CatMoore
Registered User
Posts: 16
(6/23/03 3:30 pm)

Part 3b: Roscrea, May 28 - 31, 2003

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We did our 1/2 way point laundry today (there is a laundromat right by the Tower Guesthouse), and the lady that worked there told us we should make a trip to Monaincha Abbey, which isn't too far outside of town. We located it on our map, and found it listed in one of the travel books we have. It is an old abbey, that was once located on an island, surrounded by a bog. TOO COOL! Also, the weather was ABSOLUTELY GORGEOUS! It had to be getting near 70 degrees by Noon!

We made our way to the abbey, and parked at the end of the trail that leads you to it. A dog from across the street came bounding over to us, and seemed to know exactly were we wanted to go! He lead us down the trail, and eventually to the abbey. This was the first of MANY places we would go to visit that were located right SMACK DAB in the middle of a cow pasture. We precariously make our way to the abbey, and what a sight it is! it is located up on a hill right in the middle of the pasture (you can really tell it was once an island!). The dog bounded a head of us to the abbey, and proceded to lead the way around it. He was so cute, and a very good tour guide. The abbey was a wonderful find, and if you aren't too scared of cow pies, worth the trip.

Next, we were told that there were some standing stones also not too far out of town. Well, these were a little bit harder to find, and we ended up having to stop and ask a peat farmer if he knew where they were located. I guess we weren't too far from them, and he was very cordial and gave us directions. We made our way up the hill, and finally saw a sign that pointed up a small dirt road. Well, we weren't going to brave that in our little Nissan Micra, so we parked at the bottom and made our way up the road. Again, another dog from the farm became our tour guide and lead us up the road to the stones! We were actually pretty glad he showed us where they were, because we probably would have missed them. The farmer had posted a sign saying it was OK to go into the pasture (yes, another cow pasture) and view the stones, but please make sure you close the gate behind you. Very funny! The stone were really neat, pretty much scattered across the field, and were about 6' high. This was also a really neat find!

The puppy lead us back to our car, and it must have been feeding time for the cows, because they followed us (on their side of the fence) the whole way back to the car! Pretty funny!

We stoped back by our hotel to eat lunch and plan the next trip. We decided to go to Nenagh, see the castle remains, and just take it from there. Nenagh seemed to be a very industrial town, and the castle wasn't really well preserved. There were a lot of broken bottles and graffiti on the walls. We were both saddened when we saw this! I guess you view things differently when you don't have castles right in your home town.

From Nenagh, we drove up along Lough Derg, which was very beautiful! Old Court Castle was going to be our next stop, but we found out at the gift shop down the road from it that it is on private land, and the owners don't allow visitors anymore. Oh, well, we decided to continue north, and make our way to Lorrha Abbey. It was very nice and the grounds were really beautiful.

Finally, for our last stop we made it to Redwood Castle, and WOW, was this place in excellent condition. It seemed to be a private residence, but they did have viewing times listed. We made our way to the door, but I don't think anyone was home. So we took some pictures, and decided to call it a day.

Our time in Roscrea was coming to a close, and tomorrow we head to Cashel and Legends Guesthouse B&B. I'm looking forward to my visit to the ROCK!

CatMoore
Registered User
Posts: 19
(6/23/03 4:24 pm)

Standing Stones

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I forgot list the name of the standing stones - they were called the "Timooney Stones". Very neat....

CM

Michele Erdvig
ezOP
Posts: 1588
(6/25/03 12:19 am)

Guide Dogs

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Hi Cat,

I have to agree with you that the dogs of Ireland do make excellent guides. I had one that showed me Abbey Island on the Ring of Kerry. The tide started coming in and I thought I would have to wade back to shore but he showed me another way to go!

Michele