Geting away from the Yank's House

This week Pat and I decided to get away from it all. We headed to Birr in Co Offaly. Maybe not your first choice of destination for a two day break – but somewhere Pat and I had not been to before. We didn’t have a lot of money to spend on our get-away so we booked a deal on www.pigsback.com. We picked Birr because it is one of Ireland’s best examples of a Georgian Town. I was looking forward to seeing its streets and malls and lovely buildings. I was not disappointed.  

To check out the town try this web site www.heritagetowns.com/birr.shtml

We arrived in Birr at lunch time on Thursday 14^th March. We were booked into the County Arms Hotel – http://www.countyarmshotel.com/

We booked in to our room which was lovely and headed down to the bar for some lunch and to watch the racing on TV. I hear some of you groan – but it was Cheltenham Race week and also it was Pat’s birthday and he follows the racing. So on your birthday, you should get to do exactly what you want. 

After a few races we walked down the town to explore where the locals were watching the racing and joined some of them in the bar at Dooley’s hotel. We had a lovely afternoon. The streets and buildings are so impressive.  That evening we had dinner in the hotel and shared a lovely  bottle of red. I was so relaxed and could feel myself starting to unwind from the moment we arrived in Birr.

Next day after a lovely breakfast we headed to Birr Castle Demesne www.birrcastle.com/

It was a lovely crisp bright morning – cold but sunny. We decided to start with a walk around the gardens because in Ireland you never know when the next season is about to start. As my mother used to say - Make hay while the sun shines. 

So this week on the blog I decided to share my walk with you. I was really taken by the beauty of the place and by the sounds - the flow of water, birds song and blissful quite made it a great experience. I have been a bit stressed lately and this was just what I needed. So here is my visual record of our walk and I hope you can also experience a little peace.

Pat heads off on the trail.

Clear waters - spring sunshine

Springing into life

Stimulating - sound - sight - smell - touch

Reaching to the heavens

This footbridge was built around 1820 and is the oldest suspension bridge in Europe. The River is called Camcor

Nature also provides it's own bridges

 
Birr Castle is the seat of the Earls of Rosse, the Parsons family, who still live in the castle. The castle itself is not open to the public – pity. 

A large telescope dominates the grounds. This was the largest telescope in the world for 70 years. It was built in 1845 by the Third Earl of Rosse. The telescope fell into disrepair in the early part of the 20th century, but was fully restored in the 1990s. There is also a very interesting Science Museum – worth a visit

I like this view of the telescope showing the castle in the background

 I hope you enjoyed our walk and maybe someday you will find time to visit Birr for yourself.