May 3 – Ashford Castle and a drive through the Murrisk Peninsula to Westport

This morning we were up early for breakfast as we plan to take a walk with the wolfhounds.
Breakfast was in the George V restaurant and and they had some high end (or maybe just more unusual) items.  If you wanted honey with your toast you could scoop it right out of  large honeycomb.  

If you wanted ham, they would carve it for you right off of a large, prominently displayed ham.

We then headed out on an early morning walk, billed to be a walk with Irish wolfhounds.  The walk included one other couple, the guide, and five dogs, 2 wolfhounds, a German Shepard, a Cocker Spaniel and a mixed breed.  Turned out the guide was filling in for another and three of the dogs (non-wolf hounds) were his.  It was a fun walk.  

The hounds seem to be a pretty mellow breed but boy are they BIG.  At one point Mary took out a baggie to get a tissue and the hounds, thinking she might have treats, came up to politely beg.  Gavin, one of the hounds, sat right i front of her and looked her almost square in the eye, thinking that she would surely share her treats.  Sitting down he was almost as tall as her.  

The Cocker Spaniel thought he was as big as the hounds.  The best behaved of all of the dogs were the hounds.  

There was an area in the woods called "The Farm" that was an old, original farm.  It is now overgrown with vegetation and the farmhouse has totally fallen into ruins.  

We then went back to the room to finish packing.  We checked out and then st around a bit waiting for a guide to take us on a historical tour of the castle and grounds.  Fenton, the guide, was a treasure trove of history and castle trivia.  We did the exterior first where he pointed out the sections of the building that were added at different points in time.  

He also gave us a lot of info on the interior.  After the tour we went back around to take more pictures of the wonderful interior.  

Ladies bathroom ceiling.

The bar.

Another sitting room with views of the gardens and the water fountain, and where we had lunch.  It is special.  

The castle even has its own suit of armor. 

The chandeliers were beautiful - 12 Waterford Crystal chandeliers.

We also took a short tour of the wine cellar, where they have over 6000 bottles of wine. 

Since it rains so much in Ireland and since one of the main attractions for the Castle is walking the extensive grounds, they have rain coats, large umbrellas and Wellington boots (Wellies) for anyone needing them.  

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More photos of Ashford Castle
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After the tour we headed into Cong village for a late lunch (figuring we had already spent way too much on food at the castle).  While there we took a few more photos as the sun was out.

We also came across a very modern church, St. Mary's, that we missed on our first visit to the village.  We are glad we stopped in as it had very lovely stained glass.

Then we decided to take the long but scenic route through the Murrisk Peninsula,

on our way to Westport, our next stop.  Our hotel is right on the waterfront.