Day 7: Emerald Isle Last Stop: Castle on the hill

Alas, all good things must come to an end and we have to leave the fairy tale setting behind. We'll certainly long for the rolling greens, the enchanting castles, and plummeting cliffside... OK, maybe not that last bit. 

But before we do, I had one must-see castle to visit! By absolute coincidence, our hotel was a mere 9 minute walk from Manderley castle, a.k.a. Enya's home. My closest friends in college would know that Irish singer Enya is the single most influential female singer during my college years. So much so that I brought my cassette tapes with me to graduate school, and I still have them to date.  She saved my sanity during my sprectra-solving, electron-pushing years with Watermark. That's why I could hardly believe my luck when, on a whim, I looked up where Manderley castle was located and, lo and behold, it's in Killiney hill, right next to Dalkey, and within walking distance! (Cue in Lothlorien).  The Dalkey-Killiney area is something like the "Beverly Hills" of Ireland, and a hotspot for celebrities. Bono and Van Morrison live in the area too. But, they take a backseat to Enya on my playlist, and my itinerary.

For those who don't know, Enya is an Irish female musician. Her music is like an ambrosia for the soul. She plays different instruments and sings with Celtic rhythms and you can't peg her music in any clear genre. She sings in Latin, Gaelic, English, and also in made up languages like Elvish and Loxian. She may be better known to most for her song "May It Be" in the first Lord of the Rings movie. She is also a very private person, selling millions of albums without performing even a single solo concert. Well, no worries, Enya, I'm not scaling the castle wall! The castle is small, as castles go, but and accentuates the Killiney hillside perfectly. The location offers a view of the Wicklow mountains, the Irish Sea, and Dalkey Island; it's inspirational, as one would expect, for an artist like Enya. 

Manderley Castle - Enya's private home

On top of the hill with a view of Manderley Castle

We climbed Killiney hill. On top, the small obelisk sits in the most enviable spot looking out into the Irish sea. And because the girls needed to get their wiggles out before the long way home, we ended our Emerald Isle trip with... what else? A visit to the playground.

Killiney obelisk

The playground at the bottom of the hill

Needless to say, the girls had an amazing experience, and the family had a memorable first trip abroad. Seriously, how do we even top this trip?  The Emerald Isle mesmerized us.  My 5-year old asked many times if we can live in Ireland.  Not today. But someday, kiddo, you can take us back...

"I'm going to turn around, go back to the hotel, 
and live here in Ireland to see all the castles I didn't get to see."

Day 6 Emerald Isle: Song of the Sea

Turning Darkness into Light

We are geeks. I don't think it'll come as a surprise to anyone that the highlight of our day in Dublin is visiting Trinity College to see the Book of Kells.  On the way to Ireland, the girls watched the animated movie "The Secret of Kells", a unique fictional film loosely based on the journey of the Book of Kells, believed to be necessary to preserve the Celtic culture from the invaders (likely the Vikings). The kids loved the movie and bounced their way to Trinity College library to see THE BOOK. They had already seen an Abbey and a stone circle during our trip so far and they related those well to the film. It felt awesome to see their faces lit up when they realize not every cartoon is fictional. In The Secret of Kells, the boy meets a fairy in the stone circle, which supposedly served as entrances to the "other world". Seeing the book was icing on the cake, and what sweet icing it was! I didn't think they would be as excited with this surprise. The book was safeguarded in the Abbey at Kells, which was its home for centuries before it was moved to Dublin.  The Celtic artwork in the book were incredible!  My 7 year old was amazed at the different materials used to make ink, like berries and minerals to create the art text and images in the book.

  

Picture taking of the actual book is not allowed, and it is encased securely for viewing. After all, it has been around since 800 AD, and regarded as Ireland's national treasure. The book itself contains the four gospels in the new testament with ornate calligraphy and vibrant illustration and symbolism. I cannot recommend this exhibit enough if you're in Dublin. But treat yourself to the movie too!

Our other must-see in Dublin is also conveniently located at the Trinity College library - The Long Room. Full disclosure, our main interest here is due to its resemblance to Hogwarts' Great Hall, and we thought it would serve as a delight to our mini-Potterheads.  However, the Long Room, apart from being vast and, well, long, doesn't really evoke Hogwarts' dining hall. Not entirely surprising, I guess. After all, this is a library! It is perhaps one of the most impressive libraries I've seen, in the company of Manchester's John Rylands Library. It is filled with 200,000 books, two stories high, with marble busts of great philosophers, writers, and scientists lining the room. Encased by the back of the room is Ireland's iconic Harp. It is well-known that Ireland's emblem is a harp. The Brian Boru Harp in Trinity College is the "official" emblem of Ireland, a 15th century harp and the oldest Celtic harp surviving from the medieval period. 

The symbol of the harp is much loved in Ireland. You see it as a moving bridge in Dublin, on Irish euro coins and even on Guinness beer. 

