Ireland: Day 3 (Limerick)

July 29, 2018

Ireland: Day 3 (Limerick)

The next day we awoke to another grey and gloomy and blustery day, which we are getting accustomed as the normal weather pattern here in January. Our hotel is located in the heart of Limerick on Lower Mallow Street just off Henry Street and on the Shannon Bridge Roundabout. Our room is directly facing the Shannon River and the roundabout.

Today is Sunday and church is the first stop for the day. From the hotel, St. John's Cathedral is a short drive away . A block away we found street parking and walked to the cathedral. As with the churches I've seen and visited in Europe, this one is also imposingly large structure.

As it is Sunday and the next service was nearing, parishioners have started to arrive and we were not able to take photos of the interior and sadly were not able to really see the details. We felt being very intrusive and given the church was steadily filling up, we decided it's best to say a little prayer and go on with out day. Too many places to see today.

Just across from the cathedral is the old St. John's Church, which is fenced in and padlocked. Next to it is an old cemetery overrun with weeds. If had an eerie but charming feel to it. Quite fascinating, I thought. Amazing how this little part plot of land gave me the feeling of being transported in the countryside while in fact I am standing just blocks away from what seemed like the financial district, if I am correct in my assumption.

From here, known as Cathedral Square (one side of the square is the old St. John's Church), our next stop is a few blocks away. We opted to go by foot, because we didn't know if there are parking spots available. Also we wanted to walk and see the neighborhood. The Milk Market is the one place we wanted to see in Limerick. We are all about the market you know. On its website it says: "The objectives of the Milk Market are to provide Limerick residents and visitors with access to a wide variety of fresh, local, in-season products, typically directly from the producer."

On this early Sunday morning, there was very little going on in Milk Market. A few stalls were open serving breakfast and one couple had tables full of bric-a-brac, none of the items caught my fancy.

A handful of tables were occupied by locals, we presume, and children and dogs not only share food, they shared play time too. I people-watch while I waited for breakfast which consisted of gallette and coffee. A gallette is basically a savory version of crepe, only it is made with wheat flour and filled with savory items. It paired very nicely with a very strong Irish coffee. Yum.

Our plan for the rest of the day is to drive to Blarney Castle and kiss the stone. From Limerick, the castle and the stone is only an hour and 15 minutes to an hour and 30 minutes drive. On the way, I stubbornly took a few shots from the passing scenery. Surprisingly a few of them turned out well, enough to share here.