Welcome to Ireland! We're Heading South Out of Dublin!
A small island nation about the size of Maine, Ireland is home to around four million people today, with a large portion of that number living in Dublin. Unlike many of the other small European nations, Ireland does not have a very developed rail system. That is not to say they don't have one, but if you liked traveling by rail through countries like England, France, or Germany, the Irish rail system is lacking. Don't worry though, Ireland is easy to get around if you are willing to do one thing, drive on the other side of the road. If you are a nervous driver anyway, find someone else to drive, but otherwise, it is not nearly as nerve wracking as you may think. Sitting on the right side of the car, and driving in the left lane, you are still in the center of the road, and the roundabouts keep traffic moving everywhere you go. I will recommend getting a GPS, it is a life saver as many of the roads don't assign American style address numbers. Many of the addresses we received simply said something like Franklin Street, and you were on your own to find it from there. Last note on driving, they keep it simple there. If you are on an M (motorway), you are on their version of an interstate highway with big comfortable lanes. If you are on an N (national), these are like our state highways. Perfectly good roads that may only be one lane each direction. If you are on an R (regional), then they start getting narrow with stone walls on the edge of the road, and limited visibility. The real surprise though are the L (local) roads, which might as well be a path the cattle made. Many of them are single lane roads that force one car to pull off the road when driving for the other to pass. Try your best to avoid the L's when possible, but often it is not possible.
When we arrived we got out of town immediately from Dublin and headed south to a wonderful castle called Powerscourt. Originally built in the 14th Century, the grand palace now is from the 18th Century, and is home to one of the most wonderful gardens in Europe. The walk around the property is much more impressive than the palace itself, which is largely empty. There are multiple gardens meant to mimic forests from around the world. The most impressive site may have been the Sequoia tree brought from America in the 19th Century, which is unbelievable up close. The Japanese gardens are another favorite with the man made pond and waterfalls recreating life in the Pacific. The flower garden is like nothing you have ever seen with hundreds of variations of wild roses that have been developed over the centuries to become stable breeds. Do yourself a favor and skip the waterfall. It costs extra to see, and there are waterfalls around every corner there. We will talk about more impressive falls in other posts.
From Powerscourt we headed further south through a forest region called the Sally Gap. If you are a fan of the History Channel show Vikings, stop off at Lough Tay, the filming location for the show. They were not filming while we were passing by, but we were lucky to get some breathtaking shots. While winding through these largely abandoned forests and fields, you will pass a unique site, a burial ground in the Glencree valley for German soldiers who washed up on Irish soil during World War I & II. It is completely free, and set back in the side of a hill with a gorgeous stream running beside it. This is a somber reminder of the chaos Ireland was living through during the first half of the 20th Century.
Finally, you will end up at Glendalough, a public forest with some of the most beautiful sites imaginable, and home to the ruins of a monastery that dates back to the 6th Century. The founder of this monastery, St. Kevin, is said to have wandered these forests in the 6th Century hoping to live a more pious life. This site is free to visit, but it does cost to get into the visitor's center. The ruins are striking. Packing what looks like every free inch of space between the buildings are over a thousand years worth of graves from monks, priests, and locals who wanted to rest on holy ground. For several hundred years from the 9th-11th Centuries, the Vikings controlled these areas. Following their leaving, monks built the iconic Round Tower as a look out. The entrance to the tower is more than 10 feet off the ground so the monks could pull up the ladder and stay in there should invaders make it that far inland again. Wander around the park after that and see other wonderful churches that have been lost to time, some that are more than a thousand years old.
We were able to get all of this done in one day, and this was by far our busiest day for sites, but you can do it comfortably. If you are into hiking you could spend days at Glendalough hiking over hills that look like time has forgotten them. At all of these sites you will see goats roaming the fields, ducks swimming in the lakes, and cows staring at you as you pass by. It is not hard to imagine what life was like for the better part of Ireland's history.
Post a Comment