April 7 - Sleeping in, It's too cold for blackbirds, and Let's go to Inis....Inistogge...Inisteeg?

April 7 - Sleeping in, It's too cold for blackbirds, and Let's go to Inis....Inistogge...Inisteeg?

Well, Brandon and I stayed up pretty late on Saturday night, so we ended up sleeping really late on Sunday. I think all of our exhaustion from our insanely busy jobs plus all of the travel time and new time zones finally caught up with us - we didn't wake up until 1200 on Sunday! It was wonderful. We slowly got ourselves out of our super comfy bed and got ready for the day. It was grey in Kilkenny, so we bundled up and strolled down the High Street to a small cafe for some lunch. Brandon had a delish bagel with cream cheese and amazing smoked salmon, and I had a panini on a yummy baguette with roast chicken, garlic sun dried tomatoes, and arugula (or rocket, as it is known in the UK). It was yummy and light and just what we needed to fuel us for our afternoon field trip to Thomastown, Jerpoint Abbey, and the adorable town of Inistioge (pronounced Inis-teeg).

We went to Jerpoint Abbey first, driving through the picturesque town of Thomastown on the way. Thomastown was founded by one of the men who  belonged to the train of my favorite medieval knight, William Marshal (remember him from yesterday?). So the town dates from the late 12th century and had several beautiful churches and lovely castle ruins. We did drive by the actual castle that the founder built, long abandoned and in ruins it was covered in ivy and moss and looked so lovely. The town is built along the river, and we drove along the river for a few miles before reaching Jerpoint Abbey. Jerpoint was originally a Benedictine Abbey that was taken over by Cistercian's some 20 years later - the oldest part of it is the actual church, which is from the mid 12th century. The cloister was built by the Cistercian's in the 15th century, and is very exceptional compared to nearly all other Cistercian abbeys. Apparently these monks were pretty rebellious, because the Cistercian order forbade having any ornate carvings in their abbeys as they were viewed as "vain" and "distracting from the true Godly purpose." The lady working at the ticket office told us that all of the Cistercian enthusiasts in our lives would be inordinately jealous that we had been there, since it is such a unique example. So, all you Cistercian enthusiasts reading this, try not to be too jealous! :) We were so fortunate to be the only visitors to the abbey at that time - it was just us and the black birds, and boy are they loud! It seemed very appropriate though, to be hearing them "caw"ing away at us. It was pretty freezing while we were there, but we really enjoyed walking around and looking at all of the carvings and tombs that are still intact. Something about these churches without the roofs on them is so romantic. It is such an eerie thing, in a way. It's also incredibly beautiful.

After leaving Jerpoint we headed to Inistioge, a small town further down the River Nore from Thomastown. Oh my goodness, Inistioge was beautiful!!!! A teeny little town set around a small village green with several pubs, right on the river, with loads of green pastures and fluffy sheep and green forested hills and it was divinely beautiful! We drove through the town, up a really steep "two way" (read as one lane that had cars going both directions) street. Brandon had to floor it, so that our teeny car could make it up the hill, and right at the top a Range Rover came roaring around the corner. We quickly pulled over and let them go past! Once at the top of the hill, we drove to the Woodstock estate. This beautiful piece of land belonged to the Tighe family for centuries, and in its heyday of the late 19th century/early 20th century was renowned as one of the most beautiful manors in Southern Ireland. When the owners left Ireland during the war of Independance, the Black and Tans took over the estate. After independance in 1922, the estate was burned, just like many other "tarnished" estates that had been similarly taken over. The skeleton of the house is still standing, and the county has recently taken over and begun taking care of the amazing Victorian gardens. The gardens and parkland are now open to the public, and we spent an ethereal 2 hours wandering the grounds. It's such a shame about the house, for the views from it are absolutely stunning, out over the River Nore and looking at the green hills.  The Lord and Lady who lived there in the late 1800's had a passion for gardening, and they had populated the gardens with an amazing variety of rare trees and plants from all over the world. They installed a beautiful conservatory built by the most famous and skilled Irish iron worker of their day, and its still there (looking quite magical) today. The variety of trees and plants was amazing, and it was an absolutely beautiful place.

After leaving Woodstock we drove around the country for a while, stopping to look at different ruins and towns. Everywhere we went was so beautiful! We then returned to Kilkenny and wandered down the road to the Hibernian Bar for dinner. Brandon had a chicken burger, with a huge onion ring on it, yummy pickle relish/mayo, and provolone cheese. This came with some huge and delicious chips. I had an incredible Shepherd's Pie (my first of the trip!) that was made with minced lamb, rather than the half beef/half lamb that we often see other places. It was amazing, and after a cold rainy afternoon wandering ruins and gardens, it was exactly what I needed.

Tomorrow we're off to explore Waterford county and make our way to Cork, where we'll be for the next few days.

Be sure to check out Facebook for my photos, and I'd love to hear from you all!

Xoxoxo,

Linds