Nothin’ But Blue Skies

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Hello, February! And goodbye, rainy season! The sky was so very blue today (Friday), and it was the first day of our trip with NOT A SINGLE DROP OF RAIN. Perfect for adventures with Katie and Patrick. We started out with pancakes and bacon for breakfast, and then headed out to see some ruins. (Did you know Feb. 1 is the Feast of St. Brigid of Kildare, Patroness of Ireland? Traditional foods to celebrate the day are anything made with butter and milk/buttermilk, since St. Brigid was a milkmaid. Pancakes were the obvious choice, plus they are Kelly Brigid’s favorite and St. Brigid is her patron!)
Our first stop was in Minard, which was just a few minutes away, with a very similar rocky cove to the one in Kinard. These rocks were much bigger, though. The kids had lots of fun climbing.
Walking to the castle.
Then up a short but steep hill to the ruins of Minard Castle. It was severely damaged by Oliver Cromwell’s men in 1650 when they placed explosives at all 4 corners of the castle, killing everyone inside. It was on private land, so we couldn’t get too close to it, but the view was amazing.
Just across the path from the castle was this stone, and next to the gate in the background was a sign that said Tobar Eoin Baiste, which is Gaelic for
Well of St. John the Baptist.
The well had a kneeling stone in front of it for visitors to pray and reach down to touch the water. There was a trickle of water running into the pool from the back of the rocks and the water looked very clean and clear. Behind the well you can see a line of brightly colored ribbons and pieces of fabric that people have left when they came to visit the well. It is traditionally visited on Pattern Day, which is the 29th of August.
We will have to do some more research about the significance of that day and why the well is named for St John.
We prayed for all of you, especially everyone who is sick.
This was the view from the top of the hill going out of Minard. The roads are so narrow in most places, and I have mostly gotten used to driving on them, except of course when a very large oil truck is coming the other way and there is no where to pull over to let them pass!
Next stop was an old tower that we drive past almost every day but had not been to yet. To get close to it we had to drive down a gravel road that was no wider than a driveway, all the while hoping no one else would be coming the other way or one of us would have to back all the way out. From where we parked there was a good view of Dingle in the distance.
We walked along the gravel drive right by the water’s edge to get to the tower.

On our left was a big field with cows.

Up another short but steep hill, this one with a lot of cow dung!
The entrance to Dingle Harbor was to the right of the tower. The reason the tower was built here was to show the way into the hard-to-find and very narrow entrance to the Harbor.
It was built in 1847 as part of a public works project to bring employment to the poor and hungry in the area during the famine. It is called The Watchtower or sometimes Hussey’s Folly, for the man who started the project.
The entrance to the tower was walled over a long time ago, but the windows are still open. Maggie almost dropped the phone inside the tower trying to get this cool picture of the inside!
Another shot of the inside of the tower.
When we turned around to head back to the car, the cows were coming toward us!
But we walked right through the middle of them with no trouble. They barely noticed us.
We ended with a delicious but cold trip to Murphy’s Ice Cream. No one should come to Dingle without stopping here! (Notice the open door? No one puts their heat on here!)
After about a million kisses and hugs, Katie and Patrick were headed back to Dublin to fly home in the morning. We loved every minute of their visit!
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Published by broganfamily8069

We're a homeschooling family of eight - five girls and three boys. Our children are ages 20, 19, 17, 15, 12, 10, 7, and 5. We will be living in Ireland for the next six months, and then going to Tennessee! This blog is a documentation of our travels. Enjoy!! :)

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2 thoughts on “Nothin’ But Blue Skies”

    1. Saturday was nice as well, but Sunday was back to cold and rain. Oh well, we really enjoyed it while it lasted! Has the weather in NJ gotten any better? Bob and Sean are in TN now and they said it was 65 yesterday!

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