Ireland – Day 3 – Planes, Trains & Autos

Hey Guys!

So, let’s continue with day 3 in Ireland (which is really our 2nd full day due to our flight out being an overnight flight).

Read Day 1 here, Day 2 here & Read my 10 Day Itinerary here

We started our morning out with a delicious breakfast at the hotel.

I loved these little sugar cubes….AND our view!!

The hotel has magnificent views of the city’s 12th-century Kilkenny Castle…

The Kilkenny River Court Hotel sits on the banks of the River Nore in a quiet location set in a private courtyard and conveniently situated back from the busy Kilkenny streets.

The main shopping areas, theatres, entertainment, tourist attractions and Kilkennys Medieval Mile are all close by right on the hotels doorstep.

We also had a view of John’s Bridge from the hotel

After breakfast, we headed to tour the Kilkenny Castle..

Visitors can take a tour of the Castle itself or simply stroll the magnificent gardens and Castle Park.

Click here for a comprehensive visitors guide of the castle

We decided to do the self tour ….the cost was only 8 euros for an adult and 12 if you do the guided tour.

The castle was built in 1195 to control a fording-point of the River Nore and the junction of several routeways.

The property was transferred to the people of Kilkenny in 1967 for £50 and the castle and grounds are now managed by the Office of Public Works.

The castle has been completely renovated…it was beautiful on the inside!

I loved the tapestries

So many of the rooms have been carefully restored back to its original condition

A shot from the inside looking out

I loved this beautiful red lounge chair!!

Walking down the Blue Corridor

Another shot from the inside looking out

A room full of art work…

If you look close enough you can see there was something painted on the ceiling

After touring the castle we decided to have a small snack in the tea room

So many goodies to choose from!

After our snack, we left the castle and took a few more shots of the outside

A shot of our hotel from the castle grounds…..so beautiful!

The gardens

After touring the castle, we then headed to our next stop of the day, the Rock Of Cashel.

As we were walking back to our car, I spotted this beautiful entrance way…

Tip: Make sure you have plenty of change so you can pay the meters for street parking

Driving through the busy streets of Kilkenny!

We made a quick stop at St Canice’s Parish

We made another quick stop at the St. Lachtain’s Church

The St. Lachtain’s Church was built in 1731. It incorporates a portal from 1100 as its main entrance. The arch bears a prayer in old Irish writing:

The inside

It had beautiful stained glass windows

The outside

After this stop, we continued our drive to the Rock of Cashel….we passed many old castles, abandoned buildings and cemeteries on the way…

Our first view of the Rock of Cashel

Arriving to the town of Cashel….

The town itself is historically noteworthy, offering lots to visitors including the Bolton Library, the Heritage Centre, the Folk Village, a Georgian cathedral, original city walls and the former archbishop’s palace, now a hotel.

Click here for a map of Cashel

Arriving at the Rock of Cashel…a medieval complex on a hilltop overlooking the town.

This archaeological site includes a Gothic cathedral, a round tower, the famous Cormac’s Chapel, a so-called “Vicar’s Choral” hall, a 12th-century cross and some hugely significant wall paintings, as well as a graveyard, and an underground museum.

The Rock of Cashel was the seat of the High Kings of Munster, although there is little structural evidence of their time here. Most of the buildings on the current site date from the 12th and 13th centuries when the rock was gifted to the Church.

The area has a gift shop as well but they only accept cash…there’s an ATM inside the gift shop but I don’t recommend using it as the exchange rate is awful!! Complete rip off!

Admission is 8 euros for an adult…after purchasing our tickets, we headed to tour the grounds..

Queen Elizabeth visited in 2011

Artifacts on display

Walking through the different rooms

After touring the inside, we then headed outside.

This place is truly amazing!!

Heading inside a different building on site

So much detailed work for so many years ago…just amazing!

There were lots of grave sights inside

The Cathedral had huge walls vaulting towards the open sky and secret passages running mid-air from end to end!

We then headed outside again to see the old graveyard…it was fascinating!

Shots from the outside

After walking around the grounds for a while, we headed back into the Cathedral for a few more shots…

So many little hidden treasures!

After taking 698 more pics of the inside, we headed back outside …we had to take a selfie to prove we were there! 😉

We then headed to Hore Abbey…

Hore Abbey is an ancient monastery dating back from the 13th century…it’s located just down the hill from the Rock of Cashel.

It’s free to visit but it’s quite a walk from the Rock of Cashel. You can drive to a small parking area that will put you very close to the path….it sits in the middle of a field with cows!

There was hardly anyone around when we got there….a lot of people bypass the Hore Abbey but I would definitely add it to your list if in the area.

The abbey was founded in 1266 and was given to the Cistercian monks from Mellifont Abbey in 1272 by David McCarvill, Archbishop of nearby Cashel. The Abbey was the last pre-Reformation Cistercian foundation in Ireland.

