"This blog is not necessarily for lovers of art, it includes a variety of topics and whatever. I'm a painter who likes to know what's really going on in the world today. So you might find anything from Shamrocks to Salmiakki mentioned here on my blog. There will of course be some boring, factual and informational posts, but I'll keep them to a minimum, I promise!
This is the sixth and final blogpost looking back at my holiday adventures in Ireland, and this time it's all about Kilkenny! It's probably a name known to a lot of people worldwide for being a distinctive red-coloured beer of the same name. But there's a lot more to Kilkenny than just beer. For example, when I hear the name Kilkenny I immediately think of the black and amber colours of the county and the great history Kilkenny has in the sport of hurling. If you are not familiar with this sport here's a short video clip to give you an idea.
Not forgetting also that Kilkenny refers not only to a city in Ireland but also to an entire county. It was here that we set as our next destination having said farewell to beautiful Kinvara and the west of Ireland. It was also a chance for me to meet up with my brother and his young family who made the trip down from Dublin. We all arranged to stay at the same hotel for a night in Kilkenny. Before we reached Kilkenny city we decided to stop somewhere for dinner. A popular place to go eat in Ireland is the pub, where the food is usually very good and value for money. We had been sampling several pubs for their food during our trip and our next pub was one of the best we found. It was called Delaneys Bar in Clomantagh, County Kilkenny. The owner was very friendly and the food was fantastic! (Click all photos to enlarge!)
Delaney's Bar and Restaurant, Clomantagh, County Kilkenny
Great food at Delaney's Bar!
Having had a good feed we drove straight towards our hotel in Kilkenny city and checked in. The hotel we stayed at was called the Kilkenny Ormonde Hotel and we were not disappointed.
We had a wonderful stay with a very comfortable and spacious room. Our Finnish friends were upgraded to a superior executive suite which was a nice surprise and we also received a big discount on parking. The hotel itself and it's facilities are without fault, and the cavery breakfast was delicious. What impressed me the most however was the way the staff treated us having arrived back late after a long day's stroll around the city. With the hotel's restaurant closed and their chef gone home for the evening, the manager and some staff prepared an inexpensive platter of pizza/chicken goujons/salad and chips for all of us (six adults and three children). Good customer service!
Kilkenny Ormonde Hotel
As I mentioned, we all had a nice stroll around the city. This isn't too difficult to do in that Kilkenny city feels more like a small town and most of what needs to be seen is condensed in a small area of space.
The main attraction and most famous landmark in the city has to be Kilkenny Castle, with it's wide open lawn and impressive gardens. The weather was fabulous yet again, so we had a nice walk around the castle grounds. It was a perfect escape from the noise and traffic outside the castle walls. My brother's kids were happy to find a kids play area nearby also. On our second day a few of us took a tour inside the castle. As we walked around inside, apart from all the wonderful art and interior features we were oddly impressed that they had free Wifi available, especially given the fact that the castle walls are extremely thick inside. A Finnish friend was also impressed by the greeting he received as we walked through one of the castle hallways. An old woman working as a guide kindly said hello and asked my friend where he was from. On his reply of "Finland" she then replied by saying "Tervetuloa!"(the Finnish for Welcome!). This was a bit special I thought. With so many tourists coming through this building every day, I only expected the lady to perhaps know greetings for the more common visitor languages, eg. French, German or Italian.
Kilkenny Castle gardens
Entrance to Kilkenny Castle
Kilkenny Castle
Kilkenny Castle and lawn
Kilkenny Castle
Kilkenny Castle
Walls of Kilkenny Castle overlooking the River Nore
The River Nore and John's Bridge in Kilkenny
Another way to get around Kilkenny is to take one of the small train tours like the one in the photo below. It's a fun way of getting around to see areas outside the city centre. On our little train trip we found more examples of Kilkenny's fine churches and we also got to catch a glimpse of the famous St.Francis Abbey Brewery.
After our trip around the city it was time for ice-cream and sweets from Kitty's Cabin sweet shop. This is an old style sweet shop which isn't something I frequent everyday. They had a huge selection of sweets, some old favorites and some new ones with crazy flavours! I decided I had to fill up my pockets with a few bags to take back to Finland. Let's just call it a bad case of Wonkavision!
Kieran Street, Kilkenny
One last thing I must mention about my short visit to Kilkenny was a piece of street-art I discovered. It was situated at an empty building plot on Kieran street in the heart of the city. The title of the artwork was 'Alice', but it featured images of a woman called Dame Alice Kyteler, the first woman in all of Europe to be tried by the Church for crimes of witch craft. The whole piece created by artist Mick Minogue was cleverly presented and very eye-catching to passers by. To view the full artwork and read some more about Mick Minogue, simply go to my next blogpost by clicking here or the image below.
