Day 4 - Killarney

Breakfast was served at 8:00 so we were up and in the dining room on time. We knew not to mess with Triona and her rules. William was the breakfast server and he wanted us to just be seated while he waited on us. A couple from Iowa was also staying there for two nights and so we chatted with them while we dined on the meals we had selected the previous evening. The Irish are big breakfast eaters staring out with cereal or yogurt and then having something hot, and then having some type of bread and fruit. A typical Irish breakfast is eggs, sausage, tomatoes, black and white pudding, fruit, pastries, toast, porridge, and tea and coffee. 

Once breakfast was done Triona gathered the five of us at the doorway where she held court. She had a music stand in the corner, tucked between the front door and the bottom of the stairs, and she proceeded to give us our instructions for the day. She had a map and written instructions and she went over them until she felt we could found our way. Little did she know us! 

She gave Mary Anne a set of instructions for the front seat and the girls a set for the back seat. The problem with that was that our driver didn't like any of us to tell him what to do. He didn't believe we could get him to where we wanted to go so we often ended up in other areas. Which I had read was the way to have a holiday as sometimes you found gems that way. 

Our first point of interest was another tower house. Ireland has 3,500 of them built in the 1400's 1500's and many of them are in areas where central authority was weak. Back then there was much thieving between lords and they would steal one another's cattle. The tower houses were built for protection. Ross Castle was built in the 1400s by the O' Donoghues. It has since been restored and we took at tour through the castle to learn about life back then. 

The bottom floor housed the cattle and the servants. The top floor was the dining hall and a fireplace where the majority of the cooking might have taken place. The mid floor was a bed chamber, but most likely twenty or more people slept in there with the lord and his family. 

From this tour we headed out toward the Killarney National Forest. Tom did not listen to our instructions and instead we climbed up, up, up into the hills and arrived at Ladies View, a destination that was on our list, but later. Here we had our first drizzle that lasted all of two minutes. The view was stunning. 

We got out and took tons of pictures. Mary Anne had a little nap in the car during the drizzle. Tom and the girls went off exploring. I did a bit of shopping in the tourist station and then wandered off for more pictures. We all agreed it had been worthwhile, but we did not give Tom points as he had veered off our tract. 

We went back down the hill and into the National Park and into the Muckross Demesne which houses the Muckross House. It was built in 1843 and changed owners three different times ending up in an American couples hands. The house is famous because Queen Victoria I stayed at the house during a visit to Scotland. The rooms are decorated and restored as a late 19 century mansion. The room where the queen stayed has been restored the way it was when her excellency stayed there thanks to a found photograph. The owners at the time spent major dollars to spruce up the house years prior to the queen's arrival. 

We took the hour tour, but it was very full of people and if you were at the back you couldn't see the items the tour lady was discussing, and if you stayed behind to view them after the group had moved on then you missed the next history lesson. Madison and I got lost in the servants quarters, a separate area in the basement, and I had a moment of panic as we wandered in and out of rooms and doorways, but Darcy came back for us and scolded us. "That is why you stay with your tour group!"

I found the servants area the most intriguing. I don't watch Downtown Abbey, but the house in the show is in the style of Muckross House with its bell hallway and basement kitchen. I just wanted to have someone ring from an upstairs room so that I could follow the path through the back hallways and stairs to pop out into the room. But these tours don't have fun things like this, so we finished and had some coffee overlooking the gardens. 

It took me about four days to grow weary of the tea drinking. Mary Anne and Darcy hate tea, and Tom and Maddy were indifferent of the whole experience so tea time was nixed and I usually ending up having it in my room at night. Everywhere in Ireland there is a tea set in living rooms and bedrooms. Quite lovely. 

We went back to our rooms for an hour of rest and then headed back out again for dinner and to finish Triona's instructions. We drove to the Gap of Dunloe and walked around there. It was another beautiful place of scenery and shops.

We finished the day with another delicious meal, listened to more Irish music, and then headed back for the night. Mary Anne and Darcy went to bed. Tom played on his computer. Maddy and I had tea in the lounge and talked before finally heading off to bed. So far so good!