British Isles Tour - Day Seven Waterford, Ireland

Today, we docked in Ireland again.  We loved how we were serenaded so often by a musician with a bagpipe. This was probably the only girl that we saw playing on our tour, but she was excellent.

Riding along, it was always like a story land with the lush green rolling hills and beautiful countryside.



At each stop, no matter in what country, our tour director had arranged for a small van like this one to carry the 17 people on our tour.  The vans were very comfortable and allowed us to get to know all of the great people on our tour better.  Also, Dan, the tour director's husband, would come by each day (just like a flight attendant) and bring us granola bars, peanuts, or trail mix for us to enjoy.  We really traveled in style and comfort!


The tour directors had arranged with the Irish Mission President to stop in Waterford to pick up the Mormon Missionaries there so that they could spend the day with us.  One was from New Zealand, and one was from Utah.  These were really some pleasant young men who were loving their mission.


Our first stop was at Jerpoint Abbey, which was now very incomplete, but had been founded in the second half of the 12^th Century near Kilkenny, Ireland.  Everywhere we went on our tour, we were amazed at how old everything was.  I mean, in the United States, we are amazed at things that date back to the 1700s! 

The sculptured cloister arcade has unique carvings. 

It's a long ways up to the top!

In the chapels, we saw 13^th to 16^th century tomb sculptures.  

The monastery was self-contained, which included its own gardens, watermills, infirmary, cemetery, kitchens, granary, stables and other outbuildings. The abbey flourished until the Dissolution of the Monasteries by Henry VIII.  Very interesting to imagine the life they had here.

We next drove to Kilkenny and toured the Kilkenny Castle.  The castle has been the centerpiece of Kilkenny City for over 800 years.  

The Earls of Ormonde of the Butler Dynasty, ruled over the castle and surrounding area for centuries until 1935.  After falling into ruin during the 20^th Century, the castle has been restored.  It was one of the most beautiful and complete castles we saw on the tour.

The 24^th Earl of Ormonde, sold the castle to the Office of Public Works for the sum of 50 pounds.  What a treasure for this city to have!

As with many of the castles we went into, they didn't allow picture taking inside the castle. 

They were mowing the castle grounds that day.  Everything smelled so clean and fresh.

In addition to the period furniture and exquisite paintings we were able to see inside, we also saw a 1378-foot roll called the Morpeth Roll, which had been signed by 160,000 people and given to Lord Morpeth as a "thank you" from the people of Ireland after he stepped down as Chief Secretary in 1841.  That's a lot of thank-yous! 






The back of the castle shows how it was built on the River Nore.

We strolled through the beautiful Castle gardens.

George enjoying the beautiful gardens from his vantage point.

Then Beverly, Joyce, and I walked into the city a little ways . . .

while the guys stopped for their Diet Coke break.

We were soon on our way to Waterford, Ireland.  It is one of the oldest cities in the country.

Waterford is definitely known for Waterford Crystal, referring to the city's former glass making industry.  Glass or crystal was manufactured in the city from 1783 until early 2009, when the factory was shut down here and now is manufactured in Europe.  However, the Waterford Crystal Visitor Center opened in June 2010, and of course, you may still buy any of their beautiful (and pricey) glass pieces in this lovely showroom.

This was such a beautiful piece--a mere 40,000 British Stirlings. 

The missionaries then took us on a short walking tour of the city.  Everywhere could be seen remains of a stone-built, Viking-age wall and gateway that was uncovered in 1989 during excavations for the City Square Shopping Center.

They also took us through Christ Church and Cathedral, which is a cathedral of the Church of Ireland completed in 1779.

This is a Warrior's Tomb and dates to the early 16th century. 

This is the Tomb of James Rice.  As the plaque states:  It has a "partially decomposed cadaver on top and dates from 1482.  It is one of the  finest cadaver tombs in Ireland and is probably the work of an Irish mason influenced by similar tombs in England."

From there, we walked to another glass company which had a whole different feel than the Waterford did, but they had some beautiful items made right there.

Last stop we had time for on our little walking tour was Reginald's Tower. 

 Reginald's Tower is a circular defense tower built at the beginning of the 13^th century and at various stages in its rich history has been used as a mint, a prison and a military store. 
Across the street from the tower was the waterfront.

 On the way back to the ship, we stopped in front of the sign indicating we were entering Thomastown.  When Larry and Beverly had come to Ireland before with their son Brad, he had liked the name so much, he and his wife Erin ended up naming one of their sons, "Thomas."

 Such a beautiful little town.

It is sort of sad to see modern bridges coming now that seem to be out of place, but are absolutely necessary with the increased traffic and better safety demands.

I loved seeing the quaint homes with the thatched roofs.

And now we were back to our rooms after another wonderful day of appreciating the beauty of Ireland.

After dinner, we attended the evening show, “The Beatles Celebration--From the Cavern to the Rooftops” with songs from 1962 to 1970.  This was a great lead into when we got to see on our Beatles’ tour in Liverpool.

Tomorrow:  Dublin, Ireland