I took this photo through the windshield while we were driving through one of the towns, I think this was Tralee.  Most of the towns look just like this, you drive for hours through large stretches of farmland, and then a few minutes through a tight little town and then out into the open green fields again.

See how narrow the roads are and how the building are all connected?  Each building stands out separate from their neighbor through the use of color.

The following night instead of staying in a pub we stayed in a fifth generation bed and breakfast.  It has been a working farm all this time. When we arrived Mary Murphy seated us in her formal sitting room and served us tea.

 Steve and I sat in victorian style high back chairs looking out to the view of  cows grazing in her front yard. Everywhere in the room,  on the mantel piece, on the walls, were photographs of her ancestors, in oval frames watching us sip our tea.

Our bedroom had a tall bed with a bug fluffy duvet cover and the bathroom had the longest claw foot antique tub I had ever seen.

In the morning we had a full Irish breakfast in her beautiful dining room, the table had a linen tablecloth and all the food was served on antique fine china, we could look out the large picture window and see the stretching views of her farmland, or look at the landscape paintings she had on the wall.  We were served homemade fresh peach yogurt, and fresh slices of warm brown bread that we buttered with her very old heavy silverware. Steve and I  were very proper and almost whispered as we talked.

When we were finished we asked to use her internet to secure our reservations for the next place we were staying.  She brought us to the back kitchen, where her appliances had not been updated since the 50's and in the middle of the kitchen was a massive butcher block table and seated around were her family members and farmhands. They raised their ripped off pieces of brown bread to me and said things like "Cheers"" and acted  apologetic to have me see them back there in their overalls, with the collie at the back screen door and Mary busy rolling out another loaf of brown bread (the same recipe that has been in the family for all these generations)  oh what they did not understand was my heart was to be in there with them, ripping off my own piece of bread and just listening and smiling like an idiot!

"The country farmhouse kitchen, is the seat of family life."  The Irish Countryman

We headed to the ring of Kerry and our first stop was a Franciscan Friary called Muckross Abbey built in 1448.  When it was first being built there was a Yew tree planted in the middle, it is now considered the oldest living thing in Ireland.  

The tour book said the Abbey is Haunting and serene, really they are the best two words to describe this Abbey where most of the roof has long since disappeared and the halls are empty with only the sound of your own footsteps.  I can see why it would be easy to "feel" more spiritual here, it was so secluded with a large graveyard, and corridors to walk down, the heavy stonework.  It is easy to think that my thoughts would be more clear and focused, with all the quiet and nature around me, every bird and falling leaf speaking of the Creator.  I thought about how nice it would be to spend hours and hours here.

Jesus did break away to gardens and woods, he did walk off alone to pray, but then I thought, He always came back to be with people, to find the hungry souls and feed them.  It wasn't about the trees, and heavy stone work, and silence.

In the graveyard behind the abbey

There were a few different paths to choose from leading out from the Abbey.  One path  was tree lined, with yew woods on either side, next time I will go down and see where that leads..but as it was we had many miles to go before we slept and so we had to take the path most taken.

This yew tree was the closest to the Abbey and looked as old as it's sister tree inside the Abbey, a few men could wrap their arms around it and not touch hands.  The trunk looks like a huge root system.  The castle (Aughnanure) that I talked about a few posts back, used to have yew woods on all sides, but they were chopped down to make weapons in medieval times. Aughnanure means "Field of the Yews" .

While we were walking around the Abbey Steve tape recorded the sound of the wind and the leaves falling to the ground. 

One of the best views on the Ring Of Kerry is called Ladies View, it was a foggy  morning so it was not as clear but you can still make out  Mcgillycuddy's Reeks in the background.  They are the highest mountain range in Ireland, and at the foot of these mountains are the famous lakes of Killarney.