Castles

Castles

Apologies for the format of the last posting. I did not take the laptop with me to Ireland. I am doing the blog from my ipad. It seems the blog site I have been using does not accept formating including paragraph breaks from an ipad. It does not accept photos from the ipad either. I just bought the ipad app so maybe things will get better. . .That said I am continuing to write. There may be photos as I figure out the new app.

We landed in Ireland and the lush green land called to us. We immediately decided to check out property. Being homeless seems an unnatural state for Kaplans. All the rain and wind conjured up Sea Ranch, and all the Killarny, Kilkenny and Kinsale seemed to make Kaplan fit right in.

Since nowhere is it more true that a man's home is his castle, we previewed three castles in two days. Our first stop was Powerscourt, a vast property of 47 acres originally a 13th century castle altered in the 18th century. The house is in need of a wee bit of care but the gardens are specutacular. They include an Italian garden, a Japanese garden, a rhododendron garden, among others, as well as two large spouting fountains, two Monet worthy water lily ponds and 20 square miles of fields to mow. It was beautiful even in the rain but somehow we do not see ourselves sitting on a mower for the rest of our lives. The staff was not included in the deal.


Next stop was Kilkenny Castle which was built in 1195 by William Marshal, 1st Earl of Pembroke. This one has been remodeled and added on to often through the centuries. The current highlight being a portrait gallery of immense proportions, until abandon by the last owners the Butler family in the 1930's. The current owner, the city of Kilkenny, has received tremendous help fom the Irish Office of Public Works in the restoration. I think we would have a problem getting Tern and Auke and the rest of our clan to sit for their portaits to fill up the gallery. That one also did not quite fit our needs.


Our third property visit was to The Rock of Cashel. This property began life as a church and monastery. It is in dreadful condition but is being worked on by OPW. The attraction here is location, location, location. It is situated on a steep hill above the town of Cashel and is open to a 360 degree view. The wind whistles and blows huge stones from the walls, plants grow in crevaces, and rain pours in due to the lack of roof and windows. This one is a real fixer upper. I think we are too old for this.


So we keep looking.
Anita