Samuel Beckett bridge, an Irish harp-shaped bridge rotating through the air

We continued to explore Dublin on foot, crossing the Ha'penny pedestrian bridge and taking in the somber sculptures commemorating the Irish Famine, the famine due to potato disease. The famine killed ~1 M people and caused emigration of ~1 M more. We walked down to the Medieval area (and was not very impressed); we saw the Dublin castle, which is really too embedded in the city and the view obscured for one to appreciate the structure; we walked on the famous Grafton street then headed to St. Stephen's Green where the kids spent  the time chasing pigeons.  Where is all this energy coming from?? After 30,000 steps, I'm beat!

Clotted cream, where have you been all my life?

Song of the Sea

At about 4 pm, we were contemplating on whether to stay longer in Dublin city, or to take the train to Howth (rhymes with "oath"). The lure of sitting down on a train for short time was very attractive to me.  Howth is a pretty fishing village on the Dublin Bay less than 30 min train ride from Dublin. Indeed, it would have been a shame if we didn't visit! Howth turned out to be my favorite town in this trip, and that's saying a lot after seeing colorful Kinsale, Kenmare, Sneem, Glengarriff, and quaint Bantry. The idyllic town offers so much.  We took a wonderful walk along the pier, then up to another Abbey ruin, which can't be accessed, then towards the Martello tower. They have a number of these towers in Ireland. The stunning view of the bay, the boats, and Ireland's Eye, an uninhabited island off the cost, calmed our weary bods.  And as if we haven't seen enough, Howth also has a grand castle a short walk away from the town center, though it is privately owned.  This is what Ireland is about - castles, rolling hills, ancient rocks, and tranquil waters. 

Howth's unmoving castle

We capped the night with a train ride back to Dalkey, enjoying dinner and stroll in the town center and back to our hotel, facing the reality of having to pack for our trip back home. 

Dalkey castle

Day 5 Emerald Isle: Dublin-bound

We finally had to bid the Beara peninsula and our cottage in Adrigole goodbye.  Early on the 5th day, we started our trek eastward to Cork to head to Dublin. It was a tough choice deciding whether to stop at Kinsale or Cobh.  I've read wonderful things about both towns, but in the end, we decided that Cobh will have to wait.  We visited picturesque Kinsale with its colorful houses, shops and harbor. Kinsale had established itself as one of Ireland's most significant town during the medieval period. We went souvenir shopping for trinkets for the kids, and enjoyed the traditional fish & chips at Dino's, a must-try restaurant when you're in Kinsale. We also visited Desmond castle, which had been turned to a wine museum, but it was closed for renovation. BOO! 

Fish & Chips! That's a kids plate?!

The highlight of Kinsale for us is the Charles Fort. It is one of the best-preserved star-shaped artillery forts in Europe, and the view of the town from Kinsale from the fort is worth the visit. The compound is huge, quite ideal for getting the girls wiggles out!  And the staff were kid-friendly to boot. Built in the 1600s during King Charles II reign, the fort remained in use until 1922.  The exhibits show the how the soldiers lived in the fort.  It would have been nice to stay in Kinsale longer and explore other gems like James Fort and the Garden of Remembrance. Alas, we were simply passing through, but grateful for the few hours that we did.

Leprechauns!

Gotcha!

I don't think so!

Finally, we returned the car at Cork and took the train back to Dublin. I was doing the victory dance when I handed the keys over at Hertz rental. (Cue in Theme from Rocky)  Woo hoo! I enjoyed the adrenaline-filled drive around south west Ireland, but I'm happy to take the train for the rest of our holiday in the Dublin area.  The train ride from Cork Kent station to Dublin Heuston was easy and the view is breathtaking, pretty much just like everything else we've seen here in Ireland. We passed many castles and cattle along the way, and the people we interacted with were friendly. Seriously, I highly recommend taking the train from Dublin to Cork, Limerick, or Galway, if your destination is in the southwest.  The roundtrip fare for a family can be "Open", which means you can choose your own return date and time.

Sorry, no chocolate frogs off the trolley, dear!

Do you know that you can book a castle stay on AirBnB?  Yup, I had looked into this possibility because I really wanted to surprise the girls with a stay at a castle.  Sadly, most, if not all of the castles have a no-kids policy. This makes a lot of sense though especially once you've seen what the castles look like.  The staircases are usually steep, slippery and not very safe for children. It was very disappointing, but a friend of ours clued us in on where to stay. As a surprise to the girls, we booked our remaining stay at Fitzpatrick Castle Hotel, a castle converted to a hotel in Dalkey, county Dublin.  The castle built in 1740, was also named Killiney Castle before it was transformed to a hotel by the Fitzpatrick family in the 1970's.  The hotel is quite charming, and our girls loved feeling like princesses! The rooms were very big, and we were given a room with a view of the bay. (Personally, I think the hotel could use a bit of an upkeep inside, but I wasn't going to rain on the girls' parade.) 

Something old, something new, something blue

Finally, Guinness.

(and the Irish art of pouring a perfect pint of it.)