Bantry to Thurles 21 April 2024

 

After a very hearty breakfast, we headed out for the first stop on this busy day, Timoleague. Some years ago, Larry placed a small amount of Cathy’s ashes there on a trip with Jim, after Cathy passed away. We hug the coast for a while with beautiful views of the bay. Finally we see the signs for Timoleague and quickly the abbey ruins emerge. After we park, we spend a bit of time in the ruins, walking through the cathedral, the dining room and kitchen the chapter room, and dormitory, almost all of which have now become graveyards. Larry places the lovely yellow silk rose he brought at the special spot, and it is a moving moment.

Our next stop is a bit of fun, the Blarney Mills store near the Blarney Castle (which we are not going to). Larry said we should wait until this place to buy any sweaters etc., and he was right. The store is a former knitting mill, which was closed in the 1970s  and a few years later was opened as a store, restaurant, and hotel, by a man who first started working there when he was 14 years old. Claudia and I got matching green zipped cardigans, and items for our families. Larry bought each of us a scarf as well, a lovely memento of our trip together. Luckily they shipped it all home for us.

We then have a log drive north, as we need to make our 4:00pm tickets for the Rock of Cashel, the last trip of the day. Given our timing, we decide to skip the tour of Cahir Castle, which had an open timing, as we have gotten to see other castles en route. The Rock of Cashel is truly imposing, and in several locations the light refracts through the openings that used to be stained glass windows, and the rooks and other birds were flitting in and out of holes in the enormous walls. We walked through the graveyard, appreciating the ancient tombs, and at one point three black rooks were perched on three Celtic crosses next to each other, a cool and spooky view. At the end of the tour, we headed up to Thurles, where we stayed the night at the Anner Hotel, a lovely place where we got an upgrade to have separate rooms. After a nice dinner ( Larry was happy with the fish and chips at last) we all had some journaling to do and off to a good night’s sleep after a busy day.