A Cool Coincidence

I am currently in Derry, doing research, interviews, and field work for my Independent Study Paper about the Williamite Wars in Ireland, and as it was, my program arranged for me to stay with a family for the week I'm up here. Coincidentally, the Irish family I'm staying with has the surname of Little, and the father's name is Hugh. He has a son named John, and a a grandson named Owen. Ironically enough these are the names of our ancestors, in a different order of succession. Our ancestor Owen Little came to America directly following the Irish Potato Famine. He had a son in America named Hugh Little. Hugh then had a son named Johnny-- Grandma's father. I just think it is so neat to actually be staying with the Littles in Ireland, and I think Grandma will appreciate that too!

Kinsale- "The Gourmet Capital of Ireland"

As promised before Mary's accident, I will cover the rest of my adventures from the Rebel County of Cork. I will resume with my adventure to the town of Kinsale, a seaport in the extreme southern coast of Ireland, rich in history and food. Known as the gourmet capital of Ireland, Kinsale is a harbor town and home to the largest Yacht Club in the British Isles. Along the two entrances to the harbor are the ruins of two fortresses, erected at the time of the Nine Years' War and the crisis of the Spanish Armada. Historically significant in Irish history, Kinsale was the site of the devastating battle in which Hugh O'Neill was defeated while trying to relieve the besieged Spanish forces garrisoned here, and later, during the War of the Two Kings, it is through the port of Kinsale the James the Second both arrived and later fled Ireland following the defeat at the Boyne. Local history holds that the port of Kinsale dates back as a settlement to pre-Roman times, and classical evidence shows there was trade between the pre-Celtic Irish and the Greeks and Carthaginians, possibly centering around the coastal settlement of an ancient Kinsale. The day I was there was gorgeous and mild, a beautiful day for hiking and exploring this colorful town.

Kinsale's culture is based in history, gourmet food, and the sea. It is known as both the capital of Irish sailing and seafood, and while I was there I enjoyed some delicious Irish mussels and crab legs. The day was beautiful and I hiked up around both heads of the harbor.

 Kinsale Harbor is the destination of many continental and American yachters coming to Ireland. It is estimated that at any one time, at least 9% of the current population is actually made up of foreigners living in their sailboats in Kinsale Harbor.




Below is the entrance to Kinsale Harbor from the open Atlantic of the Western English Channel

This tower is said to be the last remnants of the pre-Celtic port of Coin-staile, where Greek, Iberian and Carthaginian merchants would have come to trade for copper, tin, wool and wode.

 James' Fort, built in response to the threat of Spanish invasion during the days of the Armada. The Spanish did maintain a beach-head at Kinsale prior to this fort's construction, during the Nine Years War, when a Spanish expedition of 3,500 men-at-arms landed in support of the Earls of Tyrone and Tyrconnell.

 Charles' Fort, across the harbor entrance from James' Fort is the more impressive of the two harbor fortresses and was built in 1677 on the site of an earlier Spanish fort. It is built in the impregnable star formation of later 18th century forts, and was built in honor of Charles II who had then returned from exile to restore order to the chaos of the Cromwellian regime.

                                            Ruined Church on the Castlepark Penninsula

 The town of Kinsale itself is a charming and fairly small sea village, with lots of colorful little shops, cafes, fish mongers and restaurants.I found a nice cap for Grandpa Nelson at a little tweed and woolen shop in in the village!





As you can see, they're pretty    laid back about specific times here in Ireland!
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Kissing the Blarney Stone!

On Wednesday morning, Jenna and I ventured up to Blarney Castle, just a few kilometers north of Cork, in order to visit the castle, explore the town, and of course, kiss the Blarney Stone like every American tourist. The castle was very cool, built in the 1200s, a lot of it is still intact and authentic- a far cry from modern safety standards though. The Blarney Stone itself is on the very top of the Castle's Keep, located just under the rampart. The rest of the town is charming too, but you had to be careful for the tourist traps and gift shops! Outside of Blarney Castle is an area known as Rock Close, which is a preserved Druidic Grove, dating to the pre-historic Celtic period of Ireland. The rock formations, caves and flora is kept up in the Gaelic fashion, and is very beautiful garden and wood to visit in its own rite.

