Irish Tour - Killarney (Kildare/Blarney/Cobh)

Rovers Irish Tour, Killarney, Ireland

We enjoy a traditional Irish breakfast this morning. Traveling south we travel through Kildare, where some of Ireland’s best grazing farmland has made County Kildare (Cill Dara) prime agricultural real estate, especially for the horse-racing set. The county is dotted with stud farms where champion racehorses are reared and trained as a matter of course. Our next stop, Blarney Castle is home to the Blarney Stone. If you need proof of the power of a good yarn, then join the queue to get into this 15th-century castle, one of Ireland’s most popular tourist attractions. They’re here, of course, to plant their lips on the Blarney Stone, which supposedly gives one the gift of gab. The Blarney Stone is perched at the top of a steep climb up claustrophobic spiral staircases. On the battlements, you bend backwards over a long, long drop (with safety grill and attendant to prevent tragedy) to kiss the stone. There is also time to visit and shop the famous woolen mills. This shop shouldn’t disappoint, with a particularly wide range of cut crystal, porcelain presents and its trademark woolly things. Then it’s onto Cobh, a charming waterfront town on a glittering estuary, dotted with brightly-colored houses and overlooked by a splendid cathedral. We can then visit the Cobh Heritage Centre to learn about the Irish Emigration story, trace your ancestors, hear about the ill-fated Titanic and the Lusitania, and immerse yourself in Irish naval and military history. The howl of the storm almost knocks you off-balance, as you feel you are right on the deck of the Titanic. This beautiful, informative and sometimes emotive cultural centre is situated within Cobh’s beautifully restored Victorian railway station, a building with its own historic story. Onward to our destination Killarney. Dinner and overnight at the Killarney International Hotel