Driving on the Left--Kilkenny to Kinsale, Ireland

Tom has been our designated driver so far, but it really is a group effort. Fritz, in the front passenger seat, is responsible for making sure the car stays off the walls on the left. He did object to holding his hand out the window to determine distance from said walls lest he lose a few fingertips. Francie was responsible for roundabout instructions--for example--2nd exit, R600. We did coin our own phrase  in response to roundabouts every 50 meters---"ABR" ahead--another bloody roundabout! I was responsible for lane guidance, or keeping him on the left, which went something like---wrong lane, Wrong Lane, WRONG LANE!!! Still, we traveled today from Waterford to Kilkenny to the Rock of Cashel to Dungarven to Kinsale---all without incident and only a few wrong turns (SAT NAV's fault).

We are amazed at the friendliness of the Irish people everywhere we go. Today in Kilkenny a lady very patiently explained to us that putting coppers in the parking meter would just jam it up, as they are not really coins. She then insisted we hand over the Euros and she would do it for us. Once sorted, we went into Kilkenny, wandered around the town, bought our picnic supplies, and headed for the Rock of Cashel.

Kilkenny

The Rock of Cashel is where St Patrick, who brought Christianity to Ireland, baptized King Angus in 453. It has been a regional King's castle since then and was given to the church in the 1700's. We did find out that the Kearney's (Francie's paternal side of the family) were big hotshots in the Castle and had their own crypt inside the Cathedral. Tried to find some wealthy relatives to invite us to tea, but no dice! We did have a lovely picnic overlooking the countryside and the abbey.

Rock of Cashel 

Abbey and Valley

On to Dungarven, a picture perfect little coastal village, to search for the Clancy family farm (Francie's maternal side). The very helpful people in the pub, the TI, and the museum were unable to pinpoint the exact Clancy farm we were looking for "there being a lot of Clancy's here about" but the man at the museum did offer to do additional research and would send Google map coordinates once located. Now that's service!

Dungarven

Our final leg of the day was a very scenic drive through the countryside to Kinsale. We took the round-a-bout, as opposed to the round-about or ABR, route to our B & B (meaning we got lost). But, once checked in we ventured into town for a delightful meal at Jim Edwards pub. We are getting quite good with the local brews as we can now differentiate our Guiness from our Smithwicks from our Blarney Blonde! Well, they do say that travel expands the mind (and the waistline it appears)!

Notice who has the pint here!

Guiness all around!