Kilronan Castle was built in the late 1700 and has a Michelin Star restaurant. The interior was beautiful and the staff exceptionally professional and at the same time very friendly. The food was a step or two above anything we had anywhere else on the trip.
A sign in the bar.
We told a few of the group this was a trip to celebrate our 50th wedding anniversary. Someone told the chef and he presented us with these chocolates and decorated plate.
Our tour made a stop at a shrine in the village of Knock, Ireland. Several people saw the Virgin Mary here is 1876 and it became a Holy Place for the community and Ireland in general. This cross was built to commemorate a visit by Pope John Paul II.
We toured the Arigna coal mine which ceased operation in 1992. Very few of my pictures from inside the mine are good enough to share. After taking the tour, led by a man who actually worked in that mine, all I can say is "God Bless Coal Miners." He said they would dig out a vein of coal and measure the gap left where they had dug. The next morning the mountain sometimes would settle 10 inches overnight! They would move to the next vein if it settled 10 inches or more. This picture was actually at the mine entrance. He said the men, religious or not, would stop here and pray before entering the mine.
The inside of the mine was like walking through a sprinkle of rain. Our guide said it was worse than that while they were working. He said, "We could always tell when a new man came to work in the mine if he groaned about the water. One of the old timers would tell the guy, you'll only get wet once today."
Here's one from the gift shop.
Some of the last coal brought to the surface from the Arigna mine.
They were proud of the Irish character John Wayne played in this movie.
