No photos today, folks. It was mostly pouring with rain so we saw Ireland as her usual self. After another excellent and substantial breakfast we headed to Tarbert on the Shannon River, Listowel, Tralee, Killarney, Cork and then finally, our current destination, Ballymaloe House at Shannagarry, on the coast.
It may be an unfair generalisation, but most of these places looked much the same as each other in the rain. It is also cold and I still have a cold so we mainly just drove. I can't help but think of Australia where every town, no matter how small, is clearly signposted. And every Australian town comes equipped with a small park and a free public toilet. Clearly, whoever thought up and implemented that concept was not an Irishman!
I am amazed at how many ruined churches, abbeys, priories, castles, mills etc we have seen that seem to be just there in the landscape with no signage or explanation. I am also amazed that there are so many ruined traditional houses and barns but everyone seems to live in a modern house that looks to have been constructed during the last 20 years or so.
Ballymaloe House is a special treat that we identified and kept for last. It is a country house hotel run by the Allen family. Myrtle Allen started a restaurant in the 60s. Her daughter in law, Darina set up a cooking school and her daughter in law Rachel is a television chef and author of many cookbooks. On Sundays dinner is a splendid banquet with five courses involving soup, pate, fish, meat and salads and desserts. It was truly delicious and we slept very peacefully afterwards.
There are opportunities for champagne and croquet on the lawns outside but the weather precludes any of that. We'll explore further in the morning.
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