The Auld Sod, Chapter 3

We left Blarney Castle and headed toward Killarney, the lakes region of Ireland. Maybe it was the increasingly threatening skies but the road to Killarney, and the area of Killarney itself, conjured up the images I had from “The Luck of the Irish”…dark green woodsy, mossy. I was sure I would see a leprechaun…which I did!!!(kinda). We arrived in Killarney in the early afternoon. It was a beautiful, and fairly large town, as compared to what we had seen along the way.

At this point I need to digress, briefly. Except for major cities like Dublin and Cork, Ireland is one big countryside, dotted with the tiniest of towns. Each of the towns is distinct and yet identical. Each is about three blocks long. All have very narrow streets, none of which intersect at a right angle. All the buildings are two story, flat fronted and painted in a cacophony of colors. And each has some local festival which makes it a focal point for several days each year. Someday, I will return and visit them.

OK…so Killarney is more than that. As the gateway to Killarney National Park, it is a major tourist stop that doesn’t look like one. The town, from my view, was shaped like a “T”. The road in was the staff of the T and was lined with many wonderful looking little shops and restaurants which, sadly, we didn’t get to visit. As you reached the intersection of the T, you come to the Cathedral which was started in 1842 but not finished until 1912. It was stunning, both inside and out. The top bar of the T is hotel row with at least 6 very up-scale hotels on the opposite side of the road from the cathedral. The road left leads you to Killarney National Park. Just before the entry road there is a small town square and there we discovered one of the delightful anachronisms of Killarney…A Jaunting Car! A What?!?!

Back to “The Quiet Man”. A jaunting car is that horse drawn cart/ wagon, driven by Barry Fitzgerald, that took John Wayne and Maureen O’Hara on their first date. (“No patty- fingers, if ya please, the proprieties at all times”). We were supposed to ride them the next morning, but the weather forecast called for downpours and we had arrived early, so we hopped off the coach and onto the cart. Back in paragraph 1, I mentioned the leprechaun…he drove our cart. He was a wonderful little fellow with a real gift of the Blarney. As we rode, he told us the history of the park. We made our way out of the center of town and into the park. It started to rain but we scarcely got wet because the trees along the road almost completely canopied our path.

We rode for about 15 minutes to the ruins of Ross Castle, a 15th Century tower built on the shores of Lough Leane, one of the three major lakes in the park. I don’t know if you know who Maxfield Parrish was. He painted these images of gods and goddesses set in these incredibly impossible idyllic settings. This was one of his paintings come to life. The lake was glassy. The rain had stopped but the clouds gently shrouded just the tops of the surrounding mountains, making them seem as if they had been gently erased. The lake had numerous small islands which made perfect mirror image reflections. Breathtaking!!!

The jaunting cars took us back to town and we re-boarded our coach. Remember that road at the T? Now we took the road to the right. It led us past the edge of town and we started to climb. We were told that we would be staying at the 5-star Aghadoe Heights Hotel. From what I had seen of Killarney, I expected an honest-to-god incarnation of a Thomas Kinkade painting (in fuzz focus, naturally!) We made our way from one narrow road to a narrower one. As we crested the final hill, we noticed a metal and glass industrial office building off to our right. Rather out of the way, I thought, and totally out of place in such a magical setting. The coach pulled through the gates…this was the Aghadoe Heights Hotel. UH-gly!

While we were jaunting, the coach had delivered our bags, so we walked in, grabbed our keys, and headed to our room. Aghadoe’s history was virtually the opposite of the Hayfield Manor. Aghadoe was ultra-modern with lots of nice techy touches in the rooms. It was built in 1969. Our room was a suite, with a large LCD TV and the TV control could also control the lights and temperature (neat!). It was so techy, that we couldn’t initially turn on the lights. A call to the desk brought a nice young man who must have thought I was the Geico caveman. He patiently showed me the slot next to the door where you must insert your room keycard to make the lights work (duh). The view was spectacular. One entire wall was floor to ceiling glass. You looked out over an old graveyard (ubiquitous in Ireland) across a meadow with a mare and her foal and then out over the second of the three major lakes. Near the lake’s edge, we could see the fairways of the Killarney Country Club. I would have given anything to have my clubs and the time to play (next trip).

Dinner was excellent. It was five courses and took 2 hours. We made our way to our room and, after much button pushing, the lights and the TV went off and we nodded off.

Next: The Ring of Kerry