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June 20, 2018

Our first full day in Ireland began with a nice breakfast at Tinsley House and saw an amazing weather forecast.  So I decided today would be perfect for our day trip to Cork.  I hadn’t been back to Cork since 2000 and couldn’t wait to see the area again.  After a brief stop at the Supervalu in Cahir to pick up picnic items for lunch, we headed south.  The Supervalu here is great and we were impressed by the nice picnic area outside of the store with a wonderful view of Cahir Castle.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our first stop for the day was Castledonovan.  The castle was closed and inaccessible in 2000 when I visited, so I was excited when it was announced that it would finally be open and I would be able to see the inside.  The drive from Cahir went smoothly, but only because I had done a lot of map study prior to our trip.  Getting to the castle from Dunmanway requires knowledge of where you are going as it isn’t signposted.  From Drimoleague though it is well signposted.

We found the castle with no problem.  First we parked our car at the car park by the bridge over the River Ilen and took advantage of the small park that is there for our picnic.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After we ate we walked down to the castle.  My first impression was that it is larger than I remembered.  We had the place to ourselves for awhile and everyone really enjoyed it.  It was nice to get up so close and inside the entrance finally!  The only disappointment was that the gate to the stairs was locked and I thought we would be able to go up higher.  The new parking area looks wonderful though.  It was also nice to see that there were some visitors when we first arrived and another group arrived just before we left.

Last time I visited you could only view the castle from the road, so this is a huge difference and makes the castle even more impressive.  The work that has been done since 2000 is worlds nicer than before.  I am really happy with the result.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Next we headed to Castletownshend to see Knockdrum Stone Fort and maybe the Gurranes Stone Row.  We arrived in Castletownshend before we knew it.  We actually drove past the signpost for the entrance to Knockdrum and had to double back.  We parked at the church and decided to try and go up the back way to the the fort (to avoid having the children walk on the main road) by heading down the road next to the church.  We turned up the farm road that led up the hill and spoke to the farmer who was very kind and helpful.  We kept heading up the way he had directed, opening and closing the electric fences (he had given me permission to do this) as instructed, stepping in cow manure and finally we reached the top!

Unfortunately, the final wire could not be lifted and the path wasn’t very encouraging.   Even though it was a warm day, the children said that they would rather walk back to the bottom of the hill and start over instead of risking the electric fence.  So we did and went up the marked path (by the signpost) which is a nice relaxing ramble.  At the end of the lane we climbed the 91 stone stairs and had the place to ourselves.

Knockdrum is interesting because of a few unique features.  First there is a boulder with prehistoric cup marks on it (prehistoric art), a few feet away is a guard chamber built within the wall, after another couple of feet is a carved cross slab and then inside the fort is a souterrain.  Many stone forts don’t have any of these features, and the souterrain is the only feature I have seen in another fort.

 

 

 

The boulder with the cup marks is obviously not part of the original fort and I assume must have just been placed by the entrance in modern times and the cross slab was definitely moved from nearby into the fort to help preserve it (it is medieval Christian art). The sentry chamber and souterrain (it is locked) though are nice features that make the fort itself worth a visit.  I haven’t even mentioned the view either.  On a nice day this is a pleasant walk and you can see the view in the photo below.  It was also nice to see other visitors here.  While we were wandering around the pastures on our first attempt up to the fort there was a group of about five people here, and then as we reached the bottom of the stone stairs a man was walking up to view the fort.  The fort is now listed on the Wild Atlantic Way and I assume it can be thanked for the number of visitors to the fort.  The government has done a nice job with their recent tourism initiatives.

I also found that the grass lane to Knockdrum was perfect for viewing the Gurranes Stone Row (through the camera).  The farmers were working in some of the fields that led to the stone row and we had already invested two hill climbs into the fort, so entering the other field didn’t seem appealing at this time.  The Stone Row though is impressive.  From the church or National School car park the stones dominate the hill top, so much so that Sarah did not believe that they weren’t trees.  There used to five stones in this row, but one has fallen and another was removed.  The three fingers (it is known locally as the Five Fingers) remaining are still impressive though!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

By the time we got back to the car we had walked a lot and it was a bright, warm, sunny 20° so we headed into town for a quick cold drink at Mary Ann’s.  Refreshed now and with a dinner reservation in hand we continued our southern adventure.

Next on the list was the southern Donovan castles, Raheen Castle and Castle Ivor.  Sarah spotted Castle Ivor on our first pass but I drove by it too fast (the road is small and turning around would be a bit tricky) so we went to find Raheen Castle first.  The castle is on private land but you can get some great views from the road!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After taking lots of photos, we headed back up the road to find Castle Ivor.  It would be nice if the 2020 Clan Gathering was able to get access to Raheen again!  We returned to Ivor, which is a few hundred years older than Raheen,  for some photos before heading to our next destination.  Ivor caught me off guard because I didn’t remember it being covered in ivy.  Perhaps it wasn’t as it was 18 years ago, but then again maybe I remembered incorrectly because it was 18 years ago.  I’ll let you decide.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We began driving up the road to Glandore, but I realized it was now close to time for our dinner reservation so we headed back to Mary Ann’s for a delicious seafood dinner.  Sarah had some cod and I had the local scallops.  Both children ordered off the Kids Menu (Chicken goujons for one, spaghetti for the other).  Fergus (the co-owner) made both of our visits today even more enjoyable and both he and our waitress were very sweet and engaging with the children.  With everyone very pleased with their meals we now headed out into the bright evening.

In Glandore I was hoping to get a look at Glandore Castle, another O’Donovan Castle, en route to Drombeg Stone Circle.  The castle is currently occupied and I decided against taking pictures of the house (it is a mix of architectures, but is fairly modern looking due to all of the additions over the last 800 years).  I did however want this photo of what I assume was once the gate for the castle grounds.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We continued on through Glandore until we reached Drombeg Stone Circle.  This site was better than I remembered and the setting sun looked great reflecting off the stones.  This circle is one of Ireland’s most famous stone circles and I was worried that it would be crowded when we arrived (it is also listed on the Wild Atlantic Way), but we arrived to an empty car park.  It’s such a peaceful site and again, just as 18 years ago when I visited there were some tokens left in the center of the circle (The summer solstice was set to occur about 6 AM the next morning).  The Neolithic houses and the Fulacht Fiadh only added to the appeal.

We had originally planned to end our day at the beach, but it was already 8 PM and the temperature had dropped enough that it was getting cool.  So we loaded back into the car for the long trek back to Cahir.  Not before an action-packed first full day though!

Liam’s Highlight of the Day: Drombeg Stone Circle
Fionnuala’s Highlight of the Day:  Our picnic lunch

Driving time from Cahir to Castledonovan: 2:10
Driving time from Castledonovan to Knockdrum :33
Driving time from Drombeg to Cahir: 2:05

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