Ireland gravel road in the background - near the ruins at Kells.
Went to ye' old ruins... and stuff. But was truly a great area for photos - old celtic gravestones. We are now in Kilkenny. Such a classic Irish town.
Colorful Street in Kilkenny
Woke up early to check out of Kilkenny Hostel and wished we were staying in town another night - our favorite so far. Beautiful weather all day and we spent the morning wandering the town separately and in the peaceful morning light with plans to meet up a bit later and do some shopping.
I went to many sights around town and ran into a lovely older lady from Wexford County who also had some time to kill and together we went into the Black Abbey which is still a functioning church holding services daily for Holy Week and was quiet and meditational. She also informed me that we will find most sights busier than we thought because Ireland is out for a 2 to 3 week break over Easter, etc., which we didn't even think of at time of booking. I kept on wondering why all of these kids weren't in school though!
I went to many sights around town and ran into a lovely older lady from Wexford County who also had some time to kill and together we went into the Black Abbey which is still a functioning church holding services daily for Holy Week and was quiet and meditational. She also informed me that we will find most sights busier than we thought because Ireland is out for a 2 to 3 week break over Easter, etc., which we didn't even think of at time of booking. I kept on wondering why all of these kids weren't in school though!
The Black Abbey
Jill and I decided to go into a Dunnes store to pick up some groceries, etc., to keep in the car and only found out when we had already gone through the line and were paying that they did not provide bags and were not excited to make change for semi-large bills even if that was all we had. We were not very popular with the other people in line or with the cashier and looked very strange trying to carry our many food items in jars and cans and loose through the streets the several blocks to our car.
We took a side trip about 10 miles to the small town of Kells (not the same town of Kells known for in the "Book of Kells" - there is more than one of many of the towns out here) - where we ate a picnic lunch and wandered the completely deserted ruins of a town and castle with sheep roaming all around us and a lush green carpet of grass as far as we could see.
Ruins of Kells Priory in Kells, Ireland
Historical note from Dad:
Kells Priory 1193AD
Situated a few miles from Butler Court and Kilkenny City, the astonishing ruins of the priory date back to 1193. Kells Priory is one of Ireland's largest and most impressive medieval sites. It sits like a perfect scale model of a medieval walled city, surrounded by green fields and flanked by the King's River. Two miles south from here stands the impressive Kilree Round Tower and High Cross, which is well worth a visit. Quoted from: http://www.butlercourt.com/history_kells.htm
Hello! And, welcome to Kells!
Very happy to have a car regardless of cost - probably best decision of the trip. We are in Cork tonight and tomorrow night and are desperate to do laundry but are having no success in locating a Laundromat...not sure what is going to happen with that. Cork is a smaller more industrial version of Dublin and we are staying at a Hostel that is also a bar. Interesting...
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