Below is a short journal of what we are doing on our trip. We also have many pictures. Just click the "Photo Gallery" tab to see our pictures.

August 12, 2006 (Saturday)

We landed in Shannon at 6:45 a.m. as planned, we still had about 90 miles and 9 hours to go before we could check into our place in Kinsale, Co. Cork. So we did a little sight seeing on our way over to Kinsale. We rented a car and made our way east towards our destination, the Rock of Cashel. This is a castle situated on top of an out cropping in the middle of a small village. Cashel in Irish means Castle.  It was a very interesting place. There was a guided tour and also a movie. One thing Americans are not used to is having to deal with multiple languages. The movie had show times every half-hour, but, they where in different European languages, such as German, French and Spanish. So we waited for the English version.  Visit our photo gallery to see some of our pictures.

August 13, 2006 (Sunday)

Today we headed out to Charles fort, location of the Battle of Kinsale in 1601. It was about a 40 minute walk from where we are staying. The day was bright and sunny and the temperature was in the low 70's. The path to the fort was along Kinsale harbor, with many beautiful views of the town. The boys had a great time running around the fort.

August 14, 2006 (Monday)

We wanted to take it a little easy today. I think we are all still recovering from our trip. We took a short walk over to Desmond castle. It was only a few blocks from where we are staying. It was a relatively small castle but had some very interesting exhibits on the wine trade and how important wine was in Europe during the 1500's and 1600's.

August 15, 2006 (Tuesday)

It was a rainy day today. We basically hung out at our place most of the day.  Luckily we are centrally located and can sneak out for a snack or a run to the market. The place we are staying has been great. We have two bedrooms, a full kitchen, a living room with a dining area. We also have a porch area.  On this rainy day we are also lucky enough to have a DVD player and access to a video rental store. Very helpful on a rainy day.

August 16, 2006 (Wednesday)

Today we made a two and a half hour journey to Waterford, home of Waterford Crystal. Before we toured the factory we located a 1000 year old round tower. The oldest existing building in Ireland to use mortar and stone. Most of the older structures don't have any mortar. This tower is called Reginald Tower and was first constructed by the Vikings. The Waterford Crystal factory was a very interesting tour. As you can see from our pictures one of the carvers let Tommy and Jimmy hold some Mickey Mouse ears he was working on.

August 17, 2006 (Thursday)

Waking up to a sunny morning we thought it would be a good opportunity to go on a harbor cruise. This boat held about 50 people and had an exposed upper deck and a closed in lower deck.  It was pleasant enough to sit outside and enjoy the sunshine. Later that night we brought the boys to the Kinsale brewing company. We had noticed on an earlier day that they had a big screen T.V. for soccer games and thought the boys would enjoy this. Unfortunately there was no soccer on tonight. But, we met two men from Illinois who where on a golfing trip. They had just played Old Head today.

August 18, 2006 (Friday)

After a rainy Thursday night we woke to another sunny morning. We decided to check out James Fort. The fort across the harbor from Charles Fort. The structure was not nearly as restored as Charles Fort. There where vines covering the exterior walls, giving you only a hint of what they looked like. An interesting thing about the fort was a "block house" that was close to the water but outside the walls of the fort. If needed, they would run a chain from this block house across the harbor to block any enemy ships from accessing the harbor. After we checked out the ruins of the fort we fond our way to a small beach nearby. This beach had the most unusual sand, it was gray. The sand felt very soft and was clear of any rocks.

Later in the day we drove out to see the 'Old Head'. Of of this coastline the Lusitania was sunk. There is also a nice golf course there.

August 19, 2006 (Saturday)

We were lucky enough to contact some of my relatives and arrange a meeting at the sea side town of Courtmacsherry. One of my cousins has a vacation mobile home with a beautiful view of the ocean. This the Family of Dan and Nora McAuliffe. They had 6 children, one died in 1993 in a car accident. The remaining 5 children have married and have children. There are 13 grand children ranging in ages from 4 to 15. They really welcomed us with open arms.

August 20, 2006 (Sunday)

Today we decided to relax after our big travel day on Saturday.  We attended church and in the afternoon we went back out to James Fort. The boys love roll playing in and around the fort. We also found our way down to a small beach near the fort. Definitely the coldest water I have ever been in.

August 21, 2006 (Monday)

We sought out yet another castle today. Barry's Court castle is just a few miles east of Cork city. This castle was just recently restored. The tour guide did a great job explaining what life was like in this castle in the 1500's.  After our castle tour we headed into Cork city, the second largest city in Ireland. We drove in and looked for some convenient parking. This city was very nice to walk around.  There are several pedestrian only areas that seem to be the central shopping areas of the city.

August 22, 2006 (Tuesday)

Today we head to Kanturk. The small village my grand father grew up in.  First we are meeting up with cousins Mary and Paddy McAuliffe.  They have 4 children and 11 grand children. Paddy is my father's first cousin. Paddy and Mary treated us to a traditional Irish dinner of tomatoes, ham, hard boiled eggs and lots of tea.  Before we ate they gave us tour of their gardens. they seem to grow everything in a 20 by 80 foot area. They also have a green house with grape vines and other non-native Irish plants.

After the tour of the garden Paddy brought us up to see Stevie McAuliffe. Stevie lives on Bawnmore, the farm of my grand father. He has a small house on the corner of the farm. He's 85 now and beginning to slow down a little. He no longer drives and needs help to come in daily to help around the house. Even with all this he found enough energy to entertain us with a few songs. He really could sing.

After our visit with Paddy, Mary and Stevie we went to visit Hannah McAuliffe, she is living in the house my grand father was born and raised.  Back in 1999 Hannah's husband Eugene died. They raised 8 children in this house. One son still lives there.  It was great for Liz and the boys to see the home of my grand father. It's been modernized over the years, but still has the characteristics of an older home.

August 23, 2006 (Wednesday)

The boys really wanted to blow off some steam today. Yesterday was allot of car time and visiting family time. We headed back to James Fort and had some fun with the hurling sticks we picked up on Tuesday. Hurling is a cross between field hockey and lacrosse.

August 24, 2006 (Thursday)

We headed back to Charles Fort and checked out a walking trial near the fort.  This trail ran along the harbor, leading out to the sea.

August 25, 2006 (Friday)

We decided to see some sights closer to the airport and stay over.  This should make our last day in Ireland a little easier. First we visited the Blarney woolen mills. This place is pretty big. They have lots of wool products and just about anything else sold to tourist.  After our visit we walked over to Blarney castle. Yep, home of the famous Blarney stone. We walked up the very narrow stairs to the top of the castle. There a local man would assist people in bending over backwards (5 stories up) to kiss the stone. Not something for anyone with any height issues. I volunteered to take pictures.

That night we got to our hotel in Limerick and made reservations for an "Irish Dinner" at Bunratty castle. This dinner also came with entertainment, traditional Irish song and dance.

August 26, 2006 (Saturday)

Well, we are about the head back to the U.S. It's been a great two weeks.