Laurels in Killarney.  We were directed there by our host, Paddy O'Donoghue, and we were not disappointed.  Owned by the O'Leary family for generations, we met the owner, Con O'Leary, and had a spectacular meal, good company, and great conversations.  It's amazing how seafood tastes just blocks from the ocean!  I could not have spent my birthday in a more comfortable, welcoming and warm place.  Highly recommended.

Now, what did we do today?  Where do I start.  We drove the Ring of Kerry and then we drove through the Black Valley and up and through the the Gap of Dunloe.  In the middle, we visited the Island of Velentia.  Just simply amazing.  Before dinner we walked by St. Mary's.  The church was started in 1842.  The Famine halted construction in 1848 and the site was used to care for children of The Famine.  There is a memorial there to the Unknown Children buried at the site.  It literally sent chills up our spines.  To top it off, the church itself is a Wonder.  I swear my St. Mary's and Tam's St. Mary's could both fit comfortably in the back of this shrine.


Again, I'll leave the pictures to speak for themselves.  Appropriately so, I buried my youth in an old Irish cemetary.  Awesome.

 
I couldn't make this up.  What do you think was one of the first things we saw when we started on the Ring, on my birthday?  A rainbow, can you believe it?  Didn't find the pot o' gold, but sometimes if you look to hard, you miss it ;-) 

Lighthouse on Valentia

Peak of Mt. Geokaun - Valentia Island, Ring of Kerry

Cliffs of Fogher - Valentia

She came, she conquered, she saw!.  As afraid of heights as she is, it didn't stop Tam from walking to the edge on the Cliffs of Fogher.  Can't wait until the Cliffs of Moher!

She even looked down!

We made an offer!  Sorry kids, new summer home

 

River in the Black Valley

Never imagined we would be "trail riding" in our pop can in the mountains in Co. Kerry, but that's what it took to get here!

Gap of Dunloe

Upper Lake from Dunloe Gap

Heading down from Gap of Dunloe

This Irish Spring tastes WAY better than ours!

You'd be smiling too!

Well tomorrow's a travel day. Next stop, Cliffs of Moher.  Don't know what it is, but I have wanted to see these since I was a kid.  Let's see:  mountains, water, cliffs (a larger version of bluffs) cooler weather - - could it be in the DNA?  Things that make you go Hmmmmm...........