Day 27: On the road again!

We woke to an overcast and windy morning but it looked like we might be spared the forecast rain as today we were leaving Dublin to collect our car for the drive around Ireland. For those of you who have followed these adventures, you will know that there was Shermi, the Sherman tank that was far too humongous, and was replaced with Harry (Harrison Ford, the Galaxy from a Galaxy far far away). Well it appears as though car number three is still somewhat humongous, especially for only two of us, and it has every bell and whistle known to man and womankind including heated electric seats. Meet Siobhan the Skoda. Siobhan is a feisty miss, but at least she is automatic and while large to park, is comfortable overall. Getting to pick her up was no mean feat. 

We had decided that as we both had our 24 hour tourist Leap Card and that it was valid until this morning that we would take the smaller cases, head out to the airport and then drive back into Dublin to collect the bags. But as we stood waiting for the bus, that became a less appealing option and we collected all the bags and headed off when the bus finally made the stop: the first one didn’t stop as there were other buses illegally stopped and  blocking the bus stop. So we wrangled the cases off at Terminal 2 only to discover that it was up a level and across an air bridge to get to car hire... then it was, oh you don’t need to check in here, you're a club member, go downstairs and our shuttle will take you to the yard. So more climbing in and out of buses and lifting cases before the whole thing got sorted and we were off. The boot was huge and fitted all our luggage - no need to load any on the back seat.

Our first stop today was in the Wicklow mountains at a ruined abbey site in Glendalough. It is said that there has been a religious community on this site since the early medieval monastic community founded by St Kevin, who is said to have died here. It is an isolated and truly beautiful place. if you were looking for a life of solitude, this is it! A fast flowing river must have been the catalyst for the location and at various times in its history it had been the centre of a diocese itself and then twinned with Dublin. Of course, as we were discovering by the minute, Irish history has not been smooth, especially in their relationship with England and sadly in 1398 the English forces sacked the monastery and burnt it to the ground. The local church remained significant and there is still a St Kevin’s Church at Glendalough today. The other thing that we discovered here was that there was a significant devotion to St Kieran, for whom a nave and chancel shrine had been built and whose ruins were uncovered in 1879. St Kieran was an abbot who founded the community of Clonmacnoise in the 10th century and with whom the Glendalough community had contact. 

Back on the road and some driving through picturesque narrow roads and lanes on our way to Avoca, better known to some of you as Ballykissangel. Chris and I were avid devotees of the series when it played years ago, and so the opportunity to visit the village and to see many familiar sights was irresistible. We visited the church, totally the same in terms of exterior and much the same inside except for the absence of a grand pulpit which must have been a part of a sound stage. The Garda house is there and several other recognisable buildings and the Lewis family who owns the pub have renamed it Fitzgerald’s, just like in the series, blue doors and all. I almost expected Assumpta to be at the bar, but instead another wee Irish lass served us a cream tea. The bridge and the river are beautiful, making it a lovely stop. 

But there were still miles to drive, or, now that we are in Ireland, kilometres. Enid had warned us that the Irish road map system was a bit off, and that sometimes the roads are missing from the map. But nothing prepared us for the 30km stretch of brand new dual carriageway motorway that did not appear on any map. The GPS went berserk and kept telling me I was driving off road and it just kept going and going... and we followed it and ended up roughly where we intended to but with an awful lot less pain! And the scenery was gorgeous, and the tractor count increased from 4 to 7 while Chris had his afternoon nap!

We arrived into Waterford, a river front city and were supposed to be able to park at the Fitzwilton Hotel. Sadly as you have heard elsewhere on this holiday, supposed to and able to are two entirely different things. Fortunately, it was Saturday afternoon and the pay parking stopped at 6 and was free on Sunday so we went down and parked along the river and walked the block and a bit to the hotel. We dined in the hotel dining room as we didn’t have the energy for much else and then, conveniently, St Saviour’s Dominican parish was located directly across from the hotel and so we caught the 7pm Vigil Mass. Sadly for the Dominicans, it was uninspiring, celric-centric and we felt positively young in the congregation. Back to the hotel for a cup of tea and to fall into bed. This holidaying is exhausting business.