We returned last week from our three week "Cathedralquest" in Ireland. We only encountered four cathedrals plus a number of ruins of churches and abbeys. The reason that we choose this time of year and Ireland for our annual cathedral quest was because my wife, whose maiden name is O'Day, wanted to attend the O'Dea (O'Day) clan reunion in Ennis. Her two sisters, one of their daughters and one of their husbands and our daughter also attended. It was very interesting as it was the 700th anniversary of the Castle O'Dea defeating the Normans. Over 250 clan members were present from all over the world. We visited the beautiful castle on the exact date and there was a rather humorous reenactment of the battle...complete with CPR on the wounded soldiers.
My wife and I went a week early to explore other regions. I wanted very much to visit as many of the Tiny Ireland models as possible. Our first stop, after flying to Shannon was Bunratty Castle and Folk Park which Anske had beautifully reproduced. I went to the first floor but did not feel I was able to climb all the steep steps to the other floors. The Folk Park had wonderful old buildings that had been restored among which were the other three models, which we were able to enter and explore. The details of the models and real buildings will be shown in detail as I write my Cathedralquest.com pages in the next few months.
Our next several nights were in Galway with two-day trips to others interesting parts of Ireland. I had made the 5 Galway models and found them side by side. Below is a photo of the buildings. I took photos inside several of them.
After our long week end in Ennis for the reunion we spent 6 nights in Dublin. The lovely Dublin model buildings were not far from our hotel. The Temple Bar was a very colorful building filled with early afternoon followers of Irish music and Irish beer.
The last part of our vacation was a four day tour of the Ring of Kerry region of Ireland. We spent 2 nights in Killarney where I was able to take photo of four of the five models (have just finished them and have not put them on the tread yet). Here is a photo of .O'Conners Pub.
We had a short stop in Bantry and I was able to find 2 buildings - photo of James Crawley's Pub. We spent the night in Kinsale but did not have time to find the model building which I have not made yet. We made a brief stop in Kenmare but not near the "models" which I have not made yet. Our final stop before returning to Dublin was in Cork but we wanted to visit the cathedral and did not have time to visit the models that I had made. I guess we will have to go back and see them. I have 12 of the Tiny Ireland kits and visited all the towns except four.
It was a fun trip, with a lot of beautiful scenery, interesting ruins and delightful little towns. I am glad that I had the Tiny Ireland models to add other attractions to our trip. Our vacation ended on a special note - my 80th birthday in Dublin.
