Adare

Adare

Adare was definitely one of my favorite places. Quaint, quiet, unique shops and pubs and friendly locals. Adare had the most concentrated amount of thatched roof cottages that I remember seeing the entire trip. I so wanted to see what they were like inside. Reminded me of the movie with Jude Law, Cameron Diaz and  Kate Winslet - The Holiday - when Cameron and Kate switch homes to escape relationship issues. Cameron ended up in a sweet little cottage.

Holy Trinity Abbey

What a find! Was right next to the Heritage Center where we stopped, and is the only recorded Trinitarian monastery in Ireland, but today is used as the local Roman Catholic Church. It was originally built by the Fitzgerald Clan for the Trinitarian order of monks in the early 13th century (1230). It was repaired and enlarged in the mid 19th century and today is called the "Holy Trinity Abbey". If you make it to Adare you must visit - beautiful stone and dark wood!

The Irish High Cross or Celtic Cross

One of my favorites - hence the tattoo that came a few days later! These crosses are found throughout old monastic sites in Ireland. Some were used to mark religious ceremonies and others were used to mark boundaries. Their designs were based on earlier wood and metal crosses that were much smaller. The crosses come in all sizes and the designs vary widely. 

 

From here we went to Killarney National Park, which I will put on a separate page. Below is dinner at the end of the night!

I am probably one of the few that do not like dark beers and am not a big fan of Guinness (is English, not Irish, by the way!), so Tom, our tour director, suggested I try this one instead. Smithwicks - pronounced "Smiticks". I'll just say it was the best beer I have had and drank it for the rest of the tour!

Sausage and potatoes - tasted much better than it looks, I promise!





Below is something we Americans found odd, but it was offered with most dinners - "mushy peas"! Not bad.