We left the southern part of Ireland and headed north. We had a room reserved at the Randles Hotel in Killarney and arrived there at about 1:00. Our room wasn't going to be ready until 3:00, so we had a quick camper lunch and headed out to explore. We decided to add some adventure into our adventure and rented bikes. The guy at the rental place didn't mention it, but bikes here have the rear brake controller on the left hand instead of the right. Good thing Andy remembered reading that somewhere, it's never good to stop using only the front brake.
We rode to Ross Castle, a 1400's castle at the base of the mountains on pretty Lough Leane. We booked a tour of the castle for 3:15 and used the time until the tour to ride some of the trails around Killarney National Park. We spotted some Fallow deer, they look like White Tail deer that haven't lost their spots.
Ross Castle is a tower castle. The main part of the castle is a square tower. The tour was excellent. The guide explained some of the defenses of the tower and what life was like for a family living in a tower castle in the 1400's. The stone parts of the castle are original. The wood roof and floors were restored using methods available in the 1400's. Wooden pegs instead of nails and the boards were hand hewned. There were 5 levels. One of the upper levels had a vaulted ceiling and the guide explained how it was built to support the weight of the stone floor above. The castle had in-door plumbing... a stone bench on an upper level with a long hole over a chute. It was a 2 seater! The residents of the castle would hang there garments in the "bathroom" because the acid raising from the waste below helped rid their clothes of lice and fleas. The first dry cleaning. I bet they all smelled great. (Okay, the camper van isn't so bad after all).
After returning our bikes we freshen up at the hotel. I'm sure we smelled better than the people who once lived in Ross Castle, but a shower sure felt good.
We spend the evening getting dinner and exploring Killarney.
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