With the continuing (and apparently unusual) great weather here on on the southeast coast of Ireland, we explored several miles of the Dunmore Cliff Walk. Our turn-around spot was the Portally Beach Cove, where we are considering returning to actually get in the water of the Irish Sea. Fifty-five degree water temperature is not too cold for a dip, is it...?

Portally Beach Cove

Here are a few pictures of thatched-roof buildings in Dunmore East.

I like the curve of the roofline on this one

Is it just me or does this house look kind of cheerful?

This one though is a bit grumpy with a furrowed brow...

We kept seeing posters around town saying "Watercolour Exhibition at the Sailing Club" so we decided to take a look, at the small harbor here. Some really nice local art! Here's one I liked:

About an hour's drive west of us is Lismore Castle and Gardens. The castle is, remarkably, owned  privately and apparently occupied, and so not open to the public. But, the gardens surrounding it are open, and they are wonderful, with great views of the castle.

Ok, this is not the view we had, this is from a poster...

We made another visit to Waterford, this time to take the Viking walking tour and visit the silver museum. BTW, before coming here the only thing I knew about Waterford was the crystal - but what an incredible history they have here, going back to the 900s!

Viking gold  engraved “kite” figure

Lead ingots used by Vikings for
weighing precious metals and other goods

The tomb of 11-time mayor of Waterford James Rice, 1482,
 depicting partially decayed body - “cadaver tomb”

Medieval church ruins in the middle of Waterford 

One of the many murals throughout the city 

We went to Mahon Falls, where I took a wonderful, very challenging, hike. This series of cascades is one of the highest waterfalls in Ireland, at about 100 meters, formed in a glacial “corrie.” Gorgeous surroundings, sheep all over the place, periodic sunshine appearing from behind the clouds. I decided to climb up - some rock hopping, sheep trail-following, a bit of scree-scrabbling. And as I got closer to the top I figured, well, I came this far, I might as well keep going. I reached the top and considered going further along the ridge but a handful of angry looking sheep (with some serious horns) were giving me the stink eye. I did not relish the idea of getting head-butted at the edge and taking the quick way down…A moderate-to-difficult climb, but well worth the effort. 

Looking up - my hike went to the right side,
I was heading for the  summit 

Close to the upper falls

This is about 1/3 of the way up

View from the top

After experiencing that spectacular location (and after a reward of some dessert at Clough Coffee in a nearby town) we stopped at the ruins of medieval De La Poer Tower.

On Wednesday Eileen and Kelsey decided to take a day “off” and stay close to home, but I headed out to the town of Ardmore to see the remains of St. Declan’s Oratory and an old ruined 12th century cathedral, a round tower, some other medieval-and-earlier ruins, and many old gravestones. Plus a nice cliff walk along the sea. 

Romanesque carvings and "lunettes" on the
exterior of the cathedral, depicting biblical stories

Back in Waterford one more time, we want to the opening concert of the 2nd Annual Waterford International Organ Festival, at the Christchurch…church. This performance of Baroque music featured organ (both chamber and pipe) Baroque violin (sheep gut strings, different bow), and Baroque bassoon (which had no keys, just finger holes, like a recorder). World class musicians, and really fun, interesting compositions. 

And then late this week we rented bicycles and jumped onto the Waterford Greenway, which is a 46 kilometer asphalt pedestrian/bike path on a former railroad right-of-way (we did half of it, from Kilmacthomas to Dungarvan). Beautiful! The path goes over two viaducts and through a tunnel, had some wonderful views of farmland, forest, and the coastline, and only had a few gentle hills to contend with. You can see why it's called the Greenway.

From the top of one of the viaducts we crossed 

A nice reward for our 23 kilometer bike ride!

As of Saturday June 10, we're finally getting more typical weather with some rain overnight, and slight drizzle this morning. We like it, but I think the locals were still very happy with the sunshine of the last 2-3 weeks. Tomorrow we leave for a two-week stay in Portmagee, on the southwest coast in County Kerry.