Well you might like to think that we are slowing down…but in fact, we are speeding up. Who goes to three castles in one day, the Weatherly’s…that’s who!!

We woke up to another Irish Breakfast, one that our stomachs are still reeling from. The proprietor of the BnB asked, would you like some Irish Mist in your porridge. “Irish Mist?”, asked Cierra. “What’s that?” I informed her that it is a liquor (Irish Whiskey) and that the Inn Keeper saw the little ones and figured we probably needed it.

Wait…Rewind: Before going to bed last night, the lady innkeeper said we could have breakfast at whatever time we wished, just let her know. “7AM?”, I asked. Uh….the look on her face priceless……”How about 8AM?”, she replied. My response, “Sure, that will work. They wake up kind of early. We’ll run them in the garden until you are ready.” Cierra and I laughed about that for about 30 minutes before we finally fell asleep last night.

Back to Today: After the gigantic Irish Breakfast….again (we will try to remember to get pictures tomorrow so you will realize that we are not exaggerating when we keep going on and on about these breakfasts), we decided to head out to…….we had no idea. We literally had no plan. We were thinking…

Wexford: Too far of a drive from our current location.
Waterord: Expensive crystal……kids….uh, yeah.. not a good idea.
Local Towns: Cool, but didn’t have the big wow factor for tourists.
Back into Kilkenny: Been there, done that. As we always do, we conquered the city in a matter of an hour the day before so we were looking to explore further outside the city.

Tipperary it is, we remarked as we sat there sorting through the pile of guidebooks in the car we picked up free from Dublin. It was like an Ace of Spades that floated to the top of the deck. It had it all, sheep, rolling green hills, mountains, the heart of Ireland and some of the best castles the country had to offer.

So, after striking a deal with the little ones once again, we hit the park for an hour after breakfast, explored Kilkenny Castle and the local cathedrals and then headed into the Irish heartland. After an hour car ride, a few roadside potty breaks thanks to Sienna and Mommy we found ourselves at the Rock of Cashel. This place was unbelievable, like something out of the Lord of Rings or something. Towering minarets and parapets, bell towers, gravestones, a main keep and a view that seemed to stretch all the way back to Dublin itself. It seemed that the kids were the main attraction at this castle however, as 4 bus loads of tourists wanted to take their pictures in front of everything (see the pics of the hamming it up below….with the paparazzi following them around the castle, we are sure that similar photos will be on other blogs and family albums in the near future).

After exhausting the kids at the Rock of Cashel, we decided to go for the trifecta and hit one more castle for the day. We headed 15 more miles South to Cahir Castle. This place was something else, a castle on an island….looking like it had bed vacated only a few years ago although the grounds date back to the 3rd century AD. The kids had a blast, firing the cannons, yelling at enemy invaders, running the castle grounds, traversing the hidden passages and climbing the winding staircases.

After that, we were all tired! Sienna, Mylan and Cierra all slept as we made our way back through the Irish country side to Kilkenny. Upon arriving in Kilkenny, we decided to run it back on our favorite dinner spot from the night before. With great company and new friends at neighboring tables, we talked the night away, listened to more traditional Irish music and finally made our way back here to the BnB where we are preparing to crash for the night!

Tomorrow, we are heading south again to Cork and maybe Kinsale….then West once again to the Ring of Kerry! It was a fun filled today and we look forward to the many adventures that await us tomorrow!