17 August 2019
The St. Colman’s Cathedral in Cobh is celebrating their centenary this year. Whilst building on this impressive cathedral already started in 1869, it was only in 1919 that the cathedral was finally consecrated. It’s tower contains one of the largest carillons in Europe, with a total of 49 bells collectively weighing more than 26 tons. Before we left Cobh, we went back to the cathedral to take a closer look.
Midleton is home to the Jameson Distillery. The distillery was moved from Dublin to Midleton in 1975, and is the largest distellery in Ireland, producing several brands, such as Jameson (of course), Tullamore Dew, Midleton Very Rare, and more. I browsed around the shop while Niel took the tour, and qualified him as an certified whiskey taster.
From Midleton we turned a little more North towards Lismore. The Lismore Castle is the Irish residence of the Duke of Devonshire. We figured it would be worth seeing a castle that is not in ruins. It overlooks a lovely river and some green fields, something that Ireland has an abundance of, of course.
Next we figured that a trip over the Knockmealdown mountains might present some beautiful views. At ‘The Vee’, a hairpin bend at the top of the pass across the mountains, there is a spectacular view of Tipperary’s landscapes. We decided to leave the cameras’ lense caps on. No photograph could do such a view justice.
Driving on to Kilkenny, it is evident that big things are about to happen. Whilst still in Tipperary, most houses are flying the blue and yellow flag of Tipperary. And as soon as you cross into Kilkenny, yellow and black flags start to appear. Tomorrow, Kilkenny and Tipperary play each other in the 2019 Hurling finals. The final will be played in Dublin, but, no doubt, Kilkenny will be very busy too. And we are in the middle of it.
We ventured into the centre of town for a quick bite. It’s Saturday night, of course. And the anticipation of tomorrow’s game is evident. Not to mention that it is the last weekend of the Kilkenny Arts Festival. We walked around for a while, took some photographs, had a very good supper, and headed off home.
