Ireland

We called into two ports in the Republic of Ireland, Waterford on the 1st of August 2016 and Dublin on the 5th. We were meant to sail into Galway, but the weather was far to rough with the first of two Alantic storms we encountered. Getting ashore at Galway required the use of the ships lighters and with 4 to 5 metre swells it would not have been possible

View of Dublin with Janet making the acquaintance of Oscar Wilde, while Bob just has to have a Guinness in the home of Guinness. O,Connell Street was an important scene in the Easter Rising in 1916. The Pubs are wonderful with the cites cultural heritage well on display

The city is notable for its Georgian Architecture and we visited St Patricks Cathedral and its catacombs. The Cat and the rat were found during renovations of the building

We travelled south out of Dublin to County Wicklowe and stopped in at the village of Avoca and its still operating Woollen Mill

From here we travelled to the Monastery of Glendalough, with some of the building dating back to the 6th century this is one of the earliest centres of Christianity in Ireland. The round towers are a feature of the early monastic sites in Ireland

The stop off at Waterford involved a tour of the Waterford Crystal factory

Then we travelled onto Kilkenny and toured the castle. Richard de Clare (Strongbow) built the first fortifications in 1172, but the first stone castle was built 20 years later. For much of its history the castle was in the hands of the Butler family. They abandoned it in 1935. Its been taken over by the Irish State who have now restored it

. The toilet below was installed for a visit of Edward VII who was large fellow. Other views are are of the river Nore and the Portrait gallery in the castle. The narrow building on the left below in Waterford was the house at which the Irish Flag was first flown