St. Patrick's Day

There are many different degrees of celebration all over the world and when I think of St. Patrick’s Day in Ireland something lively & loud like Mardi Gras in New Orleans comes to mind.  Perhaps St. Patrick’s Day in Dublin, or even Galway comes close and I’m sure the pubs were overflowing with patrons dressed in green. Maybe not so much this year. There was another cold snap that came in over the weekend, so we decided to partake in our local celebration.  Still froze our arse’s off!!

For the past few weeks we’ve seen all the store windows decked out in green and Irish flags flying everywhere.  On the big day there were numerous events all over town – a rubber duck race in the Shannon (cancelled due to the weather ☹) 

Drummers (just outside the library – haha)

In the park there was face painting, petting zoo, bouncy houses & military & Garda displays.  Of-course the parade earlier enough in the day so no one had to miss the "big game". The parade was like any Fourth of July parade we’d experienced back home.  

The most visible difference being rather than Red, White & Blue everywhere, it’s Green, White & Orange.  Parade participants included old men in uniform, kids marching from every organization imaginable – including the scouts, bagpipers, cars, clowns, drummers (my favorite) and St Patrick himself. 

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Waterford Crystal

When we traveled through Waterford two years ago it was during tourist season, full tour buses congested the streets and travelers filled the sidewalks.  As I’ve mentioned before one of the main reasons we chose to stay a year here was to experience Ireland when all the tourists go home.  Winter is the best time to visit those places that would otherwise be jam-packed at the height of the season.  So many times, we’ve stood in the back of the crowd waiting our turn to get up front to see what everyone else was looking at – after the tour guide had already moved on. 

In Waterford, this time, we took a tour of the Waterford Crystal factory.  There were only 5 of us on the tour and it was wonderful.  Plenty of room along the rail at the front so see everything that was going on. Which is great for me at 5 ft, one inch. We also got to experience a few things most would not – like holding a solid crystal football; worth thousands of dollars.  

Our guide Valarie was able to answer every question and give each of us her special attention.  She was extremely knowledgeable about the history of Waterford Crystal. A fascinating process of blends and procedures from start to finish.  80% of the process is now done in the U.K. but the blowing and etching remains in Ireland.   

There is a 5-year apprentice program. There are over 600 different etching's that one must master to become a certified Waterford Crystal etcher.  At the end of the apprentice program they are given 3 chances to etch a bowl with a very specific pattern. Once they have successfully completed their 'final examine' they etch their name on the bowl and it is theirs to keep as their diploma. 

Apprentice Bowl

The finished products; craftsmanship are extraordinary, quite beautiful and expensive for good reason. 

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Chinese New Year

 Any excuse to rent a car and take a mini-road trip. I had heard of a Chinese New Year celebration taking place in Kildare Village, which is an outlet mall about one hour away. Could not pass up the opportunity to see a Chinese dragon dance.

The mall is relatively new with about 100 shops. After a great lunch at an Italian restaurant we located a number of ladies doing Chinese character writing, spun sugar characters, lantern making and beautiful face (and body) painting.













Then a troop of dancers and dragons performed for over an hour in the center court.  The last dragon attempted to eat my hat! The temperature is still pretty cool, but the sun was shining so it was a great day for an outing.

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Ballysaggartmore

Lismore is a quaint village about 70 miles south/west of Waterford.  It has its own castle, wonderful town square and home to a great little 2.5-mile walk - the Tower walk of Ballysaggartmore.  Unfortunately, we were not prepared for the chilly temperature and did not venture far enough to find more treasures on the hill of Ballysaggartmore.  (We’ve become very cautious of cold wet weather – with good reason) We went as far as the first gate which was a great tease for me, since I would love to have seen the other two bridge towers in person.  There is no photo album, I decided to put all my photos here. 

Pub under the Bridge

“Nestling beneath the old stone bridge in Halfway House, and set against a background of historical buildings, Jack Meade's Bar and Beer Garden offers the perfect respite from the hectic pace of everyday life. Even though it's a mere 4 miles from Waterford City, it is situated in the heart of farmland and woodland area.”

Let me ask you, who would not want to seek this place out?

Built in 1705, it’s been with the present family since 1857.   We arrived early in the day and the pub was not yet open.  :( We walked around outside and checked out the “beer garden” which is directly behind the pub. They have entertainment a couple of nights a week and they pride themselves on serving up really good BBQ.  I could see the cookers smoking.

 Along the stream you can see where horses would have pulled carts back in the day, but now is a nice walking path. Crossing over the little stream and up the hill sits an old Ice House and Lime Kiln, both of which have been restored.  The sign on front of the ice house says ice used to be shipped in from Greenland.

Under the bridge, kitty-corner to the pub sits a fine set of ruins – presumably a lovely home (perhaps) at some point in time, all fenced off now.

If we ever find ourselves back in the Waterford region, I’d love to stop in for some of their renowned BBQ.

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The Vee

Ireland has so many earthly wonders for those that wish to seek them out, just have to know how to find them.  We’ve spent many months hunting down as many unique things we can in Ireland. While I’m here I don’t want to miss a thing!  

