Our plan was to hang around Dublin or see if we could get to Kilkenny and back on a later bus. We found we could get a noon bus for the 1 hour trip to Kilkenny. We're told it's a beautiful city, so we're looking forward to the visit. Since we had a hour-and-a-half to kill, we walked a couple of blocks to an Internet cafe for an on-line "fix". Internet cafe's are plentiful in Dublin and one can enjoy the entertainment of the Internet for 1-Euro per hour.
Linda, River Nore and Killkenny Castle. |
A prominent landmark is the Kilkenny Castle. The castle, built in 1195, is a beautiful building on the River Nore. As is usually the case, the castle was originally built to guard the small city. The river was used for trade and was defended by the castle as well. In 1967, the Kilkenny Castle was transferred to the people of the city for £50 and has been used as a conference venue, awards and conferring ceremonies for the graduates of the "Kilkenny Campus" of National University. We enjoyed our visit there very much.
Kilkenny Beer Anyone!! |
The River Nore. |
(As an aside, I was interested as to why so many Irish cities begin with the prefix "Kil" or "Kill". There's Killarney, Kilkenny, Killabben -- and about 85 others throughout the country. It seems that during the Gaelic Period there were very few large towns or settlements. Most of the small settlements were referred to by a notable feature of the landscape. The term "Kil or Kill" refers to a church-yard, graveyard or woodland! Interesting huh??.)
Tomorrow we're off on another adventure -- to Birr and the Birr Castle. Notable here is that it is home of Lord Rosse's 72" telescope. Built in the middle of the 19th Century, it was the largest telescope in the world. In 1910 the 100" Hooker Telescope on Mt. Wilson took away that distinction.
So, check back. You never know what'll take place!!
2 comments:
Sounds interesting and fun. Say hello to Linda.
Sounds interesting and fun. Say hello to Linda
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