We began our tour of Ireland in Waterford, home of the Waterford Crystal factory and factory store. Our accommodations were at the beautiful old Granville Hotel in Waterford. This town also boasts the first flying of the Irish tricolor flag here by Thomas Francis Meagher on March 7, 1848. The local streets and shops provided ample entertainment to those of us who weren’t enthralled with buying crystal, and some of us were introduced to the Irish game of hurling through window displays of hurling sticks and other equipment. Photos of this part of our tour of Ireland can be accessed by clicking on the Main Gallery tab above and then selecting Destinations/Ireland-I-2011 at my Main Gallery page.
Next our tour moved on the Blarney Woolen Mills near Blarney Castle. We kissed the Blarney Stone during the tour of Blarney Castle, and naturally the famous stone is at the highest level of the castle ruins. The view from the top is outstanding, and I recommend climbing the castle even if you don’t care to kiss the stone.
Next we traveled to Killarney in County Kerry where we toured the Ring of Kerry, one of the most scenic drives on our entire trip. Our evening entertainment in Killarney was a fantastic show of Irish music and dancing by Liam O’Connor and his group of dancers and musicians. Then on our way to Dublin we toured an Irish dairy farm that has been operating for generations.
mom looks so pretty in that picture! glad you are getting all of these online—such beautiful photos! love all the green.