Ireland: Part 4

On our free day we hired a driver with the Huntons and headed out to see the Irish countryside.  It was beautiful! There are a lot of pictures here, but I had so many that were worth posting.

On our way out, the driver stopped at this location that had a beautiful view of the Irish Sea and Dalkey Island. The island is uninhabited today, but it still has remains of original inhabitants dating back to the stone age.

More views of the Irish Sea.

SO beautiful!!

 We drove out to a place called Powerscourt Gardens.
The current house was completed in 1741. Where it stands was once a 13th century medieval castle owned by the Le Power family.

Behind the house is a huge beautiful garden.

There are views of the nearby Wicklow Mountains

The first area you see is known as the Italian Garden.

There are trails you can follow that lead to more wooded areas. It is so big, we didn't even get to see it all.

There is a Pet's Cemetery where the pets of the Wingfield and Slazenger families are buried.

This colorful area is known as the Japanese Garden

We saw this friendly guy on our way out.

Next we went further out into the countryside.

All the little white spots are sheep.

I know this is a terrible picture! I took it through the window while we were driving.

We were running a little tight on time because we had to be back for dinner, so we didn't have time to stop. I wanted to take a picture though, because this area was where part of the movieBraveheart was made.

More sheep:)..........

This is the River Liffey, near it's origin.

I've always heard that Ireland was beautiful and we were not disappointed.

We were so grateful for the opportunity to go!

Ireland: Part 3

I thought I would post a few pictures of some of the yummy food and restaurants we experienced in Ireland.

This is Brent with Dr. Hunton at a really nice restaurant we ate at the first night.

 Here we are with Dr. Hunton and his wife, Terri. They brought their lucky daughter, Tori, who is in med-school, along. We had a great time with them during the week.

One day we ate lunch at Johnnie Fox's Pub. It was outside the city in a really beautiful area. Supposedly this is where all the famous people who visit Dublin come to eat.

Inside the Pub

This was a place called the Merry Ploughboy. It was a dinner show with an Irish band and dancers.  They took the whole group here together.

The famous Guinness Storehouse. 

We were running short on time and decided not to go in and do the tour.

We did, however, go in and tour this place......a few times. 

Butler's Chocolate Cafe. YUM!

 The last night we all attended a dinner at the hotel. It was a very fancy five course meal and was a wonderful way to end the trip!

Ireland: Part 2

The purpose of our trip to Ireland was to be a part of a pilgrimage to learn about the life of Catherine McAuley, and the other first Sisters of Mercy, to whom the Mercy health ministry traces its roots and founding origin.

On the first day we visited the "House of Mercy on Baggot Street". This was where, in 1827, Catherine McAuley officially began her Mercy ministry when she inherited money and opened the house for women and children. 

She chose to build the house in the middle of the wealthy part of the city so the poverty that existed couldn't be ignored by wealthy citizens. This area is now mostly businesses, but at that time was lined with Georgian houses of wealthy families.

This is Sister Jeanette, who was one of our guides, with a statue of Catherine McAuley outside the House of Mercy.

Over the years, the house served as a home for women and children, a school for poor children, a home to train poor women a trade, and a hospital for those affected by typhoid fever and other illnesses. 

They asked that we not take pictures inside so this is the last one as we were entering.

I took this one picture from inside since it was actually of the outside. It was from a prayer room overlooking the courtyard where something like 15-20 of the the sisters who had served at the house are buried.

Outside in the Courtyard in front of the actual tomb where Caherine is buried.

(Is it weird to pose for a picture in front of someone's grave?)

The next day we went to Kingstowne, Dun Laoghaire. This is where Catherine McAuley opened her first foundation after the House of Mercy, for the Sisters to be by the seaside for recovery from their own illnesses or just to be rejuvenated.

It was really rainy the day we went there, but these were some pictures from the top of the building showing the Irish Sea.

 These were actually taken from the top of a fairly new building next door to the original building. It is used as a retirement home for the Sisters.

 

We toured the original foundation building which is connected to a hospital that is still open. 

I'll just say I'm very grateful I didn't need medical attention while we were there.

This is the outside of the building.

Later we went to this house which is known as the Coolock House. Catherine lived here with a wealthy family for 20 years after her own parents died. This is who she got the inheritance from that she used to build the House of Mercy.

Today some of the Sisters run several different ministries from the house.

We got to have tea with the sisters that afternoon. They were all so nice and we really enjoyed visiting with them. One of my favorite parts of the trip was the 94 year old nun (in the very back at the head of the table on the left) who had a Guinness (beer) apron on when she served us tea. HA!!!

**I found a couple of pictures on a different card that I added to the post from yesterday. I know you don't want to miss those:)