Day 32 - Monday 27th August

 I did not sleep well last night because there was a lot of noise all night. Initially I thought someone was moving furniture in the next room. Then I thought it was thunder. Finally I concluded it was just very strong wind (and perhaps thunder).

When we arrived last night, the B&B owner told us we would enjoy the view when we opened the curtains in the morning. It was certainly a pleasant view of the stream and the steep wooded hill on the other side but we saw it through heavy rain being blown almost horizontal by strong winds.

Downstairs, we enjoyed a simple breakfast in the conservatory. The house looks as though it was purpose built as a B&B and recently built.

Today's first stop was to be nearby Glendalough Monastery. The original plan was to walk there from the B&B. This was to be a 15 minute walk starting by using stepping stones to cross the stream. However, when we got back from breakfast, the stream had risen to cover the stepping stones. We would have been washed away.

Instead we checked out of the B&B at 10am and drove to the monastery site.

First we went into the visitors centre to have a look at the exhibition and see a 15-minute film about the history of the monastery.

Originally we thought it would be too wet to visit the ruins but after the documentary, the rain was starting to ease and so we ventured out. The centrepiece of the ruins is the round tower (a common feature in religious places of the time). We also saw the remains of a cathedral and gravestones.

The stream that runs through the site was flowing quickly and its height was increasing. So it looked as though it would soon be flowing over the  numerous pedestrian bridges that span the creek.

Back in the visitor centre, I asked the people at the counter if the creek ever floods. They told me it does and one of them showed me a mark on the wall in the theatre were the water had risen to some years ago - ruining most of the centre. He said the hotel next to the visitor centre floods regularly and they can't get insurance.

At about 11am, we set off and drove through nearby Laragh and stopped at the Blarney woollen mills factory outlet where Suzy spent almost an hour. She bought a jumper for John.

The next destination was to be Kilkenny. Not too far up the road, we stopped for a photo opportunity of the creek rushing down the hillside towards the monastery area.

The journey took us along numerous narrow country roads. It was slow progress made harder by regular puddles that covered the road. Eventually we got onto a motorway that took us to Kilkenny.

The main street of Kilkenny was very attractive with its painted shops. However it was slow going because the street was very narrow and was busy with cars and pedestrians.

We found a parking spot about 10 minutes walk from the town centre and walked back to Kilkenny Castle. By that time, the rain had stopped.

Before visiting the castle, we had lunch at a restaurant across the road and Suzy spent time in the shops next door.

The castle is in the centre of the town and is set on large grounds with a vast park area behind the castle. We did a self-guided tour of castle with the assistance of a brochure and signs. There were also helpful attendants along the way giving more information about the areas we visited. They have done an excellent job in restoring the castle.

After looking through the castle, we went to the rose garden which gives a good view of the castle and the river.

The next task was to drive to Cashel where we had booked accommodation for the night. Once again, the journey was a mixture of narrow roads and motorways. As we approached Cashel, the heavy rain returned.

Baileys Hotel is in the main street of Cashel. It is a four-storey structure that looked as though it might have been a rich family's mansion when it was build about 250 years ago.

Our room was on the first floor at the front of the building overlooking the street. Things seemed to be going well with getting our bags up to the first floor because there was a lift but then, strangely, we had to go down half a flight of stairs and then up another half a flight of stairs to get to our room.

The room itself was very nicely decorated and spacious with dark timber panelling and tasteful furniture and a king sized bed - in fact, it looked bigger than king size. From our room, we could see the top of the Rock of Cashel monument that we'd be visiting in the morning.

Thankfully the room had cable internet and so the connection speed was quite good. They told us that the WiFi was only available in the lounge area downstairs. However we found we had quite good WiFi reception in our room - probably because we were just above the lounge area.

However, there was no air conditioning in our room - some rooms had air conditioning but not ours.

Unsurprisingly, there is no parking the hotel building or in the street and so they offer parking in a car park 50m down the street. At reception they gave me a keypad code to get into the car park. We've been caught before in Europe with car parks that are more like 500m down the road rather than 50m and keypads that just don't work when you get there but in this case my fears were unfounded because it all worked as described.

Luckily, we remembered that we had to go online to pay the eFlow toll for the motorway last night near Dublin airport.

After settling in, we walk up the main street to see the town - it's very small. Suzy bought some things in a supermarket but managed to pick the wrong queue and had to wait forever to get served.

For dinner, we went to the Cellar Bar which in the lower level at the hotel below reception. It gets good reviews in Trip Advisor and we could see why. We got chatting to the couple in the table next to us because we recognised their Australian accents. They are from Wollongong.