Looking back at the Rock of Cashel as we were walking to the Abbey

Shots of Hore Abbey

You can truly take hundreds of pics of these places….they are so cool!

I loved this shot of the Rock of Cashel from Hore Abbey!

As you see, I couldn’t stop taking pics of this place!

We had to take a selfie to prove we visited! 😉

One more shot of the outside

Walking back to the Rock of Cashel…

And one last selfie in front of the Rock of Cashel….

After leaving the Rock of Cashel, we headed to our next stop, the Cahir Castle.

Once we arrived and parked, we spotted the Cahir Movie Garden near the parking lot…

There have been several movies filmed in Ireland…a couple of months before we arrived, the Green Knight was being filmed at the Cahir Castle...it will be released in 2020.

We also had gorgeous views of the Cahir Castle from the movie garden location!

A shot of the castle from the outside

Cahir Castle, one of the largest castles in Ireland, sits on an island in the river Suir. It was built in 1142 and was skillfully designed by Conor O’Brien, Prince of Thomond to be a state of the art defensive castle.

Appearing to grow from the actual rock on which it stands, the castle has been the scene of sieges and bombardments for centuries.

The castle is well preserved and offers guided tours to visitors…tickets are 5 euros for an adult.

Inside the castle and grounds…

The castle had lots of steps and narrow hallways..

It had many rooms to explore

They provided lots of information on the history of the castle

Views from the top

After leaving here, we headed out to find lunch before heading to our next stop, Cobh…which is also where we would be staying the night at the Waters Edge Hotel.

Walking the town of Cahir

We decided to eat at The Galtee Inn Restaurant

After looking over the menu, I decided on the fish and chips for 14.95 euros…it came with a yummy salad and that delicious Irish brown soda bread!

The food was average and so was the service….based on the reviews, I wouldn’t recommend this place.

My sister ordered the beef steak and noodle stir fry and could hardly eat it…it had way too much sauce in it!

After lunch, we ordered dessert….we tried the apple tart with ice cream and the daily cake special…can’t remember now what it was called…it may have been the forest fruit sherry trifle with ice cream….both were very good!

After lunch, we headed back to our car to head to Cobh…

A few more shots I took of the Castle as we were walking back to our car

As we were driving, we spotted a beautiful church…and if you know me, we just had to stop! 😉

The name of the church was St Paul’s Church and it was beautiful! It was built between 1816-1818.

Sadly, the door was locked so we couldn’t go in.

So, we continued our drive to Cobh.

We had to go through a toll booth on the way….thankfully we always had plenty of coins on us!

As we arrived to Cobh we got our first view of the incredible St Colman’s Cathedral!!

Read reviews here

Our first stop in Cobh was to get a shot of the colorful row houses with St Colman’s Cathedral in the background.

We had read that the best location to get this shot was on Spy Hill...so, that’s where we headed….however, once we arrived, we had no idea that there was a very tall concrete wall that blocks your view and you have to lift yourself up onto the wall to get the shot…not an easy task!

But I was determined to get that shot…so, here it is! 🙂

After getting the shot we wanted, we headed to our hotel…the Waters Edge.

The hotel is nestled in the harbour town of Cobh and situated on the waterfront.

The Hotel has breath-taking views, spacious, comfortable rooms and offers Bistro style food.

While my step mom and sister were checking us in, I walked across the street and up the stairs to take a few pics of the hotel and the Cobh Museum.

The blue building is our hotel

I spotted a statue after I walked back down the stairs so walked over to check it out…

It was a statue of Annie Moore who had left Cobh (formerly called Queenstown) with her 2 brothers in 1891..she was the first immigrant to be processed at the newly opened Ellis Island Center in New York.

There’s a similar statue that stands on Ellis Island

I then walked back to the hotel to get settled into my room….the hotel had no elevator so we had to drag our luggage up 2 flights of stairs!

We then get to our room, and the rooms are hot and stuffy…no air condition! Yikes! We had to keep our windows opened just to stay cool!

The rooms had awesome views though!

Shots of the room….very basic.

After getting settled in we headed out to walk around the beautiful, colorful town of Cobh.

Cobh is known as the Titanic’s last port of call in 1912. Titanic Experience Cobh is a themed attraction in the former White Star Line ticket office. More displays on the liner are in the Cobh Heritage Centre, which also explores how Cobh became an embarkation point during Ireland’s mass emigrations.

More shots of the town

The original ticket office of the White Star Line & the “Heartbreak Pier”.

The pier is where an estimated 1 million emigrants bade farewell to loved ones as they left for America and Canada…it’s also the departure point of the 123 passengers that boarded the Titantic on April 11, 1912.