Ireland-7 Irish Oddities

This is my last post about our trip to Ireland, and I am going to describe things weird, funny, and delightful that were captured in photographs.

Fairy Paths

At several locations, we saw signs that said “Fairy Walk,” or “Fairy Trail,” or “Fairy Path.” What are these? A little online research reveals they have homes for mystical (or mythological) beings. In any case, we were fascinated.

Pet Cemeteries

On our first day in Ireland, we went to Powerscourt Estate Gardens. One of the weirdest things they have there is a Pet Cemetary, with probably a hundred headstones.

Weird Statues

We saw some weird statues, like this one on the mountain road between Glengarriff and Kenmare.

These weird statues were at Muckross Farm.

This statue was at St Mary’s Church in Kilkenny. I thought the black cloak on the statue was weird.

This statue of Charlie Chaplin was in Waterville, County Kerry. Apparently, Chaplin liked to vacation in Waterville.

Weird Buildings

I had an entire blog post on Buildings, that is impressive buildings. But we also saw weird buildings. This painting of Charlie Chaplin (and who else?) was on the side of a butcher’s in Waterville. Every year Waterville has the Charlie Chaplin Film Festival.

This pub in Waterville has a lobster climbing the wall, holding onto a pint of Guinness. Of course, the pub is called The Lobster.

A Polish Food Store? In Cashel, County Tipperary.

Uncle Sam’s Pizzeria? In Kilkenny.

On the wall of a bakery in Dublin.

And the final Weird Building is a store named Knobs and Knockers. For the uninitiated, Knob is British slang for penis, and Knockers is slang for a women’s breasts.

Weird Signs

My rosé loving wife really liked these two signs about rosé wine.

There were a lot of weird signs for Guinness.

And a last sign…

Dublin Graffiti and Political Signs

A genuine street artist…

In the Temple Bar area of Dublin, there were several blocks with walls covered with Irish political history.

I saw a bunch of these flags when we drove around the Dingle peninsula. I stopped to take pictures, and I asked a man working in his garden about the flag. He said it was the flag for the An Ghaeltacht GAA football team, and he proudly told me that they had won the County Kerry championship. I had previously learned about the GAA, and that it stood for Gaelic Athletic Association. The flag contains a drawing of the Gallarus Oratory, that I mentioned in an earlier blog post.
Cold Water Swimming

The weirdest thing we saw was in Galway. Our B&B was a block from the water, and every time we walked into town we went past the Black Rock Swim School. And there were crazy people swimming there, most without wet suits! The air was probably 60°C. I looked online, and the water temperature in Galway Bay was 54°F.

Jaunting Cars

When we were at Muckross House, we saw lots of signs for Jaunting Cars. What are Jaunting Cars? They are light carriages for a single horse, with a seat in front for the driver. I am used to seeing horse-drawn carriages at lots of tourist places, but I found the phrase Jaunting Car really weird.

Oscar Wilde Statue

In Ireland, Oscar Wilde is a literary hero, and there is a statue of him lounging in Dublin’s Merrion Square.

When we entered the park, there was a poorly worded sign suggesting that the footpath is closed to all except Oscar Wilde.

Actually, after a long detour, we mere mortals can approach the statue.

They also had a series of witty quotations from Wilde etched into stone.

Irish Food

I will finish off with Irish food. It really is not an oddity, but anyway…

Before our trip, I had very low expectations about Irish food. My Irish-American mother, God rest her soul, was not a good cook. (Sorry, Mom!) We had lived in England for two years on the 1980s, and since the food there was awful we expected similar cuisine in Ireland. Well, the Irish food was wonderful. Maybe it was the influence of the E.U.; we had restaurant staff from all over the E.U.

Our first meal in Ireland was on our arrival day, at Powerscourt Estate, and it was a wonderful chicken, mushroom, and bacon pie. One of our best meals was in Kinsale, where we ate at Fishy Fishy (great name!). Fishy Fishy had this fish sculpture out in the garden.

The menu had names on the menu, and I asked. These are the fisherperson’s who caught the fish.

I had the pan roasted monkfish, caught by Christy Hurley, with wild mushroom risotto, tomato salsa, and rocket oil. It was fabulous! And we had a sparkling rosé with dinner! This was the restaurant with the sign saying Real Men Drink Rosé, that is up above.