Cashel

Last night Jay and Chapin decided they were getting up at 5:30 a.m. to take a hike in the Wicklow Mountains before we left the area. At nearly 6 a.m I woke up and realized Jay was still asleep so I woke him and asked if he still wanted to hike. . .and proceeded to instantly fall back asleep. He got up and though Chapin decided not to join him, Jay had a gorgeous early morning hike.

Meanwhile we woke and finished our packing to leave this lovely spot. Our hosts, Letitia and Pat, said that they wished they could hear Gwen and Ellie play a bit so we

squeezed that in before taking off.

We had another beautiful country drive where Jay continued to whack the left mirror on hedges (is there really any other way to do it in Ireland?) and the the girls tried to keep backpacks and fiddles from falling on their heads as we were packed into our tiny car with all of our luggage.

When we had our first sighting of the Rock of Cashel I called back to the girls “There It Is!” and they sort of grumbled back at me sleepily. But when we got closer I again told the girls to LOOK! And when they saw it, they

responded as enthusiastically as I could have imagined. . .

“We’re going THERE?!?!”

The Rock of Cashel is a medieval ruins of a Cathedral and residences that sits up on a tall hill and looms over the town below. It’s absolutely breathtaking and one of Ireland’s most famous sights.

Parking is always a bit stressful as Jay likes to do the right thing and park the right way but around here it seems like folks just park however most of the time. . .which makes it hard to park the *right* way sometimes. We made our way up to the entrance and took the obligatory photos before breaking up and exploring.

We decided to join the tour that started about a half hour after we arrived and were so glad we did. The tour guides always have great stories that we otherwise wouldn’t have heard.

We especially got a kick out of learning that the Archbishop held his choir in such high esteem that he wanted them to live right near the Cathedral. So the choir of 8 men had residences on the grounds and were considered quite wealthy and were very respected in society. They additionally had access to the Archbishop’s

credit—sort of like a medieval credit card—and that was very special. The married men lived down below in the town with their wives and children but had the same “perks” as the other singers.

Jay and I decided that Fr. John needs to take note. . .hahaha!

And the roof was removed during a period when the

government was taxing the roofs of religious buildings very heavily. . .so the Archbishop had the roof removed to solve the problem.

Dad was walking around evaluating what was original and what was new. . .

“Is that just cinderblock that they used to make that repair?”

He decided it’s a bit of a fixer upper but it has good bones. I see the idea for a new reality show here. . .

We also found the Leper’s Squint to be interesting. Just above the sanctuary was a small window and that was so that the lepers could sit in a small room up above and hear the sounds of the Mass and look down on it as well.

Then there are the stone mason marks. The stone masons who built the cathedral each had a personal symbol and they carved it in to the parts of the cathedral that they built. When they were finished they carved their symbol into a stone to show they were responsible for that section and that’s how they were paid.

We could have stayed at Cashel for hours more but our stomachs were grumbly and we still had some travel ahead to get to our next stop.

After a bit of quick shopping and a lovely lunch at a spot in town, we drove on to Sixmilebridge.

This stop was for Gwen. One of the favorite songs she is singing for the Fleadh competition is the Fair of Sixmilebridge. When she realized it’s a real town in Ireland and close to where we were staying, we had to make a stop in and snap a photo with the bridge. It’s not much to see now but the bridge was built in 1615 so it’s another Cool Old Thing to check off the list.

We finally arrived at our next Airbnb in Clare and Jay and Ellie were instantly smitten with the animals on the farm as I knew they would be. The farmhouse is cute and convenient. We made an Aldi run (because even though we felt like we were in the middle of nowhere, Ennistymon is only a few kilometers away.)

We learned a valuable lesson in procrastination tonight. We had put off doing laundry because we were so tired each evening when we got home. . .so Mom and I had each brought our laundry to this house to do. Well, on the Airbnb listing it said “drier” right under “washer” so I assumed there was a washer and a drier here. Well, we couldn’t find the drier so we messaged the hostess, and yep...no drier. . .she had meant HAIR drier.

So she told us to hang our clothes outside on the clothesline and they would be dry by morning. Well we didn’t trust that being from the Midwest where the clothes would be more wet in the morning from the dew than they were when they got hung up. Mom and I hung everything around the house on hangers and hoped for the best—that our clothes would be dry by morning. . .and you’ll have to wait until tomorrow just like we to find out if they dried or not. ; )