Doolin to Killarney (6/8)

The remains of the castle at Adare

Our agreed lunchtime stop was Adare.  Heading off first enabled us to explore a little on the way.  In a number of areas we passed, it would appear that (just like in Australia) real estate has taken over from agriculture.  Some rather large residences have been built on what would originally have been small fields and they have large expanses of lawn around them.  Some of the farming land didn't look in the best of condition, and rather a large number of fields had been left fallow making us wonder about the viability of farming in the area.  Another indication was that the numbers of livestock were not great.

The tiny cloisters

Adare is quite a picturesque village  Indeed it has the reputation of being one of Ireland's prettiest, and therefore is very much on the tour coach agenda.  There are quite a few thatched cottages, and the shops are painted all the colours of the rainbow.  A castle (belonging to the Desmond family) was built here in the late 12th century to guard th ford across the river Maigue.  As its height, Adare boasted 3 monasteries, but Henry VIII found them and fleeced and destroyed them as he was inclined to do.
The church of the Augustinian priory, founded in 1316, was restored in 1807, and the refectory building was roofed in 1814 to become a schoolhouse which is
still functioning today.  It also had its cloisters, the smallest we have seen - only 10 metres by 10 metres.

We're not sure this is quite correct,
but they do provide a good service.

There is obviously a lot of craftwork done in the village as was indicated by the displays in the large information centre which also houses a small museum.  It could also be seen in the way the buildings in the village have been decorated.  Being a fine day for a change we enjoyed a drink outside one of the more colourful pubs in the village before moving on to Killarney via Limerick (in which we went round in circles a few times!)

The travellers at the priory
(minus the photographer of course)

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