Day 7: Tuesday, June 25, 2024

Day 7 is a travel day to our final destination city, Dublin, with two stops on the northeast route first being the Blarney Castle and then the Rock of Cashel with a performance. We grabbed an early full Irish breakfast in the Clayton Hotel Silver Springs so we could depart about 8:30 am on the bus from Cork. 

The 30 minute bus ride to Blarney Castle and Gardens got us to the castle as it was opening and beat the possible crowds. The current Blarney castle was built in 1446 on the site of previous destroyed castle. Blarney Castle is now a partial ruin with some accessible rooms and battlements. At the top of the castle lies the Stone of Eloquence, better known as the Blarney Stone. Tourists visiting the castle may hang upside-down over a sheer drop to kiss the stone, which is said to give the gift of eloquence. We are able to walk the grounds, kiss the Blarney Stone, visit one of the many gardens like the “Poison Garden” or the rock formations Druid’s Circle, Witch’s Cave and the Wishing Steps. We were on our own to wonder the grounds and get lunch before our 12:30 pm departure. 

We set off for about a 90 minute drive to the Rock of Cashel. The Rock of Cashel, iconic in its historic significance, possesses the most impressive cluster of medieval buildings in Ireland. According to legend St. Patrick himself came here to convert King Aenghus to Christianity. Brian Boru was crowned High King at Cashel in 978 and made it his capital.

Link to the performance:

https://www.facebook.com/watch/live/?ref=watch_permalink&v=2323229671361188

One of the main reason for our visit to the Rock of Cashel was to perform The Fiddlers original tune The Rock of Cashel. The acoustics within the ruins of the cathedral was amazing. People throughout the castle and grounds came in for the impromptu mini concert. The group was able to perform approximately 20 minutes to a group of 50+ people. 

Including the performance, the time we spent was about a hour at the Rock of Cashel. It was long enough time to explore, take pictures, and a bathroom break before our two hour trek to Dublin. As our journey progressed we slowly watched the landscape change from farmland to suburbia to the busy city of Dublin. 

We made it in to Dublin and ready to check into Holiday Inn Express City Centre around 5 pm. It was at this time we Flan would no longer be our Charter Bus driver. We said goodbye to Flan as we would now be chartered around by a local bus company. 

With the hotel in the heart of the Dublin City centre the lobby was not as spacious as we had gotten accustomed to but a very nice hotel. Because of its size it took us a bit longer to get up the stairs to the elevators and to our rooms. We had enough time to check in, freshen up before we met in the lobby for dinner. We met at 6:30 for a short walk to Beshoff on O’Connell Street for either a Fish and Chips or Chicken Strips and Chips dinner. The was great but we all agreed the chips were some of the best we had on the trip. 

After dinner we walked back to the hotel for the night where we all made it back in time to catch Euro Cup Soccer game of the night. A early night to bed for a full day of walking and enjoying the sights in Dublin the next day.