IRELAND: MOHER, CASHEL AND KILKENNY

After visiting Galway, the Aran Islands and Connemara National Park, we rent a car to visit more fantastic places and landscapes in Ireland: the Cliffs of Moher, Rock of Cashel and Kilkenny Castle during the following two days.

Monday, 25 August 2008

• Galway (starting point)
• Cliffs of Moher
• Bunratty Castle
• Limerick (endpoint of the day)

That's the route we started this day. Our first stop was the Cliffs of Moher. We had arrived at Galway by plane and we returned to Dublin by car

Cliffs of Moher

Cliffs of Moher are Irland's most spectacular coastline. However they are less breathtaking than those of Aran Islands because here nobody can approach the edge

Standing 214 meters high and 8 kilometers long, this Cliffs boast one of the most amazing views in Ireland

Video in Cliffs of Moher. The day was so windy that my voice can hardly be heard

Bunratty Castle

Bunratty Castle near Limerick. This castle was built in 1425. Within its grounds is Bunratty Folk Park, which is a stunning recreation of 19th century Irish life, with farmhouses, two watermills, church, blacksmiths forge and village street which includes pubs, school house, and shops

Limerick

Night view of the Shannon river from the window of our hotel room in Limerick

Tuesday, 26 August 2008

• Limerick (starting point)
• Rock of Cashel
• Kilkenny (endpoint of the day)

Rock of Cashel

Rock of Cashel has a very ancient history, although only documented since the 4th century. The large Cathedral, ancient round tower and the very early Romanesque Cormac's chapel were silent witnesses to many important events of Irish history

St. Patrick's cross in Rock of Cashel

Another view of Rock of Cashel from a nearer point

The large Cathedral and the ancient round tower can be seen better here

Hore Abbey near Rock of Cashel surrounded by typical vast green fields of Ireland

Kilkenny

Built in the 19th century, St Mary's Cathedral has a fine tower 65 meters high and beautifully crafted altars

Kilkenny Castle was built in 12th century and its structure retains the lines of a mediaeval fortress. It forms three sides of a quadrangle. Three of its four original round corner towers still remain. In recnt years it was restored and opened to the public

There is a vast green area in front of the castle ideal to spend a pleasant time with children or friends

Located at the south-eastern end of the city, Kilkenny Castle is a magnificent building built on high ground beside the river

Our Break and Breakfast in Kilkenny was the white house on the right. And the sky-blue car which can be seen was the car we rent in Ireland. It was a Toyota Auris

After this journey from Galway to Kilkenny, we drove from Kilkenny to Dublin to spent there the two last days of our trip.

Finally, clicking on the next links you can come back to the other posts about this trip in Ireland:

• Galway and the Aran Islands
• Connemara National Park
• Cliffs of Moher, Rock of Cashel and Kilkenny Castle
• Dublin

Other great cities and countries I have visited are:

• Barcelona
• Berlin
• New York and Washington
• London
• Istanbul in Turkey
• Saint Petersburg
• Rome and The Vatican
• Paris
• Florence in Tuscany
• Lisboa in Portugal
• Madrid
• Venezia
• Dubrovnik in Croatia

• The Greek Islands and Athens
• Bruges, Ghent and Brussels in Belgium

• Helsinki and Lapland in Finland

• Tallinn in Estonia

• Tortuguero, Caribe, Arenal, Monteverde and San José in Costa Rica

• Marrakech in Morocco