The Trip to Kilkenny

Last Port of Call of the Titanic
Last Port of Call of the Titanic

This is day four of our six day honeymoon to Ireland.

The next day, on our trip to Kilkenny, Ireland, we began the day with our breakfast, then traveled to the town of Cobh (pronounced Cove).  There, we visited several historic ports, including the last port of call of the Titanic and the memorial for the Lusitania, the cruiser that was destroyed by a German u-boat shortly after launching.  I thought it was neat that many of the Irish immigrants left Ireland through this port on the way to the USA through Ellis Island.

We also visited {Cobh_Cathedral|St. Coleman’s Cathedral}, which enjoys the most advantageous position of any Irish cathedral.

Once we finished visiting Cobh, I noticed a sign mentioning the Jameson Irish Whiskey Experience in Midleton, which happened to be on our way to our next stop.

The Jameson Experience
The Jameson Experience

So, we stopped in Midleton and took the tour of the old Jameson Distillery.  Adjacent to the old distillery is the new distillery, and at one point, we could look over the horizon to see it.

One thing I learned from the tour was before the distillation, the making of whiskey is very similar to the making of beer.

At the end of the tour, Grace and I both volunteered to be “taste testers”.  We were able to taste the difference between Irish whiskey (Jameson), Scotch whiskey (Johnny Walker Black), and US whiskey (Jack Daniels).  The Irish whiskey, as advertised, was very smooth because of the triple distillation.  The Scotch whiskey had a smoky flavor, and was a bit more harsh because it had only been distilled twice.  The US whiskey had a completely different flavor due to the fact it didn’t use only barley (it also uses corn) in its creation, and was only distilled once.  The distillation process makes the alcohol stronger, and also removes impurities.  This is why the greater number of distillations results in the smoother flavor of Irish whiskey.  Because we had to continue driving, we didn’t have as much whiskey, but it was an informative experience.

Rock of Cashel
Rock of Cashel

After stopping at the Jameson Experience, we traveled to the town of Dungarvan, where Grace had relatives immigrate to go to America.  It was a harbor town, similar to Kinsale.  We walked around to visit Grace’s homeland, and had some lunch, and, of course, I enjoyed a Guinness.

Our last stop on the way to Kilkenny was the Rock of Cashel, which is one of the oldest historic sites in Ireland.  It was built around the 5th century, and was given to the church around the 12th and 13th centuries.  It was an amazing site with a ton of history.  By the time we were there, we were the last visitors to the site, so we were able to take a bunch of great photos.

After we stopped at the Rock of Cashel, we finished our day’s trip to Kilkenny.  Once we got into town, we checked into our bed and breakfast, then went for some dinner.  We went to Kyteler’s Inn in downtown Kilkenny.  This pub was founded in 1324 by Dame Alice le Kyteler.  The story was she had poisoned four husbands and, although was burned at the stake for witchcraft, survived, but disappeared after this.

Andrew Ryan in Kilkenny
Andrew Ryan in Kilkenny

After dinner, it started to rain, which was the only time while we were in Ireland when it rained.  We walked closer to our bed and breakfast and stepped into a pub, Andrew Ryan.

While there, a group of 7-10 session musicians (I couldn’t really count all of them), were playing all sorts of music, ranging from traditional Irish, to US oldies, to even some newer US  hits.  Grace and I had several pints of Guinness.  As we were hanging out, I was looking around at all the photos posted on the walls.  Many of them were couples, but there were also a lot of photos of womens’ cleavage.

After we had a few, we mentioned we were on our honeymoon, and a few minutes later, the bartender pulled out his digital camera, and took our photo.  So, the next time we go to Kilkenny, Ireland, we are going to Andrew Ryan to see if we can find our photo.

Although there was a lot of travel on the fourth day, I was able to have 7 more Guinnesses, in addition to the combination of shots at the Jameson experience, bringing my current total to 19.  Only two more days to go!  See where the final 13 end up!

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