Exploring the North Kerry!

Wow, you think to yourself. I haven't seen any updates on Catherine's blog lately, but I know she would have told me if she had gone back home. YOU ARE RIGHT! I just moved to Dublin, and it's hard to find internet here (again)!!! Not to worry, I am going to be in Ireland for three more weeks, and you are sure to hear about it, ha ha!!!

Ok, a week ago today, we were still in County Kerry exploring. We actually started at a pretty fun/ funny jail that the guide knew almost less about than we did. I am happy to say that we got something out of it, though, as a few of us had a great time taking pictures with the wax figures.

We began at Carrigafoyle Castle, a 15th Century castle that sits on the mouth of Shannon River. It was in a perfect position to pillage ships coming in, which is what they did. Actually, they would charge ships going across a "tax" of 10% of their pillage to get across the river. Actually, Professor Connor's family apparently originates from this castle. It is referred to as a very historical site on the Shannon even by people not related to the professor :-)

And now, some pictures of us playing with wax figures at a North Kerry jail!! I cannot actually explain what they are, but it sure was fun :-)

Wax prison guard. Wonderful.

Trying to sympathize with a prisoner. Hard, though, since he was not a real person!

Ok, guess who the people are! Ha ha...

After the certainly memorable experience at the prison, we went to a Cloighteach Rath Tuaidh,

or Rattoo Round Tower, a historic tower used by monks in the 12th century. No one is 100% sure what it was, but it was a great lookout point, but also used as a historic pilgrimage point. There are a few signs that it was used by priests back in the day because of markers to show priests that lust was a bad thing (according to Michael, our official Irish professor). It was not used as a silo, as I was told by the people who knew what it was :-) The door was extremely high up because there used to be a set of stairs up there, but imagine living in a tower as a monk :-) When we finished, we went to an old churchyard next door that had a view of the tower from afar. In case you are wondering, we look funny because it was raining a fairly substantial amount at that time :-)

After this experience, we went out to lunch. Our last stop of the day was referred to as "God's Acre," which was one of the most sacred places we visited in Ireland. God's Acre was a small plot of land (an acre, to be exact) that the starved and unknown of the famine were unceremoniously dumped during the mid 1800s. Picture a very humble plot of land with handmade memorials and a simple altar in the middle to commemorate the dead. Hundreds, possibly even thousands (because they don't know) were left in open mass graves during the Famine because their families could not pay for them to be buried by a priest. Now, they have services every month to commemorate the dead, but at the time, it was simply visited by people trying to get rid of those who died in the famine. When we went, you could tell that God was there, looking over those souls. They were forgotten in their lifetime and left to starve, but will always be remembered and cared for by God today.

Dubin and Cork

My album on Dublin and Cork is up on Picasa. Click here to view. Enjoy!

Cork and Dublin!!

Hello again! This week has really flown by, and since we checked in last, I have been to Cork, Dublin and the North of Kerry.

Stained-glass windows.

Since coming to Kerry, we have learned to be connoisseurs of stained glass windows. Harry Clark was a famous stained glass artist who worked under the man that designed the Cathedral in Chartres. He came back to Ireland and designed hundreds of windows in until he essentially worked himself to death. His windows are pretty easy to pick out because of their deep, rich blues and reds and their intricate designs that do not allow a lot of light to shine through. We stopped at two different churches to view Harry Clark windows on the way to Cork.

This chapel is St. Honan's Chapel, which is located at the University College Cork. Apparently, the fish on the tile are bad luck on students don't walk on them if they want good grades. Harry Clark employed deep blues in his

pictures of Mary because lapis lazuli, the shade of royalty. Lapis lazuli is a valued shade because it invokes a precious stone once only found in Afghanistan and used to dye the clothes of royalty. You can't tell very well from this picture because it is so small, but the blue and red colors of this Harry Clark stained glass are vibrant and stunning. Of course, if you wanted to see an expanded version, you could visit my photo sight. You might notice that the window on the right (which is done by Harry Clark) lets significantly less light in because of the intricate design.

Next, we went to the National Art Museum of Cork, which did not allow pictures. You should go there, though, it was pretty.

Our final stop in Cork was to the historic jail, which was built by the British to hold Irish riff raff and dangerous prisoners. The jail itself is spooky and rumored to be haunted (if you can believe that). During the famine, people purposely committed crimes to be put in the jail. There really isn't a lot to say about this, except that prison in the 1800s was not a great place to be. Some famous prisoners that once resided there were the prisoners from the 1923 Rebellion who attempted to uprise and secede from Britain.

This is me, cavorting with wax models of Irish riff raff from the 1800s.

DUBLIN!

Anyone who knows anything about the trip actually knows that we will be going to Dublin for two weeks after this week. However, because Kimber and Dorothy are graduating and will be leaving this week, I prematurely went with them. We had a great time! After the adventure in Cork, we took the train to Dublin, which lasted about two hours. As there were no restaurants open when we finally got to our hotel, we settled on KFC and Carlsburg beer for dinner (around 11:30 at night). It was wonderful, and felt soooo good to sleep in a real bed!

