Although I came to Ireland a decade ago for my birthday…. I was excited when my girlfriends and I decided to explore Southern Ireland this summer. Flying into Dublin, and arriving without a wink of sleep during the 8 hr flight, thoroughly exhausted, we were greeted by our first challenge. We rented a car that we were told would hold 4 ladies & our luggage…but after finally arriving in and winding our way thru the car park, we all started shaking our heads as we approached the Audi …doubting this was gonna work out. After opening the trunk and back seat doors….putting some effort into arranging the 4 huge suitcase and 4 carry ons… it was clear there would only be room for 2 of us to sit inside the car😫. Now sweating, I went back to the terminal and after a brief encounter with the desk agent, we were upgraded and not charged an extra fee. Success! Only 2 carryons had to go in back seat.

Adapting to driving on the “wrong”side of BOTH the car and the road, we made our way south to visit Kilkenny Castle. They started building the castle in 1185 and finished in 1210. It was the principal seat of the Butlers, earls, marquesses and dukes of Ormond for almost 600 years. After passing thru many owners….in 1967, Arthur Butler, 6th Marquess and 24th Earl of Ormonde, removed most of the contents and sold the abandoned castle to the Castle Restoration Committee of Ireland for a mere £50 ($56 US). It’s now been restored with lots of furnishing from the past and very impressive to tour.

Exhausted now, we drove further south to Mullinvat, a tiny Irish town north of Cork. The Garrandarragh Inn was the perfect example of a quaint 1860s Irish Lodge. The food was great and staff were extremely friendly. The small elevator only held 2 people at a time, but we managed to drag all that luggage up…quickly realizing we need to regroup if we were gonna survive this trip….and use our carryons for the overnight stops. Repack we did!

I must say….The beautiful vibrant flowers, everywhere you look, are so refreshing. Especially the hydrangeas bushes….which are so colorful and full…tall like trees.

Day 2 was filled with lots of laughter and fun exploring. First stop Waterford. Traffic and parking in any of these larger cities is definitely challenging. Our visit to the Crystal factory was especially educational…and of course, expensive…but I keep telling myself, these are lifetime treasures😉

Facts about making crystal…

They use LOCAL beech wood molds

Combine Silica+ sand and add 33% lead to give it the glittery look

8 years of apprenticeship is required because they have to know EVERY pattern

10% is done automatically rather than by hand ….if the customer wants a large amount IDENTICAL (like a hotel chain)

Next stop was Middleton, home of the Jameson Distillery…never been a whiskey drinker…too strong & burns my throat…BUT when the bartender poured me a JGL (Jameson, Ginger Ale and Lime), it was absolutely refreshing! The whiskey is so smooth and I could BARELY taste it. SOLD!

Jameson is the world’s leader in Irish whiskey, selling 31 million bottles annually. It is the third largest single whiskey distillery in the world.

Facts….
They use 2 systems consisting of 3 tanks each.. each tank producing a higher % of alcohol. Example: one system starts with tank one producing 30% (they say turdy % 😜) , 2nd tank 60% and last tank ending at 84%. The second system will end at 96%. Then they BLEND the two (thus blended whiskey)… reduce it to 60% and put it into 2 types of barrels…Aged bourbon (white oak) barrels sent over from Kentucky & Cherry (brandy) barrels sent over from Spain … then aging it 6 years. They have the perfect formula for a smooth, rich taste.

Moving on south to Cobh, a seaside town outside Cork, known for its Church and the Deck of Cards. The WatersEdge Hotel gave Cissy & Connie their best room, and unfortunately after Cecilia and I dragged our luggage (thank goodness we remarked to our carryon) we discovered we had the worst (in- remodeled) room in the hotel😫. But what’s a little mold in the shower when you’re having fun. They did served us a great dinner and then we walked along the river front to the Titanic Bar for a sunset JGL to finish off a terrific, informative day.