Tralee to Limerick - Bunratty Castle

　
Friday 20^th MayWe left this B & B around 9.30am.Our hostess Peggy O’Shea was a real Irish talker and rather eccentric who obviously “ran a tight ship.” No messing about with this lady!! We did win her over though and she even offered us a second cup of tea!!
We stopped in Tralee for an hour or two and walked through the rose garden. Unfortunately the roses hadn’t bloomed yet. Our next stop was to the museum where we saw a graphical history of Ireland - amazing, we even had a walk through a medieval village looking so life like. We then walked into Tralee town to see the shops. It has been so bitterly cold that Warren bought a pair of jeans and we both bought a long sleeve top each.
We then drove around the coast and stopped at Glin for a picnic lunch still rugged up to try and keep the cold wind out.
From here we drove to Limerick where we were staying for the next 2 nights. Sheila was our hostess and we arrived around 6.30 after spending a bit of time trying to find her place. We had come off the freeway one stop too soon. She had some friends there who were meant to leave when we arrived but ended up staying for dinner. They were good company too. We had a lot of laughs with them all.
We had a small room with a double bed, I was squashed up next to the wall and had trouble sleeping. I woke early this morning with a heavy nose bleed which took some time to stop.
Sat 21^st May First up was Bunratty Castle - being a fortified tower house it offered us cover in the event of rain. The weather was meant to be very wet so we felt it was a good reason to go there first. We were all very impressed with everything. The history is everywhere here in Ireland and so interesting. There was a full scale original village inside the castle grounds which we walked through and had a Bailey’s coffee in the original pub where they had displayed “Jacob’s Biscuits” This old biscuit Co was wned by my great aunt Edith and her husband. We loved the old school still set up with a boys entrance and a girls entrance to separate classrooms. - Similar to Sovereign Hill but centuries older. All the shops were from the past and we saw many small dwellings still set up how they used to be. We walked past one small grass enclosure where we saw a Shetland pony and her tiny foal which looked like it was only hours old. It was so cute.
Then we went into this amazing castle which was built in 1425. During the 16^th and 17^th centuries it was a stronghold of the O’Briens - kings and earls of Thomond. It is furnished with 15^th and 16^th century furnishings which are still in top condition. It was very impressive and we did enjoy walking up and down the tiny circular steps into each room which brought oohs and aahhs. What fantastic history was in this place but it must have been so, so very cold in those days. They have medieval castle banquets every night of the year here. There were hundreds of tourists pouring in, in their busloads while we were having lunch outside in the car park in the pouring rain. The wettest day we have had so far.
We drove into Limerick, driving past King John’s castle. Then the others all went into the Hunt Museum. I was not feeling 100 percent so had a rest in the car. We arrived back at our Servas stay and enjoyed a traditional Irish meal of bacon and cabbage - in bed by 10.30.