Well I sure am going to miss Dublin. I had so much fun here and got to see some amazing places. I can’t believe a week went by already!
Today I did another tour bus to various places south of Dublin. The town of Kilkenny, the Wicklow Mountains, Glendalough, and the training of Irish Sheep dogs.
First stop was to this cute little town of Kilkenny (population 25,000). It had a cool castle there and today just happened to be their Memorial Day so I got to see a short ceremony they had for their fallen soldiers. The Main Street is very nice with plants all along it. Of course I found the church which was a 13th century Gothic style with a 100 foot tall tower. A quick side note for the ladies, George Clooney traces his roots to here! And later that night Bob Dylan and Neil Young we’re playing together in concert. Wish I could have stayed to see that show!
Next we drove through the Wicklow Mountains but along the way we drove thru the town of Hollywood. Believe it or not, that’s how the Hollywood in California got its name. Matthew Guirke immigrated to the US and became an important business man and christened the LA suburb after his home town in Ireland. Who knew?? Driving thru the mountains was really beautiful and we stopped for a photo op and I included it below.
Next stop was a place called Glendalough (pronounced Glen-Da-lock and meaning Valley of Two Lakes). It was a monastic settlement founded by St Kevin in the 6th century. It had a 110 foot round tower that functioned as a bell tower, storage loft, beacons for pilgrims, and last resort refuge during Viking raids. Also on the grounds was St Kevin’s Church. I also got in a good 2 mile hike up to both the lower and upper lakes on the land. It was so beautiful, the pictures I included really don’t do it justice.
And I once again I saved the best for last. Our last stop was watching this guy train his new sheep dog puppy to herd sheep (as well as show how his older sheep dogs did it as well). That puppy was soooo cute and I got to hold him! The guy said just yesterday he caught on to how to begin herding the sheep. It was so fun to watch I had to include a video, which I’ll post as a separate entry.
The pictures below are as follows: 1 – 4 – Kilkenny, 5 – Wicklow Mountain Pass, 6 – 9 – Glendalough, and 10 – 12 – Irish Sheep dogs.
Well that’s all for Dublin. Off tomorrow to the far south west corner of Ireland to the Dingle Peninsula. Hope everyone had a great weekend!
The Wandering Italian 