The Blarney Castle estate lies beside the Blarney River on one side walked and a man-made lake on the other. between these two water courses lies 60 acres of sprawling parklands which are around - absolutely stunning. Just look at the map to see how extensive the grounds are! Blarney Estate has a diverse range of trees, ferns and garden flowers.There were unusually shaped trees, a garden full of plants that were used as poisons and a fern-glen garden full of tree ferns from Tasmania. 
These tree ferns have adapted well to the wet conditions in Ireland but do not grow as tall or as vigorously as the ones we have at home. We spent quite some time reading about many of the plants that have poison toxins and we were surprised to learnt that some plants we have in our gardens have poisonous toxins. In the Poison Garden, all of the plant displays are sign posted with information about, their toxicity, traditional and modern-day used. In the heart of the Castle gardens lies the fern garden. It is surrounded by woodland and it's pathway winds down into a limestone cliff area where tree ferns and 80 varieties of ferns are nourished from the decaying autumn leaves and watered from a cascading waterfall. It was a quiet, peaceful but cold and damp area which suited the fern down to the ground.( excuse the pun)
Blarney Castle's grounds contain an exceptional collection of specium trees. Some of them are the largest of their kind on Ireland. Many of them are rare and unusual; such as the Wollemi Pine ( discovered in the Blue Mountains just 10 years ago),Foxglove Tree and The Tree of Heaven which date back to the 1970's and 1980's. However, some existing mature trees on the Estate, such as Yews, Limes and Spannish Chestnuts are much older, maybe up to 600 years old. New species are being added every year to enhance the tree collection at Blarney Castle. We really enjoyed the peaceful woodland walk that encircles the estate and follows the river. We heard nothing but pigeons cooing and jays calling and we spotted swans on the river and a kingfisher on a floating log.
At the end of our garden walk of discovery we bundled ourselves into a dimly lit. Cave beneath the castle walls. It had tunnels that we did not venture down because the ceiligwas wet and very low. It is thought that these tunnel sad cave were used as escape routes from the Castle in days long ago.We ended our Castle visit with coffee, jam and scones in the former stables of Blarney Castle.
After leaving the castle we headed off for the town of Kinsale, but stopped to look at Charles Fort which overlooks the town and ids beside the River Brandon, a channel of water that flows from the ocean towards the town of Kinsale. The Fort is famous because it played a role in defending Ireland when the Spanish Amarda attacked and lost.
Kinsale is also situated on River Brandon and it's a peaceful Irish resort town which has historic medieval architecture in many of its' houses and quaint brightly coloured shops, pubs and narrow cobbled lanes and streets.
We found a helpful chemist and Vix and Fishermen's Friends as there's a throat and coughing bug travelling through the ship and it's best to be forearmed. The skies were still white with no sunshine as we wandered through the town and then it became overcast with grey colours and it started to rain but it started to rain (which is not unusual for Ireland) but apparently Ireland has not seen rain for some time either, because of the heatwave conditions which have struck Europe over the past few weeks. Like England, much of the grass has lost its green colour and looks a pale yellow rather than green.
Our Irish tour guide suggested a good place for lunch and we had a delicious meal of fish and chips (grilled sea bass) and salad before further exploring the in we headed off through the maze-like narrow streets of the town passing brightly coloured shops and cute local pubs and small cafes. When we left the restaurant we found that the rain had set in and it was much cooler. As we headed for Cobh where our ship was berthed.
Whilst walking around Kinsale we came across the local Anglican Church of Ireland and we decided to visit it. The church building is has been built in local stone and it has some lovely stained glass windows and the Lord's Prayer engraved in large gold lettering on Mahoney timber. The present church building was built 850 years ago, though Christians have been worshipping on this site for over 1300 years.
It was raining even heavier when we arrived in Cobh so we had a very short visit to St Finbarr's Cathedral. It is a French Gothic building, complete with medieval gargoyles , marble statues, mosaics and stained glass windows. Its' altar was lavish and the ornate timber ceiling beautifully crafted. Ken badly needed a haircut so when our tour bus turned down a road known as Barber Street, he decided that he'd get out of our people mover, visit an Irish barber and then walk back to the ship in the rain. Nothing like living like the locals! The rest of the group was being driven back to the ship so I lent Ken My purple umbrella so that he'd not catch a chill. Can you see Ken under a purple umbrella in Ireland. I wish he'd taken a selfie. This would have made a great photo shoot. His haircut was very well done and only cost about 15 dollars. 
When Ken returned he saw some local Irish people dressed in national costume, in a marquee near the dock precinct shopping area. It was 6pm on a wet night but they'd come to entertain and to meet and greet our fellow passengers as they returned to the ship, tired and wet but full of stories of the experiences of the day. On board ship at night we were entertained by an Irish band and dancers who presented a lively show of Irish dancing. One male dancers' feet moved so fast as he performed that his feet became a blur. The show also included some Aussie volunteers joining in with a jig with the accomplished Irish dancers and this added to the entertainment.
Ireland may have been grey and overcast and wet but the Irish sure know how to welcome people and they were so friendly and full of fun. The last little bit of history Ken saw as he boarded the ship, in the rain was a bronze statue of a teenage girl and two children with a suitcase, waiting to board the Titanic. They represent a group of Irish orphans who were being relocated to America to be adopted by farmers needing extra workers. Most of the orphans went down with the ship because their accommodation on board the Titan was well below the deck area as passengers whose fare was very low. The statue is in recognition of these Irish orphans who left these shores full of hope for the future.
