Tuesday September 20th

We set out today to see two castles and gardens. When we arrived at the first one and realized they were both closed for the season. What to do??

 

Heading across country with our trusty GPS we headed for Killaloe on the Shannon River. When travelling there we saw some "Travellers". There were about 6 travel trailers parked on the side of the road. One of the trailers even had weights outside of it. Killaloe was a quaint town that is a summer holiday destination. Across the Shannon is the town of Ballina. After we crossed the bridge we were in Tipperary. We thought "It is not a long way from Tipperary in Killaloe"

 

When in Killaloe we found a corner store that had info about the Lough Dreg cruise. We reserved two seats then went walking around town. We went into the Cathedral Church of St. Flannan (Church of Ireland.). In comparison to the R.C. churches we have seen this one was quite simple in decor. Later when we were on the cruise we found out some other passengers had been in the church while the organist was practicing. Would have loved to hear the pipe organ being played.

 

We ate lunch at a park bench beside the river and in front of the Cathedral. When we crossed the river to catch the cruise we realised that there were picnic tables along the water front on this side. We had some time to pass so we went for a walk around the waterfront in Ballina.

 

The cruise took us under the bridge and into the reservoir for the hydro plant down river. I noticed that the Tipperary side of the Shannon had all the water front property. Then I realized that there was an old canal running up the Killaloe side. In the 18^th Century the river was used as a link between Dublin and Limerick. A canal had to be built with a number of locks to raise the barges up the Shannon. This turned Killaloe into a centre of commercial activity.

 

The cruise turned out to be a wonderfully relaxing time. The shores around Lough Derg was full of power boats parked out in front of the properties. We did not think we could afford to live in this area.

 

What a relaxing day we had.