Well, here we are in beautiful Ireland again. Our group is twenty people plus our driver Paul, from Westport, Co. Mayo where my father came from. This again, is a land only tour, which means everyone arranges their own airfares and I take care of everything else to do with the trip. Some people arrived a day or two early and several are staying on after our tour finishes at Dublin Airport on Sunday. The good news is....everybody arrived safely and on time.
We met Paul with our luxury coach at the airport and headed north west to Co. Monaghan and the town of Carrickmacross. we are staying the first three nights in an old vintage hotel called the Nuremore Spa Hotel and Country Club, there is an eighteen hole golf course attached to the property. Too bad, I won't have time for a round.
We arrived around 4:30pm and checked into our rooms, then met in the bar for drinks before dinner. Our rooms have beautiful views of the lake and surrounding countryside. I asked for an upgrade and they gave me an executive suite with a butler/valet....just kidding about the butler. It's a lovely hotel. There was a wedding on yesterday and the parade of dresses and hats was very impressive.
We sat for dinner at 7pm and unfortunately, it seemed to take forever and we were all really tired. However, the food absolutely made up for the wait and confit of duck to start, followed by braised local lamb shank and my apple crumble with berries was divine. Most everyone trooped off to be by 10:30, though some of the ladies went into down prowling for young men. I was in bed by 11 and passed out immediately.
April 23
I told everyone last night "8:30 for breakfast and we're out of here for our day trip at 9:45", well that sounded good until we were delayed by one of the group who ended up not joining us after all. We arrived at Trim Castle around 11am and had the full tour. This castle was built by the Norman Lord Hugh DeLacey in 1171 and the third final story was added by his grandson in 1203. It is the largest and one of the first Norman castles built in Ireland and has a very colorful history, from assasinations to sieges and all kinds of mayhem. The group loved it, I will post photos.UIKEYINPUTUPARROW
After Trim we drove to the Hill of Tara, also in Co. Meath where the ancient High Kings were crowned and saw the Stone of Destiny, which supposedly cried out three times if the new King was genuine...it's one of Ireland's most visited sites and includes stories of ancient Pagan history, spiritual ceremonies and more modern 19th century political rallies....best of all it never rained anytime we were visiting the sites. Bright and sunny most of the day.
We headed back to our hotel and arrived about 5:30. Dinner was at 7 and this evening I had a lovely salmon dish with a decadent warm chocolate cake and sauce and ice cream for desert. Tonight I sang songs between courses and finished off with a few after dinner. Jet lag setting in for most of the group so a lot of them retired right away. I met some old friends who popped in from a town about twenty five miles away in Northern Ireland and we stayed up a bit and talked. They lived for a long time in Orange County but retired home about seven years ago.
We've another early start tomorrow, going to the Louth Crew Neolithic burial tombs. I'll catch up tomorrow night....
After Trim we drove to the Hill of Tara, also in Co. Meath where the ancient High Kings were crowned and saw the Stone of Destiny, which supposedly cried out three times if the new King was genuine...it's one of Ireland's most visited sites and includes stories of ancient Pagan history, spiritual ceremonies and more modern 19th century political rallies....best of all it never rained anytime we were visiting the sites. Bright and sunny most of the day.
We headed back to our hotel and arrived about 5:30. Dinner was at 7 and this evening I had a lovely salmon dish with a decadent warm chocolate cake and sauce and ice cream for desert. Tonight I sang songs between courses and finished off with a few after dinner. Jet lag setting in for most of the group so a lot of them retired right away. I met some old friends who popped in from a town about twenty five miles away in Northern Ireland and we stayed up a bit and talked. They lived for a long time in Orange County but retired home about seven years ago.
We've another early start tomorrow, going to the Louth Crew Neolithic burial tombs. I'll catch up tomorrow night....
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