We picked up our car Sunday morning at the Dublin Airport and hit the big M50 ring road to take us around Dublin as we aimed south. The M50 is a nasty little bit of business for tourists. It's not nice for anyone, I suppose, but it has a particularly unpleasant aspect for the uninitiated. It is a toll road without any toll booths. It takes your picture and racks up a toll at multiple (unspecified) places. You have to pay the toll by 8pm the following day. The toll can be paid at certain shops and gas stations or online. At the end of our driving day, we stopped in at a couple stores before we found one that could process a payment. You're asked how many toll places you passed. Since I only saw one reference to a toll, I answered, "One." But I don't actually know if that's right. So we've paid 3.10 euros and hope we don't have a surprise when we get home.
We were on two other toll roads on this our first driving day. One had a staffed toll booth, which was pretty straightforward. The other was not staffed, which had us scrambling for the right quantity of coins, as it took no paper money even though it was a multi-euro toll.
Of course, the truly tricky part of driving in Ireland is getting used to driving on the left side. We were last in a left-hand-drive country in 1994, so it's been quite awhile. Jerry's a champ of a driver, but it is very stressful, especially at the outset. When we were last in Ireland, there were mostly small roads. Now there are large motorways that connect all parts of the country.
This trip, our early driving was on the equivalent of freeways. Fast, when you're not really ready to be aggressive on the road. But, at least everyone around you is going the same direction you are. The only time you have to rethink your options is the periodic roundabout, which you must enter clockwise.
Though distances in Ireland (especially in this new era of motorways) are relatively small, this was one of our longest travel days, lengthened by having to get to the airport and go thru the usual hassles of picking up a car. We had two primary goals for our day--to visit the Rock of Cashel and to arrive in Kinsale by the end of the day. Hence our preference for the motorway rather than our usually preferred rural roads.
We were able to use the motorway all the way to the town of Cashel. We parked in the car park at the foot of the Rock and climbed up to the castle/church/fortress. We got there by mid-afternoon and had to share the site with only a couple tour groups. This is one of the most beloved historical sites in Ireland, and we had not seen it on our 1987 visit. This is where St. Patrick and the shamrock become connected. It was the city of kings, starting in the 5th century, but handed over to the church in 1101. So this has been a key spot for a very long time.
After wandering all over the Rock, we got back onto the motorway and headed for Cork. Traffic picked up tremendously. Fortunately, our route to Kinsale allowed us to use the south ring road and skirt a lot of the city. Even on a late Sunday afternoon, traffic was impressively heavy.
We were happy to arrive in Kinsale, which is a particularly charming town centered around its harbor. We had glimpsed it on our earlier trip and wanted to visit it, even if only briefly. There were still quite a few people in the town, which is a busy tourist destination. After getting quickly settled, we walked the winding streets of "downtown" Kinsale and worked our way around the bay, where we had dinner at the popular Fishy Fishy. The name is a clue that we are now in serious seafood territory. We shared a plate of chilled local seafood--salmon, tuna, gravlax, crab, prawns, and mussels--followed by some fresh local fish. Yum!
Kinsale is one of only two places where we will stay only 1 night. We were glad to get a feel for the town, but would suggest to others that you can easily spend 2 nights here. Before we headed out on Monday morning, we visited Charles Fort. Built in the 17th century, it is one of Europe's best-preserved star-shaped forts. It's built on 12 scenic acres above the Bandon estuary. The wind was galing while we were there, which made for a very brisk trek and added to the rather haunting ruins. The rain visited us a couple times, too. My hair had a completely different "do" by the time we left than it had when we arrived.
We headed toward our next destination--Shanagarry. I thought I had worked out a backroad way to get there, avoiding Cork and taking a little river ferry. We were thwarted by a flooded road (?!) and ended up back on the south ring road near Cork. This detour took us right through Midleton, so we decided to take advantage of the opportunity to visit the old Jameson distillery. We had an hour-long walking tour and lesson in Irish whiskey history, followed by a tasting that compared single, double, and triple distilling methods. A rough afternoon break.
Then we headed on toward Shanagarry, home of Ballymaloe House, probably the most sentimental stop on our itinerary. Ballymaloe was one of the reasons we decided to come to Ireland 28 years ago, and we are looking forward to seeing it again.
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