The following day, we were supposed to go to Mizen Head (the western most part of Ireland) but alas the bridge had been condemned and we had no way of reaching it.  So instead, Tom decided that we would visit the Bantry House — home to the Earl of Bantry.

Check out the Lady of the Manor!  😀

This is the back of the house.  There was a chamber music group rehearsing while we toured the home.  The music was a really nice touch wafting throughout the house.

The home was full of all sorts of incredible artifacts — tapestries for Marie Antoinette, tiles pillaged from Pompeii.  The following are a few things that really stood out to me.

This angel was part of a massive side board.

My picture doesn’t do this chandelier any justice but it was beautiful.

I love this china pattern — and bone dishes make me feel all warm and fuzzy.  Yes I’m a bit weird!

Isn’t the back of that chair too cool?  I love the lyre shape.

This would make a great salad bowl.  Mind you it’s probably 150 years old.

I thought the back of this bed was interesting.  I like all the gathered fabric and the muted colors.

What would Ireland be without Irish lace?  Yummy!

This dollhouse was in one of the children’s rooms.  Sorry the picture is so blurry.  Take my word for it, it was neato!

This chubby little fairy was on a painting in one of the hallways.  I thought it was too cute.

While the home was beautiful, it was the gardens that were superb — all done in an Italian style.

I climbed 4 flights of really steep steps and was awarded with a great view.

Isn’t that gorgeous?  Afterwards I hiked a bit on the grounds and then went in search of Mom.

I found her down by the water.

Thank goodness for the Gorilla Pod — we can take pictures anywhere.

After leaving the Bantry House, we headed to Barley Cove Beach.

The pontoon bridge helps at high tide and preserves the dunes.  It was a hike out to the actual ocean.

The wind was strong and the water was ice cold!  There were surfers trying to catch some waves and some crazy children who didn’t have the good sense to realize the water was frigid.

No big high rises or nasty condos at this beach.

I love this picture of Mom!

This is Vicki and she is a peach.  She was the one who organized the trip for us and convinced Kate to join us.

The guy is Doug and he works for Auburn University and is on loan from the UN.  He teaches Hunger Studies and was a pretty interesting fellow.  The gal is Rosie from the Bronx.  That’s how she always introduced herself, “Hi I’m Rosie.  From the Bronx.”  She was too cute and we had a great time together.

Just wanted to throw a picture in of our bus.  It was the perfect size — not too big and not too small.

That night, we headed back to Clonakilty to the famous De Barra’s Pub in order to hear John Spillane.

I wish Chucklebutt had been with me.  He would have taken some great shots inside the pub.

I had never heard John before so I had no idea what to expect.  The first thing I noticed was his intensity.  He is a REALLY intense singer.  The next thing I noticed was he is HIGHlarious!  Check him out:

BTW: Since I didn’t have Chucklebutt, I snagged John’s picture from his website.  The photo was taken by Con Keller.