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Hight's Sabbatical Pictures |
Part 21: Blarney Castle and the Coast |
On 27 Jan 2008 after visiting Cloyne, we had just enough daylight to do
one more activity. Since Blarney was close, we opted to head over to
Blarney Castle - pictured here. |
The castle is famous as a ruin and as the current home of the 'Blarney
Stone,' whichm when kissed upside down, is supposed to confer upon the
person the gift of eloquence. |
So, lacking in eloquence, I decided to kiss the Blarney Stone. |
From the top of Blarney Castle, a view of some of the surrounding ruins.
The castle was once an important fortification and several key battles
were fought here. |
After visiting Blarney we opted to see the Irish coast. We went to 'Head
of Old Kinsale' - one of the many promontories protruding from southern
Ireland. |
The beaches were rocky and looked to have sections of revealed petrified
wood. |
At dusk, a parting short of an old tower guarding the coast. |
Ireland lives up to its name as the 'Emerald Isle.' Even in January the
area is mostly green. Although we had several good days of weather, it
did rain a lot (especially in Galway). We were to have a second day in
Dublin, but because Ryan Air canceled our flight and we had to
reschedule, we lost one full day there. Nonetheless, the trip was
successful. I gave three sets of talks, found lots of interesting
Berkeley things, and enjoyed my visit. |
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