More on my favorite town in Ireland! Kenmare was such a delight. I don't think I have ever seen so many amazing cafes and restaurants crammed into such a small space. This little town packs a big punch, and I thoroughly enjoyed spending a relaxing day walking, shopping, and eating here. It was also really nice to not set foot in a car all day long.
Day 7: Kenmare
Ready to go! The morning was a bit chilly, so we bundled up for a walk to see the Kenmare Stone Circle. This is the view from the front of our Airbnb.
This ancient stone circle is thought to have been constructed during the bronze age, sometime between 2500 and 1000 B.C.
The rest of the day was spent eating and shopping! The boys went to go check out the golf course and ate lunch on their own, while Maureen and I lunched at a cute French cafe. I'm not going to lie, it was pretty heavenly to enjoy a meal without also having to attend and assist a hungry little human, and to be able to drink a coffee before it turned room temperature! (Moms with littles, I know you can relate!) Ah, the small things. Then Thomas volunteered to take TJ back to the apartment for a nap so I could shop without navigating a stroller through narrow aisles and doorways, ramming into clothing racks and constantly assessing what breakable items might be within reach of TJ. And then I got ice cream that I shared with no one. What an epic day. I didn't take a ton of pictures of the town, but here are a few of my favorites.
After TJ woke up, we took a little walk along the water and through a park, cutting back into the town via the beautiful gardens of Park Hotel, which looked like a scene out of Downton Abbey.
Then Maureen took TJ home so Thomas and I could have a date night!
I enjoyed this sign at our restaurant. Undoubtedly, it was put up because they were tired of being asked by tourists, most likely Americans, for a Wifi password. (Europeans never have their phones even out on the tables at restaurants, honestly, and I love this attitude.) After dinner, we followed the sound of bagpipes into this little pub where a group of men, casually just sitting in a circle with a round of pints, played and sang traditional Irish tunes. We grabbed a couple drinks and cozied up by the fire to watch them perform. What a perfect way to cap off our stay in beautiful Kenmare.
Day 8: Kenmare to Kilkenny
Our itinerary for this day led us to Kilkenny, but not without a couple of stops of course. First we stopped for lunch in the quaint little harbor town of Kinsale.
I didn't feel like attempting to navigate the stroller through this tiny little chocolate store, so I sadly just admired it from the outside. Oh well. I live about 20 minutes from the Belgian border, so don't feel too sorry for me. ;)
We thoroughly enjoyed soaking up some sunshine and wandering the colorful streets of Kinsale.
Kinsale was small, so it didn't take us long to feel like we had seen it all. It sure was a beautiful stop though! We had fish and chips by the harbour and then continued on. Next on the itinerary: Rock of Cashel!
The Rock of Cashel was the seat of the Munster kings for hundreds of years, up until 1101 when the King of Munster donated the Rock to the Church. Most of the current buildings date from the 12th and 13th centuries. We took a tour that led us through the church ruins, and I am sure there was a lot of great information, but I only heard bits and pieces because this was Episode #3 of Tour Interruptions by Theodore. He literally whined and cried through most of it, so we just took turns taking him away so that the other tourists could actually hear the tour guide.
Then, of course, as soon as the tour was over he was perfectly happy.
Who has time for silly tours anyway? We have friends to make and lots of fresh green grass to run around in!
Despite the toddler fussiness during the tour, the Rock of Cashel was a pretty amazing experience. Now, off to Kilkenny!
Day 9: Kilkenny
Our last full day in Ireland was spent in the lovely medieval city of Kilkenny. We started off the day with a visit to Kilkenny Castle.
Strollers aren't allowed on the inside, and since we had a plan to do a city walking tour in a couple of hours anyway, we opted to just stroll the castle gardens and walk along the river instead of doing the castle tour.
Oh there's TJ and me in the bottom right corner! He fell asleep, so I pushed him up and down the sidewalk there while Thomas took some pictures of the castle. Not a bad backdrop for a nap.
The walk along the river was pretty wonderful. We felt far removed from the city as we wandered through these lush walking paths.
