Our second splurge night, spent in Adare Manor, made us feel like the Third Earl of Dunraven, who was here when the main building was completed in 1862. The Second Earl of Dunraven, whose wife, Lady Caroline, had convinced him to build it to give him something to do other than suffer from gout, started the construction in 1832. The massive structure has 52 chimneys to commemorate the weeks of the year, 79 fireplaces, and 365 leaded glass windows. It was purchased by Thomas and Judy Kane of Summit, New Jersey, in 1987, and completely restored to its original splendor. They have even added an indoor swimming pool, Robert Trent Jones Sr. golf course, and numerous other buildings on the carefully landscaped 840 acres. Many of the world's rich and famous have slept here, including such stars as Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta-Jones. It appears that no one recognized Charlie and Tricia during their visit.
Adare Manor during a brief moment of blue sky
One room in the manor is the second longest banquet hall in Ireland, at 136 feet. With 23-foot ceilings and 17th century Flemish choir stalls at one end of the room, it is based partly on the hall at Versaille. One wall is paneled with carved episodes from the Bible, and the opposite wall contains a series of enormous fireplaces. We met a lady there who said she had attended a wedding feast in the room last year. She did not invite us to any future such celebration.
A very interesting memorial is located on the grounds, dedicated to the memory of Irish-born soldiers who gave their lives in the Vietnam War. Here is what the dedication plaque says:
If you look closely at the entire memorial, though, you might think Mr. and Mrs. Kane were making a political statement:
Veterans Memorial at Adare Manor
We had a leisurely morning stroll in Adare, viewed the historic sites there, and headed up for Galway, where we will be spending the next three nights. On the way, we passed by the ruins of the 13th Century Desmond Castle alongside the river north of town.
Thatched roof home in Adare
Desmond Castle on the Maigue River
On the way to Galway, our Lonely Planet guide book informed us that "Galway is a very rainy city, even by Ireland standards." The book did not inform us that Galway sometimes has hail in April. But having experienced hail around three o'clock this afternoon in Galway, we may inform you that God has found one more way to keep the fields green here. By the way, did we mention that it is very cold in Ireland?
Galway (Gaillimh to you speakers of Irish), with its 75,000 residents, is the third largest city in Ireland. Like other places and persons, it has a nickname. The City of Tribes, so called because of the 14 tribes of merchants who once ran the place, is located along the River Corrib, not far from the ocean. It had its origin as a fort built in the 12th century, which you will recall seemed to be the way of all towns back then. But in the Norman invasion in the 1230’s, the city was captured, and it eventually was completely taken over by the invaders, who were downright un-neighborly with the surrounding Irish. A sign over the west gate into the city, for example, proclaimed, "From the Ferocious O'Flahertys may God protect us". A local ordinance forbid the Irish unrestricted access into the walled city without permission.
One thing you immediately notice here is the number of hookers. County Galway has more hookers, in fact, than the rest of Ireland combined. You see them everywhere along the rivers and coast, and nearly all the Galway hookers are black. There are even four classes of Galway hookers, which local sailors can distinguish easily. You are probably not interested in the distinctions, but you would surely be fascinated by the hookers. They are beautiful, in their own way. In fact, tourists come here from all over Ireland just to expericnce one. We will try to take some photos of them over the next couple of days.
We went into town to explore the historic district, and ate in one of the local pubs after Tricia was talked into doing an interview for a documentary comparing first world and third world educational opportunities. After dinner, we were pulled into Gino's Homemade Italian Gelato, which had quite a selection in two separate display cases. Tricia had the banoffy pie, and I had the ambrosia flavor. Tricia shared some of hers with me. Both flavors were a fitting end to the day.
Mr. Murphy's Galway establishment
Caught in the act at Gino's
Charlie and Tricia
© 2012
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