Day 3 - New Ross, Hook and Waterford

We first visited New Ross and had a walk around.  The town has a lot of monuments and a museum for the emigrants who left Ireland for the USA after the famine.  Also J.F.Kennedys ancestors came from this area of Ireland and the name Kennedy was used to name roads, bridges and an arboretum.  It is quite an attractive town and we enjoyed our walk around although being Sunday, all the shops except supermarkets, were closed.

 
New Ross Town Hall

 

 
New Ross - view from the top of High Hill

 
Looking up High Hill

 
High Hill, New Ross

 
New Ross Town Hall

 
Monument in town centre

 
River Barrow, New Ross

 
Emigrants park

 
Emigrants eternal flame

 
Famine Ship


We drove down to the Hook Peninsular and stopped at the Hook Lighthouse on the south coast.  It was very busy and we walked around the grounds and had a coffee but it was very windy.  The lighthouse is reported to be the oldest intact operational lighthouse in the world built at the start of the 13th century.

 
Hook Lighthouse

 
Hook Head

 
Hook Head

 

We moved on to a small village called Fithard on Sea.  We parked, intending to just have a short walk down to the coast but suddenly the New Ross Pipe Band appeared from nowhere with drummers and bagpipe players marching down the road.  They stopped at Fithard Castle grounds where a small fete was being set up.  They stopped marching and continued playing for a while.  We had a look around and then walked down to a small estuary where a black tailed godwit was feeding.

 
New Ross Pipe Band at Fithard on Sea

 
Fithard Castle

 
Fithard Castle

 
Fithard Church

 
Black Tailed Godwit

 

We found a place a little further along the coast called "Windy Gap" for our lunch and went for a walk along the beach.  The sun was coming out by now and it was getting very warm.  

 
Windy Gap

 

We then went to Tintern Abbey which is named after the one in Wales as it was founded by the Earl of Pembroke who made a vow during a bad storm to build an abbey if he survived the journey.  We went to pay our entrance fee but found it was the one day of the year when it was free for everyone due to it being National Heritage Day.  This was a really interesting place dating back from the 11th century and has had 15 different owners all from the same family over the years.

 
Tintern Abbey

 
Tintern Abbey

 
Tintern Abbey - view from upper floor

 
Tintern Abbey

We went from Tintern Abbey to Waterford.  Parking is free on Sundays so we easily found someone in the city centre.  We walked around the pedestrianised streets, some of which are all bars and restaurants.  There is a lot of development going on around the quayside so the walk along the riverside was not as nice as it should have been but maybe will be different in a few years time.  We had an early dinner in a bar/restaurant and then came back to our accommodation.

 
Waterford - Apple Market

 
Waterford - Clock Tower

 
Monument on riverfront

 
River Suir at Waterford

 
Floral display at Waterford

 
Reginalds Tower

 
Waterford Cathedral

 
Waterford Cathedral and grounds

 

After a short rest we went to the local pub, about 1 km away, for an evening drink.  It is called The Ballyanne Bar and when we got there all the bar seats were taken by locals.  They were very friendly and not at all intimidating.  We sat at a corner table and gradually more people, both locals and tourists came in. 

 
The Ballyanne Bar


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Day 13 Howth Head to Llandudno

Image
We went for breakfast at 8 am but were still there at 9.15.  They were so slow getting our cooked food.  We packed up and drove the short distance up the hill to the car park for the Howth summit.  We walked for about a kilometer but Paul was concerned about the car as we were the only ones in the car park so we turned back.  The scenery was really good and the paths were well maintained.  We didnt see any goats but did see a alpaca   Howth Head Cliff Walk   Howth Head Cliff Walk    Howth Head Cliff Walk    Howth Head Cliff Walk    Howth Head Cliff Walk    Llama on Howth Head Cliff Walk On the way a lady told us there was a pod of dolphins a bit further along.  Sure enough there was and we watched them for quite a long time.  More and more people were starting the walk and the route was quite crowded now.     Dolphins around Howth Head   Dolphins around Howth Head   Dolphi...
Read more

Day 16 Conwy to Home

Image
Our last day started with Conwy parkrun.  I won a box of chocolates at their weekly trivia quiz where we had to guess the length of the Conwy River in kms.  I was spot on with 55kms.  Really loved this scenic parkrun and got a good time of exactly 29 mins.   Conwy parkrun   Conwy parkrun   Conwy castle from parkrun start   We went back for breakfast and left for home.  Our lunch stop was at Attringham National Trust property near Shrewsbury.  It was very hot so we just walked around the grounds and had our lunch before continuing home.   Attringham Grounds   Attringham Hall   Attringham Walled Garden   Attringham Grounds - River Tern   Attringham NT
Read more

Day 14 Llandudno

Image
After breakfast we headed to Llandudno. It is a lovely traditional seaside resort with a wide promenade, pier and Punch and Judy.  We walked around the town and then to the pier.  There are a lot of tourist shops and kiosks all along the pier but plenty of seating as well. The cable car wasnt working, presumably too windy, so we tried to get the tram.  However there was about a 90 minute wait and the queue was right down the road.  So we walked along the tram route to the first station then headed off over the cliff We found a rock to sit on for our lunch stop and were joined by a female Wheatear. We went back to the town via a different route which took us past a toboggan run and a very nice park. The Punch and Judy show was in full swing. We returned for Fish and Chips in the evening at the excellent "Fish Tram Chips" restaurant opposite the tram station.   We had a drink at the nearby Kings Head and then walked around the town and the seafront before goi...
Read more