CatMoore
Registered User
Posts: 20
(6/24/03 3:44 pm)
 
Part 4a: Cashel, May 31-Jun 3, 2003

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We left Roscrea this morning and bid the Tower Guesthouse goodbye (they had music in the pub last nite, which rocked us to sleep the night before!) and make our way to Cashel! This is the part of the trip that I was waiting for. The last time I had visited Ireland (March 2000), we didn't have a chance to stop and see the Rock.

We drove south towards Cashel, and on the way se made a pit stop just south of Templemore (neat little town). We saw a sign for Loughmore Castle, and thought, what the heck! We eventually came upon it, and again, was in the middle of a cow pasture! We asked the owner of the farm if we could make our way to the castle, and he was very kind and gave us permission.

It was VERY beautiful! The only things keeping it company were the cows and horsed in the field! It was pretty much in ruins, but that didn't stop us from walking through it. I think some of our best pictures were of this castle! We had a bright blue sky, and the temperature was perfect! We found out later that this castle was owned by the Purcell's. It was a very beautiful find!

Well, considering the amount of cow patures we were trapsing through, I knew it was BOUND to happen, but, I had the unfortuante experience with the hidden cowpie! EEK GADS! That wasn't fun, but now I can laugh about it (since I ALMOST fell down in it!). My right shoe was pretty much caked, and I was VERY glad to have a second pair until I could clean them up. YUCK!

We made our way back to the car, and eventually made it to Cashel. WOW! I heard the stories of how impressive it is when you are driving into the town, but, I never expected HOW impressive! We found our way to the Rock, and parked in the carpark. Since we had such a gorgeous day, we didn't want to waste it, so we visited the Rock, and toured the grounds. It was absolutely a glorious day, and after we had walked around, we just laid down on the soft green grass and relaxed. Isn't this what a vacation is suppose to be like?

After a rest on the grounds, it was the right time to go and check into our B&B. Unfortunately, I had NO idea where the Legend's B&B was, and we ended up walking the town, until we got back to the giftshop at the Rock, and asked them (I should have done this from the beginning). We found out it was located right at the base of the carpark where our car was. Well, that made things a LOT easier! We drove around to Legend's and it was such a great place, with a beautiful view of the Rock. Our room was great! Not the biggest, but the shower was wonderful, and the bed was the most comfortable yet! Plus, whatever Rosemary uses to scent her sheets smelled SO GOOD! Michael greeted us, and checked us in. We had reservations there for the 4 course dinner, and, if ANYONE has some extra $$ to splurge, DO IT HERE for dinner. The food was excellent, wonderfully prepared, and PRICEY! It was our belated anniversary dinner!

After dinner, we wobbled up to our room, to gather our camera and take some night pictures of the Rock. Well, I forgot that this time of year that it is 11pm before it actually gets DARK, so we walked around, walked to Hore Abbey (LOVELY!), and walked the trail that leads you up and around the Rock. We sat on some rocks for a while, just relaxing, then, all of a sudden, the cows started showing up! They have cows roaming around the rock! We had a good laugh at this, since it seemed where ever we were, cows were there!

We watched the sun go down, and took some pictures of the Rock with the lights shining on it. It was very beautiful at night.

We decided it was a full day, and tomorrow, we were going to make the trip to Cahir to see the castle.

On the way to Cahir, Rosemary told us we should stop and see Athassel Abbey. AGAIN, yet in the middle of a cow pasture, and it had rained last night, so it was pretty muddy. We braved it, anyway, and it was just glorious!

After braving the cow-pie field, we drove on to Cahir. I really like this little town! It was very quaint. Cahir Castle was one of the best ones yet! My hubby loves medieval history, and he really liked this castle. It was fun to climb through all the buildings....

We ate lunch across the street at the Pot O' Gold restaurant, and we noticed there was a Moore Abbey not too far away (we had to go see this since it was our namesake!). We made our way through the Galty Mountains (this was a very pretty drive), and made our way to Galbally. It was a pretty small abbey, but neat none-the-less.

From here we decide we've done enough for today, so we drive up to Emly, and over to Tipperary. After Tipperary, we drove through Golden, and stopped for a quick picture of what was left of the castle just by the river. We finally make it back to Cashel, and pretty much crash for the rest of the night. Tomorrow, we decide we'll take the treck to Bunratty Castle (I knew my hubby would like that one!). More on that in my next post...

Michele Erdvig
ezOP
Posts: 1587
(6/25/03 12:16 am)

When the Cows Come Home

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Hi Cat,

I am enjoying your journey so much. I'm glad you only stepped in it and didn't fall in the cow patty. I think every cow in Ireland was after you!

Michele

P.S. Will you be posting your photos online?