"Ring ding dong... ring-a-ding ding ding dong (keep their heads ringin')

Busy, busy couple days of driving and extraordinarily poor wifi leads to a late post. Also, like Dre probably felt about the bells, they did leave my head ringin.

Put my thing down. Flip it. Reverse it.

Before any cool playing of bells would happen, it was a rainy, RAINY, **RAINY** morning in Kilorglin, a town that two days later I've nearly forgotten about (fortunately?). However, I didn't forget how I ran through the rain to grab a quick picture of King Puck, their town mascot. If I'd have been here 3 days later, there's a goat festival with all kinds of crazy stuff, but for now? Had to settle for the statue pic.

I'd say his name should have been Billy the Kid, but that pun would have been baaaaad

After leaving town, things actually cleared up by the time we got around Killarney. Which was helpful since I assumed I was going to be outside for this "Sheepdog Demonstration" I was going to see at Kissane Sheep Farm.

For those on the fence about this... why??? Why would you object?

Straw man arguments aside, if you love dogs or sheep you should absolutely go. You get to play with puppies, see some lambs, and watch a dog herd sheep! Plus, the land itself is beautiful, 2000 acres of gorgeous Irish countryside.

Beautiful.

And I swear, this could not have been more worth it. Apart from almost hitting 2 very excited dogs on the way in, it was nothing but fun. Did you know unlike my dogs at home, who don't respond to anyone's commands, that these dogs reply to their handler's every command? And not just that, but *ONLY* his command? As in, everyone else in attendance could scream and shout and whistle and it would make no difference? I was impressed.

Here's some footage of "Gwynna" (sp.?) in action:

I really liked this, so here's another close up of her... not bad for a lady who just had 8 puppies, who you could also play with!

I was enthralled. My father wondered why his dogs couldn't be this well trained, then realized these border collies can cost as much as $18,000... so... you know, you get what you pay for.

Then you get to see a sheep get sheared! I'm sure I saw this at the Erie County Fair at some point when I was a kid... but I'm also sure I've forgotten what it was like. Til now.

Something they don't tell you about this-- I don't think they really like getting sheared. Like, if the floor wasn't slippery, they'd probably kick you. But this guy really got the job done, as you can tell, in like a minute. Afterwards, here's the result!

How did it all stay in one piece???

Also, I thought the above really looked like this guy from Looney Tunes

You know what, it doesn't look like it here, but I swear it reminded me of the sheep skin! Also, his name is Gossamer. I did not know that.

Afterwards, you can see the diff between this sheep and his buddy.

One of you is probably cold.

Anyhow, after the lovely demonstration, it was time to seek out other tiny Irish towns to enjoy. Short version-- Kenmare is great, Skibbereen sucks, an Kinsale, where we'd end up for the night, is an a great seaside town with tiny houses and great seafood.

Kinsale Marina at night

After seeing a sign like the below

Hey, ads can't lie, right?

I thought "you know what Sam? you had an awful time trying oysters before. Maybe you should give it another shot". I'll let this video do the talking for me.

(Nope. Not a fan. That's the subtext of the above.)

Had a wonderful meal at Bulman though otherwise! A scenic place, technically in Summer Cove, with great food and an ideal location.

Big day the next day! Great view from Charles Fort of the Kinsale harbor, then off to Cork!

View from Charles Fort

Context: I went to Cork maybe 6 years ago, but don't remember hardly anything except it raining all the time and me getting a free Guinness for playing a song on the guitar. Needless to say, I had high expectations!

So what do you do with sky-high thoughts? You go to jail! Except here they call it "gaol", and it's a museum that reminds you 200 or so years ago in Ireland, things were probably not the best.

You learn things like "hey, actually, for anything more than 7 months, it would be cheaper to ship you off to Australia", or "for stealing a book, you could end up spending the rest of your life in a jail where you eat gruel". Sounds... ominous. But great history learned! Also, the BBC used to have a radio station here for some reason.

One thing that was great about Cork was the English market! I highly recommend it if anyone sees the city. One of the best meals so far, and all with fresh and local stuff. Here's some pics!

You might be thinking, damn, Sam, you talked about bells in your subject line, when is that ever gonna come up? Well, wait no longer! A mere brief hike uphill from the market is St. Anne's church, where they actually let you play the bells! You pull some ropes, and can play some songs. Here's what that looks like.

Trust me, the sound was *REALLY* loud, especially on the 3rd floor, where they make you put on noise canceling headphones just to visit. turn down the sound on the below before you play it...

That'll keep your head ringing.

View from the top, not bad either though!

They say it's lonely at the top. But I don't know who "they" are. I was fine.

After that walk, we went to an old pub dating from the middle ages called the Franciscan Well. Great beer, pizza, of all things, and randomly, an old guy telling stories. This apparently qualifies as an attraction.

I like this photo because I had to take it surreptitiously and also because the angle that makes it look like he's holding a giant beer.

Some of the things "Teddy" said were fascinating tales of his youth-- hanging horse skulls under the hearth to honor them, talking about all the beautiful seaside towns we had just driven through. But there really was an absence of a thread through his rambling yarns. It was a lot like the below image, for those who know it.

So much repetition. So much repetition. So much repetition.

All in all, a solid couple of days! Heading off to Tipperary and Waterford in the morning!

Random Things:

Apparently, this boy stole a ballcock from a toilet and got whipped and thrown in jail for it. Irish life was tough.

I think they think Hillbilly has a better connotation than it does.

Damn... who *wants* to shop here? It's not a restaurant or some place where you stuff your face either.

Moment of Zen