In rural Ireland, surrounded by beautiful landscapes, farmers often rent out extra bedrooms in their large, vintage houses to tourists. The prices are quite reasonable, and they come with a hearty Irish breakfast cooked by the farmers themselves using ingredients produced in the local area. Having a book of B&B's with decent descriptions makes sorting through these properties much easier, as driving along there are many signs proclaiming rooms for rent. Going to every door is time consuming. 
A big advantage of a B&B tour is that you know each room, assuming you choose the slightly more expensive version, has a private bathroom. Our rooms inevitably proved to be cozy with beautiful views, and the breakfasts were always delicious in Ireland.
In the 5th Century, a missionary named Declan established a monastery on a hill overlooking what grew to be the seaside town of Ardmore. It’s a beautiful resort town, and although most of the buildings date from the 12th Century, Ardmore is still a popular resort featuring lively pubs and friendly townspeople.
The beach is probably quite appealing in the summer, and there are lots of great places to hike as well as old architecture to enjoy.
St. Declan’s Cathedral is one of the interesting 12th Century ruins. Wonderful detail work and statues are highlights at this site.
The round tower at Ardmore is heralded as a near perfect example. Round towers are tall stone buildings with conical roofs, usually found near monasteries or churches. Inside, there are wooden floors connected by ladders. The doorways are two to three meters above the ground, and the monks would climb a ladder to get inside the roundhouse and then pull the ladder in after them, making it difficult for their enemies to get to them. Rather than to escape enemies, newer theories claim that the high doors were to protect the structural integrity of the buildings, possibly against flooding. The fact that they have survived hundreds of years attests that.
Clerics hid manuscripts and other valuables inside when they knew Viking raiders were approaching.
It has been theorized that the towers served as lookouts for approaching enemies, but more likely these were built more as belfries, or bell towers, which were popular in Europe around the time these were built. The Irish word for round tower is cloictheach, which means bell house.
It was another cold day, so rather than paying admission to kiss the Blarney Stone, which Julie felt was just a tourist trap, we enjoyed hot tea near Blarney Castle. Despite flaunting the tradition of actually kissing the stone, we’ve enjoyed lots of good luck since being in its general proximity.
A big advantage of a B&B tour is that you know each room, assuming you choose the slightly more expensive version, has a private bathroom. Our rooms inevitably proved to be cozy with beautiful views, and the breakfasts were always delicious in Ireland.
In the 5th Century, a missionary named Declan established a monastery on a hill overlooking what grew to be the seaside town of Ardmore. It’s a beautiful resort town, and although most of the buildings date from the 12th Century, Ardmore is still a popular resort featuring lively pubs and friendly townspeople.
The beach is probably quite appealing in the summer, and there are lots of great places to hike as well as old architecture to enjoy.St. Declan’s Cathedral is one of the interesting 12th Century ruins. Wonderful detail work and statues are highlights at this site.
The round tower at Ardmore is heralded as a near perfect example. Round towers are tall stone buildings with conical roofs, usually found near monasteries or churches. Inside, there are wooden floors connected by ladders. The doorways are two to three meters above the ground, and the monks would climb a ladder to get inside the roundhouse and then pull the ladder in after them, making it difficult for their enemies to get to them. Rather than to escape enemies, newer theories claim that the high doors were to protect the structural integrity of the buildings, possibly against flooding. The fact that they have survived hundreds of years attests that.Clerics hid manuscripts and other valuables inside when they knew Viking raiders were approaching.
It has been theorized that the towers served as lookouts for approaching enemies, but more likely these were built more as belfries, or bell towers, which were popular in Europe around the time these were built. The Irish word for round tower is cloictheach, which means bell house.
It was another cold day, so rather than paying admission to kiss the Blarney Stone, which Julie felt was just a tourist trap, we enjoyed hot tea near Blarney Castle. Despite flaunting the tradition of actually kissing the stone, we’ve enjoyed lots of good luck since being in its general proximity.
