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| This is the interior of Dublin Castle. We visited in the morning, Attorney General John Ashcroft, a Springfield boy, was to visit in the afternoon. | Featured in the courtyard of the Dublin Castle was a very intricate sand sculpture. I know the artist was hoping there wouldn't be a hard rain. | Here's a sample of the lushness and extravagence inside the Dublin Castle. |
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| St. Stephen's Green, a sanctuary in the middle of Dublin, was near our hotel and close to the pedestrian shopping area. | The row houses in Dublin, in the Georgian style, reminds one of London. | The Dublin houses are unique because of their brightly colored doors. Many add more color to the surroundings with colorful flower boxes. |
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| This is the start of a pedestrian only shopping area. The round building on the left is a big shopping center. | Inside the shopping mall that anchors one end of the pedestrian area. | There are all kinds of vendors along the shopping strip, including numerous flower vendors. |
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| Like most pedestrian malls, there are many performers who entertain for contributions. This fellow was imitating Michael Jackson. | Like many communities in the U.S, Dublin was having an artistic animal contest for charity. In this case it was cows scattered around town. They will be auctioned off. | This statue of Molly McGuire has been criticized by some people for having a full bosom. |
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| South of Dublin is an ancient monastery known as Glendalough. It was established in 570 AD by St. Kevin. | Now lying in ruins, Glendalough is still an interesting place to visit. Much time can be spent, indeed, reading the old tombstones. | The farm is actually owned by the government which can charge horse breeders as much at 75,000 Euros to breed a mare. |
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| There are also small horses on the farm, the tiniest breed known. All enjoy the attention from tourists. | Operated in conjunction with the National Stud is a lovely and very complicated Japanese garden. | Kilkenny is a small town which, like so many of the towns we visited, has a colorful downtown area. Many are one street towns. |
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| Main attraction at Kilkenny is this beautiful castle. It was originally built in the 13th century but the current structure dates from 1820. | This is all that's left of Blarney Castle. If you want to kiss the Blarney Stone there are about 100 steep, narrow, winding steps. | Edna got her chance to kiss the Blarney Stone with the assistance of the official holder. |
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| At Killarney, a horse-drawn rig took us to see Ross Castle. It was built in the 15th century and was one of the last castles to yield during the Cromwellian wars. | At Waterford we stopped at the famous crystal factory. Among the items made there was this large, beautiful chandeler. | This waterford tavern displays that which is almost the official symbol of Ireland..."Guinnness". |
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| A stop at the western coast town of Westport gave Edna a chance for one of her favorite pastimes, checking out the local supermarket for good fruit. | Colorful doors are also very visible in the city of Westport, along with flower beds. Most all Irish buildings we saw were well kept and colorful | Westport was specially designed near the end of the 18th century by the Marquess of Sligo. It has many eloquent and unique buildings. |
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| Near Tralee, our group stopped for a break at the Red Fox Inn, a pub well-known for its Irish Coffee. Of course I had to try one. | The Ring of Kerry is the name given to a vehicular tour along the coast of County Kerry. | The Ring not only provides breathtaking views of the ocean but also of a land of gentle-rolling hills and valleys. |
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| At the small town of Sneem we stopped for lunch in a small bed and breakfast which, it is said, is often frequented by actress Maureen O'Hara who lives nearby. | We lunched on small cheese and meat sandwiches and freshly made scones. | IRELAND: These cones were prevalent throughout both countries to sell ice cream. Disregard the beer kegs, I didn't have anything to do with them. |
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| King John's Castle, a medieval fortress, is located along the river at Limerick. A major treaty was signed here in the 1600's. | After an evening of rain and a light mist, this was the sight we saw as we left our hotel in County Clare. | This is the bay at Galway. We found out that, because of the orientation of the bay, the moon could not be seen rising over it as in the popular Irish song. |
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| Richard and Edna at Galway Bay. The weather was cloudy and cool. It was in the upper 60's during the day and the 40's at night. | A beautiful green landscape on the road to Donegal. It was right across the street from a pottery factory. | This unique church is in Donegal. It's relatively new but appears to be old. Its bell tower was designed to resemble a castle turret. |
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| Our visit to the island of Ireland concluded in Londonderry or Derry in Northern Ireland where there are still signs of the troubles between factions there. | Although the number of British troops has been drastically reduced since a truce was called, watch towers like this still dot the landscape. | A close eye is kept on the city via a multitude of television cameras. These camera, with powerful zoom lenses, are mounted on a tower above the city. |
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| From the hill overlooking Derry, those on watch can keep a distant eye on all that is happening. Cameras are located frequently throughout the various shopping areas and neighborhoods. | As a way of venting themselves, residents of Derry and of Belfast, have taken to producing large murals on the walls of buildings...legalized graffiti. | It was raining on the day we stopped at the Giant's Causeway, near Portsrush, but we braved the elements to walk down to see it anyway. |
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| The Giant's Causeway is a unique rock formation that was, in Irish myth, built by a giant so he could meet and fight another giant from Scotland, not far away. | From Larne, just northeast of Belfast, we took a large auto and people ferry across the Irish Sea to Scotland. |