K is for Killarney - Day 2

John wrote the trip journal for Friday, so I'll let him take it away!

"We got a decent "night"s sleep at the Travelodge in Limerick; I woke around 7:30 to the sight of Gemma standing beside me; we let Ruth and Gretchen sleep until 9am to catch up. After getting our suitcase in order, we headed over to the supermarket across the road and picked up some breakfast foods - Corn cereal, bars, and bananas, etc- and headed out in the direction of Killarney in County Kerry.

[Interesting doorknobs in the middle of doors . . . we saw this a lot!]

"We drove along mostly rural roads [N23 for most of the way] the way throgh several small towns, stopping occasionally to give the girls a break. We drove briefly around the Adare Manor House outside Limerick . . . 

[We actually turned into the Adare Manor somewhat by accident, and asked the man at the gate if we could just do a circle in the driveway and come out.  He was so very friendly, replying something like "Certainly!  But would you like to drive through to view the house, as well?"  At first I thought this lovely building must have been it, until we got to the photo below!]

"[We stopped] at greater length looking around a small castle [Desmond Hall]. 

[This castle was smaller and more in ruins than King John's Castle, but we caught the latter half of the brief guided tour and the children enjoyed running around what was open for exploration.]

[I took Gemma to use the restroom in the visitor's center and chatted with the man at the desk a bit.  So very friendly!  He directed us around the other side of the fortress to look for ducks in the wee river.]

"We made our way down through Abbeyfeale, Castleisland, and Farranfore, finally arriving at Killarney around 1pm. We found a parking spot at a shopping area near the National Park and bought our lunch at O'Briens on Beech St. We got it take-away and walked over to the park, where we found a rather large playground, to the great delight of the girls. 

[I had to wonder what was meant by "Kate and Pippa Jeans." ;)]

[Plaques at the entrance to the park.]

[We also stopped and poked our heads into the cathedral.]

"After eating up our lunch and playing for quite a while, we started the journey home. After a [relatively] easy drive home, we stopped by the supermarket again and picked up some uber-cheap cookies and treats, and some chicken from the deli [also heavily discounted,being late in the day] and took it back to our room. The girls went to bed at about 10pm,... still not quite in sync with the time, but we're getting there.