It really is quite a long trip from Dublin to Tipperary- about 3 hours via coach bus. My Modern Irish Social History class had an opportunity to take a trip to Tipp for a day for a behind the scenes tour with Anthony O'Halloran - my teacher and his good friend Councillor Seanie Lonergan for Cahir.
The day began with a cup of coffee and scones with jam and cream. It was bright out and our first stop was the Cahir Castle and memorial to the soldiers fallen during the Great War. Our day was so packed we didn't have a chance to go inside Cahir Castle but it's very pretty and several movies have been shot on location here.
While waiting for our cab van to arrive I noticed this curious little guy and couldn't help but take a picture of him. He had an eye on a few birds circling around but he looks so handsome with his little red collar.
We hoped in the van and were on our way. About 5 minutes later we arrived at our first destination - a holy well- located in the woods behind a field in the middle of what was probably 'nowhere'. This particular well was supposed to bring fertility to those who drank the water many years ago when religion could not be opening practiced due to persecution. You couldn't pay me to drink the water now, but the well has been out of service for many years now.
Here we all are standing around, listening to the story of the well. Most of the students in Anthony's class are also in Stephen's science class, where we studying groundwater and how it often leaks back out of the ground and into rivers or springs. This is precisely how the fertility well functions. Upon further inspection we could even see the bubbling of ground water from the bottom of the well as it was pretty shallow at the time.
Yay for applying science to real life. Honestly, if Stephen taught anyone science there is no way the could forget it much less not enjoy it!
Anyways, back to the fertility well. In the above picture you can probably see what looks like bits of trash hanging in the tree. This is actually another religion, more like witchcraft, that comes to the holy well. They hang ribbons, beads, rosaries, silk flowers and the like in the tree above the well. Seanie wouldn't say much about the ribbons but I thought they were very pretty.
As we left the holy site we passed through a gate that had this stone carved cross on it. Seanie told us the cross was like a site marker to guide people to the well when they were looking for it since it used to be quite a long walk from town.
Our next stop was the Tincurry Children's Workhouse. Another friend of Anthony, Ed O'Riordan, met us there and told us a bit about the history of the workhouse, which was opened during the famine in order to provide relief from families that were struggling with conditions at the time. Many times parents went to one workhouse and the children were sent to the other. It was a harsh way of living and thanks to Seanie help there was this monument erected in memory of them in 2008.
The work house is across a dirt road from the memorial and is now a private residence.
From Tincurry we traveled up to Cashel to visit a Monastery and for the life me I cannot remember the name or find it online. The outside was quite a sight to behold:
But the inside was just as stunning with vibrant stained glass windows. There was a great, white room we were allowed into only briefly to hear the monks chanting for the morning service. The brotherhood is in danger of ending since the tradition has been lost on the younger generations and fewer and fewer men are joining the monastery.
We stopped for lunch just down the road as a small bed and breakfast type establishment. We had warm brown bread and piping hot vegetable soup help relieve some of the cold. Then I had a full thanksgiving dinner with turkey, ham and gravy, cranberry sauce, peas and carrots and what i assume was a lightly fried parsnip. We were all so full after lunch but had to move quickly to stay on schedule and see everything Anthony had planned for us.
We all took off in our van as Seanie and Anthony led the way, whipping around back country corners on roads barely wide enough for one car. Before long we arrived at Willie's, a close friend of Anthony and Seanie. Willie owns a prize winning dairy farm with some of the best bred heifers in Ireland. Here they all are, friends for many years, Willie, Seanie and Anthony.
Willie gave us a short tour of the farm and showed us his baby calves.
Then, in true Irish fashion, all ten of us were invited in for tea and sandwiches. We were all stuffed from lunch but we didn't want to be rude and the sandwiches looked so tasty that we ate several of them. We chatted with Willie, his wife and daughter about our stay in Ireland so far and about the unseasonable weather this year (it's been cold for them). We thanked them for their hospitality and hoped in the van once again. This time we took a bit of an unexpected stop when Seanie and Anthony just pulled over of the side of the road in town. Anthony had us hop out and cross a field that looks like like it was used for hurling to show us another castle. This one was built at the orders of King John. Now, the Tiperary postman lives in it!
After our impromptu stop we headed for our last scheduled visit, a former crowning seat of the high kings of Ireland. This was before Christianity was introduced to the island. It was rather informal but it offers a great view of the countryside.
We raced our way up the hill to the top and Anthony beat us all by a mile. He then proclaimed himself king of Ireland, and I know if I had to vote, he would have definitely gotten mine.
Here he is, Anthony O'Halloran, King of Ireland:
He is such a great teacher. I enjoy his class more than most of my others.
To end the day properly Anthony and Seanie joined us at one of their pubs in Cahir for a few pints before we had to take the bus home.
What a great day so see the true way of life outside the city.
