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Day 5: Castle Day

September 12, 2007

Rock of Cashel. Very hard to get a good picture of it all

It looks super impressive from a distance, driving towards it

By the way, we are now in the town of Cashel, driving west

It's a church/castle/fort built in the 1100s and 1200s

The Rock of Cashel was stop number 1 on a long driving day

An abbey a short distance from the Rock

We took a guided tour. Here's our guide

The town of Cashel, as seen from up on the Rock

One of the interior chapels still has paint from frescos

As you can see, it's high up on a hill. Hard to photograph

New place alert! Stop number 2 - Cahir Castle, in Cahir town

Matt actually has to duck!

I swear it doesn't all look the same in real life :)

Lots of arrow holes for shooting intruders

Cahir Castle (no guided tour; we wandered)

The town of Cahir, taken from one of the towers

Hi, Erin

It's more fun if you get creative with the castle pictures

Matt up top

We nicknamed this day Castle Day for a reason

Erin descending into the dungeon

Walking around Cahir town looking for affordable lunch

The castle is RIGHT up on all these busy streets - so odd

YESSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!

A store that sells Erin-related gifts!

Now we are at Blarney Castle outside of Cork

We've driven a lot today. And we still have to get to Killarney

Blarney Castle. Surprisingly pretty and large

It's deceptively difficult to climb up Blarney Castle

Very pretty being surrounded by green and not roads

See the rope in the stairwell? You have to rappel yourself up

View of the grounds and Blarney town from the top

Preparing to kiss the stone

People walking over to the stone-kissing area

Erin kissing the Blarney Stone (100 feet in the air!!!)

Matt kissing the stone. This shows how low you have to go

One more castle grounds picture

Erin in one of the escape tunnels underneath the castle

Now we are in Killarney, walking through the national park

This was how we got to the town from our B&B

Our B&B for 2 nights in Killarney; the Ross Castle Lodge