CHILLING OUT IN MORRISCASTLE

July 10-17, 2004

We were glad to be back home in our big bed and comfortable house after a week away.  We spent this week riding our bikes around the countryside and visiting points of interest in the cities.

Don has found his favorite bike ride, from Morriscastle to Ballycanew.  Ballycanew is another pretty little “tidy town” with a lovely picnic area alongside the river.  We often take the route out and back because it is a nice ride through the countryside and a pretty destination and the round trip is about the right distance.

One day we went to the town of New Ross, where we visited a replica of a sailing ship that sailed to America with hundreds of refugees from the potato famine.  The ship tour included actors in period costumes telling the stories of the people who were passengers on the ship.  We learned about what it was like to be a steerage passenger, sharing our 6’x6’ space with three other people, perhaps our family, but perhaps not.  We got to see samples of the food rations and hear about living conditions under deck (yuck!).

Next we visited the Kennedy family home, where John Fitzgerald Kennedy’s great-grandfather lived.  The guided tour was spirited, amusing and interesting, and lead by Patrick Gannon, a distant Kennedy cousin.  We were interested to learn that when the Kennedy great-grandparents immigrated to the US the father died fairly young and Bridget Murphy Kennedy, a 30-year-old widow, was the successful one.  At her death she was able to leave a going business to each of her children.  Her son, JFK’s grandfather, was a saloon owner, and his son was able to marry into the prominent family of “Honey Fitz”, the mayor of New York.  From penniless immigrant to socialite in three generations.

We also visited the JFK Arboretum, which is a lovely park donated by the citizens of the USA, with trees and shrubs from all parts of the world.  Atop the viewpoint we were able to enjoy a 360-degree view of the countryside.

Another rainy day we went to Waterford, where we toured the town, visiting the very interesting Waterford Treasures.  This museum has an excellent presentation of the history of the area, which includes artifacts discovered during the building of the big new shopping mall.  The artifacts come from 12 layers of town built one upon the other over the last 10,000 years and include prehistoric tools, Bronze Age weapons, Roman coins, 5^th century religious carvings, and medieval documents.

We also enjoyed the tour of the Waterford Crystal factory, where we saw glassblowers forming vases out of red-hot glass, engravers cutting patterns into the vases and then the beautiful finished products. 

Another day we took a bike ride over to Enniscorthy where we visited Vinegar Hill, another 1698 battle site.  We then went on through the countryside, stopping at the art gallery of J. E. Kelly.  Joe and his wife were very hospitable, she showing me around her lovely garden and he spending a lot of time talking to Don.