The river itself? Kind of nasty looking. I don't know if the river has always looked like chocolate milk, but it played an important role in making Kilkenny a wealthy merchant down back in the Middle Ages. (Actually, the river probably looked even more disgusting back then, since people tended to use lakes and rivers as a sewage dump back in those days).
The little alleyways are called "slips", and this is where merchants would set up stalls to sell their wares back in the day.
So the walking tour was the fourth, and luckily the final, episode of "Tour Interruptions by Theodore". You'd think at this point in the trip I would have learned to steer clear of tours...but I guess I was trying to be optimistic. He woke up right when the tour started and was not happy about it. We tried snacks, we tried taking him out the stroller and letting him walk, we tried holding him...to no avail. So again, we took turns taking him away from the tour when the guide was talking so that the rest of us could hear. Our guide took us all around the city, from medieval alleyways to old churches, and shared stories with us about Kilkenny's rise in economic power and its fall in fortune with the invasion of the British. I didn't really retain a lot of knowledge that I can divulge here, unfortunately, but it was a scenic walk for sure.
After the tour we got lunch and Maureen sweetly volunteered to go back to the hotel with TJ while Paul, Thomas, and I visited the Swithwick's brewery (pronounced "Smiddick's", we learned).
Swithwick's no longer brews their beer here, as they were bought out by Guinness and production was subsequently moved to Dublin in 2013. But the interactive tour and testing was informative, and we learned that Smithwick's is actually older than Guinness. In fact, at the time that the brewery closed, it was Ireland's oldest working brewery. Before it became Smithwick's brewery, this was actually the site of a Franciscan abbey, where monks had been brewing beer since the 14th century.
We tasted them all, but the original red was my favorite.
And our last sightseeing stop of the day was Rothe house, which is a late 16th century merchant townhouse. I really enjoyed walking through all the rooms and learning about how families lived back then, and there were also some interesting artifacts on display from that time period. The garden in the back was reconstructed to reflect the design and exact types of vegetation that would be found in a wealthy merchant's garden during this time period. The kitchen was strategically located at the back of the house, so that cooks could step directly outside to retrieve herbs and vegetables when needed.
We really enjoyed our time in Kilkenny, and it reminded Thomas and me of Edinburgh, though on a smaller scale. The medieval history and architecture here was fascinating. And the night life was really fun too, with a plethora of inviting pubs with live music. One night, Thomas and I had after-dinner drinks at a place called "Hole in the Wall". I read about it in the map our hotel gave us, which sited it as a tavern that has been in existence since 1651.
There was a very small unobtrusive sign from the main street, which led us down this long, dark slip to a little courtyard, an old wooden door, and a handwritten sign that read, "No TV. No Wifi." Thomas was then skeptical about entering, because he wanted to watch a soccer game, but he agreed to entertain my curiosity and we stepped inside.
We walked through a few empty but eclectically-decorated rooms, and followed the sound of voices to a small room with a tiny little bar where some locals were gathered around and engaging in some lively conversation. We were immediately greeted by a jovial bartender who said, "What brings you to a hole in the wall?" He then went into a big spiel about the entire history of the place. Later some more American tourists walked in and another spirited Irishman joined the bartender behind the bar. He picked up a guitar and said, "Americans! Who knows a song?" To his disappointment, we all just looked at each other. He then said, "Americans don't sing!" I laughed, "Some Americans sing. We have a few famous singers." But apparently that didn't count. One of the Irish women then picked an Irish song and the rest of them chimed in singing it to the guitar. When the song was over, I asked "So does everyone in Ireland either sing or play an instrument?" He responded, very matter-of-factly, "Yes. Even if they don't, they do."
Ireland isn't just magical because of the green rolling hills, the ancient castles, the stone bridges, the cliffs, the beaches, the sheep, etc. etc. All that is wonderful, but it's really the people that make this country truly special. Wherever you go, someone is always willing to help you, to chat with you, to share a story or a song. The Irish people are what truly make this place a dream. So thank you, Ireland, for having us! You met and exceeded all of our expectations, and I think we all left a piece of our hearts here.
