Friday 3.22 Cork and Kinsale

A rainy day in Ireland meant Noah and I slept in, then walked to Fitzgerald Park to see the Cork Public Museum, a free exhibit about the history of Cork. 

Part of the museum was about Irish Travellers, formerly known as gypsies

It was connected to a little cafe, so we got a coffee and hot chocolate and waited for the rain to taper off. We walked over to the playground, which was a great design of a castle and a ship. 

Noah jumped and climbed around a little, and after a bit we walked on toward the Cork Waterworks Experience. 

There we learned about the city’s waterworks history and saw how the big steam pumps worked to pump water in to Cork. 

It was nice to basically have the place to ourselves, including a private tour.

 When we left, we were super hungry and the closest thing we knew of was our hotel, so we got back to the River Lee for lunch. 

Cool street marker of Sunday's Well, dated 1644, along our walk back

 "In yonder well there lurks a spell,

It is a fairy font;

Croker himself, poetic elf,

Might fitly write upon’t.

The summer day of childhood gay

Was spent beside it often;

I loved its brink, so did, I think.

Maginn, Maclise, and Crofton.

Of early scenes, too oft begins

The memory to grow fainter.

Not so with me, Crofton, nor thee,

The Doctor or the Painter.

There is a trace time can’t efface,

Nor years of absence dim –

It is the thought of yon sweet spot,

Yon fountain’s fairy brim."

Francis Sylvester Mahony, 1804-1866

Read some local lore about Sundays Well HERE. 

Lunch at the hotel restaurant, where Noah asked the waiter, "Y'all got lemons?"

Chris arrived shortly and drove us to Kinsale, a beautiful town on the southern coast. 

Poor kid, I wore him out!

We went to Charles Fort and took the tour, enjoying the clearing skies and the views of Kinsale Harbor from the fort. 

 

 

 

We drove the short distance down into the heart of Kinsale, where we experienced a typical Irish traffic jam on a purportedly two-way street!

Everyone just takes turns. Another car is waiting to come through after this car.

Kinsale and other towns were still decorated from St. Patrick's Day the weekend before

Kinsale Harbor

We ate a delicious dinner at Fishy Fishy, where we were seated near an American family from Denver who had some Dallas connections. 

My dinner: salmon topped with tempura veggies and a delicious sauce

We talked to them for a long time about the Ireland sights. On our way back to Cork, we passed several tractors driving on the main roads at night. I remarked at the time to be driving a tractor, and Chris told me the people who lose their driver’s license for driving drunk will sometimes “drink and tractor” because there’s no law against driving a tractor drunk! Unbelievable.