First Class Train Car to Killarney

Heuston Train Station in Dublin was very busy. From the train we enjoyed seeing the Irish countryside with farms, small towns, and many hedgerows to demarcate boundaries. The hedgerows, housing style, and some castle ruins lets one know that this is not the Midwest in the US. Otherwise, farm fields and livestock felt like home.

First Class train tickets are just a few euros more and the seats are very wide and comfortable. This car had pairs of seats on one side and a single row down the other. Our names were digitally displayed above our seats which made them easy to find. We had to switch trains at Mallow, but we encountered no issues.

Killarney Taxi to The Lake Hotel

We piled our luggage into our taxi driver’s van at the Killarney train station and made an instant friend. Paul, our driver, gave us suggestions for seeing the national park and places to eat and hear Irish music. We ended up eating pub food at Laurel’s Pub and Restaurant based on his recommendation.

There were several groups of fans here for the TCU Horned Frogs and North Carolina Tar Heels college football game to be held on Saturday in Dublin. Nancy had to look up the horned frogs to see what kind of mascot that might be. We learned that the horned frog is not a frog, but a Texas horned lizard that is called a horny toad. A bit confusing, but the critter is spiked all over with a round body that looks more toad/frog-like than lizard-like. They are harmless to people, but can squirt toxic blood from their eyes when threatened which is definitely an interesting trick. Tony told me later that he and his siblings and cousins used to capture them at his granddad’s lake near Kingman, KS when he was a kid.

Killarney National Park

The Lake Hotel is very close to an Ireland national park. After dropping off our luggage in the one room that was ready, we set out on foot for a 45-minute walk (3.4 Km) to Muckross House where we hoped to get a bite to eat for late lunch as well as tour the property. Hot meals were closed down right before we arrived so light snacks were enjoyed before heading to the abbey ruins located in the park.

Muckross House was owned by the Herbert family when Queen Victoria came visiting in 1861. Major renovations were done before her visit, and the house was sold in 1899 by creditors attempting to recoup losses due to those renovations. A member of the Guinness family bought it and rented it as a hunting lodge. A California couple then bought it as a wedding present for their daughter. After her death the house was donated to the Irish nation to become the first national park in Ireland. The estate is simply beautiful!

After sitting on the train, we were getting our steps for the day as we walked 25 minutes back to the abbey and in the general direction of the hotel. The Muckross Abbey was a lot of fun because the ruins were completely open for exploration. The grave stones often had Irish as well as English on them. There were modern graves here as well, as this is still an active cemetery.

Muckross Abbey was a friary established in the 1400s and had its roof removed by invaders from Britain (Cromwell’s Army) in order to render it inhabitable and force the monks to leave. One or our taxi drivers said the Irish don’t think very highly of Cromwell, and we learned earlier that this invasion also threatened Irish treasures like the Book of Kells. King Henry VIII was after the wealth stored in abbeys throughout Ireland in order to fill his own coffers in England. The survivoring monks fled to France, but eventually came home to establish the Franciscan church that sits near the train station in Killarney.

The Laurel’s Pub for Supper

Our wonderful taxi driver this morning recommended The Laurel’s Pub and Restaurant as a great place to eat. We had a wonderful waitress, who made a list of places to visit to hear traditional Irish music. The food was great, too. So far, I am having no trouble finding vegetarian options.

Irish Music at The Devil’s Punchbowl Bar

Two young brothers (aged 17 and 19) played the accordion and concertina with traditional Irish tunes this evening at the bar in the hotel. The youngest one also has a very nice singing voice and accompanies himself on the bouzouki, an 8-string Irish instrument that looks like a mandolin. We certainly had fun peppering these two musicians with questions, which they so graciously answered, and hearing their musical talent this evening while we enjoyed drinks.

News from the States

My news junky husband shared with us at supper that Dolly Parton had passed away. Dolly was such a kind person who used her celebrity to do good, and did her absolute best to stay out of politics. She is being lauded by both sides of the divide in the US.