Killaloe to Shannon

Our wonderful host, Barry, provided a wonderful breakfast. I also got to meet a regular at his B&B, who flies over from France each month to fish for pike. I got to say about three words en francais and see his last pike, which was about 4 feet long. I was very jealous.

We had time to wander around Killaloe, learning about Brian Boru, the last great High King of Ireland. 

This is the bridge connecting the two towns of Killaloe and Bellina.

There is a canal running alongside the river, apparently for private boats.

On the way to see the Beal Boru, we passed this house and did a little double take. 

The Béal Ború is the site of a fort that was destroyed in 1116. It was over 1000 years old. It had high earthen walls and steep embankments with a deep trench around it. It allowed those inside to monitor any activity on the river Shannon.

Saw this tree on the way. Kinda cool.

These are the fortress remains from outside the ring.

And this is from the top looking at the interior, where modern reenactors apparently built a fire and defended the Shannon, probably while drinking beer, something else that is hundreds of years old.

Cody tries his hand at building his own stone creation. 

On the way back, Cody and Vicki set a new speed walking record. 

This is part of the organ pipes in St. Flannan's Cathedral. 

We always end up in the cemetery. Always. 

This is St. Flannan's Oratory. An oratory is normally a small church for private prayer. 

One finds all kinds of personal items. 

After leaving Killaloe, we headed for a castle we read about. Carrigogunnel Castle is not on the map.We read that it is near Clarina. So we pulled into the gas station in Clarina and asked the young women inside if they knew how we might find it. After much debate, they agreed on an answer. So we headed out onto smaller and smaller roads, until we are on a country road, 2 tracks of gravel. The rental car people are gonna love us. But we find ourselves in front of a closed gate - with the fox Vicki mentioned in her post. The fox leaves, as will we, once we have a picture. From this angle, it looks like an elephant. There is a slight path through briars and on someone else's land, so we decide to try a flanking movement. That is defined as backing down the road until we can turn around, then going back to the last real road and trying another approach. 

It looks much better from this angle, but it is no more accessible than before. It is on someone's land, and we are not welcome. We kind of got shooed away by a guy driving a tractor. 

But we found it and saw it, even if from a distance. That is pretty cool. I'm glad my traveling companions are up for this kind of adventure!

We were not able to find our Shannon B&B nearly as easily. We got directions, but it still took three approaches and finally stopping to ask for directions before we found it. This one was picked in part due to its proximity to the airport. 

We are winding down. Cody, however, still has two weeks to go in England, Scotland, and Wales. I am really very jealous about his planned travels in Scotland and the Isle of Sky. He's going to have a blast, and he is going to have it without us. I can't believe it could possibly be as much fun. Could it?