Hmmm...Ireland Is Smaller Than I Thought
Trip Start
Jul 28, 1998
1
8
17
Trip End
Aug 13, 1998
Portlaoise, County Laoighis, Ireland
Tuesday, August 4, 1998
After checking out of the hotel around 10 a.m., we grabbed the bus outside the hotel and went back to Dun Laoghaire. There, we rented a Toyota Corolla from County Car Rentals on a three day contract. We also paid a little extra so that we could drop off the car at a location other than Dun Laoghaire. With out transportation set, we then set off for our trip across Ireland.
In planning the trip across Ireland, I was trying to take into account the stories I had heard about the poor condition of Irish roads. I was imagining mile after mile of narrow, curvy two lane roads with barely enough room for two cars to pass each other. So, I decided to follow the model set by the tour groups. In studying their itineraries, I found that they typically travel 200 km per day, while stopping twice. Given that model, I figured we'd be in Portlaoise on the night of the 4th, Roscommon on the night of the 5th, and Drogheda on the night of the 6th. So, I made accomodation reservations in Portlaoise and Roscommon. But, I didn't make any in Drogheda just in case we had a change in plans.
The plans did change. Not because we found new areas to visit, but because we made better time on the roads than I had thought we would make. The roads are much better than what is related in folklore. They are comparable to any decent two-lane road in the United States. They even have some four-lane highway in parts of the country. Only in one stretch did we find the stereotypical Irish road (I'll mention that later). But, the better than expected roads enabled us to cover much more ground than I had expected.
We went south from Dun Laoghaire. After a short while, we made the turn toward the Sally Gap in the Wicklow Mountains. The abundance of heather and the windswept mountain scenery reminded me of Scotland (considering how much I love Scotland, that's a big compliment). We began descending from the Sally Gap and arrived above the valley of Glenmacnass. We stopped at the top of the waterfall on the edge of the valley to take a couple of pictures and then continued our descent. After a while, we arrived in Glendalough. I had read that Glendalough was a beautiful place. The unique blend of monastic ruins and natural scenery has inspired incredible words from authors more talented than I am. However, no words prepared me for it. It's simply one of the most magnificent places I've ever visited.
We pulled into the parking lot by the visitor's center. From there, one follows a path toward the lower lake. On the way to the lower lake, one crosses a bridge over a small stream. It is from this bridge that one first realizes the stunning nature of this place. This is one place where the cliche about a picture being worth a thousand words is true. So, instead of me babbling, look at the picture to the right for the view of Glendalough from this bridge.
If the monks that founded Glendalough weren't dedicated to a religious life, they would've made either great real estate agents or developers. The site they selected is very picturesque. And the buildings they built blend in well with the natural beauty. Most of the buildings are ruins now. However, enough of the complex remains to give the visitor a strong indication of what the place looked like in its heyday. Of particular note are St. Kevin's Kitchen and the Bell Tower. I stood in the shadow of the Bell Tower for about 15 minutes, simply marveling at its existence. Not only is this structure 100 feet high, it has also been around for over 1000 years. True, it was renovated with St. Kevin's Kitchen about 100 years ago. Still, that fact doesn't detract from appreciating the engineering of the structure.
After visiting the ruins, one gets back on the trail to the lakes. The lower lake is a five minute walk from the ruins, while the upper lake is another 20 minute walk from the lower lake. The scenery from the upper lake is spectacular. The lake is surrounded on both sides by steep, green mountains. There are also some ruins on the shores of the upper lake. We only got as far as Reefert Church, but there are other sights further up the trail.
Glendalough most reminded me of Yosemite. There's a tremendous amount of natural beauty to enjoy in both places. And both places are packed with people. But, like Yosemite, the crowds never bothered me. I still felt the same peace and tranquility that must have attracted the monks to this location.
It doesn't cost anything to enter the park and the ruins. There is a charge to enter the visitor's center. We didn't go into it. While I'm sure that it would've provided some interesting information about the site, we didn't feel cheated by not visiting the center. I did feel cheated in not staying longer. I usually didn't regret the amount of time that I spent at a location. My visits to any attraction typically end only when I'm satisfied that I've seen all that was worth seeing. That wasn't the case at Glendalough. I spent two and a half hours there. I wish I'd have spent two and a half days. It was easily the best attraction I visited on the entire trip (U.K. and Ireland). No one going to Ireland should miss this spot. If you don't visit it, you haven't been to Ireland.