 Blarney Castle was built by the McCarthy's in the early 1200s, with Cormac McCarthy ruling as High King of Munster through the 14th Century. As you can see from the picture on the right, the stairs of the castle are not necessarily up to code, especially on a wet, slippery day.

View from on top of Blarney Castle, looking out over the countryside of Cork

The Blarney Stone lies underneath the rampart of the castle wall, along the highest tower. To kiss it, you have to lay on your back and lean out over the opening. The stone was given to Cormac McCarthy by Robert the Bruce for his support at the Battle of Bannockburn in 1314. It was a sacred stone of the Scottish royal family, dating back to 847. According to legend, the origin of the stone is rooted in Biblical times, and is said to be Jacob's pillow, on which he slept the night he had his vision of the ladder into heaven. Now I don't know how that stone that Jacob rested on made it all the way to Scotland, and then Blarney Castle, but I kissed it!

The Village of Blarney

The Druidic Grove of Rock Close

 To the left is a stone piling, dating back to pre-historic paganism. The Druids used this grove for religious ceremonies and as a type of outdoor sanctuary for worship. To the right is the "Witches Stone," carved out to look like the pagan goddess of the Crone, the old woman of Autumn.

Druid's Glen; an ancient burial site lies in the small cave underneath the waterfalls

These giant snaking trees are Willow, one of the seven sacred trees of Celtic Pagan tradition. They are the tree of the moon and their groves were revered by the Druid priests.

Moving on to a more modern religion...... this is the Parish church of Blarney village, built in the 1800s.

The climate of Southern Ireland, especially Cork and Kerry, is very mild and blessed with warm sea-breezes year round. Because of this, even palm trees can grow here, making it seem even more like a bit of paradise!

The Republic of Cork!

This past week, I took a few days and traveled to County Cork with one of the other students in my program. She is studying the Irish language, so she was going down there to do research, while I went simply to explore a different region of the emerald isle. It was, by far, my favourite spot I've visited so far: beautiful countryside, the friendliest people, the most interesting sites, and the nicest atmosphere. While I was in Cork, I branched out and visited many of the outlying, colorful areas of Munster, including Blarney, Bantry Bay, Kinsale, Youghal, Skibbereen, Mallow and Cobh. I have so many photos and stories from this trip I can't include them all in one post, so stay tuned the next couple days where I'll put up a post for each of my adventures:  Kissing the Blarney Stone, Exploring Kinsale, The Hi-B, and my trip to the Rock of Cashel and Tipperary!

Cork City Centre

On Tuesday, we got into the city in the afternoon, and spent the first few hours wandering around and exploring Cork City.

Cork and the River Lee

The hostel we stayed in was just along the river across from the City Center. Not a bad location for only 15 euro a night!

Swan on the River Lee

University of Cork

On the west end of town is the beautiful campus of Cork University. We met a couple of the students around town at various pubs during the week.

Dan Lowry's Tavern- one of the old style pubs of Cork. No Guinness served here, only Murphy's Cork Brewed Stout. Its better than Guinness (so I'm told!)

My Bangers and Mash at Dan Lowry's with a pint of Murphy's- the Special

The food in Cork was overall incredible- its known as the Gourmet Capital of Ireland. I enjoyed fresh seafood, traditional Irish dishes, and great restaurants all over the county.

Cork City and the River Lee at high tide.

Even though Cork is one of the largest cities in Ireland, it has the feel of a town the size of Wooster, with everything easily accessible and the people being very friendly and helpful. Everyone knows everyone, and is very welcoming to visitors.

Cork City Hall

Port of Cork

Cork has a vibrant fishing culture, and is one of the best places to go for seafood on the whole island. The fishing fleets go out every morning and come back with catches of cod, prawns, mussels and oysters.

The English Market and Farmgate Cafe

Cork is home to the largest Old English style Market in Ireland, and features the Farmgate Cafe above it. You can actually go down along the butchers and fish and vegetable mongers below, select and buy what you want, and then have it cooked and served to you above in the cafe. Today, Friday, before I left, I ate here and had some Irish Seafood Chowder. I picked out the mussels, crab and cod cheeks at a fish-mongers below and had it cooked in the chowder!