Two months of Ireland in photos

The Summer of HPC is almost at its end and I feel the need to reflect on everything I have experienced during these two exciting months. With so many various adventures, I found it hard to summarize, so I decided to do it differently. I have put here one or two photos for every place I have been to and wrote a few lines of commentary…

I can’t start any other way than by showing you the guys I have been traveling with. At most places, I was with my Summer of HPC mate Paolo, his brother Marco, who is actually working in ICHEC as a system admin and with Sebastian, Paolo’s friend from university. The first picture below shows Marco and Paolo at Malahide, the second is Sebastian, me and Paolo at the beach in Wexford.

The beaches of Malahide

Malahide is a small town about 15 kilometers north of Dublin. It is known for its castle with beautiful park, but what I found the most dazzling, were the beaches stretching from Malahide to a peninsula called Howth.

The harbor of Howth

Howth is a town located on a peninsula of the same name. It is about 15 km northeast of Dublin, and (as is the case with Malahide) you can get there easily with Dart, an urban train, from Dublin. There are many restaurants and cafés just beside the port and it is a very convenient place to have fresh fish and chips. There is also a path along the coast with fascinating views of the cliffs, which are also definitely worth taking in.

The Valley of the two lakes

Glendalough or Gleann Dá Loch in Irish means “The Valley of the two lakes” and is one of the Irish most visited places. Its history spans as far back as the sixth century when a monastic settlement was founded in the valley. The remains of that settlement and its successors are still in place.

Kilkenny Castle

Kilkenny is an inland town in the southeast region of Ireland and also an origin of the famous Smithwick’s beer. Unfortunately, we have not been to the brewery, but we saw a great cathedral and a formidable castle.

A beach in Wexford and the Black Castle of Wicklow

On our way back to Dublin, we stopped for a few moments at the beach in Wexford and at The Black Castle of Wicklow. Wexford has supposedly the nicest beaches of Ireland, the water was too cold for us, though. The castle in Wicklow is more of a ruin, most of the walls fell down into the sea or were dismantled a while ago. It is still a nice place to visit and very nice to see a sunrise from.

Phoenix park and the river Liffey

Phoenix park is one of the largest city parks in Europe, but may well be the only one with free-running deers. It is definitely an experience to get in the middle of a herd of fifty or hundred, all of them eager to eat whatever you are willing to offer.

The Bray Air Display

Bray, a town about 20 km southeast of Dublin is the host of the Ireland’s biggest annual air show called Bray Air Display. It is a very popular event (this year there were almost 90 thousand people) unique in a sense that there is no airport in Bray. The show takes place above the sea with people watching from the beach.

Dublin Mountains

Dublin is quite a flat city, although ideal for bikers, there is something missing. But not too far from the city, there are the so-called Dublin Mountains, hills in truth, but a very nice place for a Saturday trip all the same.

The bay of Galway

Galway is the hometown of two universities, the larger is NUI Galway (and ICHEC is a part of this university), and it’s basically a student city. In the summer the students are replaced by tourists, so Galway is a lively city through the whole year.

Cork and Blarney

It’s a long way to Cork from Dublin, almost three and a half hours by bus, but to see the city of Cork and the Blarney, the castle especially, it’s worth the trip. In Cork, there is very nice Cathedral and nearby walls offer a great view at the city and also a pleasant university campus. However, by far the biggest attraction of Cork is the Blarney castle with it’s gardens. The castle itself does not seem like anything special except for the Blarney Stone, which is a block of limestone built into the battlements. According to legend, kissing the stone endows the kisser with the gift of the gab (great eloquence or skill at flattery). The kisser has to lie down and reach from the battlements while kissing the stone, which is naturally a lengthy process. On the day of our visit, there was a queue for almost two hours, just to kiss the stone. No, we didn’t wait, but rather enjoyed the (botanical) gardens around the castle. A very interesting thing was the so-called poison garden, which shows deadly plants of all kinds.

Cork’s weeping angel

Although Cork is (crime-rate-wise) one of the most dangerous places in Ireland, this Sunday morning was quite and peaceful. Almost deserted. We saw King John’s castle and nearby church and also, for Doctor Who fans a very creepy statue of a weeping angel. Do not blink.

Spanish point and Cliffs of Moher

In 1588, many Spanish ships wrecked during stormy weather on the west coast of Ireland and survivors made their settlement at a place now called the Spanish point. Not too far north from the Spanish point lies the biggest nature attraction of Ireland, the Cliffs of Moher. They span along 8 kilometers of coast and tower as high as 240 meters. It’s a very crowded place, but if you go far enough, you may enjoy the spectacular view in peace.