Kilkenny

Well we finished up in Dublin and rented a car.  As promised the car had the steering wheel on the right and I had to drive on the left.  Of course Sue wanted to go the scenic route to Kilkenny that took us through towns and on narrow country roads.  This was a great decision....for Sue.  For me it was several hours of terror interrupted by a few scary moments.  

I have heard from Sue and some other people that I saw some great scenery.  What I really remember seeing was the white line in the road that I found I had to keep in a particular spot of the windshield in order to stay at least six inches from the oncoming traffic.  You have to maintain this comfy six inches in order to not scrape the left side of the car on the brush or stone walls that are a good five inches away from the other side.

Our Suzuki Alto Rollerskate

I have no pictures of any of the scenery that I am told I passed as there is no place to pull over even if you wanted.  At one point I was on a particularly narrow road with maybe four inches clearance on either side when I came upon a tractor trailer rig coming the other way.  I hit the brakes as did he.  I couldn't go anywhere so the truck driver had to put his rig in reverse.   He put the cab and leading edge of his trailer into a small area near a fence gate.  I squeezed by but couldn't help wonder how he even managed to move forward.

You have to keep in mind that I am driving a Suzuki Alto which is essentially two motorcycles welded together with a roof.  It was the amazingly Spartan offering from Hertz.  I am glad that it is as small as it is as I can't imagine trying to drive anything larger here.  These roads must have been designed by Leprechauns on a bender.

Before I go much further in our drive I have to correct an error I made in an earlier posting.  It seems that Gaelic football is another sport that differs from the one between Galway and Kilkenny that I watched in our Dublin hotel pub.  I misunderstood our bartender who was describing the sport.  You see over here they speak English.  This variety however drops vowels and consonants at will and all "H's".   I understand about every third word unless it happens to be a local idiom.  Then I don't understand much of anything.

Gaelic Football

I have also run into a few speed talkers.  The heavily accented language flies by your ears at the speed of a Guinness down a dry throat.  You will generally not understand even one word.  After a few pints you might imagine you understand.  You probably don't but at least you can give a better impression of a good listener.  Luckily most Irish really enjoy talking and you don't need to enter the conversation with more than a nod or a smile.

What the bartender was actually describing was hurling.  Now to me hurling is something you do if you have had too much Guinness.  To them it is a sport best enjoyed while drinking too much Guinness so you can hurl later.

Hurling, Irish Style

As a lapsed Catholic I haven't seen the inside of a church in ages.  On vacation I have spent more time in more churches than I had in all my years growing up.  The mere fact that these represent some of the oldest structures in all of Ireland seems to be their draw.  Most around Kilkenny are around 700 and 800 years old.  When you read about their histories you realize that being a priest, monk, bishop or the like in their day was not a bad job.

As a sign of the times I remember we passed a church in Dublin that had been converted into a nightclub.  There was another that was now a hotel.  When the times got tough in the thirteenth century the wealthy would build a church.  This would provide employment for the poor and a place for the wealthy to be buried where they could be remembered.  The joke was on them though as 98% of the tombstones have weathered and are illegible.

Today is my birthday.  It started off in our B&B at our breakfast.  Tom, one of our hosts came in with his 100+ year old squeezebox and we all joined in with Danny Boy, Molly Malone and one other that I recognized from the movie The Quiet Man.  [a video clip is shown below of Tom singing] Then they sang Happy Birthday in a manner I never heard before nor will I ever again.   I continued my celebration in Kilkenny at the Smithwick's (pronounced Smiddicks) Brewery which was an old abby.  This represents a much better use of church property.  As I understand the history of the place however the monks of the abby consumed a lot of beer.  During lent they would not eat solid food and existed on beer.  This sounds a lot like a few months I spent in college.

Tom Singing Molly Malone

At the end of our tour we had the tasting. Sue got a beer, I got a beer.  Sue doesn't drink beer.  Sue's beer did not go to waste.  While there we met a couple of "Dubs" as the folks from Dublin are called.  We had some good crack.  As I think I explained in an earlier post, crack is conversation.  We talked with these two for over an hour.  His wife also did not drink beer so he likewise benefitted from the situation.

Our Smithwicks Bartender

During this conversation we were told that we could expect to not understand the folks in Cork.  As I only understood about 2/3 of what he was saying I am not sure I got it all right.  If I did understand him I will probably be using my skills learned in Barcelona where I was speaking very broken Spanish with a bit of English thrown in and they only spoke and understood only Catalan.  Sign language and a lot of pointing will be the way to survive.

We finished my birthday celebration with an Italian pizza made at a French restaurant in downtown Kilkenny Ireland.  I washed it down with a Murphy's beer which is similar to Guinness.  We finished up at Mathew's Tea Room with dessert.  We made it an early evening as the town is about to be invaded with a Stags and Hens celebration which from all accounts sounds like an Irish version of Mardi Gras.  The Guarda (police) will have a strong presence and the ambulances will be standing by according to our B&B hosts.

We also today clarified the name on our B&B which is Dunromin.  It sounded very Irish and I wanted to know its derivation.  I was told the prior owner had been a traveling man in his work when he went into the B&B business.  He was merely stating that he was "done roaming".  It sounded Irish anyway.

Dunromin B&B

Tomorrow we are on to Cork via the Rock of Cashel.  More later when wireless and free time present themselves.