May 18 - Bunratty

Day 10 - Saturday May 18, 2002

We woke up to sunshine for a change. Breakfast seemed to take longer so we didn't leave as early as we wanted. We ended up not making it to Dunguaire Castle until 10:00 AM just as the tour buses arrived. Too bad, because the tide was in and it was a beautiful morning. It would have made for some great pictures without the floral stretch pants and bright green, "Kiss Me I'm Irish" sweatshirts. We had been to the castle before, so we headed on towards the Burren. Though we didn't stop this time, Kinvarra is a pretty little town on the coast with the main square filled with the signature Southwest Ireland brightly colored buildings We stopped in Ballyvaughn at a music store that probably gets more business because it's cute, rather than what they sell. Not much in it, but picturesque. The little shop next door was being run by an art student from NY that had spent the year studying photography nearby and was staying around for the summer. We had a nice chat with her and headed on.

We found our way easily to the Poulnabrone Dolmen. If you have seen pictures of it, you no doubt have envisioned this massive structure towering about 15 feet above the ground as the picture at the right might suggest. Ah, but look to your left now and see the real scale. It's actually about 5-7 feet tall (depending on where you stand) and not nearly as imposing as you might have guessed. None-the-less, it is still a fascinating site to see and the area around it is covered in smaller rocks of the same sort that the dolmen was built. It is a strange and eerie terrain. It is almost lunar in it's appearance. There was an on again off again mist while we were there and you couldn't help but think of the Oliver Cromwell quote when he described the place as being without "water enough to drown a man, wood enough to hang one, nor earth enough to bury one". It's beautiful in it's desolation and a botanist's dream.

We continued on to the Cliffs of Moher. This was not our first trip here, but we figured that since we were so close, and the clouds were clearing we should stop by. Not surprisingly, the parking lot was packed. This is a major destination for tour buses and there are very view tours that don't come here. We got out to walk around anyway. It seems the number of "entrepreneurs" in the parking lot selling everything from jewelry to CDs had increased quite a bit over the last two years. It's a shame because it does add to the "cheese" factor of an otherwise spectacular place. The good news is that there is still not a McDonalds or Starbucks anywhere to be found. The cliffs are always spectacular and it's always good for a laugh to watch people crawling on their bellies to peer over the edge. That is, by the way, the only safe way to do it. The little dots on the top of the first cliff on the picture on the left are people. We took a walk along the cliffs, marveled at the views and then headed on toward Bunratty.

We found our way to the Bunratty Lodge which is at the end of the road which runs between Durty Nellies and the Castle. This is a highly recommended B&B and it is very nice. The owner, Mary Brown, is charming and the rooms are beautifully decorated. No views to speak of though. It seems that there are quite a few nice looking B&Bs along that road. We dropped our bags off and headed to the folk park. It was a Saturday and thus VERY CROWDED. This is apparently Mecca for the Irish tour group set. Buses everywhere. No doubt many tours begin on Saturday out of Shannon and this is their first stop. The crowds were a real drawback and visiting the castle was quite difficult. The staircases are just wide enough for one average built person and of course very low. Unfortunately there are a number of places where the traffic needed to flow both up and down. If you want to visit here, I'm guessing early in the day would be good and NOT on the weekends. It's a lovely castle, but hard to enjoy under those circumstances.

While we were touring the folk park, the mist came back and then turned into rain. We decided to go grab a drink at Durty Nellie's. Once again, the crowd problem reared it's ugly head. This is a famous pub, but it seems to cater heavily to the tourists. I'm pretty sure the only Irish in there were the bartenders and the very old blind man playing the piano and wailing old Irish ballads. We crossed the street to the Creamery which was much less crowded. It was apparently though, a big day for confirmations for the children of Bunratty and many of them were there with their parents for the afternoon. We had accidentally found a table on one of the turns of temporary children's racecourse and were able to view the frequent laps with irritating regularity. We restrained ourselves and never tripped any of them. We seemed to hit everything that caused a crowd this day. Ah, but they had Kilkenny beer and I was a happy man.

We had wisely made reservations way in advance for the Bunratty Castle Banquet and it was indeed sold out. Felicity was excited about it but I was thinking we were in for more silly tourism. I was wrong. Yes, it was touristy but very fun. Admittedly, the food was at best average and the wine was clearly not from the finest vineyards. As we entered this time, it was much easier to enjoy the castle as it wasn't as crowded and they were more organized. We were met by our host, a bevy of singing lasses and the two court minstrels, a harpist and a violinist. The music was fantastic. Sadly, it was difficult to hear the harpist but when she played solo, it was a joy. The violinist was outstanding. We talked to him briefly afterwards and learned that he had studied at Julliard. Nothing better to get your chops in shape than a solo gig every night.

We filled up on the food and then headed back to the room. Felicity fell asleep and I headed out to see what the castle looked like at night. Very impressive with the torches burning out front. But it was raining so I headed back to get some sleep.

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