R. Doug Wicker's Blog, page 71

Ireland — Kilkenny Castle

Today I present to you the magnificent KilKenny Castle. This incredible residence was home to the Butler family from 1391 until 1935. Alas, that taxes did them in, and in 1967 Lord Ormonde relinquished the dilapidated remains of the estate to the State for the bargain basement price of £50. See: History of Kilkenny Castle.

Butler/Osmonde Coat of Arms

Next week I’ll show you the interiors of this wonder, but today we’re concentrating on the exteriors:

Kilkenny Castle

The grounds y...

Ireland — Kilkenny

About forty minutes after leaving Jerpoint Abbey we reached our next destination, Kilkenny. Kilkenny is a smallish town with about 27,000 residents, but it feels larger.

Kilkenny, Ireland

The downtown area, adjacent to the sprawling and impressive Kilkenny Castle (Wednesday’s article) has a bright, colorful charm all its own. Below is Saint Mary’s Roman Catholic Cathedral as seen from The Parade, a street that runs alongside Kilkenny Castle:

Kilkenny, Ireland

There is much to ph...

Fun Photo Friday — Jerpoint Abbey Favorites

It’s Fun Photo Friday, and these are my picks for Jerpoint Abbey favorites:

Oh, what a tangled web we weave . . . Wouldn’t Mind Having This as My Backyard Wall Picturing the Sky Bellyachin’ Serf? Framing Jerpoint

Ireland — Jerpoint Abbey interior

Today we’ll spend most, but not all, of our time perusing the interior the ruins of Jerpoint Abbey (1180-1541):

Jerpoint Abbey, Ireland

This wondrous area was declared an Irish National Monument in 1880, and I’m sure you can see why.

Jerpoint Abbey, Ireland

Inside you’ll even find the occasional sarcophagus-type tomb:

Other memorials dot the site as well:

When one considers that these structures were constructed using late 12th century methods, the detail is quite...

Ireland — Jerpoint Abbey exterior

We’re now skipping ahead four days. After our jaunt to Belfast, we departed Dublin the next day by air to Amsterdam. After a couple of days in Amsterdam we boarded Royal Caribbean’s cruise ship Brilliance of the Seas. From there we headed straight back to Ireland, making port in Waterford. Then it was onto a tour bus into the Irish countryside. First stop: the 16 century ruins of Jerpoint Abbey.

Jerpoint Abbey, Ireland

Jerpoint Abbey has quite the history behind it. Established in 1180...

Fun Photo Friday — Belfast Favorites 2

Life Aboard the Hop-on/Hop-off

Today’s Fun Photo Friday Favorites of Belfast:

Saying ‘Goodbye’ to Belfast; Returning to Dublin for dinner

Belfast Psychedelic Taxi

Another tour destination on our Hop-on/Hop-off tour of Belfast was the Titanic Museum:

Titanic Museum

Time was running low however, so we did not disembark for entrance into the museum. I did manage to snag a shot of one of a nearby display, HMS Caroline (1914):

Museum ship HMS Caroline

Of course, no visit to Belfast is quite complete without a journey to the historic Belfast Harland and Wolff Shipyard. Harland and Wolff began building ships in 1861, and i...

Northern Ireland — Belfast Architecture

Montague Burton Buildings

Today we’ll just sit back and watch the architecture go by while we sit atop that Hop-on/Hop-off, beginning with the image above of the 1929 Montague Burton Buildings on High Street and Corn Market. This structure currently houses a Dunnes Stores, but also once hosted a Woolworth’s:

Woolworth’s relief on the Montague Burton Buildings

Just northeast of Montague Burton is the Albert Memorial Clock at Queen’s Square and Victoria Street which you can see in the dis...

D-Day — Pointe du Hoc

In honor of D-Day, 6 June 1944, I am rerunning this entry from my six-part D-Day series, so disregard the first two sentences in the next paragraph:

All this week I’ll be rerunning my six-part series on the D-Day Invasion of Normandy, France. Next week I’ll return you to our Baltic trip and beyond. In the meantime, in commemoration of the 75th anniversary of Operation Neptune (the Normandy landings) and Operation Overlord (the Battle of Normandy) in the event we now collectively refer to as D...

TripAdvisor is NOT Your Friend

Denali as seen just south of Talkeetna, Alaska

Another special bonus blog article this week. It appears I was a bit early in my previous praise of TripAdvisor doing the right thing and reposting my revised review of Denali Fireside Cabins & Suites in Talkeetna, Alaska, and the positively abominable owner Don Devore.

To recap, Ursula and I had a run-in with this immature, insecure, post-election snowflake on May 12 of this year. We asked Mr. Devore if he had available a cabin to rent to us....