Thank the Lord and the Fairies!!!

January 9, 2010 7:04 pm
That phrase was used by our bus driver today after we arrived in Kilkenny safely. He had been explaining the Irish lore about fairies on the way down. In Ireland it is believed that fairies are of a magical realm and children up until the age of 8 can see them. The fairies are there to protect the people of Ireland, but if you make them angry, they will curse your family line for five generations. For example, there once was a family in which they had a fairy burial ground in their field (the Irish pagens believed in fairies but not God so these fairy burial grounds are legit!) During the potatoe famine they were having horrible times so they wanted to sell their property and move to America. They believed if they plowed over the fairy burial ground their land would sell better. After a few days grass began growing beautifully over the land that used to be a burial and a potential buyer came to the door. He offered the family twice of what they asked for. They thought that was strange because it was a time of hunger, but they took it so they would have enough to send their whole family over to America. Soon, they became one of the most influential families in America, but it was obvious they were cursed. It was the Kennedy's. Crazy isn't it?! The Irish blame the fairies for everything that has happened to the Kennedy's.
Anywho...this morning I got up at 6:10 a.m. to partake in my first real shower in this apartment. The water stayed warm for 3 minutes!! That was long enough...I was in and out of there pretty fast! My roomates, Katy Hood, and her roomate Meghan all journeyed over to the Paddywagon bus station to catch our bus to Kilkenny. The weather said it was supposed to be sunny with a few flurries. WRONG...it was if the sky bust open when we were walking over there. It was a beautiful snowfall however, big fluffy flakes that gracefully cling to everything making it beautiful. Dublin received 3 cm of snow, but you would have thought the world had stopped moving! People refused to drive and go to work, but our bus was still running! These Irish individuals aren't as tough as Iowans! Due to the weader (as Irish ppl say) we did not get to go to Glendough which is where Braveheart was filmed, and a beautiful part of Ireland..that was disappointing. But to attempt to make up for it, our busdriver brought us to Brownshill Dolmen which is a huge pile of rocks in the middle of a field that the King of Carlo from 5,000 years ago is buried under. They have found arrowheads and pottery around this but they haven't ever excavated it so they do not know exactly what it is. It was cool. In this 20 degree weather the walk was very very chilly but a lot of pretty photo ops presented themselves.
After the Brownshill Dolmen we got back on the bus and headed for Kilkenny. After an hour and a half ride (we all slept) we arrived to discover that the castle and cathedrals were shut down due to the 3 cm of snow. That was disappointing as well but I got some good pictures. We had two hour free time in which we went to a tea shop and ate. I had DELICIOUS seafood chowder there with bread. It warmed me up quite a bit and then the 6 of us went out to face the cold again! We took pictures of the Kilkenny castle which was once owned by the Butler family. They had been Butlers to the King and Queen...they bought a beautiful castle and took care of the people of Kilkenny, and the people took care of them. I wish we could have had a tour, it was breathtaking from the outside. After taking pictures of the castle we were mortified at what we saw next. Cannibal birds of Kilkenny!! The birds are confused as to the weather, therefore they have no food. We saw a crow attack and kill a poor robin. It was awful and brutal and we all stared in complete and utter shock for quite awhile..it was awful. It is burned into my memory and I will probably never forget it. After that excruciating experience we went and walked around St. Canice's Chathedral. It was neat from the outside. There was a graveyard surrounding it that had some of the grey stone tombs above ground (creepy). We then saw St. Mary's Cathedral which was neat on the inside. I love the architecture of old churches..the beams and the gothic look amazing and the history behind them is fascinating. I would tell you the history but I do not know it due to it not being open for tours...i'm not bitter I promise :) . It was great to get out of Dublin and see a smaller quainter town for awhile!
Tonight some of us are going to Temple Bar to meet Kelsey (my cousin!). I'm really excited about that!