We arrived in the town of Kilkenny on Thursday afternoon. We had some free time before going on a walking tour with a cheeky local guide. I went for a walk during my free time and checked out the Kilkenny Castle. This is where the powerful Butler family who once ruled the area for centuries lived. The castle has been here since the 12th century, but has evolved into a 17th-century chateau with a large portrait gallery. The castle used to have four sides, but Oliver Cromwell’s army knocked down one of the sides, leaving it in a “U” shape.

Our local guide took us to 17 High Street, known as the Hole in the Wall which is Kilkenny’s renowned 16th century tavern. It is housed in the Archer Inner House, which is Ireland’s oldest surviving townhouse. There is a saying about it that goes, “If you ever go to Kilkenny, remember the Hole in the Wall. You may there get blind drunk for a penny or tipsy for nothing at all.” We passed by Smithwick’s Brewery, and then visited St. Canice’s Cathedral which dates back to the 13th century. Finally, we stopped inside the cellar of Kyteler’s Inn where our guide told us the story of Alice Kyteler, the first person who was charged and condemned of witchcraft in Ireland. She was a noblewoman who was married four times. Each of her husbands died before her, and she was accused of using poison and sorcery on her fourth husband. Those who were investigating the charges tortured Alice’s servant until she confessed to witchcraft and implicated Alice. Alice fled the country, probably to England, but her servant was publicly flogged throughout the streets of Kilkenny and then burned at the stake.

On Thursday afternoon, we visited the Rock of Cashel, one of the most historic sights in Ireland. It is famous for being the place where St. Patrick baptized King Aengus in about A.D. 450. An optional guided tour was included with the admission, which I decided to do and got to learn all about the Rock’s storied past. Apparently St. Patrick accidentally speared King Aengus in the foot with his crosier staff while administering the baptismal sacrament, but the pagan king stoically kept silent throughout the remainder of the ceremony, as he thought this was part of the process of becoming a Christian. The original St. Patrick’s cross is kept indoors in order to preserve it from weather erosion, but there is a replica outside in its original place. According to the tour guide, this is also the place where Guinness beer was really invented by a man who worked for the Archbishop of Cashel, not by Arthur Guinness in Dublin in 1759 as claimed by the Guinness company.

Many of the structures on the Rock have been badly damaged due to weather, the effects of time, or were destroyed by Oliver Cromwell’s army. However, the round tower, a type of structure unique to Ireland, is in remarkably good condition. Inside the chapel, there are the remains of frescoes from about 850 years ago. Frescoes are unusual in Ireland due to the climate, and unfortunately, these are in ruins due to them having been whitewashed during the Reformation period. There is also a group of heads above the altar, meant to represent each of the known human races at the time they were made. Outside, there is a graveyard full of Celtic crosses overlooking the Plain of Tipperary and the ruins of 13th-century Hore Abbey. It is considered a great honor to be buried on the Rock, but only a handful of people put on a waiting list in 1930 can still be buried here due to limited space.

On Thursday morning, we stopped at Cobh, a town in Cork Harbor. It was known as Cove until 1849. In 1849, the town changed its name to Queenstown to commemorate Queen Victoria’s first visit to Ireland which began in their town. In 1922, the town changed its name to Cobh, which is pronounced the same as its original moniker but is more consistent with the Irish spelling of the word.

Cobh is well known for being Titanic’s last port of call before it started its fateful voyage across the Atlantic. It is also known as the point of embarkation for many Irish emigrants from the 19th century who settled in the US, Canada, and Australia. Outside of the Cobh Heritage Center, there is a statue of Annie Moore, the first ever emigrant to be processed in Ellis Island when it officially opened on January 1st, 1892. Annie and her two brothers sailed from Queenstown on the SS Nevada on December 20th, 1891 and arrived in Ellis Island after 12 days of traveling in steerage.

One of the interesting items on display in the Heritage Center is a message in a bottle that was found in Cork Harbor from a local man who died in the Titanic disaster. It was found about a year after the disaster and was recognized by the man’s family due to his handwriting as well as it being the same holy-water bottle given to him by his mother. The note says, “From Titanic. Good Bye All. Burke of Glamire, Cork.”

After checking in to our hotel in Cork and having some dinner, we headed over to a pub called Oliver Plunkett’s where we had an Irish dancing lesson upstairs. None of us were that great, but it was still great craic, as they say.

After visiting the Blarney Castle, we drove to the old Jameson distillery in Midleton. We had a tour where we learned about the process of making Irish whiskey and how it is different from other types of whiskey. At the end of the tour, we got to sample some of the whiskey.

