As Heritage Ireland says, Kilkenny Castle is a “12th century castle remodelled in Victorian times and set in extensive parklands which was the principal seat of the Butler family, Marquesses and Dukes of Ormonde.” Learning about the Butlers was quite interesting, as they came up over and over later in the trip. I confess that …
There’s a lot going on historically and architecturally at the ancient Rock of Cashel. Heritage Ireland calls it, “A spectacular group of Medieval buildings set on an outcrop of limestone in the Golden Vale including the 12th century round tower, High Cross and Romanesque Chapel, 13th century Gothic cathedral, 15th century Castle and the restored …
Let us consider the Jesuit Relations. First things first. Last night I attended the First Light festival at Sainte-Marie Among the Hurons in Midland, Ontario, a town on Georgian Bay about two hours’ drive north of Toronto. What is Sainte-Marie Among the Hurons? From the Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada plaque: I’ve visited …
It is a very fine thing for world heritage that something like The Great Blasket Centre exists as a model. As the brochure says: A picture is worth a thousand words, and a video even more, so have a look at “The Last Islandman Returns to his Birthplace, the Great Blasket,” to get a feel …
Seek out the stunning stained glass windows at the Díseart Institute of Irish Spirituality and Culture in Dingle, located in a chapel of the former Presentation Sisters’ convent. A set of six windows created by Harry Clarke (1889-1931), Ireland’s famed stained glass artist, was installed in 1924 and illustrate the life of Christ. I was …
In October I was lucky to visit 16 museums in Dublin, Ireland. As much as I’d like to give each museum its own blog post, I’m never going to get anything else done in life for quite a while if I do. So here are a first four, with a photo (or two) and a …
Dingle OceanWorld Aquarium (my second fish museum of the year) is the largest aquarium in Ireland! How could I resist? Arriving just in time for the afternoon Reptile Encounter, I was pleased to meet an Irish tortoise named Gonzalez. His sister is Speedy (love these names). They were among 200 babies attempted to be smuggled …
It was a pleasure to visit Adare Heritage Centre in Ireland’s prettiest village of Adare, County Limerick, not once but twice. The Heritage Centre is very conveniently located as part of a shopping / dining / parking complex on the main street of town. As the website says: It was that “Earls of Dunraven” part …
On a grey November Sunday afternoon in Toronto, it was a pleasure to venture inside Spadina Museum, one of the 10 City of Toronto Museums. My visit began with this video, Spadina and Toronto in the 1920s: An Introduction, which was very helpful in setting the home and Austin family in context. I enjoyed an …
There are four things about the Cliffs of Moher Visitor Centre and Cliffs Exhibition that made an early-morning visit especially interesting for me. 1) The Geology Look at those layers. That’s 300 million years of bands of sediment upon sediment, of sandstones, siltstone, mudstone, and shale. Stunning. Consider the fossils. I love how the visitor …
