Ireland Trip - Day 6 (July 18): Cork

Today was the day we’d been waiting for – we’d been offered a personal tour of Cork, and we were really looking forward to it. But first, we had the best breakfast of our entire trip. We both had french toast, which was served with Canadian maple syrup (a discussion ensued regarding the merits of Canadian syrup vs. that from New Hampshire or Vermont, resulting in promises by us to put Tony and Avril in touch with a couple farms in NH that would ship them the good stuff). But even better than the french toast was the delicious scones, served with homemade blueberry jam. SO good. Tony even brought us a few extra to take with us for a snack that day. Before we took off for our tour, I set out to move the car from the parking lot, but Tony offered to let us leave it right there all day (even though we weren’t staying that evening). Yet one more little thing that made Fernroyd House such a lovely place to stay.

Promptly at 10:15 we heard voices from the front door, and stepped out to meet TA’s very own Bryno! Bryno had offered to show us around Cork and the surrounding area. We were more than happy to let someone else do the planning (and the driving!) for the day.

First stop was Saint Fin Barre's Cathedral, where Bryno had arranged a personal tour with Angela, the wife of the former organist. She has been running tours there for a number of years, and was so informative and had such great little tidbits to share about the cathedral. It’s also a stunning church, both inside and out – more great pictures! Next, we wandered over to the English Market, where we made the circuit and tried some lovely Irish cheeses. The shark’s head at one of the seafood vendors — propped open to show all the teeth — was particularly amusing.

Saint Fin Barre's Cathedral

The English Market

After a brief wander through the city centre, we then set off towards Kinsale and Charles Fort. Bryno dropped us off at the upper (or was it lower?) end of the Scilly Walk in Kinsale — a lovely walk along the water to Charles Fort — while he drove ahead. The walk took about 30 minutes, and went past some beautiful gardens and provided some excellent view of Kinsale and the harbour. Charles Fort itself is a fascinating place – it is a star-shaped fort built in the 17th century. We joined a small guided tour, but after about 20 minutes slipped away to take a few photos, and then head back towards Kinsale.

The Scilly Walk

Kinsale



Charles Fort

In Kinsale itself, Bryno once again dropped us off to look around while he parked. It was a lovely day (and was a Saturday), so there were MANY people about. We had lunch at the café at the Blue Haven Hotel – a sandwich for mom, soup and brown bread for me (sorry, Bryno, I forgot what you had!). After lunch, we walked back to Bryno’s car, and he drove us down to Old Head where we got some great photos of the cliffs and the la-di-dah private golf course. We then drove along the coast as Bryno showed us a local beach, and then back up to Cork where he dropped us off at Fernroyd House — along with a lovely gift of two books: McCarthy's Bar, and a fun little book of Cork slang.

Old Head

It was an altogether wonderful day – Bryno was a gold mine of information (and had a wicked sense of humor), and we had so much fun. Thank you, Bryno, for taking your Saturday to show these crazy American tourists around — we hope to return the favor someday!

Once back at Fernroyd, we gathered our belongings, said farewell to Tony, and hopped in the car for the short drive to Cashel. We stayed that evening at Joy’s Rockside House. The house itself is lovely, and better yet, is literally right at the base of the Rock of Cashel. The hostess, Joan, had given us a large, very pleasant room that looked right up at the Rock – a great view! We weren’t very hungry, so after a quick stroll through town we dined on our extra scones, and tucked ourselves in for the night.

Joy's Rockside House


Cashel at Night