Well folks...I survived being treated to a 5* week in SE Ireland by Tourism Ireland. They kept shoving food and drink down my neck! Tough, I know, but someone has to do it. We arrived at Dublin airport around 11am on 24th. Sept. and were whisked away for lunch at a beautiful hotel called Carton House. We had to suffer a guided tour of the hotel first, but lunch was super. From there we went on to the Irish National Stud where we saw some beautiful racehorses and had a tour of the museum and gardens. In the museum they have the preserved skeleton of the famous steeplechase racehorse, Arkle, which brought back a few memories. Arkle was 'one of a kind' and I remember seeing him on TV a number of times in the
60's. Wikipedia has this quote about him,"The racing authorities in Ireland took the unprecedented step in the Irish Grand National of devising two weight systems — one to be used when Arkle was running and one when he wasn't. Arkle won the 1964 race by only one length but he carried two and half stones more than his rivals." which indicates how good he was. The gardens are two-fold. The main garden is the Japanese Garden, which is very nice, but I preferred St. Fiachra's Garden which is a little less stylised. Both are well worth a visit. Onward from there to our first hotel, The Heritage Golf and Spa Resort at Killenard, Portlaoise. On arrival we dumped our luggage and headed for the bar. 6pm was approaching and we had a mission! At 5:59pm on 24th. Sept. 2009, Guinness drinkers all over the world lifted their glasses (of Guinness, of course!) and toasted, "To Arthur!" Guinness opened for business 250 years ago at 6pm, 24th. Sept. What a great start to our week... Early start next morning, and 2 of the ladies even managed to get in a couple of holes of golf!
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