In planning for the trip, I had thought I would visit Lough Derg, which is a lake along the course of the River Shannon not far from Limerick. It has in it a "Holy Island" which was the location of an ancient monastery and which I had read about as a pilgrimage site. While my time in the eastern part of the iasland had been intended to have a large measure of visiting "roots" and ordinary tourism, I had thought of the time in the west as a sort of pilgrimage. So I'd visit the Holy Island on Saturday and Knock, the scene of the Marian apparitions, on Sunday.
But I realized from the maps, that the road to Lough Derg was unlikely to be better than some of the secondary roads I had experienced, and after the accidents and the tension I had experienced in driving around Ireland, I decided it would not be prudent to make the excursion. Instead, I would go via the highway from Limerick to Claremorris, where I would stay overnight.
A major tourist attraction just north of Limerick is Bunratty Castle. Other links are available if you Google Bunratty Castle. I had decided before the trip that it was basically a tourist trap, and I wouldn't stop there. But it was about 11:00 when I arrived at the exit for Bunratty, and I didn't need to be in Claremorris until evening, so I had time on my hands and decided to take a look. I stayed for three hours!
View of the castle from the southwest. Guest quarters were on the top floors at this end, although Lord and Lady Gort used it themselves after they restored the castle, and it still has the antique furniture they purchased for it. In previous times the lord's private quarters were at the other end.
View of the Ratty River from the upper level of the castle, with the broad expanse of the Shannon in the distance.
One of the things I like about traveling alone is that I can spend whatever time I want on something rather than being herded along by a tour guide, or even having to accommodate the wishes of traveling companions. I found the castle fascinating, carefully restored by the couple who bought it for £5,000 about 55 years ago. There were knowledgeable guides who explained a lot, and a good leaflet showing what each room was. So I lingered over many details.
I hadn't previously known about the folk park. The name made it sound (to me) like an amusement park, but in truth it was a reconstruction of country and village life of the 19th century, with typical cottages brought from various regions — most of which looked quite livable — and other houses with known histories and a typical main street. It was also quite interesting.
Deer in the park in front of Bunratty House, which, as wiki notes, was built by the owners of the castle in 1804 to serve as a more comfortable residence. It is at the far end of the folk park from the castle.
A church which was brought here and reconstructed in the park.
Finally I got back in my car and headed for Claremorris. At this point I'll begin quoting from what I wrote that evening. I left Bunratty with my dark feelings of the previous evening largely gone.
Driving to Claremorris on the left was still nerve-wracking, with the quality of the road changing between 4-lane divided and narrow 2-lane. Despite a long traffic jam approaching Clarinbridge (?), which required 15-20 minutes to go no more than 5 km, the driving time to Claremorris [was] only about 2 1/2 hours, including time spent in town looking for the hotel until I decided to park the car and search on foot.
After arrival and briefly settling in, I had lunch [at about 5:00 p.m. in the hotel dining room adjacent to the pub.] Later I went for a stroll, and at one point on a side street I encountered a small group of teenagers going the other way. As we passed, one of the lads admired my straw hat, and indicated he'd like to have it. He finally said, "I'll suck you off for that hat." I didn't reply. When the moment had passed it occurred to me that I could have said something like, "That's ridiculous. You'd get two things you want, and I'd get nothing I want — I'd just lose my hat." It's probably just as well it didn't occur to me sooner.
Dinner was at about 10:00 back at the hotel. As everywhere else, there was a decent crowd of apparent regulars in the pub, many enjoying a sporting event on the TV's. Also this is as good a point as any to note that the food was generally good all over the country — nicely sauced steaks cooked as I asked, moist and tasty salmon, etc. And all over Ireland baked brie was offered as an appetizer. It is clearly the current fad — not bad stuff, of course, but it was a bit of a surprise that it was so ubiquitous.
