This morning, we left Stonyford and drove to Dublin. After checking into our hotel, we visited The Little Museum of Dublin (which is a total tourist trap, but still entertaining), and then took the hop-on hop-off bus to take in the city and see the sights. #travel #Ireland
That evening, my aunt Kay, aunt Colette, cousin Pat, and I made a sunset visit to Kells Priory, which is the ruins of an Augustine abbey that dates to the year 1193. #travel #Ireland
Yesterday, we made a whirlwind tour of County Kilkenny, visiting Jerpoint Abbey and Clara Castle, then headed into Kilkenny city visiting Kilkenny Castle and the Black Abbey before doing a little shopping. #travel #Ireland
After finishing our tour in Newmarket, we drove to Stonyford, County Kilkenny, which is the location of Lawcus Farm Guest House, where we stayed. Lawcus Farm is run by the wonder Mark and Ann-Marie whose hospitality knows no bounds. We settled into our rooms, then headed into Malzard’s Pub in Stonyford for dinner and a pint. #travel #Ireland
I’m running behind on my posts. Two days ago, after landing in Cork, we drove to Newmarket, County Cork and met with Sheila O’Sullivan who is the unofficial historian of the local parish and a caretaker at Clonfert Cemetary. She gave us a tour of the cemetery and showed us the family plots of Mr great-grandfather’s maternal line. #travel #Ireland #genealogy
Yesterday was mostly a repositioning day. We visited Sister Margaret’s grave once more before heading to Beauvais. Along the way, we stopped in Rouen where I managed to get our rental car trapped in a pedestrian zone. (It was a whole thing.) But after dodging all the people and escaping with the car, we continued to our hotel in Beauvais. Today we fly to Cork! #travel #France #Ireland
So there I was, trapped in a walled cemetery with a bunch of 70 and 80 year-olds. Luckily my Cousin Pat is a spry 69 years-old and a Navy man. He found a place where he could climb the wall, but obviously my mom and aunts couldn’t do that. So he took the keys and headed to the police station. After he left, I flagged down a dog walker who promised to call someone as soon as she got home. Between the two, one of them managed to reach Sister Catherine who had the keys and finally freed us! #travel #France
After tidying Sister Margaret’s grave, we collected our tools and trash and headed back to the car. Now keep in mind this is an old cemetery surrounded by six foot walls. We got to the cemetery gate to discover that the caretaker had already come by and locked up for the night. We were locked inside! #travel #France