18 August 2019
It’s the day that almost every person in Ireland was waiting for. Well – most definitely every person in Kilkenny and Tipperary. Or Tipp, as they call it. It’s the All-Ireland Senior Hurling final. Those who could get tickets, will be in Croke Park in Dublin to watch the match. Some cinemas will do live screenings of the game. And, of course, the pubs. So we decided to find a place that is not quite that busy.
In 800 A.D, the town Veisafjǫrðr was founded by the Vikings. It remained a viking town for over 300 years. Today Wexford is know for its narrow lanes, something they can thank the vikings for. It seems that these vikings preferred narrow, winding streets, to make it more difficult for anyone to attack them. And we certainly found ourselves a little tangled up in some of these narrow lanes, with some rather impatient locals trying to stare us down, at times. We took the odd photo, but very quickly moved on to Waterford, rather.
Waterford claims to be the country’s oldest city, and is home to the famous Waterford Crystal glass manufacturer. It was also founded by the Vikings, with the Reginald Tower first built by the vikings around 914. It was later rebuilt in the 12th century by the Anglo Normans, and has been in use for over 800 years. We popped into a pub to watch some of the hurling final, and then continued on for a stroll around the town. Once again, Ireland’s Tidy Towns is evident. I was really impressed about how well everything was signposted.
Kilkenny lost the finals. We suspected some irate fans might be filling the streets of Kilkenny. And because we often miss turn-offs, we found ourselves driving through the city centre. The Irish are definitely very passionate about their sport.
