Day 3 - Counties Tipperary and Cork

Lenda - Headed out for our first full day of driving minus the GPS (since I managed to drain the battery) and doing it the ol'fashioned way ... with a map.  UGH!  After spending an hour driving all over north and south Dublin, finally managed to get on N7 to start the drive around Ireland in a  clockwise direction, east coast to west coast.  First stop - my absolute favorite place in Ireland - the Rock of Cashel in Co. Tipperary.  The view from this outstanding 1101AD seat of the Munster dynasty is breathtaking, overlooking the Golden Vale ... miles and miles of green of every hue.  St Patrick baptized King Aengus at this location in 450AD.  A perfect roundtower stands at it's corner, windows looking out for my viking ancestors various 'visits' to gain goodies.  The cathedral walls echoed today with a high school choir ... perfect acoustics despite the fact that there are no windows, partial walls, and no roof of any type.  I had chills listening to them sing in this beautiful place.  And the celtic crosses in the graveyard surrounding the cathedral are awesome.  This was the one place that Queen Elizabeth requested to see on her recent visit ... the other locations were suggested to her.  Good move Liz.  I'm sure you were humbled as are all visitors.

Armed with a new map and Diane as my co-pilot, we next headed off to the family town of Kilfinnane so that Diane could visit the village and ruins of the church where her great-great-great grandparents raised a family who ultimately left Ireland for America during the Great Famine.  The Carroll family is well represented in the old graveyard, and we met a Carroll.  Should have requested a DNA sample - bet he was related to Diane and Christopher!  Kilfinnane and the area surrounding the tiny town is lush with pasturelands.  That great Irish butter and milk - straight from Co. Tipperary!  Yum!

Lastly, we headed straight south into Co. Cork and have stopped for the night at Meadowbank B& B in Blarney.  Carol opened her door to us at 9:30pm and ushered us into her wonderful home.  So that's it for now - showers, bed, and a 7:30 wakeup for 8:30am breakfast.  Off to Blarney Castle so Diane can gain the gift of gap ... as if she needs to improve her skills in that area.  **sigh**