Day 37 Monday 27 June 2016

A very late start this morning leaving our hotel in Galway at 9am for a short drive to King John’s Castle built on King’s Island on the Shannon River around 1210 AD on the site of a former Viking settlement. We walked over the nearby bridge to see the Treaty Stone where the Treaty of Limerick was signed in 1691.

Our next stop south was at Adare, a pretty little village (no surprise that they won gold for being the tidy town) with a row of thatched roof cottages built in the 1820s on the main road. We walked through the town past the thatched cottages. We had a bit of retail therapy, they do sell some very nice local Aran knitted woollen garments. We walked the full length of the High Street & back before looking through the Trinitarian Abbey built in 1230 which is next to the Visitor Centre. At the side of the Abbey is a large stone dovecote used to provide fresh pigeon for the monk’s dinners. There is a small museum in the Visitor Centre that we walked through. The scenery from Adare heading south is of rolling green fields with sheep & cattle, with hedges along the fences.

Just before we reach the main city of Killarney we stop at the Old Killarney Inn for a beer, most men have a Guinness stout but I opted for a Murphy’s Stout, very similar in colour & taste, while a lot of the ladies opt for a cider. Across from the inn there is a collection of thatched roof holiday houses. We book into our hotel in Killarney, right in the middle of town, around 2pm, then go for a long walk along the High Street, lunch & jostling with all the tourists & browsing through a lot of interesting shops. We get back to our hotel around 6pm for a rest then head out around 8pm for dinner. This place is a real tourist city, so many pubs & restaurant. Tonight we have a free night (this means think for ourselves). A lot of the pubs have live music, we left going out a bit late & everywhere it was full, to get a table you had to wait. After a lot of walking around we did end up eating, Ron had a red wine not a Guinness.

The weather has been kinder to us today, cold but no rain, with the clouds clearing & sun coming out this afternoon. The locals were walking around in short sleeves, it was around 16C.

I had a chat with a local lady, who asked where we were from & where we are going to etc. I told her how much we are enjoying the beautiful country side, but it is cold & wet. She said isn’t it grand that the weather is so lovely here in Killarney – so it just depends on your perspective.