Ireland (Day Three) - City of Mallow and Bridgetown Abbey

Today was the day we said goodbye to 10 Riverside House. On the way out of the Wicklow Mountains, we got to the top of hill and looked into the river valley where we had just stayed. 

We also got to see the remnants of the "Hero Lead & Zinc Mine" up top there. There was more to it but we only saw this portion. 

One last look at this beautiful land, and we were on our way to Springfort Hall to see Mallow and Blarney Castle (which will be in the next blog). This day was dedicated more to driving and getting to our next destination, and taking a peek at Mallow. 

I should preface this with the fact that I hate cities, which is why we only saw Dublin the first day, by accident. Mallow was the biggest city we saw, and surprise, it wasn't very fun for me. Although there was a neat castle there.

"Mallow Castle lies in the town of the same name, in County Cork in Ireland.

The ruined Mallow Castle we see today dates back to the late 16th century when, between 1585-1599, it was built by Sir Thomas Norreys or Norris, who was Lord-President of Munster. It had 2 predecessors which were situated some 40 meters north. Stones of the latest predecessor were used in building this 3rd castle. The castle is what they call, a 'stronghouse', which is transitional architecture from a stone-walled fortress to a fortified house.

In 1607 the castle went to the Jephson family through marriage. Mallow Castle held out against Confederate forces under Viscount Mountgarret in 1642 but was captured by Lord Castlehaven in 1645. It was however quickly recovered by the Parliamentarians under Lord Inchiquin. In 1689 the castle was finally burnt by the Jacobites.

The Jephsons then built themselves a new castle, some 70 meters northeast, by enlarging and ornamenting the former stables, turning them into a 4th castle in the style of a grand country house. That still stands today as a private residence.

Mallow Castle can freely be visited. A nice ruin. The latest castle can not be visited."

Source: https://www.castles.nl/mallow-castle - this site also has some great photos of the inside of the castle. 

Another source worth looking at about the castle is: http://www.megalithicireland.com/Mallow%20Castle,%20Cork.html

This was across from the castle. It's a bit confusing on what it is. On the Cork County website, they don't say and seem to act as if it's part of the castle. Google reviewers refer to it as a stately house. 

After taking some photos in a dragon chair, we decided to head back into town to get something to eat. This is when I made the mistake of trusting Ireland to make Mexican food well (no offense). It was the one Mexican food place I saw in all our places we were visiting, and I was so excited to have a bite of home. The owner was very friendly, and was excited to impress us when he found out we were from America (California no less). They had heart, they had integrity, they had determination -but unfortunately, it was just not good food. But hey, I didn't go to Ireland to eat their burritos (or lack there of).

After food and shopping around for gifts, we were on our way back to the car park (parking lot), when we noticed this beautiful church.

Saint Mary's Catholic Church in Mallow. An extravagant, stunning piece of architecture both inside and out. 

Mallow was fine. The castle grounds and church were the highlights. The food wasn't, and like in any city, most people were not the nicest. 

On our way back, we saw the remnants of the Augustinian priory, or Bridgetown Abbey, or Bridgetown Priory. It goes by many different names.

"Bridgetown Priory or Abbey, near the confluence of the Awbeg and Blackwater rivers, was founded for Augustinian monks in the 13th century by Alexander FitzHugh.

Soon afterwards, it was owned by the Roches. Henry VIII dissolved the priory in 1540. Bridgetown has a cloister, kitchens, refectory, chapter house and church. Its ruins, now extensively restored, are open to visitors all year around."

Source: https://visitballyhoura.com/explore/bridgetown-priory

This is also a great site that had more in-depth information on the priory's history: http://www.irishstones.org/place.aspx?p=1228 

I actually forgot to take a full front photo of it - but if you google it you can see the view from the front. So we'll be going straight inside. 

There are a lot of little pockets through this, and it can be a little confusing to navigate. Even for me looking back at it. It was quite the puzzle to figure out where each picture was - like I was reading a Nancy Drew book or playing the computer games.

Here is a top view of it to hopefully help you navigate it with me.

An entrance.

It looks like the cemetery the priory had for the monks is to the right as we first enter.

Different angles of the courtyard.

Then we enter a tunnel.

If you turn right in that tunnel you'll see this magnificent jungle of ruin.

In the straight back there was just forest and more stones.

If you turn left in the back, you'll see this tower. 

A closer look at the locked gate covered in ivy.

Here's the other side of the tower.

Here's from the side of the tower looking back at the rest of the complex.