We drove to Blarney Castle after visiting the Cliffs of Moher. I didn’t kiss the Blarney Stone, so don’t expect me to return home with the gift of gab!

On Wednesday morning, we departed Galway for the Cliffs of Moher in County Clare. This was one of the sights that I was really looking forward to seeing in person. The Cliffs of Moher stretch for about 5 miles and climb as high as 702 feet over the Atlantic Ocean. They are the Cliffs of Insanity in the movie “The Princess Bride.” They are also known as a spot for puffin viewing, but we didn’t see any puffins while we were there. These are the highest cliffs in Europe and, unlike the cliffs of Dun Aenghus, these cliffs have a safety barrier and watchful rangers to make sure you don’t get too close to the edge. It can still be a little frightening when a particularly strong gust of wind hits you while you are near the edge, even though there is a safety barrier. It was extremely windy while we were there, so I only briefly ventured into the “extreme danger” area. The wind was so strong, I had a difficult time hanging onto my camera! The view from up on the cliffs was absolutely amazing. My pictures don’t do it justice.

We took a shuttle bus from Galway to catch a ferry to the Aran Islands, specifically to the island of Inishmore. It was about an hour ride to the ferry and then other 45 minutes for the ferry crossing. I was worried about the weather because we were going to spend the majority of the day here outdoors, and there had been on-and-off showers for the past few days. We got lucky though, as there was not a single drop of rain. It was still cold and windy, but that was to be expected. Some of our group rented bicycles to get around, but I joined some other people in having a driver take us around the island in a van. He was a local and would tell us about various points of interest as he drove. Inishmore is the largest of the three Aran Islands, but has a population of only 760 people. It is a charmingly rustic place. Some of the houses even have thatched roofs and matching Leprechaun houses!

Our driver dropped us off at the base of Dun Aenghus, a prehistoric Celtic ring fort, which is about 2,000 years old. It is located high on a cliff overlooking the Atlantic Ocean. This is the main attraction on the island and where we spent the majority of our time. It takes about 20 minutes to hike to the top, where the view is absolutely stunning. The crazy thing is that there aren’t any safety fences by the cliff, especially since there can be extremely strong gusts of wind! We very carefully took some photos near the cliff. I slid up to the edge of the cliff on my stomach so I could see what a 200 foot drop looks like.

We walked back down from Dun Aenghus and found our driver whose was having lunch with the island’s three policemen. He drove us around a bit more, then dropped us off near the ferry terminal. I had a late lunch with another one of the travelers and then looked in some of the shops before getting on the one and only departing ferry at 5 PM. I was worried about missing the ferry, as that would mean being stranded on the island overnight and missing our group’s departure from Galway the next morning. My worries were unnecessary, as we made it to the ferry with plenty of time to spare.

This was our order at the bar in Monroe’s, a pub in Galway where we had dinner. Galway is known for its hookers, a type of fishing boat which has multiple hooks on a single fishing line. There is also a beer, the Galway Hooker Pale Ale, whose color is said to resemble the rusty color of the Hooker Sculpture in Eyre Square. Our tour guide encouraged us to get our lips around a hooker while we were in Galway, and I sure wasn’t going to miss out! I am not much of a beer drinker, but I am glad I tried it.

An Irish language TV show happened to be filming a program featuring Irish musicians on the second floor. One of the producers came downstairs and invited people to be part of the audience. I thought it sounded like a cool experience, so I went upstairs after dinner with some of the others in our group. An older man with the production approached us immediately, and before I knew it, they filmed me explaining to him how to take a selfie with his iPhone! I wonder if that will make it into the final footage, as that part was in English and this was for an Irish language TV station. I didn’t understand any of the introductions or some of the songs that had lyrics, but it was still great hearing authentic Irish musicians perform live. We left before the taping was finished as it was getting late and we were tired of standing by the high intensity lights which were very hot. Often times we would have to do three or more takes of each set, so it got to be tiring after a while.

After our tour of Londonderry, we drove back to the Republic of Ireland to Galway, which is on the west coast. We were dropped off in town and had a few hours to explore on our own. First I headed across the river to the Galway Cathedral, then I walked along the river, down to the Spanish Arch and the Columbus monument. Next I visited the Church of Saint Nicholas, which dates back to medieval times. I then did a bit of shopping in some of the cute, little stores in town before heading back to Eyre Square, our meeting point to go to the hotel. Galway is part of the Gaeltacht, regions of Ireland where Irish is spoken. It was great overhearing some of the locals speaking Irish. Another interesting observation was to see how much the people in this area loved JFK. The park, which contains a JFK monument, in Eyre Square is named after him as well as a nearby pub. There is even a mosaic of him in the cathedral right next to a mosaic of Christ’s resurrection!