I’m a morning person, and this was a beautiful way to start the mornings in Adare. This was the view out our back door.

On Friday, we stayed a little closer to home. We knew tour buses came to Adare, so we thought we should see it, too, since that was our home base. We went to the Visitor’s Center, the public library (very small), and then took the walking path to St. Nicholas Church, a Church of Ireland Church that used to be an Augustinian Abbey.

There were fascinating stories in the church. There were plaques saying who the windows were in memory of. One man was a governor of India. One woman was the daughter of a governor in the West Indies. Old plaques, and fascinating stories.

The ruins are along the road, on the property of Adare Manor.

From there, we walked to Holy Trinity Abbey Church, the church we would attend later that evening. Along the way, we passed a few of the thatched cottages that are right on the main road. Some are shops, and some are private homes.

There’s a Russian icon in the church.

Behind the church is a cemetery. OK, I have a warped sense of humor. There was a man digging a grave in the cemetery while another man stood and talked with him. They were just casually telling stories, and all I could think of was the gravediggers in Hamlet.

Adare Town Park is a charming park, again right on the main road.

Some of the houses and shops along our walk. (I love that last door and the crooked posts.)

Here’s one of my favorite photos from our walk. This dog was peering in the window of his house. A woman came out, and gave this dog and another dog a bowl of water. As soon as she went back in the house, the dog ran back to peer in again. Kevin’s comment – “Hey, I didn’t want water. I want in!”

Had to take a photo of the sign for the Garda, the police.

Linda was right, though. We did all of downtown Adare in about 3 1/2 hours. She said we really should have done something else. She got a little antsy in the afternoon back at the villa, so late in the day, we went to Limerick. I have to admit this was the only ugly city we saw on the trip. Even the castle was uglier than the other ones. The part of town we saw was gritty and grim. But, here was a castle, right in the city because at the time it was built, it made sense to build it on the river. This one was a big fortress.

After taking pictures of the castle and river, we went to another church and cemetery. We weren’t the only ones who couldn’t get in this church! People were wandering around, trying to find a door that was open because there was supposed to be lecture there that afternoon. No one could find an open door, even though there were cars in the parking lot. This time, it wasn’t just us that couldn’t get in a church.

At least Holy Trinity Abbey Church was open when we went to Mass. That was an interesting experience. Tons of families with little kids. And, they were funny, waving at each other. It turned out it was the first time all the kids came together from three schools, kids who will be making their First Communion. It was a lively Mass. We went to dinner from there, and then back to the villa. Kevin and I sat and watched the Ohio State football game, Kevin on his iPad, while I watched it on my phone. (We cheer for Ohio State even in Ireland, although the sports bar in town had the Notre Dame football game on.)