KINSALE

Two nights in the pretty town of Kinsale, County Cork.

We set out in pouring rain which continued for much of the day.

We drove to Cork.  What a nightmare!  Friday afternoon in Cork in the rain is not a good idea.

We eventually found a place to park and then found a place for lunch.

Terry's pancake lunch

After lunch we tried to see some of Cork but it was miserable.  We found the Archive but they had nothing relevant.  It was culture night in Ireland and several places were open lat but we had to continue our journey.

After more terrible traffic, we were on Kinsale Road.  Much better.

We arrived at our Bed and Breakfast, The Old Presbytery, and discovered that we had the highest room in the place.  Our bedroom looked out over the rooftops to the harbour.

There were two bathrooms, one of which had a roll top bath.  Luxury!

We settled in with afternoon tea and then prepared to walk downtown.

It was music night in Kinsale with lots of performances but many did not start till 10.30pm.

We settled for fish and chips down near the wharf and then walked back.

The next morning we enjoyed Phillip's cooking-I had yummy porridge.

The day was cloudy but later the sun came out when we were on our way to Cobh (pronounced Cove).

This was the last place that the Titanic stopped before the iceberg struck.

We have now completed the circle, Belfast where it was built, Cobh (Queenstown at that time) where it left Europe and Halifax where the graves are.

The heritage centre dealt with that but also with convicts and immigrants who left from there.

One of my ancestors left from Cork as a convict so I assume she left from Cobh.

Statue of a mother and children who were the first processed on Ellis Island New York. Apparently there is a similar statue there.

We drove up to the cathedral which dominates the hight point of the town.  It a very steep hill so we drove down again to find lunch, a late lunch.

Terry listened to the blues being played at the bandstand while I had a look around but most shops were closed.

The White Star Line office still exists 

 But the wharf is mostly gone.

We drove back to Kinsale in the late afternoon, to Charles Fort on a headland with view to the open water near where the Luisitania was sunk during World War 1.

We also drove a bit further on to the waterfront.

The memorial to the ship from the Spanish Armada which was wrecked near here.

We had some afternoon tea at our b n b and then relaxed before dinner.

After dinner at The Shack, we walked home to relax for the next and last journey to Glasson where our next accommodation waited.

We got up this morning to a beautiful day

and had breakfast, crepe and fruit for me, and went to mass about 20 steps from the b n b.

We came back, packed and said farewell.

Our journey was long but easy, mostly on motorways.  We stopped for Sunday lunch at Portlaoise.  Roast again.

The journey ended at our last stop for this holiday, Wineport Lodge.

We have a two bedroom suite with a full wraparound balcony.  Just one glitch.  No wifi in the room.  I am in the lounge where there is wifi.

The views from our room.

Enjoying the paper.

Bed and lounge area looking through to second bedroom.

Tomorrow we begin more family research and meet Michael and Dianne for lunch.