The Vee is not a natural wonder, rather a V-shaped turn on the road that exposures some of the most spectacular, panoramic views in Ireland.  Raising 2000 feet, this road goes up & over, offering up brilliant views of a portion of the “Golden Vale”, between the Knockmeakdown and the Galtee Mountain ranges. The actual “V” is on a pass on the Sugar Loaf mountain, going from Tipperary to Waterford. 

These mountain ranges are a hiker’s paradise, no matter the season.  From the road you can see many trails that disappear into the forest, leading to what I can only imagine as a secret, beautiful, private, quiet world. There was still snow left on the ground and the wind was whipping – temperatures were in the 30’s. Driving along we did see a few empty cars parked alongside the road – can only assume their owners are off in their private world. It was far too cold for us to explore and we were certainly not prepared in gear or clothing for such a cold adventure, BUT we did partake in the spectacular vista’s. The only other living thing we saw were sheep, they are everywhere in Ireland and they take precedence on the roads!   We were so fortune for clear weather, the Vee gave up her unsurpassed view across the valley to Clonmel, Cahir, Ardfinnan, Clogheen, Ballyporeen and even Cashel. 

On our descent towards Lismore we passed a perfect little lake (Bay Lough) in all appearance to be untouched by man.

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Leap Castle

I'm baaaack!! and what a fun way to commence with our departure from winter hibernation. 

Leap Castle is hyped as the most haunted castle in all of Ireland so of-course you know I had to investigate. I had read about it in our 'weird and unusual' book of Ireland and then found the website.  For tours it says to email Sean Ryan, so I did.  Asked if there would be any tours the next day since we'd be coming down from Athlone, he wrote back and simply said "10:00 am - 5:00 pm".  Okay then. 


Traveling down one of the notorious small Irish roads, we spotted the little sign at the wall to indicate we found Leap Castle. We turned into the small entrance that wound down and twisted around toward the circular driveway to the front of the castle. This is obviously a private residence, there is NO 'public' parking.  I stopped the car just short of the entrance, also before running over any number of cat (turns out there are a total of 8 that live there either awaiting our arrival or a chance to slip inside the front door when it opened). After using the “skull & crossbones” door knocker, we were greeted by Anne

(accompanied by Pooka the dog) she told us that Sean was on the phone, but we should come in and wait for him.  Knowing this was a castle (should be cold) I asked if we needed to get our coats, and if it was okay to take pictures. Yes, of-course she says, just push open the door and come inside when you’re ready – then shuts the door.  Okay then. 


You know, most of the cats bolted inside once the door was opened, both times.  In the great room Anne stoked the fire and chatted while we waited for Sean.  

Sean Ryan, Owner

Sean & Anne Ryan bought the castle in 1991 and have made it home ever since.  Continually restoring and furnishing (and furnishing and furnishing).  He finds unusual stuff everywhere he goes then finds a corner for it somewhere in the castle.  It’s quite eclectic. When they replaced/repaired the stone floor they ran pipes underneath which allow for warm water to run through and heat the floors, mostly in the kitchen.  When I asked about the ghosts of the castle he corrected me to say ‘spirits’.  I’ve attached a video I found on the internet which is pretty much exactly how our conversation went with Sean.   Watch Video HERE Towards the end of our conversation he handed Tom a flashlight and instructed us where to go and what to do.  "Just through the curtain but be sure to close the door at the top when you leave' he says. Apparently, we are only exploring the tower.

We climbed the narrow round stairs with just the light of the flashlight.  Quite eerie actually. Through the first door– which is a very old wooden, heavy door (sliding the great wooden bolt) is the great hall, filled with all kinds of artifacts, furniture and miscellaneous treasures. There is evidence everywhere of various candles having been used at one time, but none currently lit.  The loft area holds a bed – currently being used by someone.  At the top of the tower is the ‘bloody chapel’.  There is no glass in the windows, it’s freezing, the wind is whipping through and the floor is dirt DIRT on what would be the 3rd or 4th floor, but the view is fantastic!  The castle sits on a cliff overlooking the valley below. Very, very high up.  One of the spirits (who screams) is said to be a woman who was murdered, thrown out the window up there.  

Castle history:  
The original castle was built in the 1200’s as the main seat of the ‘fearsome’ O’Carroll clan.  There are numerous stories of murders, treachery & violence over the years even between the clan themselves.  In 1532 following the death of the chieftain, brother turned on brother with a sword in the back during mass in what’s now called the ‘Bloody Chapel’.  The eldest brother (sword in the back) was a priest and it’s said he is one of the spirits that haunt the castle still.   There was an oubliette (with spikes in the bottom) discovered in the early 1900’s with many human bones.  Another story is the murder of members of the McMahon clan who were hired to train members of the O’Carroll’s, but rather than pay them, they were poisoned.  Apparently, they too (about 40) haunt the castle.  In the 1600’s the Darby’s, an English family, acquired the castle through marriage.  He buried treasure on the property, murdered the two servants who helped him but never retrieved the treasure.  In 1909, after dabbling in the black arts, Mildred Darby unleashed an elemental spirit to the castle – however, to this day, she’s the only one to have seen this “thin gaunting shadowy thing that smelled of a decomposing corpse”.  The castle was burnt down by the IRA in 1922 when the Darby’s were in England. 

This was a very strange visit, to a very strange castle.  Not sure how I feel about it - other than strange.


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