On to KIllarney

Day 4 continued with a north eastern ride to a beautiful area of Ireland.. one of my very favorite parts!!! The lakes of Killarney! Killarney is a medium-sized town in County Kerry, southwestern Ireland. The town is on the northeastern shore of Lough Leane, which is part of Killarney National Park.

As we approached  the Killarney area   the  landscape  changed...  what  appeared to be  rocky mountains were  really  high hills  covered with  heather and   bracken... There were rocks  but   these  hills  turn  a  rich  purple in summer and  autumn  the heather  blooms..

And   it is   now we began to see  meadows

 of sheep one right after another.. I loved them!

Then our   bus turned into the  park

 proper  and  we  saw  our first glimps 

 Muckross Lake....

The marvelous Muckross House sat perched 

on a knoll by the lake..this nineteenth century

 Victorian mansion is set against the stunning

 beauty of Killarney National Park. The house 

stands close to the shores of Muckross Lake, 

one of Killarney's three lakes, famed world 

wide for their splendour and beauty.

As  we drove  along   the park toward

 our destination  we  saw the lakes

We toured  this  magnificent home and the

 only photo we were allowed to take  was

 from the  window overlooking  the lake!

But here   are some stock photos  of the house!

I loved the grand hall  with  the   amazing  staircase

 the ladies'  parlor.

the dining room  reminded me so much of Downton Abbey

and especially  below stairs  with the  myriad  walkways  to various  compartments  and kitchen areas and  hall of  pull bells!

The castle was  refurbished   in grand    style   for the  visit of Queen Victoria  who  demanded to be  housed on the first floor  in case of  fire..

As we left through  the kitchen we  entered the  inner courtyard  by the  staff  areas..

 But  Muckross is known for its   verdant and brilliant  gardens

  

By this time we were almost late for our  appointment...   one of the great highlights of our trip!

We     drove out the castle gates and   down the lane to    take our jaunting ride through the park and on into  Killarny to our  hotel!

There about  five carts to   carry  our group.

My friend Dot took this one of us!

 The  park   was  glorious!

 Here you can see  the moutains    

beyond the lake...    These  were

 the McGillicuddy Reeks

We passed  by  Muckross Abbey

We  passed through a  lovely  fairy tale forest

 then  onto a  side lane just for the carts as 

we  travelled    toward the  village of Killarney!

After  an hour so we were turning  into 

our hotel lot  where  John was  waiting 

at  the coach for us to gather our carry-ons!

Ireland Day 4 Destination Blarney

Just a few short kilometers north west of Cork you will arrive at Blarney Castle! Just a pleasant walk through gorgeous gardens and you arrive before a majestic view~   Our first  stop  on the trail was  here  at  a lovely  garden.. the spreading  apple tree  branches  begged for  a photo!

As  one   turned from this very spot     you beheld  this  spectacular view!!

Spring was just arriving here  on   April 17th.

A sensory delight as you make you way along Blarney's path!

I am sitting here making my decision... Living in Germany in my 20's I cant tell you how many castles I have climbed.. up narrow twisted staircases to traipse across the battlements and stand among the turrets and snap photos aplenty... there was no way I decided that I needed to see the view from up there... besides a friend had told me there was so much more to see if one kept walking up the hill!

and as you can see the view along the hillside looking back was lovely... and it got much better! We came upon Blarney gardens..    Interestingly enough one garden was designated for poisons..

  onward  toward the prize..
And around the corner  the prize
 came into view...  Blarney Manor House

  A view  back toward the  back of 

 the castle   from the   Manor's  front lawn

 It felt   like   with a wish one 
could be transported back into time!

 The house  was closed for the season...
but it was  definitely  worth the  walk!

 I was still enjoying the  environs!

 So Lynn and  I decided to  stroll
 over to the stable area

past  interesting   plantings 

 which was  converted into a 
snack bar with home churned
 ice cream...

  But it was  still  just before 11am

 and we still had  a long afternoon

  before  settling into our next hotel.

Ireland ~A very full day 4

 ON the fourth day of our trip to Ireland, we performed our daily morning ritual of setting our packed bags at the door at 7- breakfast and on bus by 8... Today we were going further afield... almost due west across the south of Ireland through the gorgeous city of Cork. This southern route N25-N22 follows the Celtic sea coast just a bit inland to enjoy the rolling hills and lush farm of southern Ireland.we passed through Dungarvan,Youghal, Midleton, and Cork and finally found our noontime retreat at Blarney Castle.

As we drove  along the  southern   route   toward Cork we were  very near the ocean.

Irelands  coastline is very  undulating with  bays and  inlets.

Please remember     that most of my   photos were taken  from  our coach as it sped along N-25.

Open farm land      along  the way  shows the   manner in the south of how  fields are  delineated...  hedge rows    and   many times the yellow blooming gorse...  Now   gorse is very prolific and often times  around abandoned farms  the gorse will take over a  whole field!

 In some  photos    please excuse the glare and  blur....  it couldnt be helped...but it is Ireland  and it was  greening!

  After  about  2 hours we    came upon Cork,  Ireland

Unfortunately we just skirted right past it

I understand the area  SW of cork is  awesome,  but we   turned north here onto N-22   and about 20 minutes  later we were at our  destination!