We started with a lovely breakfast at the prison B&B, with fried eggs and brown bread. We then headed to the Cahir castle, one of the most complete strong castles in Ireland (it was used in the film Excalibur), started in the Twelfth Century. It was fun since you could wander by yourself up and down steep (and slippery) spiral staircases and across the ramparts. The rain stopped, although it stayed windy, so it was very lovely.

From there, in the car to Midleton, to visit the Jameson Old Midleton Distillery. We ate a picnic lunch in the car, then took the distillery tour. This was at the old distillery (the modern one was adjacent but not part of the tour). They were quite proud of the fact that Irish whisky was distilled three times (versus twice for Scotch whisky and once for Bourbon). At the end of the tour was a glass of Jameson whisky for each person. I actually liked it since it was very smooth. The way they heat the barley (with indirect heat) means it does not have the smoky, peaty taste of Scotch.

We drove past/through Cork—not impressive since it was so industrial—west to the town of Kenmare, which lies at the end of the long bay south of the ring of Kerry. The town features buildings painted in bright colors—yellow, blue, pink—and cute shops, yet not overly touristy. We walked about, then drove a little out of town to find a B&B.

After one full one, we ended up at a B&B called Grenane Heights. It was run by a woman named Geraldine, helped by her husband the plumber and their three daughters. The place had a lovely water view from high on a hill. As we were leaving to go touring for the evening, the daughters had to show us their ducks—one half grown Peking type, and one small brown duckling they’d found lost without mama in the woods.

We went back to Kenmare to look for the stone circles we’d seen on a map. This led us down a small road and, when we could not find the stone circle, I proposed an even smaller road as a shortcut back. It turned out to be a two-track (one lane) road up a hill, over a small pass, then down to the lake. It gave us extraordinary views of rugged land, with blue sky and storm clouds and rainbows above. We chased three sheep who’d escaped their pasture until they found a ledge to hop on and watch us alertly as we passed.

We were near the end of this exciting passage when we came across another sign saying “Stone Circles.” We parked in the nearby parking space (just a dirt widening of the road), climbed over the fence via a stile, then along a muddy but marked trail, past sheep and cows, following the little signs marked . Alas, after about three kilometers, the trail got muddier and more full of livestock, and it was well after 8 pm—so, we decided to turn back, especially since we had no idea how far the stones were. What a disappointment. So, we ended up visiting the stones right in Kenmare—supposedly the largest and oldest in the southwest, although I speculated who may have set them in the 1850s to make a few pounds.

Dinner at a local restaurant with good vegetarian entrees, then home to bed.