This is part 6 of a set of 'Ireland' travel posts here on my blog. Click on the destinations below to read the rest!
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Part 5 of my holiday adventures in Ireland and sadly this was our last day on the west coast. The main reason I made this blog was to reflect on the type of holiday I rarely have a chance to take. Mainly because whenever I do manage to get back to Ireland it is important for me firstly to spend time with my parents and my brother's family living in Dublin. Also, it's rare that Ireland's summer weather gets as good as this year 2013.
This part of our trip took us around one of Ireland's best locations to drive, the Connemara Loop. After leaving early in our car from our Kinvara holiday home we first drove around Galway bay and immediately tried to bypass Galway city. Easier said than done however, with so much traffic and a chain of roundabouts to pass. Luckily our Finnish friends had lots to talk about and questions to be answered, so the time went nicely. Below are a few photos from our trip, simply click on each image to enlarge.
Roadtrip map around the Connemara Loop. (our route in red)
Having bypassed Galway city our journey took us right through Galway county and it's beautiful landscape. It's easy to enjoy the views of the Twelve Bens mountain range along the way, but care was necessary as some of the local sheep have a habit of wandering out on to the roads. Here's someone else's video footage of the views.
This area is a popular part of Ireland for artists also, with some of the country's most famous artworks originating from here. Jack B. Yeats and Paul Henry are just some of the famous Irish names associated with painting in Connemara.
Cloudy Day, Connemara - Paul Henry
Oil on canvas board,
The first stop we made on our route was Roundstone, a village popular for it's culture and arts. As well as being a home for painters, it's also rich in traditional Irish music and dancing. Unfortunately we weren't sticking around long enough for any of that. So a quick stroll up and down the village, a cup of coffee and a slice of cake in a cafe and we were on our way again. We did get to see the nearby bus-stop, an all-in-one Post office/Petrol station/Grocery store and a couple of Galway Hookers!
Click images to enlarge!
Bus-stop at Roundstone
Shop/Gas station/Post office
Galway Hookers Traditional fishing boats used in the Galway Bay area
Roundstone, Co.Galway.
After leaving Roundstone, we couldn't resist stopping of at one of the many nearby beaches dotted along the Connemara coastline. Here we had to kick off our shoes and go for a paddle.
White sandy beach at Gurteen Bay, Roundstone.
'Good to get the feel of Irish waters again!!
Beach at Gurteen Bay, Roundstone.
It was time to head to the town of Clifden next for dinner. The sea air in Ireland always makes me hungry for some reason. We had some excellent food at Mannion's Seafood Restaurant on Market street in Clifden. A great place to eat!
After dinner we headed out from Clifden via the Sky road, a scenic route which takes you up over the landscape and offers amazing views of the coast from a parking point along the way. It's not called the Sky road for nothing!
View from the Sky road, Clifden
With the sun finally began to go down it was time to head back to spend our last night in Kinvara. But before that we made our way past several other scenic locations, stopping at Connemara National Park, Killary Harbour (Ireland's only fjord), Leenane and Kylemore Abbey. Although we didn't actually manage to see much of Kylemore Abbey as the sun was setting blindingly in our view. But I did capture this nice shot from the opposite direction which I thought was even more appealing.
Landscape close to Kylemore Abbey
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This is part 5 of a set of 'Ireland' travel posts here on my blog. Click on the destinations below to read the rest!
Share this blog!
Thanks for reading my blog and please feel free to share it with any of your friends.
You can receive my blogposts direct to your email or facebook profile by pressing the follow button at NetworkedBlogsand you are welcome to visit my art page on Facebook by clicking the 'Like' button under my signature below.
Part 4 of my summer holidays 2013 in Ireland, and a visit to the Aran islands was our next destination. From the day we arrived in Ireland the weather was great. But today was by far the hottest, reaching over 30°C. Our first stop was Doolin harbour were my friends and I tried to find a ferry-boat. Due to the good weather a lot of other people made the same plans. Luckily I had pre-booked our places for the boat. There were plenty of boats going over to the islands, all extremely busy the whole day. The Aran islands are made up of three islands, Inisheer, Inishmaan and Inishmore. I had planned on taking my Finnish friends to the largest of the three Inishmore, but due to the amount of visitors things got a little chaotic for the ferry owners and we ended up stopping on all of the islands. We did spend most of our time on the large island as planned though.
First stop was the little island of Inisheer, or as I like to call it 'Craggy Island'. It was a unexpected surprise for me to be on this island, even though we only stayed 20 minutes at the harbour waiting for the next boat. This small island with a population of only 297 is full of history and geological wonders, just like almost everywhere along the west coast of Ireland. But I like to call it Craggy Island for it's modern history and charm. It gets the name Craggy Island from a very popular tv sitcom 'Father Ted' starring the late Dermot Morgan. It was the island of Inisheer which featured in the program's intro.
