Saturday 10th July 1999
Picked Ron up from work at 2.30am Saturday. Ron drove as far
as Bristol and we stopped for cake and coffee. I took over from
there and we killed some time around Fishguard as we were early.
We suddenly came into the port which took me by surprise after
such a long drive. The Lynx ferry crossing was uneventful but
by this time we were both very tired and didn’t much care.
It was a much longer drive from Rosslaire than we expected ( although
we may have taken the scenic route as Ron was navigating ).
We eventually arrived at Knocktopher Abbey and were shown to our
rooms which were huge. Showing great self discipline, we unpacked
and made a cup of tea before collapsing into bed at about 4.30pm
for a couple of hours. We had been told of a good pub nearby playing
live music, so when we woke (at 10.30!) we had a bite to eat,
threw some clothes on and had a very enjoyable time along with
a couple of pint of Guinness, arriving back to bed again at about
12.30 (by the way if anyone tells you that Guinness tastes better
in Ireland, it is absolutely true - Ron).
Sunday 11th
We met the Manager in the lounge for coffee and croissants
for the lowdown on the area and had a walk round the 17 acre grounds
of the Abbey and wished I had been a monk! I should mention here
that Knocktopher Abbey is a Timeshare resort (don’t believe
what you’ve heard about timeshares, they’ve had a bad
rep in England in the past), in Kilkenny about 10 miles south
of Kilkenny town. It used to be a Carmelite Abbey until about
100 years ago when it became a private house. Then two years back
It was bought as a timeshare and became ‘Seasons at Knocktopher’.
Later that morning we set off in the car to explore. Initially
the thing that struck us was how well kept the houses were, freshly
painted, neatly trimmed grass & hedges, even the roadside
in front of the houses were trimmed and planted with bright flowers.
We had an idea, (only joking) that no one works here and that
this part of Ireland does very well on EEC grants, so having plenty
of time to keep the property immaculate. We soon lost interest
in the houses and turned our attention to the views, truly beautiful.
We were having trouble finding places. As soon as you lost
sight of a main road, you were lost. Main roads here are like
town roads in England and once you turn off of them they vanish
behind tall bushes lining nearly all minor roads. Someone told
us not to worry about roads getting so narrow that you could touch
the bushes either side, but when the grass grew out of the middle.
This happened when Ron wanted to go to some Celtic Crosses at
Ahenny. Ron was blaming the map, I was blaming Ron. I was glad
we were in the car and not orienteering!
The weather is beautiful, we came upon a sign for Mahon waterfalls
and went there instead, arriving at 2'ish with about 10 other
cars there. Ron went exploring and I had a wander around, admiring
the view from around the car, no walking for me! This must be
a very popular area as by this time the cars were arriving thick
and fast. Ron had walked/climbed about one third of the way up
the waterfall until he needed proper climbing boots, not sandals.
When he arrived back he was surprised to find me shut up in the
car writing this but I knew that we had enjoyed everything so
much so far that I needed to write it down.
After the waterfalls we drove home, easy driving and a lovely
evening with the light falling on the hills and valleys making
each one more different from the last. Plenty of photo opportunities
and much stopping of the car to admire the view. Ron was again
cursing the poor map, saying it must have been drawn by Leprechauns
as half the places on it weren’t there and half the places
that were there weren’t on the map, but we arrived back at
the Abbey at about 6'ish. We popped our meal into the oven and
sat with a drink looking out over the gravel drive as our suite
is at the front. If you were an all action person you would soon
get sick of this view. the gravel drive is about 50ft wide, beyond
which are 100ft of lawn and flower beds, beyond this is farmland
stretching half a mile to Knocktopher Village, consisting: one
church up for sale(offers in excess IR£1000,000), one church
(ruin)+grave yard (still in use), one modern church, two grocers
stores, one post office, one garage (unleaded IR.59p per litre),
one hotel and two pubs, one with dance hall which is where we’re
going tonight. We have heard that here on Sundays they have a
combination of ballroom, line and Irish dancing so it should be
fun.
One thing, while I’ve been sitting here the church clock
has just struck 19 o’clock ? Ron says it’s in case people
didn’t start counting at the beginning. It gives them time
to catch up (this is not making fun of the locals - it just feels
that relaxed - Ron)