County Wicklow and West...

Saturday, May 19 Maureen and I headed out of Dublin and over the Wicklow Mtns... some of the most beautiful scenery!

And some of the more amusing sheep encounters! ("Look mom, what's that?!?")

Make way for cars... please?

And humorous (but true) sign encounters. We loved the enduring painted road lines that give each way 3/4 a lane, combined with the warning of an unstable shoulder.

Trying to keep Maureen on mountain despite the wind...

... so we can enjoy the scenery of Sally Gap instead of being part of it. :)

My idea of a nice little piece of land in the country...

After a quiet night in the village of Laragh, we visited the ruins of St. Kevin's monastic community in Glendalough...

Set in the mountians on a double lake, it was pristine and quiet even with busloads of tourists... I think the intermittent downpours that come flying through the valley helped.

The rain also made the Poulanass waterfalls beautiful - this hardly captures it!

If I were a hermit like St. Kevin, I think I might pick this view for my retreat cell in the middle of the woods as well.

On the nature trail at the lower lake, having just survived yet another downpour (courtesy of kindly Irishman).


Then we headed a bit west, through the Blackstairs Mtns...

We found an enormous ruined cathedral, St. Mary's, in a tiny farming town... The small front chapel is still intact and serves as the parish church.

That evening we arrived at Kilkenny, and the following day took a tour of its imposing castle... It was started in the 800s and has slowly been expanded and remodeled over the centuries under the powerful Butler family. (Closely linked with English royalty, as in one time butlers to the English king.)

The history of the castle and it's extensive art collection were worth the tour.

They only recently (by Irish standards) moved out in the 1930's, giving the decaying estate to the State for restoration. I thought they had a very nice front yard... it was quite a bit smaller than the 30,000 plus acres they used to own, but a 10-hectare park is not bad!