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We got to Blarney Castle as early as possible, but it was still starting to fill up with tourists. It is quite an impressive castle, but I think most of its reputation comes from the Blarney Stone story.
Blarney castle from the outside
It must have presented a formidable sight to any attackers
The main courtyard. Just above the window in the middle, dozens of people were
queuing up to kiss the blarney stone. We didn't bother!
View from the ramparts
Heading back towards Cork, in the suburbs on the hills north of the city is Cork City Gaol Museum. Built as a prison in early Victorian times, the gaol gained notoriety in the late 19th and early 20th centuries when it held many political prisoners, some of whom went on to found the Irish Free State and the prison was closed in 1921 at the conclusion of the civil war.
The prison gatehouse
The gatehouse from within the prison courtyard
One of the wings of the Victorian prison, with cell windows clearly visible
From this angle the bars in the cell windows can be clearly seen
Inside the prison there are lots of recreations of what life would have been like for the prisoners, both the well-known political prisoners and the ordinary prisoners, who could have been sentenced to 6 months' hard labour for merely stealing a loaf of bread to feed their families.
One of the main later wings (the old Victorian wings stretch off to the left
and right, out of camera shot).
A prisoner prays for redemption
After the tour, a multimedia presentation recreates trials of some of
the famous, and not-so-famous, inmates of the gaol
We left Cork and took a scenic route through the River Blackwater valley, through Fermoy to Lismore Castle. The castle is one of the homes of the Duke of Devonshire, so isn't open to the public, but the grounds are.
Fermoy's Gaelic name is Mainistir Fhear Maighe, and these three monks watch
over its church
The entrance to Lismore castle
Lismore Castle
Lismore Castle
From Lismore we turned north through a scenic route called "The Vee", which was supposed to take us up towards Caher and its castle. A few kilometres along the road we could see low clouds forming in the hills. Ten minutes later we stopped at a viewpoint to take some pictures, and within 30 seconds the cloud arrived, and for 15 minutes we couldn't see anything more than a metre away from our car! Eventually the cloud lifted enough to let us try to drive off, and five minutes later the road descended and we were in clear open air again.
Clouds over the hills, but they don't look too threatening to us
This is where we stopped to take pictures. Looks lovely and sunny, doesn't it.
But look closely into the distance behind the hills
This is taken just a few moments later (the sheep have hardly moved down the road)
but already the clouds are coming in fast
A minute or two later and we'd retreated to the safety of the car. This milky-whiteness
was all we had to look at for the next 15 minutes or so!
Once we escaped from the weather we pushed up into Co. Tipperary and Cahir Castle. The castle sits right in the centre of the town and is still fairly intact, with battlements to walk along and hidden passages within the walls.
Cahir Castle from the outside
The portcullis and entrance gate to Cahir Castle
Walking along the battlements
Cashel is one of the most impressive and romantic sights in Ireland. On top of a hill that rises seemingly out of nowhere are a collection of ruined buildings that look suitably impressive from any angle. The Rock of Cashel was almost certainly an important religious site in pre-Christian Ireland, as well as being the most important early Christian site in Ireland and the ancient coronation seat of the Kings of Munster, including Brian Boru, High King of all Ireland.
When we arrived in the town we were just too late to gain entry to the rock, so instead we decided to stay in a B&B there overnight and visit it in the morning. However we did get to wander around the ruins of nearby Hore Abbey, founded by the Cistercians in the 13th Century.
View of the Rock of Cashel from below
Ruins of Hore Abbey
Ruins of Hore Abbey
We found a B&B which had a great view of the Rock, and then went to the nearby town of Clonmel in the evening. This had gatehouses either end of the main street. Outside of the gatehouse the street is called "Irishtown", because in Norman times the Irish lived here as they weren't allowed in the main part of the town after sunset.
View of the Rock of Cashel from our B&B bedroom window
The west gate at Clonmel