Macca's Meanderings

- November 22, 2017

IRELAND No 2 - WATERFORD to CORK

Hello again
Wednesday morning we pickup our hire car only to return it a short time later with over heating alarms going off. We were upgraded to a Renault Kadjar SUV and headed off to the south for Waterford. Nancy was keen to check out a certain crystal factory.

The Vikings established a trading town at present day Waterford way back around 950 AD. Their leader was fellow named Reginald after whom the tower and the pub below are named.

We did a guided tour of the Waterford Crystal factory (and show rooms). Crystal has more lead in it compared to glass which makes it more durable and workable (and more expensive).

Nancy got to handle a crystal football. At this factory they do mostly 'one off' pieces like sporting trophies etc.

It takes eight years to complete the crystal master tradesperson's training. Each piece is hand blown just like the man below is doing.

Each pattern is memorised and done by hand. One mistake and you throw many hours of work into the bin.

We left with a much greater appreciation of the skill of these tradespeople.

Nancy is always on the lookout for a thatched roof house. This one was just west of Waterford towards Cork.

Below is a part of the southern Irish coast between Waterford and Cork. Note the sky - lots of blue and not many clouds. Unusual at this time of the year!

The port town of Cork is Cobh (pronounced Cove). Under British rule it was known as Queenstown. The building on the right of the photo below is the White Star Lane office. This is the last port that the ill-fated Titanic visited before it's demise. About 120 passengers join the Titanic at this port. As the inner harbour was too shallow in those days for large vessels these passengers were taken out to the Titanic by tenders. They boarded these tenders via the old disused wharf.

Way back in 1852 some of Bryan's ancestors spent some months here. They were travelling from Scotland to Melbourne on the ship HMS Hercules when smallpox broke out on board. As they were off Cork they came into this harbour and the vessel was quarantined for about four months. When they did eventually set sail again there were only about half the original 800 passengers.

The changing autumn colours are still to be seen. The countryside is very different to summer like when we were in the UK in 2013. Lots of trees have lost all their leaves - just 'ghosts' of their summer glory.

While in County Kerry we really enjoyed some wild Atlantic Coast scenery. We stayed one night here while in the town of Dingle.

The weather was overcast but no rain. We were told that the wind and the waves can be extreme along this coast at times. The forces of waves against rock have sculptured a rugged, jaggered and beautiful coastline.

Rocks are very plentiful here so ..... everything for fences to houses are built of rocks.

It is always great to learn how other people live and make their living. Sheep are the main animal seen on the steeper slopes with some cattle on the more level fields. In the summer tourists bring many dollars to the local income.