When we told our friends we were stopping by Ireland on our way around the world, they decided to join us on the Emerald Isle! We met John & Lindsay and Haru & Maura in Dublin on Sunday afternoon, dodging the crowds that were gathering at the pubs to watch a Gaelic football match. Dublin was playing Mayo, and both sides were exuberantly celebrating their side’s upcoming victory. We had a tour at the Guinness storehouse so weren’t able to watch the match, but watching the fans was much more entertaining as we walked across the city towards Guinness.
Making our way to the Guinness storehouse
A carriage horse basking in the sunshine outside the factory
After learning to pour the perfect Guinness and enjoying the city view from the sky bar, we ventured to the oldest bar in Dublin, the Brazen Head, established in 1198.
The Brazen Head started as a stable, and has been continuously operated since 1198.
Yesterday we finally made it out into the countryside, braving the crazy narrow roads. We stopped by Cashel to admire Cashel Rock and Hore Abbey.
A castle in Cashel
Crumbling Hore Abbey, built in the 13th century, in the shadow of Cashel Rock
In the choir of Hore Abbey, now inhabited by cows and pigeons
A friend of Maura’s got us the VIP experience at Jameson Distillery, which turned out to be a great tour through the old distillery buildings. We learned how to interpret whiskey labels, and that apparently whiskey starts as beer, which the alcohol is then distilled from (which of course makes sense, but we’d never really thought about it). Naturally we then had to sample the wares…extensively.
Haru’s photo of us taste testing. Yep…they all tasted like whiskey!
Progression of whiskey ageing in the barrel. On the left is whiskey that was just barrelled, on the right is whiskey aged 18 years. You can see the progression of the liquid taking on the amber color from the barrel, as well as the evaporation of alchohol, or the “angels’ share”, hence the angel wings above the barrels.
We spent the night in Timoleague, in the most interesting airbnb we’ve ever seen. It’s a quaint little townhouse in the middle of a tiny farm town, with low ceilings and walls nearly two feet thick. The owner told us the home is at least 500 years old, and monks from a nearby abbey fled here when their abbey burned down in 1642. If only the walls could talk…
The owner told us his Nan, the former owner of this house, used to hate it when a neighbor would park his tractor right in front of her window. She complained that it blocked the view and smelled bad. So he confronted the tractor owner, who then knocked down a wall so he could park his tractor across the street. Well sure enough, at 10 PM, we hear an almighty rumbling and see this big old tractor neatly parallel parking across the street! Apparently not much changes in this town.
Lindsay and John in the choir of Timoleague Abbey, just down the street from the airbnb.