April 25 – Adare, Craggaunowen and the Cliffs of Moher

We are off to our next location.  The day is sunny though still cool.  Our first stop on our way to Doolin is the quaint town of Adare.  It is billed as one of the prettiest towns in Ireland, in part because of the large number of thatched building.

First stop (and most prominent building near the tourist information center) was the Holy Trinity Catholic Church.  We poked our heads in but services were in progress so we decided not to intrude.

Across the street was a row of thatched buildings.  Many of the thatched homes were built by the local Earl for his tenants.  They are still well maintained and make for a pretty village.

The downtown was colorful but mainly full of tourist shops.

Next we drove around Limerick to the Craggaunowen with its 16^th century restored tower castle.

There is also an archaeological open air museum that included a Crannog (settlement built on a man‑made island),

a ring fort with several buildings, a lath and a loom,

Lath for woodworking

Loom for weaving

and The Brendan, a recreation of the currach boat that was ostensibly used by St. Brendan to sail to North America in around 500 AD.   We learned about the boat from Ted Severins, its creator.  He was one of the lecturer’s on our recent Crystal Serenity cruise and he had talked about the extensive research that went into determining how to build an authentic leather boat that would have been in use in the 6^th century.  It was great to see the boat.

Leather strips used to bind the ships boards together. 

Building housing The Brendan

They also had a flock of Soay Sheep, a primitive breed from Scotland.

The plan was to then drive to our hotel in Doolin.  However, it was a sunny day so we decided to go straight to the Cliffs of Moher, one of the biggest tourist attractions in Ireland.  The crowds were huge and for good reason, the cliffs are magnificent.

We then went into Doolin to the pier for some additional distance shots of the cliffs.  The town is pretty small so we didn’t linger.  

We eventually found our hotel, the Ballinalacken Castle Country House and Restaurant, which was a few miles out of town. 

It’s a beautiful old home that is now a hotel.  And it has its very own castle on the grounds.  Declan, one of the owners, took us for a tour.  

Great views from the top.

The hotel restaurant serves exceptional food.  We very much enjoyed dinner, especially as we had views of the cliffs in the far distance.