Our Lady of Knock....Marty's dream come true

When we awoke this morning at our B&B in Ballymote, the weather for the day didn't look promising.  But, we had certainly come prepared for rain, so we donned our rain jackets and headed southwest on the highway to Knock, the sight of the famous shrine.  

It was drizzling, but that didn't dampen our spirits.  We explored the grounds, which, as you can see, are quite lovely.

The stations of the cross are each nestled in a yew, and surround the recreation of Calvary.

And the chapel features a recreation of the events that occurred on an August night in 1879, in this very small village. 

A word wasn't spoken, and there is no indication as to just why Mary appeared with Joseph and John,  with the lamb and cross, surrounded by angels. But, testimonies were taken from more than two dozen people who saw the apparition take place over a two hour period.  And, when questioned years later, the stories remained the same. 

The words from Our Lady of Knock beautifully portray this event, and one can easily see the connection between the song and this beautiful memorial. 

Marty looked around for a spot where he could play the song on his ukulele, and we found a place that offered some shade from the rain.  He set things up, and began strumming and singing.  He is working on uploading it to UTube should you be interested in seeing his musical abilities.  

In the meantime, a grandpa named Paddy, a mum, and 3 young girls stopped to listen to our rendition of the song, and we soon began chatting.  The next thing we knew, the little girls were entertaining us with their steel flutes, each one of them playing a Irish tune for our enjoyment.  

Of course, Marty couldn't pass on taking a selfie to commemorate the event. 

Since it was still raining, we opted to drive to Boyle, to check out Kings Castle which stands in the middle of the town.  It was built in the early 1700s by an Englishman who had been granted the land in Ireland by the King and is of Georgian design. 

The man's surname was actually King, and  he only lived in the residence for 40 years prior to determining that it was too small for his needs. So, in 1795, the house was purchased by British Army as the headquarters of the Connaught Rangers.   It was converted into an infantry barracks for 12 officers and 260 non-commissioned officers. It was used until 1922 when the rangers were disbanded. 

The house almost underwent demolition when purchased by the local council, who originally wanted to make a parking lot!  But, luckily, someone had a change of heart and it has been refurbished and opened to the public to offer a peek into the history of this area of Ireland. 

The interior features a dining room that holds possessions of the original owners, the King family.

And the tour of the house takes one through many rooms set up with dioramas that explain the early history of this area of Ireland, through to present day. 

Mention was made of the Book of Kells, which had been written by the monks at the local abbey, and are now stored in Trinity College in Dublin. 

The Abbey stands not far from the house, and you can see just how enormous it is.

Wasn't it nice of the sun to peek out for us? 

There is a river that runs behind the castle and along the Abbey, making for some lovely vistas. 

And the town itself is really quite charming.

What would be a "castle" without a tea room?   We enjoyed some delightful scones with real clotted cream, and a delicious cup of tea.

With the sun popping out, we decided to venture north to Sligo and check out the sites there.  We passed Lough Quay on the way, and stopped to take a quick photo. 

Sligo was not at all what we had hoped.  It was super busy, loads of traffic, and just not all that appealing to us.  So, we decided to head north to Yeats Tavern for dinner, mostly because it was the only place nearby that we could find open. 

Yeats, the famous Irish poet, is buried nearby, and Marty had us walk down to the graveyard to see his grave.  I opted not to trek all the way to see it, but did capture this photo of a 9th century Celtic Cross that stands in the cemetery. 

We headed back to our B&B, just for some chill time.  Tomorrow, we head north and are staying outside of Donegal Town, in the same B&B where we stayed many years ago when we made a quick trip out to visit family.  We're looking forward to even more adventures! 

T