After the August bank holiday weekend in Tramore (where plenty of pints were had as the pubs are now open), I set off with Miriam to explore more of county Waterford and follow some of “Ireland’s Ancient East”. En route to Lismore we stop in Cappoquin to get blaas at the famous Barron’s bakery but unfortunately it’s closed. We will have to return …. [a blaa is a soft white roll introduced to Waterford in the 17th century; in 2013 it received protected geographical indication status so you can only call it a blaa if it was made in Waterford]
We continue to Lismore and are greeted with a fabulous view of the castle as we drive over the bridge. It really is a stunning site as you round the bend and see it appear…..
The castle dates from 1170 and has a lot of rich and interesting history. It’s current owner is the 12th Duke of Devonshire who goes between here and his other grand houses in England. Just like me, popping down to the holiday home in Waterford!!! 😀 It has been visited by many including JFK, Lucien Freud and Fred Astaire but no public visitors allowed as it continues to be the dukes private dwelling. It is however available to rent “on an exclusive hire basis” per the website. If anyone needs me to make up numbers for the large party group just let me know, I can make myself available!
The gardens are open to the public so we head there after a little sustenance at the Vault cafe, named as it houses the vault from the former bank. The large vault door which you can see behind the deli counter leads to the pantry. After tea and coffee and a homemade scone (sure you’d have to), we hit the gardens…
Parts of the Berlin wall 
After exploring the garden for a couple of hours we had some lunch followed by a quick smooch… haven’t had one of those in a while!!!!! 🤪🤪
It’s a bit hit and miss with the rain so we decide to head to St Carthage’s cathedral and hope the showers blow over. It’s a Protestant cathedral, evident from the inside with strange coloured flower detail on the roof. We walk around the graveyard which has a lot of old dilapidated headstones.
Next we head to the place that’s top of my list to visit – the towers at Ballysaggartmore. Commissioned around 1835 by some eegit with a jealous wife and more money than sense. The plans were drawn up for an extravagant mansion but after the fancy pants gate lodge and elaborate bridge and towers were started the money ran out… it was never finished. It’s a few kilometres from Lismore and an easy walk to get there and it is an amazing site to see. So bizarre to come upon among the trees….. but totally fabulous
We’re staying at Ballyrafter house which is a fabulous house which used to be the hunting lodge for the Lismore elite and Noreen is a great host.
A quick freshen up and it’s time to head for dinner. We can’t help take another photo as we pass over the bridge…
It’s our first “semi” indoor dining experience at Foleys on the Mall and it’s gorgeous, so nice to be out.
We’re enjoying being out so much we decide to check out the local pub – An Teach Dearg aka the Red House. There’s a handful of men at the bar and the proprietor directs us to a seat in the corner and brings us two fancy gin and tonics. There’s a woman with an eye seeing dog sitting opposite chatting loudly with a guy having a pint of Guinness. Next thing a woman bursts through the door and looking directly at Miriam and I asks where there’s a bank as she needs to get cash. Of course we have no idea but everyone tries to help with directions at the same time… the eye seeing dog lady is pointing right and the guy with her is pointing left and they’re all shouting directions. It’s chaos for a couple of minutes until the barman steps in and sorts her out, leaving us all in stitches!
On the way home we tick St Carthage’s well off our list. There’s so many holy wells around the country and they can be a nightmare to find but this one was easy peasy, even in the dark!
Next morning we are up before breakfast to do lady Louisas walk along the river Blackwater. It’s an easy pleasant walk along the river….
We loop back through town… it really is a cute town which I’m sure must have won the tidy towns a few times. Loads of hanging baskets and brightly painted houses.
St Carthage’s church – the catholic one!
Back at the house we have a full Irish and Miriam studies our itinerary for the day ahead…
After a bit of studying we decide to head for the Vee pass. I’ve wanted to do this drive for a while. It’s a twisting road through farmland and forest and you come out at this V at the county border with sweeping views of both Waterford and Tipperary. At the vista there is a statue of our lady of knock
From the vista we take a path downward toward Bay lough. Even on this somewhat overcast day it is stunning. I can imagine how beautiful it looks when the sun is shining and the water is blue.
This is a stunning area and we are going to need to come back to see more. Right now we need to get back to Cappoquin and Barons bakery where hopefully we can get some blaas. We had also noticed a bridge that may be worth stopping at… well the bridge is definitely worth a stop. It’s called Avonmore bridge and was built during the famine. It was originally named Victoria’s bridge but that didn’t go down too well with the locals and they chiselled the name out and went with Avonmore 👍👍
So we get to Barron’s for lunch and they are already out of blaas, I’m raging but them remember there’s a SuperValu around the corner and I reckon they’ve got to have some blaas.
Bingo! Wouldn’t you think the girl in the bakery might have suggested I’d get them packaged round the corner!!
I get chatting to a lady who tells me we must visit Mount Melleray which is a monastery just up the road. I’m pretty sure I had a great uncle who was a monk here (uncle Benny?) so we head up to check it out. Apparently there are some nice walks here but we don’t have time as we have a schedule to follow (🤪) so we do a quick drive by and decide to come back another time.
It’s time to leave Waterford and continue our ancient east adventure into north Cork. There are two items on the list, the first is Bridgetown priory. It’s off the beaten track but well worth the effort. It was built in the 13th century by Augustinian monks. The ruins are quite vast and really interesting to walk around and read about how the different rooms were used when it was functioning hundreds of years ago.
Next we head for Labbacallee wedge tomb. This appears on the side of the road outside someone’s garden! Miriam reads the guide book and tells me that a wedge tomb differs from a portal tomb because of the long slant of the stones and also the timing. This is about 2,000 years BC whereas the portal tombs are even older!
We leave Cork and head for Tipperary with a drive-by to the rock of Cashel.
We’ll pick up part II in Tipperary.
odohertyelaine 
Very good
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