Happy Birthday Chris! Ardmore, Lismore, and more... (LONG POST) (10/22)

 [Sam writing - between landscapes, museums, castles, and gardens, there are a lot of pictures!]

     Last week we celebrated another birthday -- the "King of the Castle."  The girls and I came up with a plan for the day to celebrate Chris.  I'm still not sure how we landed on SUNRISE at the cliffs, but it turned out to be a magical morning so the 6am alarm was worth it. We started the adventure in the dark and headed an hour south to the ocean for a cliff walk in Ardmore. Ardmore is considered the home of St. Declan, who was a Christian missionary in Ireland before St. Patrick.  Declan covered more of the south (near us) and Patrick covered more of the North.

    With such an early arrival, we got a prime parking spot at the trail head as the sky started to brighten.  The 4km looped path was well maintained and marked along the tops of ocean cliffs and back through the quiet, empty, beach town. It's definitely the off season! Along with the breathtaking views of the sunrise, we enjoyed:
- learning about St. Declan (5th century bishop of Ardmore & a buddy of St. Patrick)

- seeing the remains of the Samson shipwreck from 1987

- visiting a WW2 lookout tower (it's for sale!)

- searching for dolphins and seals and puffins (none seen)

- gasping at the beautiful and terrifying cliff drop-offs

- petting a sweet, white horse hanging out at a farm gate

- wandering through a graveyard with a 12th century round tower (30 meters high!) and cathedral ruins, plus another oratory (prayer house)

We didn't mention these in our Museum post, but this is known as an ogham stone and we got to see one in the wild!  Notice the scratches on the corners, which are an early Irish alphabet (note, like Morse code, it is essentially a substitution code for letters in existing words, not a new language).  This stone is featured on page 15 of this guide, and the alphabet key is shown on page 9.

This family has been buried here continuously from 1781 to the present (2009 most recently).  Reminds me of a story we forgot to tell about the Rock of Cashel - after hundreds of years of burials there, when the graveyard was nearing capacity, they decided only people who could trace their heritage far enough back in the town were allowed to be buried there anymore.  Apparently there are just 2 elderly women left on the list, and then it will be closed.

Really old bible story carvings -- here's Adam & Eve!

St. Declan's Oratory (possibly where he is buried)

- wishing it was a hot summer day for a swim at this gorgeous sandy beach

- searching for sea glass at the rocky section of the beach

Chris with St. Declan's Stone (his servant forgot to bring his bell, so this rock miraculously floated across the ocean with the bell on it)

Chris told Kate that when you throw a rock into the ocean, you are likely to be the last human to ever see that rock.  So Kate wanted to commemorate it.

 - finding a FOUR LEAF CLOVER, shot in 0.5 mode!  We have found up to 6-leafs, but they look very disfigured, not evenly divided.

- finally, and possibly most exciting for the birthday boy, we found a huge galvanized electrical cabinet. The PERFECT example of "spangling" for his material science lectures. Check out the size of those GRAINS!  Each of the gray splotches is a section of zinc with all the atoms perfectly aligned in a lattice.  They reflect different colors of gray because the 3D rotation of each lattice is slightly different.

     Next, we headed north to the town of Lismore. What are the chances one of the first things we see is ANOTHER galvanized metal cabinet?!? I mean, it's only about 1/4 the size of the other one, but can this birthday get any better?  Half of Chris's camera roll is pictures for classes.

     Bonus nerd alert: we at lunch in a city park with a dedication to Robert Boyle -- the father of Chemistry! Lismore Castle is his birthplace, although he did his research at Oxford.  As a kid, he visited Galileo in Italy.  He was also a noted theologian.

     Visiting Lismore Castle connects to Lily's birthday adventure because one of the most famous Waterford Crystal designs is called "Lismore" -- of course we were excited to pursue this source of inspiration. Lismore castle is huge and beautiful (read: not in ruins) and right on the River Blackwater. It is decribed as a "quasi-feudal ultra-regal fortress." The Duke and Duchess of Devonshire and their family (regarded as one of the most powerful families in the British nobility) live in it when they are in Ireland. Sadly, because it has been continuously occupied since the 12th century, there are no interior tours. However!! If the owners are away, the castle is available to rent for up to 27 guests.  (Hartemink reunion?? Alpha Phi princess party??)  Maybe castle-owners are a small group, because our landlord knows them.

     Thankfully, the grounds and art gallery (2005) are open to the public. The castle gardens (1700-1800's, but enhanced recently) were beautiful even though it's the end of the blooming season. (I would love to see this place in the spring/summer!) With such a gigantic backyard, they really had fun creating a place to explore and appreciate nature -- garden rows, fruit trees, arches of hedges, loads of hydrangeas, forest of ferns, path through ancient yew trees (bushes?) with the plump red berries I loved to pick in my childhood, a lovely lily pond, and several large pieces of artwork, including sections of the Berlin Wall...and more. It reminded us of Meijer Gardens, and we absolutely loved wandering around in all of the nooks and crannies. When we started to feel raindrops, as one does pretty much daily in Ireland, it was the perfect time to transition to the inside art gallery. They had a charming collection titled "Kunstkammer" -- a cabinet of curiosities -- and what a perfect name for it!

Pieces of the Berlin Wall

Chris said he kept waiting for a Nazgul to ride through this yew alley

Tree hug :)

This is the prettiest castle we have seen so far.  Chris in particular liked that cylindrical tower on the right which is just attached 50 feet up the corner of the building.

Lily with the lilies

Inspiration for a project with our Florida shells

It's LEGO - so creative!

Who knew my messy desk could be art?

Two fighting squirrels we called Lily & Kate (these are real taxidermy squirrels, and the exhibit had about 10 scenes).  We had a fun conversation with the docent about squirrels in Ireland because I have not seen them anywhere. Coming from Michigan, it feels really strange, especially with the quantity of acorns and chestnuts on the ground at our castle estate.

Side Quest: As we were about to leave town, we sighted a directional sign for "The Towers" -- how could we pass that up on our birthday adventure day? A hike through the woods opened up to a clearing with a stream and the ruins of the Ballysaggartmore Towers. It is so fun stumbling upon neat little pieces of history in Ireland like this!!

Chris was pleased with his waterproof shoe purchase

On the final leg of our journey home, we stopped at a new place in Clonmel for brisket -- The Pit Stop -- where a guy from England got a chuckle out of serving Texas BBQ to Michiganders in a small Irish town. Then we wrapped up the day with a movie followed by cake and ice cream...and a new hat. Up Tipp! (This is the cheer for the local Tipperary hurling team.)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!