Day 7 2016 – the Rock of Cashel and Joni Mitchell
Day 7 involved a fairly lengthy drive from Ennis to Dublin. After our usual yoga and writing morning, we climbed on the bus.
We stopped for lunch and did some shopping at the Blarney Woollen Mills at Bunratty. Most of us could have spent even more time there and done more damage, but there were some pretty gorgeous, decked out divas in traditional Irish knits after that stop.
Our biggest historical stop that day was the immense Rock of Cashel, also known as the Rock of Kings, a spectacular group of medieval buildings set on an outcrop of limestone in County Tipperary.
From this high vantage point you can see for miles and miles. Easy to understand why it would be a fortress of power. The Rock of Cashel is one of Ireland’s most spectacular archaeological sites. Sturdy walls circle an enclosure containing a complete round tower, a 13th-century Gothic cathedral and the finest 12th-century Romanesque chapel in Ireland, home to some of the land’s oldest frescoes.
The scent of stone, the push of the damp Irish wind… Nothing like adding veracity and sensory detail to one’s writing.
Standing inside the roofless buildings, one can nonetheless feel the weight of age and stone, the presence of the old kings and queens.
That night was a free night in Dublin. Some of us found a pub with a fantastic musician – highly entertaining and highly entertained by the noisy Canadians. When he exhausted his Joni Mitchell and Neil Young repertoire, we might have helped out. Pints of Guinness might have been involved.
Only those who were there that night know the truth. What happens in Dublin stays in Dublin!
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