Do you want fries with that?

Apparenty, the answer to that question is aways "yes" in Ireland. One night we ate at a Chinese restaraunt. When the waitress took our order she asked what side we wanted, meaning rice or fries (chips). We got the rice of course. At the table next to ours they got bowls of fries and then put their curry and other entrees over the fries. Very weird (at least to us).
At almost every meal fries have been an option as a side. We even saw a breakfast meal that was 2 eggs, 2 pieces of ham, and fries. The other day we ate in a cafeteria-style restaurant and the teenager in front of us got an order of fries with gravy poured all over them. She also had a bag of soemthing akin to Cheetos. What was she thinking?!

Kesh

On Tuesday we went to the library in Enniskillen to do some family history on my side of the family. We found some names of possible family members who lived close to each other in northern Fermanagh county. So the wonderful librarian called someone she knew who was in charge of the parish records at the church in Kesh. We headed up there early to check out the area and have some dinner at a great pub. The food was gourmet and dessert was amazing! We accidentally ordered two different ones. So good!

The pictures below were taken as we drove down the tiny main street in Kesh. There were British and English flags flying all over. We asked the lady at the church about it and she said it was because of the anniversary of the Troubles which is July 12.

These next few pictures are of the Ardess House, an Anglican Church, where we walked around the graveyard and looked at the records. Unfortunately, we didn't find any more information.

Castle Coole

On Tuesday we decided to see Castle Coole, a large estate which isn't a castle at all! We felt like we were in Jane Austen's time period. I can just imagine walking around the grounds. The pictures below are the stables building where they kept their horses plus those of visiting guests. It was huge!

This is one of the first buses. It was drawn by horses and seated 14 people--eight inside and six above.

As we left stable area we noticed some doors leading to a long tunnel This was the tunnel the servants used between the stables and the house. There were large areas along the tunnel for storing food, etc. Also there were skylights (holes in the ceiling) to add some light.

This was a walkway heading towards the house.

And finally the home! Absolutely gorgeous! We didn't take the tour but peeked into the windows--it was so elegant and huge.

There were lakes and many buildings all over the grounds. We only saw a tiny area of the estate.

Cool signs

We were driving around and loved these signs.

Enniskillen B&B walkabout

We are in Enniskillen in Northern Ireland now and are staying at another B&B There are a couple of walks that begin at the gate in front of the house. This walk was to the small lake nearby. We had to climb over a stile into the pasture, walk through the cows, and finally some woods to get to the lake. It was so beautiful! This is the road in front of the B&B.

View from the small dock at the little lake.

Some cows we met along the way.

This picture is of the bay of one of the lakes and it was taken from the field high above the lake.

This is what the area looks like where we are staying. It's really green and wooded. So different from the Dingle Peninsula.

Beehive huts

We were excited to see these beehive huts. They were built about 4000 years ago and were inhabited until 1200 A.D. They were made so the rain would slope away from the interior of the inside. The walls are 1 1/2 meters thick. There are many of these remnants all over the southeastern part of Ireland, but very few are fully intact. Some of them were used by monks following St. Patrick.

To get to these huts we hiked with the goats! They didn't really mind us being there.

The Beach

This was the beach we found that day. We stopped and took off our shoes, rolled up our pants, and waded. The water was cold, but it was so awesome to be in the northern Atlantic Ocean!

We walked down the beach for a ways and found this cave. It was low tide and we were able to go all the way in and took this picture from the back.

Gallarus Oratory

This was so cool to see! This early Christian church was built between the 7th and 8th century. It was made without mortar and is still standing well. The design of the building allows the rain to drip off the edges of the stones. It is still dry inside after all these centuries.

This was a burial tomb with the Celtic cross on it. They would place white stones on the burial sites. The guide said it could have been a pilgrimage ritual.

Kilmalkadar

One of the first places we saw on the peninsula was this church. It dates back to the 12th century. This plaque describes the church.

To get to the church you had to go over a stone fence that had steps built into it like in Larkrise to Candleford! So cool!

This is the church. It has a nave and a chancel. The stone work is so cool!

The picture on the left below is the alphabet stone. It was used to teach the latin alphabet back in the 6th century. The stone on the right is a ogham stone. It was around the same age.

Driving the Dingle Peninsula

Since Dad had mastered the fine art of driving in Ireland we decided to drive around the Dingle Peninsula. This video shows what we encountered as we were driving.

This was a sign across the street from the restaurant we ate at. There was a pier down a steep drive and we thought it was a clever way to let people know about the danger!

Dinner in Dingle

After we met with Jimmy we told him we needed a good place to eat. He suggested a place five minutes away which happened to be run by his cousin. It was right on the bay and we h ad a lovely view.

The food was delicious and the portions huge. I had hake with a spicy ginger sauce and Dad had salmon. It was beautiful to look at too!

He actually sat down with us when we arrived to talk to us for a bit and to explain the menu. And he offered to take our picture as well!

Walk around the B&B

We wanted to go for a walk after the drive around the peninsula (pics to follow) and Jimmy told us a great way to go--all on his family's farm.

This little stream was just down the drive from the house. It was so beautiful!

We were walking down the road and saw these two. The foal is just two weeks old and was so cute! They belong to Jimmy's brother who lives back behind Jimmy. So we walked around and did a loop and returned to the B&B and as we came into the dining room we looked out the window only to see the same horse and foal. Jimmy had brought her over to his field to have them eat the grass because it had grown too high. He took the short cut through the field.

These are the cows that had just been driven down the same road we had just walked on. These are Jimmy's brother's cows. And there are mountains on the peninsula! It was so gorgeous! The sheep are grazed on the hills up as far as they can go.

Here is Cremo sitting on a wall enjoying the scenery and the cows.

Best B&B ever

We followed the directions and found this sign directing us to our next B&B. This place is on a farm with cows, chickens and a very friendly pup.

This is the front of the house. Jimmy is the owner and is also a pastry chef. He runs the B&B three seasons and then heads to New York City for the winter. He welcomed us with herbal tea and cookies and gave us a great suggestion for dinner which was just five minutes away.

After dinner he sat down with us to help us plan our trip around the peninsula.
Here is the view from our window. We slept the best ever here--window open, sea breezes, comfortable bed.

Dad took this picture of Jimmy on our last morning there. We had the fluffiest scrambled eggs and Irish bacon the first morning along with his home-baked scones, muffins, and brown bread. The second morning we had waffles with fruit as well as the same breads. He makes mini muffins and small scones which we were free to snack on anytime. The first night we were there Jimmy asked if we wanted to learn how to make his brown soda bread. It was so cool to be in Ireland watching a chef make the infamous soda bread. He gave us recipes to take home for the scones and bread. Every restaurant serves this bread along with the meal. It's a quick bread with a lot of grains in it. Yum!

We really hated to leave this place! We also met Jimmy's fiance, Noreen, and heard the proposal story from him. He said he told his brother he'd get married before he turned 50 and he'll make it by a year!