Sun Apr 28 Kilkenny to Kalarney

We only stayed one night in Kelkenny. Breakfast at the Zuni Hotel (very nice) and then headed toward Kalarney on more back roads (Google set to no highways, no tolls). First stop was Rock of Cashel which is another ancient ruin, church, fort. A very witty Irishman gave a nice guided tour. He claims if you can reach your arms around the Cross of Saint Patrick, it will cure flatulence. I'll report back..
We continued on to Kilarney and got dinner at Quinlan's which is a popular fish & chips place right downtown. Kilarney has about 14,ooo folks in it and like all the towns here, most everyone lives in the village, not sprawled out like home (thanks to the car). Lovely to walk to everything you need. We are staying the next three nights here at the Abbey Lodge which has really nice people working there. Tourism is a big part of their business and we are here as it just gets going so "everyone is fresh" as one guy put it later in the week. They are not sick of tourists yet.

After dinner we walked to the Castle Ross which was a half hour walk. Another castle with lots of history (which I can't remember now). While it would be great to research things more before you go on a trip like this, questions you never though of come up while you are here. So lots of research after the trip, since we are always too pooped to do it each night. Deb has a list.
A local old guy on his bike gave us directions through the town forest which is a series of trails back to town, very busy with walkers and bikers. We came out downtown and stopped at The Grand Pub for pints and music. Chatted up a couple from California. Pleasant evening all around.