Sunday, May 31st, 2015

Dear Folks,

Hi everyone, hope all is well.  Today we had very fine weather here in County Cork.  I got up early and went for a little drive through the country.  Below is a picture of the guesthouse I'm staying at here in Kinsale, Joy's Accommodation.  It doesn't look like much, but...

well, it isn't much.  It's a budget type place.  When they showed me the room with the two bunk-beds I was worried I was going to be sharing it with a bunch of backpackers, but I had it all to myself.  The bathroom is out in the hall, but I have that to myself too.  Joy, the owner is a nice lady, and the place is clean and convenient to the center of town.

After driving for a while I decided to stop in a town I've never heard of, Clonakilty, to see if I could get breakfast and a wi-fi connection.  I got breakfast at a B&B, baked beans and scrambled eggs with grilled tomato, not bad.  Then I decided to walk around town a little.

Turns out that Clonakilty was the nearest town to where Michael Collins was born, above is a picture of the National School where he got his primary education.  There is a plaque on the wall by the entrance.

I don't know how much you know about Michael Collins.  There was a movie made about him starring Liam Neeson, which was over-romanticized and very Hollywood.  It's entertaining, but it's not very historical.  There are a couple of good things about it though.  The CGI graphics used to depict Dublin during the Easter Monday uprising and later the Civil War are awesome, and Alan Rickman's portrayal of Eamonn DeValera is awesome.

Collins life was short, but his impact on the history of Ireland was enormous.  It's not a simple story and I won't go into it here.  If you are interested, there is plenty of information about the War of Independence and the Irish Civil War and the role he played in both on the internet.

On the way back to Kinsale I stopped in Cork City again.  It was a beautiful, sunny day.  This is St. Patrick's Street, the main shopping street in the city center.  The city center is actually on an island in the River Lee.  I'm hoping that if I get to stay here in Ireland I will get a chance to spend more time in Cork.

Back in Kinsale, this is the Kinsale Museum.  Housed in a market house that dates back to 1590.  Kinsale was an important harbour in Ireland and here are some artifacts from it's maritime history.  An anchor from one of the ships of the Spanish Armada, another from the La Trompeuse a French sloop captured by the English, which later sank off of Kinsale, and a crane from the Lusitania.

Kinsale is a popular tourist destination in the summer.  It has an arty feel, there are a lot of galleries and gourmet restaurants.

The Marina is home to the Kinsale Yacht Club.  There are also excursion boats and fishing charter boats for hire.

Kinsale holds and annual 'Gourmet Festival' in October.  For a small town it has a lot of top quality restaurants.

This is where I had dinner this evening, Max's seafood restaurant, http://maxs.ie/.  I had the sauteed lamb cutlets with grilled lamb kofta, tomato concasse, spicy chickpea fricasee & roasted red pepper.  I also had the hot soft chocolate gateau with kumquat coulis and vanilla ice cream for dessert.  Not on the diet, but very delicious.

Tomorrow morning I check out and its up to Galway and Kay's.  I'll probably be stopping in Dunmore to see Sean and Della McGarry and their son Peter.

Be well, will be posting more later, Luke

Saturday, May 30th, 2015

Dear Folks,

Arrived safely in Ireland early Friday morning.  I had no problems picking up the rental car from the airport and the drive to Cork city went smoothly.  It's about a three hour drive, but I stopped to get something to eat at a motorway rest stop on the way.

I parked the car in Cork near the City Hall and walked over to the city center where all the stores are. I picked up a phone with a camera and set up an account with my new number.  I've already forwarded on my information to the family I'll be staying with in Dublin as well as our Cullina cousins, Anne and Mary, our cousin Kay Harty and sister Lizzy and brother Mike back home in New York.

While in Cork I went to visit the English Market.  The market dates back to the 1780's and the current building was constructed in the mid-1800's.  There are dozens of food vendors selling local produce and international gourmet foods.  It's a very cool place to visit.

I had heard about the English Market last year before coming to Ireland, but didn't get a chance to see it then.  One of the things I was interested in checking out was Toons Bridge Dairy, http://www.therealoliveco.com/.  They sell Buffalo Mozzarella that they make in County Cork.  A local farmer brought over Italian Water Buffalo in 2009.  The guy behind the counter told me that at first they didn't know how the animals would adjust to the climate, but apparently their hair just got longer and they're doing fine.  We had a nice little talk, apparently the guy lived in Sunnyside, Queens while going to school in New York for a couple of years. You can check out the story behind Toons Bridge Dairy and the Water Buffalo at: http://www.therealoliveco.com/pages/toonsbridge-dairy.

I picked up some mozzarella balls that I was planning on having with tomato and basil later.  The stall also sells other cheeses and they make a Buffalo Ricotta as well as Buffalo Mozzarella.  The Market has bakers and butchers and fishmongers.  One of the stalls was selling this lovely thing.

I don't know what it is, but I ain't gonna eat it.  I didn't spend that much time in Cork, after my shopping I drove down to Kinsale where I'm staying the weekend.  It's an interesting town with a lot of arty shops and fancy restaurants.  It's a coastal town on the mouth of the River Bandon.  There are a lot of tourists here now, and it will be full all summer.  In the winter it's very quiet, the population is only around 2,500.

This is the view of the town from the road leading up to Charles Fort.  A star fort from the 1670's it was besieged by an ancestor of Winston Churchill's, John Churchill, the first Duke of Marlborough in the 1690's during the Williamite war. 

The star shaped fortification was a design of the period that resisted cannon fire.

The fort was built to protect the harbor from being used by the French or Spanish in case of an invasion.

There is fishing here, for those who are interested.

After the flight, the drive down, the shopping I had to do, dealing with my bank and getting my phone and internet set up I was pretty tired.  I'd been up for 30 hours so when I sat down on my bed I found myself unable to move.  I did get a chance to talk to Liz later that evening and had a good night's sleep.

Today' the Sabbath, so I'll be seeing if I can connect to a church webcast from somewhere, and later will do a little walking around town.

Take care, Luke