After a couple of hours there. So, we got back on the road to see Enniscorthy Castle before it closed. The trip from Glendalough to Enniscorthy that I thought would take an hour and a half took only 50 minutes. Unfortunately, that just meant that we went from the highlight of the trip (Glendalough) to the lowlight of the trip sooner than we thought. Enniscorthy Castle turned out to be a complete waste of time. That wasn't the impression we first got. We thought Enniscorthy itself was a pretty little town, especially with it still displaying paraphernalia from the Tour De France, which stopped there about two weeks before we arrived. We were also initially taken with the castle, which sits on a rocky point overlooking the river that crosses through the town. From the exterior, the castle looks very impressive. However, a visit inside dispels this notion. The interior is home to the Wexford County Museum. This museum looks more like a collection of junk. There's no pattern to the displays and no information describing their significance. To make matters worse, we didn't get any information related to our primary interest in the castle. We stopped there because the poet Edmund Spencer had lived there after it was given to him by Queen Elizabeth I. Yet, the only mention of Spencer was found on a note on one of the walls giving important dates in the castle's history. Nothing was present in any of the exhibits to detail his stay there. To say we were disappointed would be an understatement.
We quickly exited the museum and set off for Portlaoise. We made great time between Enniscorthy and Portlaoise. Since it became apparent that we were going to make Portlaoise by 6 p.m., I started getting some pressure to cancel our reservation in there and just keep going until it got dark. However, I resisted that pressure for two reasons. First, I thought it was too late to cancel. Second, I had heard how hard it was to get a room in Ireland during vacation season. While we hadn't experienced any difficulty in getting a room in Ireland up until that point, I had no desire to experience it then. So, we stuck with our plan to stay in Portlaoise. However, I agreed to cancel the reservation in Roscommon for the next night so that we could find somewhere else to go.
Still, we needed something to kill the time we had. Since Portlaoise was just a few miles away and it was only 5 p.m., I started hearing the cries of "Isn't there anything else to see?" "Why, in fact there is.", I said. "According to the book, there is..." "Hey, what's that!?", my driver cried. He pointed to a huge ruined structure at the top of a hill. "Let's check it out!" After a quick u-turn and a drive up a narrow road, we arrived at the base of the Rock of Dunamase.
It's a short hike up the hill from the parking lot to the ruins themselves. There is a good trail leading up to the ruins. However, the ruins are surrounded with weeds. Hidden in the weeds are strands of barbed wire that was used to block off sections of the castle for archeological excavation. The wire has been trampled, so we had to be careful while exploring.
There's not much left of the castle; however, the site is still very impressive. It's on one of the few hills in the area, so one can get very clear views of the surrounding countryside. Standing in the ruins while looking out across the fields gave me a sense of isolation that people who resided in the castle must have felt.
There's no charge to visit the ruins and they appear to be open at all times. They are also very few people there, probably because it's a difficult site to find. So, if you can find the way to it, you will be rewarded with interesting ruins and spectacular views.
After touring those ruins, we continued on to Portlaoise. We stayed at O'Laughlin's Hotel. All rooms have their own bathroom, television, and phone. While the rooms were comfortable, the part of the building we were in was one of the weirdest places in which I've stayed. It had recently been added on to the rest of the complex. The construction techniques used to build it showed that it had been hastily added. Not only was the hallway leading to the rooms at a downward angle (leaving one to think it was going to fall any minute), it was also curved. Talk about a disorienting effect! Throw in the psychedelic blue carpet they put in the hall and you have a visual guaranteed to make one nauseous.
O'Laughlin's also has a restaurant and pub on the first floor of the building. We had dinner there. They served a lot of food for the price. The food we had turned out to be a pretty good deal. Plus, if you eat there, they can just add it to the cost of your room.
Portlaoise gets my vote as the most boring town in Ireland. We wandered around after we ate to try to see what was happening. There was nothing. I don't know if it's the fact that the largest prison in Ireland is just outside the city limits, but this town was dead in the evenings. If you can avoid this place, keep on driving. There are much nicer towns not far from it. And yes, I got a lot of flack from everyone for making us stay in a boring place like Portlaoise.
