CORK!

  

Day 1: Blarney Castle & Cork City Goal

Blarney Castle! 

 

Me & Taylor, me new friend from Boston who I met on the trip.

 

Up again, the stairs in this place - Really!

 A secret window?

 Looking up towards the ceiling, I am guessing that those are the imprint of steps above, and perhaps a place for smoke to rise out of the kitchen??

  The Kitchen - above where you see the bars is a wraparound look out that looks down onto the open ground of the living room (pictured above) and also where we lined up to kiss the Blarney Stone.

View from the top - waiting to kiss the stone!

 Looking down...not recommended for those afraid of heights: a.k.a ME! I was gripping the bar for dear life!

"Lie down, lean back, grab the bars and kiss the stone." Easier said than done! I was hanging off a castle for crying out loud...hope I earned the gift of gab for my efforts :p

The door to the secret garden: the Rock Close & Water Garden

home to druid settlements, Wishing Steps, Witches Stone and Kitchen. 

 Onwards to the Wishing Steps

 Legend holds that if you walk up the steps backwards with you eyes closed, thinking only of your wish, it will come true in a year.

 

 

Bridge to nowhere...witchy magic

 The witches stone is home to many sacrifices and visitors leave trinkets to appease the witch - I emptied my wallet of all the small change I had no idea what to do with...

 Blarney House

 Underground prison...

Goodbye Blarney!

 

 On to the Cork City Goal: 1824-1923 - significant as 1923 was the end of the Irish Revolution. Ireland gained its independence from Britain in 1921. 

  

 

 Goal scale, used to weigh in the prisoners for multiple reasons. 

1. The prisoners were weighed periodically and if they had lost weight it was assumed that the guards were stealing their food and were punished. 

2. On the reverse side, if prisoners gained weight it was believe they were stealing food from other prisoners. This was rare!

3. When prisoners of the worst order - convicted of rape of murder were sentenced to hang, they had to weigh them so that the correct amount of rope was used. The first time they hung a man at the goal, they used the incorrect amount of rope given his weight and it took the man over an hour to die.

 

Kids kept getting in my shot!

Day 2:  

Cobh - Titanic Heritage Museum & Jameson Distillery Tour

First named Cove, then renamed to Queenstown after the queen's visit, now reverting back to its Irish name Cobh meaning Cove in 1923.

This town was the port where Famine & Immigration set to sea in 1848 onwards, about 2.5 million Irishmen and women departed from Cobh. 

Earlier in the late 1700s, this was also the port where Convict ships took prisoners to Australia. 

Probably the most famous departure was that of the Titanic in 1912. Once built in Belfast, the ship was sailed down to Cobh where it picked up the first of over 2,000 passengers who would make the maiden voyage. 

 

 Walking to St. Colman's Cathedral. You would not believe the hill we had to hike to get to the church...I would imagine everyone in this town is mighty fit!

Jameson Distillery.