The next morning, we got up

bright and early to see the Book of Kells at Trinity College. The Book of Kells is one of the most valued pieces of Irish culture, and is a beautifully decorated copy of the four gospels made by early Irish monks. To read a better history than I can give you, click here. This was yet another site where we were not allowed to take pictures, but if you ever go to Ireland, you should definitely try to see it. Also, if you want something from the Trinity College bookstore, let me know! I'll be back there soon and they have some cool souvenirs :-)

After the book, we went to the National Museum and saw an exhibition on the "Bog People." Again, could not take pictures. The bog people are basically prehistoric remains of human bodies that have been preserved in

bogs for literally thousands of years. For more information on these people, click here. They were especially fascinating to me because we have been reading poems by Seamus Heaney that deal with these people and their circumstances. It was chilling to see them in person both because of their appearances, but also (as Kimber put it first) because of the knowledge that every person preserved in the bog was murdered for one reason or another. Many of the deaths were sacrificial killings, although some of them were for crimes like adultery or theft. One body we saw was from 400 BC, but the bog had even preserved its hair. Crazy. This picture is not with the Bog People, in case you are wondering. It is in front of the Liffey, Ireland's equivalent of the Thames, although not quite so mighty.

After the National Museum, we went back and practically collapsed on our beds from exhaustion. Walking around Dublin is tough work! We went to a restaurant called the Kingfisher Grill, where Kimber and I proceeded to have amazing meals. We ordered hamburgers with bacon, cheese, tomato, lettuce and a fried egg on them-- not Irish, but delicious! For dessert, we had the restaurant's special called "jelly and ice cream," which we actually found out meant jello and ice cream. Yes, I did have to post the picture of my hamburger.

The next day, we journeyed around Dublin without a major plan, mostly because we didn't want to be too exhausted to move again. We went to Christchurch Cathedral and Saint Patrick's Cathedral, both of which were spectacular.

This is a picture of a heart in the Peace Chapel of St. Laud, part of Christchurch Cathedral that holds the actual heart of Archbishop St. Laurence O'Toole. This particular peace chapel was nice because of the prayer book it offers to any visitors passing through.

I particularly liked the Crypts at Christchurch, but apparently they thought I was annoying... Ha ha...

This is in front of St. Patrick's Cathedral, which was beautiful. Jonathan Swift, a writer I am very fond of, was actually the Dean of St. Patrick's for a period, and is buried within the walls of the Cathedral. Check out A Modest Proposal to read something of Swift's :-)

Here we are, being inspired, right under his tomb!

Needless to say, we had a great time in Dublin. I am so sorry to have to say goodbye to Kimber and Dorothy, though :-( Have a great week- installations about yesterday's trip to North Kerry soon!

Iveragh Peninsula!

Here is the link to the album for the blog post that is below. As usual, you can click on this entry anywhere and it will take you to the pictures. The actual blog post about the trip is below. Enjoy!

On Monday, we went to the Iveragh Peninsula, which is the second half of the Ring of Kerry. The first half was the Dingle Peninsula- one of the first places we visited on the trip. It was basically a long bus trip that resulted in a lot of interesting historical sites from the Iron Age (5th Century) to now. We passed a few scary, haunted places that I did not take pictures of because I was worried about having bad luck! Many of the stops that we made on this trip have been heavily tied to Irish mythology or the Great Famine. You might notice that they come up here a lot, but this is because the markers are still all over the land. It is against the law to knock down a "ruin," and because of the desperation people went through in the 1840s (during the Famine), thousands fled their homes to escape hunger and eviction. Sadly, they were not often able to save themselves. Over one million Irish men and women died during the Famine and over a million more went to America, never to return. That being said, Famine Villages are still very common in the countryside here. They usually consist of a few large stone buildings surrounded by houses of people who fled. They usually consist of a few large stone buildings surrounded by houses of people who fled. They look like small ghost towns on the horizon-- essentially because they are.

The first haunted place that we passed is an old castle built by a Protestant landlord who had an obsession with the Middle East, and apparently built his castle accordingly. During the Famine, he let all of the workers on his farm starve, and did not offer any help at all. Ever since he died, it is a cursed place. There are no tours there, and none of the locals will take a picture or come close to the castle because of its reported hauntings. Speaking of cursed

castles, we learned how to curse people today. Apparently, if you walk around a well saying what you want to happen to the person while walking counter-clockwise, they are screwed. Keep that in mind if the occasion ever comes up.

Right next to this haunted ruin, we stopped at Rossbeigh Strand (Beach, but they call them strands). It is below Ballaughaoisin (mouthful!), the road of Oisin. Oisin is an Irish man like Rip Van Winkle. One of the fairies apparently fell in love with him, and took him to the land of the fairies. When he wanted to go back home, she let him go back, but the problem was that fairy world has a different time on it than the everyday realm. Apparently, one year in fairy world is 100 years in real time. Thus,

when he came back here, his one order was not to ever set foot on Irish soil. to make a long story short, he did set foot on Irish soil, aged 100 years and died. The pass next to the beach is apparently where he made his journey. The beach we stopped at is supposedly the place that he stepped onto Irish soil. I don't blame him-- it was gorgeous!

