Day 8 - Cork to Killarney

Yeah!!! Matt is done with work!!! He's been released to enjoy a proper holiday! We said goodbye to The River Lee Hotel that had been our home for the last week. I will miss their morning breakfast and hot pot of tea for one. Liam picked us up to take us to the airport. He had been Matt’s driver to Apple 3 times this week. After some minor confusion, we found our rental car parked in slot 203 rather than 103. We were off to explore Ireland with Cork in the rear view mirror and Kissane Sheep Farm via Kenmare as our first destination.

Kissane Sheep Ranch is a 2500 acre traditional Irish farm, perched on a slope above the Black Valley. It has been a working farm for 5 generations (150 years) and has over 1000 sheep and hundreds of lambs. John Kissane runs the ranch and explained how the dogs worked the sheep, while his son, Evan, gave whistle commands to Dash and Taylor, the farm’s two best dogs. The border collies are born on the farm and their training begins at puppyhood. It was amazing watching the two dogs work together. They each had their own unique whistle commands and were intelligent, clever, and lightening fast. We found it so unbelievable to watch, that we stayed to see the dogs work another cycle. This was like “Babe” on steroids. BaaaRaaaMuuuu!

With the herding complete, we got a lesson in sheep sheering from John’s brother Noel. The sheep pretty much instantly resigned themselves to their humiliating fate. You can feel the lanolin on the underside of the fleece that acts as natural waterproofing for the sheep. The lanolin is extracted from the wool and sold to pharmaceutical firms. Once shorn, they are tagged with the farms color and the letter “K.” Finally, the “naked” sheep is given some medicine and then granted a short holiday in the barn while she acclimates for a few days to life without a woolly sweater. There were also some new born lambs in the barn which were not only hungry, but eager to make a new friend if I provided them with alfalfa.

Back on the road, we made our way through Killarny National Park. It’s the oldest national park in Ireland. We will be hiking a section of it tomorrow. We made a few stops along the way and took in the vastness at “Lady’s View” and then walked up to Torc Waterfalls.

Once in Killarney, we booked our hiking and boat shuttle for tomorrow from a local pub. When I had checked into our lodging, I inquired where I might book a shuttle and boat service for the Dunloe Gap. I was told, "Oh I don't know of anyone that provides that service. It's either one or the other but not both." That did not sound right at all...I've hiked the Gap before and had arranged the service. Behind me was a stand of brochures. The first one I picked up had a map with the exact route for bus and boat service that I had just asked for. I showed her the brochure and pointed out this was exactly what I had just asked about. Her response, "Well, what do I know, I've lived here all my life and have never even driven the Ring of Kerry for myself." Now that is the equivalent of saying you live in San Mateo and have never been to San Francisco. Good Grief!

We are suppose to get a lot of rain tonight, but we should have moderate weather for tomorrow. Killarney is a busy hub for all the hikers as well as the tourists who are driving the Ring of Kerry. There were lots of little shops to peek into as we walked around the town and made our way into the quieter neighborhoods.

Day 7 - Cork

Some travel days are meant for chores. This morning's chores entailed packing up Matt’s laundry into my main backpack and walking down to “The Laundry Basket.” I had hand-washed most of my clothes already. The owner remembered me and said, “Welcome back luv. Let’s see whatcha have. Oh 3 bags, lovely. I’ll have ya ready at half past noon.” It was nice not having to hand wash a weeks worth of Matt’s work clothes. Total cost= 12 pounds for 12 euro…not a bad deal.

I made it back to the hotel with the laundry just as the rain hit. It was the standard Irish rain that comes in diagonally and pelts you in the face even if you have proper rain gear. Since there was no point in going out again, I had a bowl of soup for lunch at the hotel while I waited out the rain. They tell you that if you don’t like the weather, wait 15 minutes and it will change. According to Yahoo Weather, I had to wait for an hour.

The rain finally stopped and I was able to get a long walk in along the River Lee. I made my way uphill onto Sundays Well Road to St. Vincent’s Church built in 1853. It’s the biggest church on the hillside across from my hotel room. It was a nice 4.5 mile loop.

Matt was home by 6:30, so I basically took him on the same walking loop again, but inserted a stop at the Franciscan Well for dinner. It’s a wood fire pizzeria with it’s own micro brew house situated on the site of an Old Franciscan Friary that was built in 1229. The well that the friars used to make their beer still survives today and is fabled to have healing qualities. Therefore, if I drink their beer brewed from the well water, I will have a long and healthy life.

 

Day 6 - Cork

I had planned on going to the Mizen Penninsula today, but the small tour vans weren’t going there and if I were to take the public bus, it would take 4 hours…1 way. So instead of going there, I hiked up the hill across from the hotel and paid a visit to the Cork Gaol. Many times, visiting a prison is a great way to learn about the local history. The self-guided tour was well done, but I had more fun listening to questions from the elementary school kids. The prison opened in 1824 and closed in 1923. During its history it housed men, women and children. During the worst of times, people would commit petty crimes and when caught would ask to be imprisoned in order “to pay for their sin.” In reality, even though prison conditions were harsh, inmates were provided with 3 meals a day which was a better prospect than dying of starvation in their own home. It was rather ironic that while learning of the bleak history, sitting on the ledge next to me was a full champagne glass left from the previous night's festivities. Apparently, the prison can be rented out for parties and events.

After the prison, I continued up the hill in search of St. Kevin’s Asylum. Matt’s co-worker, Mick, presented the challenge of paying a visit to the abandoned asylum since I had done everything I could in the area. St. Kevin’s is a large red brick building with 3 chimneys on the hilltop across from our hotel. I accepted the challenge but unfortunately could not complete the task. The grounds were fenced off and only the ponies had access. So, that was a bust.

The hike back down to the city took me through some pretty hidden parts of Cork At the base of Shaky Bridge was a little man fishing. His pup was 100% intent on willing a fish to bite the hook. The boys were out in their finest whites for a game of cricket. I watched for awhile and still don’t understand the game.

Matt got home late. Only one more day of work for him and then he will be released from captivity. Dinner at The Oliver Plunkett Pub, that we went back to try something else. My Irish stew was as equally good as my fish n chips. However, I went back to the Guinness.

On the way home we walked down to Shakey Bridge. It's still daylight at 10pm which is good, otherwise, I don't think Matt would have seen any daylight so far.