Ireland 2026, Day Three

 

It's the Irish countryside, and when you come to this country, to say there's an abundance of such scenes is a total understatement. 

It's all especially stunning when the sun is shining as it did for most of our drive from Kildare to Clonmel in County Tipperary yesterday.  

We enjoyed a rather leisurely drive to a place where we've never stayed before.  

I was amazed at the size of Clonmel.  So much of the time we drive along the outskirts and have no idea what lies down those freeway exits.  Kinda like the mountains of Idaho--you must drive the back roads to see the real story of any place. 

Bill and I love doing that, and I do draw a parallel between taking off down an Irish side road with heading up some mountain road back home.  

Always something new to see.  

So, we spent the night at the Talbot Hotel in Clonmel where weddings were happening and a comedian was stroking people's funny bones.  

We participated in neither, but we knew “straight away” that this hotel is a busy place. 

Our drive was sprinkled with some neat stops. One occurred at the Lord Bagenal Hotel at Leighlinbridge, not too far from Kilkenny.  When we stopped at a gas station to use the restroom, the clerk directed us to the hotel across the street.

What an experience, just to go to the bathroom! It’s an elegant place with lots of beautiful art and flowers and chandeliers and an amazing collection of horse racing/ eventing photos.

Willie Mullins, an esteemed jockey and trainer of Grand National and Cheltenham winners, often celebrates his victories at the hotel, so the collection is both historic and amazing.

I spent some time just sitting on a couch admiring the sun room and playing the “guest” role, even if I had just come to use the bathroom. 

Later, when we drove through Stoneyford, like clockwork, Fred Malzard happened to be outside his pub.  

This is the second such happening on our visits to this small berg outside of Kilkenny.  It’s as if Fred knows we’re coming to town, and he wants to be there to greet us with “Welcome home.” 

Fred is, indeed, a prince of a man.

We visited briefly with Fred, whose pub has won some national awards.  Then, we went on our way, stopping occasionally at churches.  

Yesterday was a day of mixed emotions because back home, family members were attending a funeral for one of our extended family members (my brother Mike’s brother-in-law Mike Thompson).

My mission yesterday was to light a candle in Mike Thompson’s honor.

Finally, when we arrived at the Church of St. Peter and Paul in Clonmel, the doors were open, and we spent some quality time inside the church.  I lit several candles because it’s been a sad time recently with the loss of friends.

Our hearts were in Sandpoint yesterday as well as Ireland, and we were sad to miss the service but glad to spend some time reflecting. 

Today we head for Kenmare where we’ll stay four days in a lovely cottage where we’ve stayed before.  We are looking forward to settling in and not having to pack bags for a few days.

Stay tuned, and enjoy the photos. 

Bill has begun his marathon of eating fish and chips through Ireland. 

The Church of Saints Peter and Paul in Clonmel, Ireland. 

The boys of hurling on their way to the deli. 

To my friend  and neighbor Colleen:  some of this tea will come your way. 

I love this photo, sent to me yesterday from home. 

It's part of our family who were in Sandpoint to attend Mike Thompson's funeral. 

Daughter-in-law Debbie, our son Willie, our niece Maureen, her mom Mary Thompson Brown, niece Laura, my sister Barbara, my brother Mike and my sister Laurie. 

We weren't all there, but the family was well-represented. 

RIP, Mike Thompson and hugs to his wife Corky. 

Ireland 2026, Day Two

 

I was walking down the street with my camera, minding my own business and then, about to shoot a photo of one of the first "To Let's" I've seen in Ireland, when a handsome young man in a parked car opened his window and yelled out, "No paparazzi!"  

"No worries," I replied, walking on and taking my photo.  

Then, I thought that I needed to explain about my fetish with the Irish "to let's." 

Being a longtime, loyal fan of "toilets," I used to see those signs on my first trip to Ireland and, at first, get all excited, thinking they were, in fact, advertising toilets.  

Then, I would look closer and realize there was no "i" in To Let's.  

I relayed this story to the man as his wife and son were getting out of the car. 

That's when I met Ollie and Ollie's mom and dad, Jessie and Craig.

They were in town on an errand.  On that chance and very brief meeting, we exchanged a few basic facts about each other, Ollie attempted to take a picture of his parents with my big camera and then another photo shoot. 

Ollie took his picture and cropped part of his dad's head from the scene, Jessie took a picture of me and Ollie aka Oliver, and I took a family photo. 

Then, we went our way, all happy and my suddenly realizing that paparazzi events were alive and well in Kildare. 

A truly fun interlude with a camera, which also involved my "To Let" photo. 

This is Ireland! 

And, I had just met one nice family who live in a small village outside of Kildare.  

Jessie and Craig have known each other since they were kids living in the same neighborhood.  Adding to that, Jessie is a pre-school teacher, which made this old school marm happy.

Hope I hear from them again sometime. 

Ollie and the old-lady paparazzi. 

My paparazzi encounter happened late in the afternoon, while Bill had gone to find a geocache near the train depot. 

We had already made our annual trip to the Irish National Stud where we roamed leisurely through the barn and pasture areas AND the ponds and streas inhabited by mostly mallard ducks.  

As we walked, Bill was remembering that during our visit last year, which was more than a month later, the fall colors at the Stud and its Japanese gardens were absolutely stunning on a gorgeous November day.

It's a magnificent place to visit and so beautifully maintained.  We met one of the groundskeepers and visited with him.  He loves working with flowers and has had experience in the Mediterranean as well as Vancouver, British Columbia. 

  We never tire of the experience of visiting the National Stud, just as we love our walks on the vast Curragh Plain where the Curragh Race Track is located. 

Yesterday we navigated through thousands of piles of sheep droppings.  

The main area where people jog or walk themselves and their dogs each day did not open until 1:30 p.m. because the racehorses are using that portion of the plain for training.  

Since we were early, we chose a cross-country route among the numerous flocks of sheep which graze on the plain with its lush, green grass. 

It's kind of fun because we're out there, seemingly far away from society, when we suddenly spot the light rail from Dublin zipping down its tracks.

I love the walks on the plain where sheep, people and co-exist and birds are noisily flying all about. It's a true pastoral escape.

Our weather has been magnificent.  There was a little rain overnight, but the rest of the day was about as perfect as it could be. 

We had the experience of visiting the local post office yesterday.  A former student asked me if I could send her some postcards from Ireland, so we went to get stamps.  We learned that sending postcards to a different country does come with a price. 

I bought five stamps from the friendly clerk and then asked him to send the card I'd written. Later, while drifting off to sleep, I realized that I'd forgotten write "USA" on the card.  I won't do that again, and I'm hoping for a miracle that someone will look closely and add it.  

We'll see!  

Sadly, we'll be leaving Silken Thomas and Kildare today.  Yesterday we had the opportunity to see Shawn and Barbara at the restaurant, both of whom, like Beata and Caroline, remember us as if they've known us all our lives. 

We have observed that everyone who works at this establishment shares the same warmth and friendliness.  So, it's always sad to leave. 

Beata expects us next year cuz she told us that Silken Thomas will add eight new rooms.  Of course, we're kinda partial to the Virginia Lodge. 

Off to the Tipperary area today, and now that we're here, it's not far off.  If nothing goes right for the whole rest of the trip, the two days we've spent here will more than make up for it. 

Stay tuned and enjoy the photos. 

Happy Saturday. 

Colleen, I'll have some for you when we get home.