Next, we went to another haunted place. I would not

normally post a haunted building picture, but this one stands for a purpose. This is one of the best examples of a Georgian mansion (or was once), and actually belonged to the daughter of Daniel O'Connor, "The Liberator" before she died. Upon her death, it was given up to the English government (who ruled Ireland at the time). Then, they made it into a "workhouse," or a building where impoverished people went for food in exchange for labor. Four years before the famine, this mansion was turned into a workhouse, which has always been under speculation, because it is almost like the English planned on needing a huge place to house many Irish starving people. When the famine hit, this one mansion had as many as 2,000 men, women and children living in it (it was designed for 80 people to live in

originally). When they came for relief, families were split up by sex and age, given hard labor and one bowl of food per day. Many people died before ever leaving the workhouse, and most never saw their families again. When they died, the Irish were buried in mass graves in front of the house, making it one of the most haunted places in Kerry.

Next, we went to the original home of Daniel O'Connell, the famous Irish "Liberator" (above). O'Connell is a famous man in Irish history because he 1) is responsible for Catholic Emancipation in Ireland and 2) did all revolution peacefully. He was a great orator, and for many years was considered the most persuasive man in Ireland. We later visited Derrynane, the home where he spent most of his years. O'Connell, upon achieving peaceful emancipation for Catholics (of which he was one), made it is his goal to gain peaceful Irish emancipation (you probably know that never happened). He was arrested and jailed for sedition, and eventually died of cancer before ever seeing his dream come true. Later in the day, we went to see the only cathedral in Ireland not named after a saint. The town where he grew up had to go to the pope to have a cathedral named after him, but they

did anyway because of their devotion to his peaceful passion and life. The pope apparently respected O'Connell's work so much that he sent a stone from the Catacombs in Rome to work as a corner stone for the cathedral.

On to more really old history. Next on our trip, we stopped at one of three Iron Age forts. Cahergall, pictured here, was built around 400 BC, and no one is 100% sure what it was used for. It is possibly an old place of defense, entertainment, or religion. It was constructed without any type of mortar, and still stands today, untouched by human reconstruction. We had a great time climbing on it :-)

In other news, I finally got a good, up close shot of some sheep!! Baaa-aa!

In other news, we travelled to the beach where Daniel O'Connell buried his beloved wife, Mary. I am standing in front of it. Since I have already posted a picture of a haunted place, I'm not going to risk posting one of a cemetery- I'm pretty sure its bad luck. Anyway, she was buried in an old stone chapel on this beach. Beautiful. She is not buried with her husband, though, because he is in Dublin. His last requests were body in Dublin, his heart in Rome, and his soul in Heaven (or something).

Killarney and Weekend Adventure

I have officially posted a new album from the Killarney trip on my Picasa (photo) account. For the complete list of pictures I took from Killarney, along with descriptions of each photo, you can click on these words or the picture itself. To make the pictures and captions bigger once you reach the site, you can click on them on the Picasa site and page through them individually. Enjoy :-)

Weekend Adventure Trip

Now for this weekend. Since the two trips to Killarney seemed to blend together well, I went ahead and integrated them below. However, today was a totally different experience. Seven of us took a tour through Kerry, which included rock climbing, kayaking, and high speed boating!!! It was definitely the most taxing day I have had in a long time, but worth every moment.

We started the trip with rock climbing on actual rocks next to a beautiful mountain range. Although I did not get up as high as most people, it was a great experience. The weather was perfect- in the 50s and just breezy enough. That is actually a picture of me rock climbing. Do not expect to see it in too many places!

After rock climbing, we drove a little over an hour to a small town bordering the ocean called Portmagee (one word). We took a high speed boat that went between 40 and 50 miles per hour through the ocean and saw some great places! The boat was so fast that at points, the entire vehicle took off out of the water.

This is a picture of us in the uniforms they gave us to keep us dry. It felt a little like something Mike Rowe would wear in Dirty Jobs!

My favorite part about this particular segment was definitely seeing puffins!! There is a wildlife preserve on one of the islands there, and puffins go to the island two months a year to nest and hatch their young before disappearing again. They were everywhere!!!! We also saw some seal and cormorants, which were cute. Unfortunately, I am not going to post any pictures of these because the pictures I have don't really convey how adorable the animals were in reality. They moved so quickly that there aren't a lot of great shots, but they'll be posted on my Picasa account soon enough :-)

After that, we went back to Ross Castle and kayaked in the lake in front of the castle. Towards the end of the day and also because I had not kayaked since a disastrous experience in Florida, I was a little nervous, but when we got started, I LOVED it!!! We went right next to Inishfallen, the island with the old monastery, and got to see the islands and mountains from a completely different point of view.

This is our group in front of the castle. Incidentally, this is the same castle that we visited on Thursday with Professor Conner. It was great to see it from a different angle!