The Father Ted series became so popular that it gained a cult following, and even after many years fans still come to visit the island and pay homage to the show. In fact they visit all three islands as well as the house where the show's main characters lived. The house itself is not actually on any of the islands as many assume, but is in fact on the mainland in County Clare. Anyone interested in it's true location can find it here on Google maps.
Here's a few photos I took while I was there. Click on each image to enlarge.
Inisheer or 'Craggy' island
One of the many small ferryboats visiting the Aran islands.
A 'Father Ted'-themed tour vehicle on Inisheer.
Ferryboat from Doolin to the Aran islands.
The Plassy shipwreck on the small island of Inis Oirr, just off the west coast of Ireland. The ship went down in 1960, and it's wreck has since become more famous for it's appearance in the opening credits of the popular tv comedy series Father Ted.
Next stop was the middle island called Inishmaan. There wasn't much to see while waiting at the harbour here. We only had a few minutes before our boat to the main island arrived. It's pretty much the same as it's sister islands. Here's a photo of the harbour wall and an old Guinness commercial made on the islands.
Lego-like harbour wall at Inishmaan island
After a brief visit to Inishmaan we jumped aboard another boat and headed to the largest of the three islands Inishmore. This was where we spent most of our day. On arriving at a very busy harbour we tried to find one of the many horse-drawn carts set out for visitors. Unfortunately they were all hired out and we had to take one of the many mini-bus tours instead. In hindsight it was a better choice as we may have got too hot or sunburnt on the long cart trek. I was a little concerned about how the horses were coping with the heat and the hauling of tourists around all day. But I saw that their owners seemed to be giving them some rest and plenty of water. Anyway, 'sure it isn't every day the weather is this hot in Ireland. For a moment it brought to my mind the memory of a holiday I spent in Rhodes, and seeing the Lindos donkeys. A very upsetting sight to see if you like animals.
Horse and cart on the island of Inishmore.
A traditional Irish thatched cottage with a matching leprechaun version next door.
One of the beaches on Inishmore.
Traffic chaos on our mini-bus tour of Inishmore. Thanks to our driver Rory for getting us back to our boat on time!
The Man of Aran cottage which featured in the 1934 movie 'Man of Aran'
Old ruins
Limestone pavements on the Aran islands
During our visit to the island of Inishmore we went to see the prehistoric fort of Dún Aonghasa which is located at the spectacular cliffs overlooking the atlantic ocean. I have been to this island before wishing to see this unique location but was unable due to bad weather. Instead I ended up drinking Guinness and playing pool all day in the harbour pub with a good friend. I call that a social visit!
I was very happy about finally going to see this famous fort and it's cliffs, especially with the great weather! We also discovered a small visitors centre before walking up to the cliff edge. A small cottage setting can also be found nearby selling the famous Aran sweater and wools. There are also other craft-shops selling items such as jewellery, hats and t-shirts. Most of the t-shirts have slogans written in the native irish language of course. I did see one t-shirt which I thought was incorrectly written and complained to the old woman working in the shop. It wasn't long until she proceeded to give me a bollicking about it. I explained to her that I had been sent to learn the Irish language in the nearby village of Kilkieran on the mainland when I was a boy and this was the dialect I knew to be correct in the area. But the old woman told me off and said the Irish of the islanders is correct and all the rest are wrong. 'Being a meagre Dubliner, who was I to argue with this pleasant old lady. But I wonder was she ever taught by the Christian brothers or nuns!
Of course the weather isn't always as cheerful and sunny as we had experienced on the island of Inishmore. On the contrary, it's by far one of the harshest weather locations in Europe with rain and strong galeforce winds constantly arriving in from the Atlantic ocean. So local businesses have to make the most of welcoming tourists and visitors whenever good weather arrives. Tourism has become the islands main source of income in recent years.
Most of the people I have met anytime I have visited the west coast of Ireland have been great craic and for me it's the best place in Ireland!
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The Aran island ferry owners had a good day at the office!
Finally here's a piece of music I like by the band British Sea Power. It's called Man of Aran and features footage of the 1934 movie 'Man of Aran' which was filmed on the island of Inishmore. The original movie in full can be found on YouTube here.
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This is part 4 of a set of 'Ireland' travel posts here on my blog. Click on the destinations below to read the rest!
Thanks for reading my blog and please feel free to share it with any of your friends.
You can receive my blogposts direct to your email or facebook profile by pressing the follow button at NetworkedBlogsand you are welcome to visit my art page on Facebook by clicking the 'Like' button under my signature below.
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