On our last full day in Ireland, Stephen and the kids and I headed to the Dunbrody Famine Ship & Emigrant experience. They tell the story of the Great Famine in the late 1800s when a disease killed the potato crop and many people died or left Ireland. They do a great job on the tour from the beginning when you get your ticket, which has the names of actual emigrants. A short movie sets the scene and then we are taken on the ship as if we were emigrants. The guide tells us about the kinds of people who emigrated, what the ships were like (they were cargo ships bringing lumber from North America back to Ireland and could carry people back in the empty holds), and the conditions of the crossing. In the hold, actors portray a peasant as well as a more well to-do emigrant to colour in the story. They had fake food laid out on the tables as well as giant rats! As you get off the ship, there is a display of some famous Irish people who had emigrated to America. In the shop, you could have them look up your Irish name to learn a bit about your family history.
As we finished up our tour, Mei arrived with Michael and we all headed to Kilkenny, which is a medieval town. This was a great place to visit, and we probably could've spent more time there. Our first stop was the Visitor Center to get the lay of the land. The tourist part of the town has two main medieval streets with the castle on one end and St Canice Cathedral on the other. First we had lunch at Kytler's Inn, which is famous for a 13th century proprietor who was accused of witchcraft. She was able to escape however her maid was not so lucky.
After lunch, we headed to Smithwick's to get a tour of the brewery. Unluckily, just as we were about to start the tour, the power went out! The entire area was out, so we decided to head to St Canice's to check out the church (no power needed). The church had some beautiful stained glass, a very old cemetary, and a round tower. We headed back to Smithwick's as the power was coming back on. The tour was very informative, although the beer is not brewed at that location anymore. At the end of the tour, we all got a pint or half pint of choice of ale or lager, or non-alcoholic for the kids. The ale was actually not bad, although I'm not a beer drinker. Definitely not as bitter as American beer.
From Smithwick's we headed up the High Street stopping at a few shops and checking out the old medieval lanes. The other end of the street was the Castle. This was quite an impressive structure with one of those giant great halls lined with paintings. There was a small garden next to the castle with roses. After the castle, we popped into an ice cream shop. It was a branch of a shop in Dingle and had just opened here. I had gin ice cream with black current-delicious!
Our drive back wound through some beautiful picturesque countryside with green fields and a lot of very relaxed looking cows. The roads are very narrow, lined with hedges right up against the side of the road, and people drive way too fast! There were a lot of modern wind mills as well. After we left Dublin, the weather had warmed up and every time someone learned we were from California, they thanked us for bringing our sunny weather to Ireland!
Before going back to Michael's we stopped at Stephen's Uncle Pat and Aunt Kathy's place. She served tea and soda bread. Her accent was hard to understand, but I got a kick out of her. She seemed kind of mischievous and a bit of a character. After her soda bread, none of us were very hungry for dinner.
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