Roadboys Travels: Ireland Day 4

Saturday, June 7, 2014

Ireland Day 4

Kilkenny, Waterford and Tramore

Today I learned to drive on the left side on tiny little roads.

I was doing pretty well until I met my own Waterloo in Kilkenny. There I came to find out that Kilkenny actually plants sign poles right in the street (instead of up on the curb).

Hence, I'll soon be buying a new passenger side mirror for my cute little Ford Fiesta.

After my auto munch we opted to bag the tourist crowds in Kilkenny altogether and just continued on in mostly silence to Waterford (home of the famous Crystal Factory) and on to our B&B in the little coastal town of Tramore.

The Cloneen B&B turned out to be a perfect place (antidote?) to the day. After parking the car (and bandaged up its sad little mirror), Ms. M and I went for a walk along the spectacular Irish coast just out our front door.

The scenery, the wind, even the chill, put everything into perspective. We came to see Ireland. And here it is, right in front of us. Its memories will never fade.

Despite being cool, summer is summer in Ireland and Tramore has a huge beach with a lifeguard. So, there were lots of families on (and in - they are truly hearty) the water. We saw a couple of parasails flying and even one intrepid surfer.

At each end of the harbor are large pillars. On top of one of the pillars is the sculpture of the Metal Man erected as a navigational marking in 1823. The pillars and the Metal Man were erected after the 1816 wreck of The Seahorse. A series of events led the ship to confuse Tramore Bay with nearby Waterford harbor. The disaster resulted in the death of 363, including 38 children.

The cry of the Metal Man remains "keep off, good ship, keep off from me, for I am the rock of misery".