07 Jun 2014. <IE> Rathkeale, & Adare, Co. Limerick; Bunratty, & Quin, Co. Clare —
Adare - Thatched cottages
Woke up in the Rathkeale Hotel car park. The day was looking patchy, so planned to run back through Adare and hoped the weather stayed fine. It did. Adare is one of the prettiest towns we've seen. It was effectively a gift to the community by the
4th Earl of Dunraven, who planned the town, developed its park and a huge mansion. The old thatched cottages along the main street are under a caveat that they must continue to remain thatched — this makes for a most picturesque town! We walked up and down the street and into the park. The rain was holding off, but only just! While we walked the town we saw flashing lights coming up the road and a blare of music — there was a cycle event coming through, and they were keeping the riders entertained by playing music to them from the lead car! These Irish really love their cycling!
The mansion I just mentioned is now a 5-star hotel, but the public is welcome to come in and look around — except on occasions when there is a private function taking up the whole hotel. This has to be fairly rare, but when we went to turn in we were politely but effectively turned back by a security officer. Wonder who's in town?
We decided to go north, bypass Limerick until our way back, and go on to
Bunratty Castle, a little to the northwest of Limerick. Could see it as we came towards it — a tall (5-storey) keep, with flags set on top of two of its towers. When we turned into its carpark, we were a little worried — there were a number of buses there! Apparently this site is one of the major tourist destinations in Ireland. When we got there, about three buses were disgorging their passengers!
Bunratty Castle
The Main Hall
This site, although very well set up, is everything that turns our teeth on edge. The whole place has been totally renovated or reconstructed, the guides take large tour groups through the first two major rooms, and then let their wards loose on the rest of the premises. Two tours were running in the same room, one in French and one in German — the English one had just concluded. To compound the turmoil, a number of children were playing noisily in the same room. Oh for the peace and serenity of the OPW sites!
There is an associated
Folk Park, a reconstructed medieval village and, a little further on, a reconstructed Victorian Village. It was getting wetter by now, but we went round the Folk Park — once again, very well done, but it would have been a more enjoyable experience if it wasn't quite such a popular site! Coffee and scones (what else) rounded out the day there.
Bunratty Castle is one of the Shannon Heritage sites. We will think twice before going to other sites run by the same group.
Quin Friary
We continued on to
Quin, just out of Ennis (Inis) where there is an
old friary. We were too late to gain admission — the last entry is at 3pm, and it was after 5 when we got there, but on the other hand the sun was in a perfect position for photography, and we could see most of what we wanted from the outside. And it isn't as if this is the first friary we have visited recently!
Distance driven — today, 62 miles ( 99 km ); to date, 2,122 miles ( 3,415 km )
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