To the South (the Real South – not just South Dublin)

So…I finally made it out of Dublin. A month here and I had remained largely confined, but by the good graces of my friend Mary, I spent a lovely day traveling down to the South coast of Ireland. Destination: the Irish riviera at Trá Mhór (I honestly didn’t realise that that was a used term when I composed and published this, but lo and behold some clever marketeers actually use it). The journey was a treat. We passed through the stunning Sally Gap, along Braveheart Avenue (I kid you not, they seem to have renamed the road through the gap after the movie filmed there. We dropped into Glendalough, saw the magnificent round tower, located in an equally fascinating graveyard at St. Kevin’s church. We also discovered that St. Kevin was quite the entrepreneur, establishing a mobile kitchen, a craft shop and a pub onto which he proudly emblazoned his name;-)
Mary came superbly prepared with a full picnic lunch which we enjoyed in a roadside lay by. After repasting, we headed south closer to the coast and made an attempt to find Father Murphy’s Boolavogue. We followed a couple of signs and then as we should have been close, no more signs. We made a turn (incorrect as we eventually learned as the signs began a few km further on pointing backwards). We’ll find it next time. Passing through Enniscorthy we eventually reached Waterford. A lovely town lining the river Suir and clearly attached to its own Viking roots. It too features a round tower, abutting which buildings have since been constructed.
Heading out of town we headed for Mary’s hometown of Trá Mhór. It’s a lovely seaside village with an absolutely awe-inspiring beach. I learned that Trá means strand and Mhór means big. It did not disappoint. There were dueling circuses in town (I do really think that the plural is circi) and the promenade was packed with bank holiday circus goers. The weather was lovely and after a tea with her brother and a chance to see the family demense, she dropped me at the station in Waterford so I could catch the train back to Dublin. I now write from the train as we *speed* through the Irish countryside.
It’s a 3 hour trip from Waterford to Heuston Station in Dublin. We are now at Athy. When we hit Kilkenny, we turned around and headed back for Waterford. Well, hopefully not too far, but as it turns out its not a through station. Additionally, the mainline we are following is a single track and so we stop every now and then (sometimes in the stations – sometimes in the middle of nowhere).
An absolutely lovely bank holiday.