Last of County Tipperary

VI Blog Toto Travels
16 May - Monday


Another delicious breakfast and delightful chat with Kay and Denis started our day. Their grandson Aiden Denis was with them this morning and we enjoyed meeting the adorable 2 year old.
  We planned sightseeing around County Tipperary, so Denis helped plan our itinerary for us.
Our plan was to go through Cashel and turn up Road R660 to go see Holycross Abbey and Church. We knew that The Rock of Cashel was closed in preparation for the Queen E II visit. A lovely start to the day, we decided to stop at the TI in Cashel and look around a little. Always enjoy dawdling and shopping at the Tourist Information centers in the British Isles. We saw a Garda and asked him directions. He was very friendly and helpful, asked us where we were from. He was walking the same way we were going, so we chatted about all the Garda in town and the upcoming visit of the Q of England. Karen said, "Well, she's not your YOUR Queen, so you don't have to worry." 
"No!  She is certainly not!"   he rather chortled.  We had to smile, he was great fun to chat with.
After spending too much time shopping in the TI in Cashel - it truly had very nice merchandise, we set off for Holycross Abbey and Church.  Spectacular views of Rock of Cashel from beyond the town of Cashel.
 The road to Holycross was truly beautiful - picturesque.   Holycross Church and Abbey was a mixture of abbey ruins and restored church. Kay told us that it was a very popular and expensive place (if you were not a parishioner) to have a wedding.  When we went into the Abbey Store, there was this very old lady who could barely talk, could not catch her breath and had significant dysphonia. She got up to get us some information and could barely walk, she was very nice though.  I suppose she works out of need or company, but Karen and I both hurt for her.
Now after noon, we drove back through Cashel and on to Cahir for lunch and a look at Cahir Castle. Lunch is now the order of business. The Lazy Bean near the Galtee Inn looked great for lunch and it was a hopping place with wonderful looking desserts. As it turned out, Cahir Castle was just around the corner. We popped into the TI office at the castle and we were helped by the nicest and most wonderful lady, Bernie. She gave us all kinds of information, looked up a route for us to go to Cobh and Kinsale tomorrow and printed instructions. She was absolutely brilliant! 
Denis had pretty much insisted we go to Cahir Castle and we found it to be a very informative and enjoyable castle to tour. We climbed as many steps as we could find and generally had a great time meandering through the castle.

It was 3:00 pm before we set off for our last two destinations - The Vee drive and Lismore. Just outside Cahir Castle was the road sign for "The Vee."  Up, up and away we go. R668 from Cashel takes us up the Knockmealdown Mountains to The Vee which connects County Tipperary and County Waterford. From lush vegetation we climb to somewhat more sparse and definitely rougher country. The Vee is a narrow canyon filled with beautiful shrubs of varying colors that spreads out in a V to lower elevation. Absolutely spectacular. Near the top we had a sheep roadblock, complete with lambs, that was just pure fun. A very narrow road, shepherds' huts near the top, we wound our way down to Lismore which is a lovely village nestled next to a small river.
We thought we could see Lismore castle, but found out it is private and the grounds were closed.  Supposedly the gardens closed at 4:00 (16:00), but we were there about 5 or 10 of 4:00 and it was locked tight. In retrospect, after grumbling about it, we probably would not have paid €8 just for the gardens. Lovely churches and old stone buildings winding through narrow streets. We enjoyed the time although we were not able to "tour" any place.  Sometimes just being in a place is enough.

We took the low road back to Clonmel. Once over the high road was enough.
Very hungry, we could not find a place that suited us in Clonmel, so stopped at a pub on N24 near Farrenwick turnoff R687. There is a first time for everything, we did not feel welcome there, but we were so hungry we stayed anyway. Cream of mushroom soup was soup de jour. Who knew that consisted of mushrooms in broth with a dollop of cream thrown on. Actually it was not bad, certainly not as bad as it looked! The cheese sandwich was grated cheddar thrown on bread  - and it promptly fell off the bread every time I took a bite. The Guinness, however, did NOT disappoint.
Our last night at Farrenwick, rather sad, we have adopted Kay and Denis as our family.