I believe this is in the back somewhere (based on the amount of ivy) looking through several of the rooms.

And that's the end of the abbey, and my day. We made it back to our hotel and got to eat dinner and rest for the next day, Blarney Castle and its' grounds. So until next time, happy adventuring. I'll see you soon.  

Ireland (Day Two) - The Wicklow Mountains and Glendalough Tower

Greetings - long time no see! Happy 2023!

What have I been up to? Well, I had my baby. He's a fussy one and up until now I haven't had the time for much other than him. But don't you think I forgot about this blog. I've been dying to post the rest of my Ireland photos. So here we are, my second day there. 

I was still at the Riverside House, and my husband and I decided to venture to the Wicklow Mountain National Park. The first view we saw was this beautiful lake. Glendalough Lake with the mountains in the background. 

The beauty is serene. In that last photo there's a grey heron right by the fence. 

Saw this past the lake as we curved in more towards a structure of the park. 

We also passed by a little creek before seeing the next featured structure. There was a beautiful bouquet of flowers thrown in it. I'm not sure what the significance of it was, but there were many little magical touches like this all through Ireland. 

Here is the Reefert Church in the park. 

Ground daisies set daintily in the windowsill on the stone.

"The remains of Reefert Church are situated in a woodland setting, on the south-eastern shore of the Upper Lake close to the Information Office. Reefert derives its name from the Irish ‘Righ Fearta’ meaning burial place of the kings (referring to the local rulers – the O’Toole family). It dates from the eleventh century and is likely to have been built on the site of an earlier church. The church and graveyard were originally surrounded by a stone wall enclosure known in Gaelic as a ‘caiseal.’ Most of the present surrounding walls however are modern. The upper parts of the church walls were re-built over 100 years ago using the original stones.

GPS Coordinates

Latitude: 52.981331

Longitude: -6.042031" - Source: https://visitwicklow.ie/listing/reefert-church/

This stunning tree.

Poulanass Waterfall - I could NOT walk all the way up the steps. My husband had to take this photo from about 3/4 of the way up. I was six months pregnant with a back injury as well!

I saw a lot of children playing on that tree right after I took this shot.

These were from a lovely garden outside of the visitors center in the park. The visitors center looked like an old cottage.

A view from the north side of the lake. The first shots of the lake I was on the east side. This last photo features the "three stone docks."

One last photo featuring the Wicklow mountains from the park. We left shortly after seeing all of this. 

That evening my husband and I decided to take the trail from the place we were staying, but the opposite way, towards the town of Glendalough. This town used to be a monks village from 6th to 12th century. It was founded by Saint Kevin, until the Normans destroyed it in 1214 A.D. They did get attacked by many Vikings during that time as well, but always managed to survive the attacks. 

Here we saw the famous Glendalough Tower, or the Glendalough Round Tower. 

"The most famous of all the landmarks in Glendalough is the Round Tower which stands 33 meters above the ground. It was built almost 1000 years ago by the monks of St. Kevin’s monastery. The conical roof had to be replaced in 1876 when it was struck by lightning. The towers were called “Cloigtheach,” meaning bell tower, suggesting their main use. The towers were sometimes used as a place of refuge for monks when the monastery was under attack. They also served as both as lookout posts and as beacons for approaching monks and pilgrims.

GPS Coordinates

Latitude: 53.010915

Longitude: -6.327656" Source: https://visitwicklow.ie/listing/the-round-tower-glendalough/

So you're not confused of the layout, here's a map. There's a lot in a little space. 

The graveyard and structure as part of the Monastic City.

Saint Kevin's Church

Another grey heron!

Glendalough Cathedral

That was the end of seeing the Glendalough Monastic City. There was so much in that small space so I hope that map helped. After we visited this, we went to the Glendalough Hotel (we had been considering staying there, but I loved the Riverside House so much). The hotel had an amazing restaurant where I actually had a woodfire pizza! My husband had his first Guinness there in Ireland. It was a pretty great experience for him. There was some confusion because I wanted a soda, but the first waitress called soda a "mineral." Then when another member of the wait staff came back and I was ready to order, he had no idea what soda or mineral meant so I ended up with sparkling water at the end of it. It was pretty good.

After dinner we walked down the road to the trail again, and back to our hotel. This was our last view of the Glendalough Round Tower. The midges, as the Irish call them (mosquitos for us Americans), were starting to come out. We wrapped up our second day and went to bed, ready to leave the Wicklow Mountains the next day and onto the next venture!