Up Close with a Hawk, a Falcon, an Owl, and a Puppy; and some History

 

While staying near Kilkenny, our first stop after leaving Dublin, we had several fun adventures. We spent a very special morning with Hawkeye Falconry meeting Mabel the hawk, Elvis the falcon, Turbo the owl, and Lily the cocker spaniel puppy. You don’t know me at all if you can’t guess which wonderful creature was my favorite. We learned a lot about birds of prey and witnessed Mabel hunting, albeit not catching anything.  We even got to play a part as we learned how to call Mabel to our gloved arms (with the help of a bit of raw chicken placed strategically). We also learned that when Lily grows up, she’ll help flush rabbits for the hawks to hunt. Elvis provided a fantastic show as he attempted to catch a lure swung by our host. The most amazing part of that was the incredible speed with which he did so. We could literally hear him flying past us.

Mabel and Elvis were amazing – highly intelligent, fast, and efficient in their movements; while Turbo was almost as cute as Lily – almost.

We did a bike tour of Kilkenny, a town with an interesting medieval history. It turns out that small Kilkenny is home to Cartoon Saloon, an animation company that has received several Academy Award nominations. Its co-founder painted the mural in the photo. The town’s castle includes a wonderful park area for the public to enjoy.

Also in the area, we visited Jerpoint Abbey, founded in 1180, and the Rock of Cashel, seat of the ancient kings of Munster (AD 300-1100).

The abbey was built by Cistercian monks who became the dominant religious authority by creating a network of monasteries.

The Rock of Cashel is a fortified hill that became a prominent castle and church. St. Patrick baptized King Aengus on the Rock in about AD 450, which was a key moment that started the expansion of Catholicism in Ireland. This site is fascinating for several reasons. First, it was a site being fought over by competing kings (important for its strategic hillside position) before one of them donated it to the Catholic Church to keep it from the hands of his rival (pretty clever). In addition, the buildings on the site were built over many centuries: in the first two pictures below, the round tower was the first building built on the site when the Catholic Church took over in 1101, while the surrounding church was built between 1230 and 1290. Finally, and this is something we saw throughout Ireland, the graveyard on this site has been in continuous use for centuries and is still in use by the local town. Thus, you’ll see ancient graves adjacent to modern ones.

More rocks and more history to come.

Shana & Jeff