Saturday 21 December 2019

A visit to Looe

During my last week in the UK, Viv and I caught the bus to Looe - formerly a fishing village and port but now a major tourist town in South East Cornwall. They were preparing for a major music festival this coming weekend so it was quite busy. We had a very nice lemon sole for lunch.
Looe - Wikipedia
 The 19th Century Bridge.  The first Bridge was built in 1411
 Lookinf upstream from the bridge
 Street Scenes in the town

 The wharf
 The famouse Banjo Pier
 The beach
Viv waiting for lunch
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Friday 20 September 2019

A Visit to Southern Ireland

Last week, Viv and I had a quick visit to Southern Ireland of about 5 days. Wed travelled up from Plymouth to Pembroke Dock to board the ferry to Rosslare in Southrn Ireland.  On our way across the Irish Sea we passed the Tuskar Rock Lighthouse which is about half an hour away from Rosslare. This lighthouse has a particular relevance to me as it was the  last sight of land for my Great Uncle Wilfrid Billett who was an apprentice on the sailing ship called the Queen Elizabeth during December 1915 on a voyage from Liverpool to Santos.  She was never heard from again and was declared lost with all hands in 1916.

Here is a link to to a small book I put together about the Billett family - a family of seamen:

At The Mercy The Wind

The Tuskar Rock Lighthouse (Photo by Colin Park)

The next day was a drive to a town called Castleisland in the county of Kerry not far from Killarney.  On the way we passed through New Ross, Waterford and Cahir.

There was a replica of the famine ship, the Dunbrody, which carried many hundreds of refugees from the Irish Potato Famine to the America between 1845 and 1851.

The hisistory of the Dunbrody

And here is a link to another of my blogs where I discussed Famine ships after a visit to Dublin.

Famine/Coffin Ships

Amongst the many emigrants that were forced to leave Ireland at that time were the family of the late US President John F Kennedy and there is a museum dedicated to them there.

New Ross History

Our next stop was Waterford, the home of the Waterford Crystal glass munfacture. Waterford itself dates back to the 9th century when it  was founded by Viking settlers.

 The River Suir
 This tower is a remnant of the medieval city fortifications
The Waterford Crystal Shop

Our next stop was the town of Cahir where we lunched.  The town is dominated by it's castle.
Two views of the castle
 Ducks in the moat
The view towards St Paul's Church

We spent the next three nights in the River Island Hotel in Castleisland - a very comfortable hotel
The Riverisland Hotel.

The next day we embarked on our drive around the Ring of Kerry which is one of the most spectacular coastal drives anyware.
The Ring of Kerry

Our first stop was the Kerry Bog Village Museum not far from Killarney which gives a taste of what life was like for people in 19th century Kerry.
 The entry to the museum
 Two very bored wolfhounds
 Some traditional cottages
 A Pictureque ruin
 A stable (but no horses!)
 Cut peat
A gypsy caravan and horse
19th Century Life In Kerry
Ireland at the turn of the century

The Drive Around The Ring

Our one day tour around the Ring of Kerry was not real long enough and we only had  a very cursory look around the area which made me realise that one needs to spend a ;ot more time there.

On the shores of Dingle Bay
Dingle Bay - Wikipedia
The small town of Walkerville
A memorial deicated to Amergin Gluingel
The views from the Coomakista Pass are stunning.  This is looking back towards Dingle Bay and Valentia Island.
Valentia Island - Wikipedia
Valentia Lighthouse
These two views are of the other way with views of Derrynane Bay and Abby Island, Deenish Island and Scarrif Island

The town of Sneem
We lunched in Sneem in a very nice cafe not far from the bridge over the river
A memorial to French President Charles De Gaulle who stayed hear after relinquishing the Presidency of France
Sneem Bridge

And the river heading to the ocean
After leaving Sneem we headed up into the hills towards a point called Moll's Gap where we followed the road following the Killarney River.
Ladies View is named for a spot where a group of Queen Victoria's ladies in waiting went during a trip they all made to the area
The view acroos the Lough Leane upper lake.
 Ross Castle is to be found on the shores of the lower lake
Ross Castle - Wikipedia
We were taken for a short cruise on the Lower Lake
 We saw the remains of the 7th Century Innisfallen Monastery
Innisfallen Island and Monastery - Wikipedia
There were great views of MacGillycuddies Reeks mountain range
MacGillycuddys Reeks Mountains - Wikipedia
Our final excursion on one of the famouse Killarney Jaunty Cars from the lake into Killarney
On arrival we had a very nice seafood soup for lunch.
The Jaunting Car - Wikipedia

On our last full day we travelled back to Wrexford via Blarney Castle near Cork and the port of Cobh.  

Blarney Castle is a very busy tourist attraction with a Woollen Mill as well as Blareny Castle with it's Gardens as well as thw 19th Century Blarney House.  It was massively busyplace the day we arrived, but I manges to see a bit of the castle as well as the gardens.  The queue to get into the castle and to view the famouse stone.




Cobh was once one of the ports visited by transatlantic liners travelling from Europe to the United States.  The Titanic made it's last call there berfore meeting her fate and the survivors of the torpedoed Lusitania were landed there.  Lusitania was torpedoed in 1915.




Finally, we recrossed the Irish Sea and returned to Pembroke Dock
 St Annes Head Lighthouse
St Ann's Head Lighthouse
Entering Milford Haven


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