First stop today was at Muckross House, a 19th-century mansion in Killarney. It was built for Henry Arthur Herbert and his wife and completed in 1843.

Close-up.

The side of the house.

We didn't go inside the house but walked around its gardens.

A pathway in the garden.

Muckross Lake is on the property. You can take boat rides on the lake.

Our next stop was at a sheep ranch to see a sheepdog demonstration. The man in the photos is a sheep rancher. The two dogs are sheepdogs.

The sheepdogs. They are off to gather up the sheep.

This puppy sheepdog was tied up so it would't run into the roadway.

The sheepdogs gathered the sheep and had them running up the hill to this area. They sheep are dyed so it is easy for an ower to recognize which sheep are theirs and which is easier than checking all their tags.

The sheep were virtually terrorized by the sheepdogs and they huddled together. The sheep rancher said that the dogs were adamant about keeping the sheep away from the puppy.

A forlorn sheep.

A proud sheep.

The sheep rancher and his sheepdog. The rancher told us that about every three days he has to hike up to the mountains in the background of the photo to make sure that none of his sheep have run away.

Our next stop was to have lunch in the small marketing town of Macroom. The castle in the photo is what is left of the, probably, 12th-century Macroom Castle.

Close-up.

The Macroom Town Hall, 1904.

Mother and children statue in front of the Macroom Town Hall.

Fresh fish stall on the side of the town hall.

No fish today.

Most of us went into Lynch's coffee shop to buy sandwiches, soup, or other things for lunch.

Irish bread in Lynch's.

Lynch's also served a full Irish breakfast, which usually consists of bacon, sausage, black and white puddings, eggs, vegetables (mushrooms, tomatoes, baked beans), and potatoes and all fried in creamery butter and served with Irish soda or brown bread and breakfast tea.

The town of Macroom.

Logging truck on the street.

The town of Macroom.

A new expression for most of us: "casual trading." Casual trading is close to what we call farmer's markets where handicrafts, farm produce, and homemade items are sold. The Irish Casual Trading Act of 1995 regulates this type of trading (licenses are needed). As part of the act, no periwinkles (small edible sea snails) can be sold in County Clare.

Our next stop was at Blarney Castle. From where our bus let us off, we walked through the very pretty castle gardens.

Black-eyed Susans.

Close-up.

A line of crocheted trees.

A bridge over a stream.

First look at Blarney Castle, a magnificent sight. Blarney Castle was built in 1446 by Dermot McCarthy, the King of Munster.

Closer-up. The tower on the left of the photo is the ruins of a late 18th-century Gothic manion, built in 1739 and known as the Court.

Another view of the castle and the entrances to the underground passages and chambers.

Two of the passages.

The entrance to Badger's Cave. The main garrison of the castle fled through Badger's Cave from Lord Broghill, Cromwell's general, when he attacked the castle.

The Climb to the Stone. "Take care as you mount the winding stairs and, if you think that the way is narrow, consider two who went before you were Oliver Hardy and Winston Churchill."

Entance to the stairs. "Climb the steps as the great and good have done before you to kiss the world famous Blarney Stone and gain the gift of eloquence."

A warning for climbers. You climb at your own risk. I didn't climb the stairs as I was afraid I would freak out on them. Some other people on my tour did. Reports from them included that it was a scary climb and that there were so many people on the uneven stairs that all they had was a view of someone's back end.

Outside the castle: The Blarney Stone is directly above you.

The stone is at the opening at the top level.

To kiss the stone, you have to bend backwards. Someone is there to help you.

Closer-up.

Next to the castle is the Poison Garden full of poisonous plants from all over the world, including wolfsbane, mandrake, ricin, opium, and cannabis.

Cannabis plant. It is under an enclosure as it is highly poisonous.

A Poison Garden sculpture.

A poisonous plant.

Hydrangeas are poisonous to animals. Many of the common plants I have in my garden in Souther California are highly poisonous or mildy toxic: hydrangeas, azealas, Texas privot, etc.

View from the back of the garden at the battlements.

The battlements.

After visiting the castle, we went to the Blarney Woollen Mills, the largest Irish shop in the world, and it was. I had to ask directions as to how to find the front door as it was such a huge store.

Woolen hats.

All styles of woolen sweaters, others in many colors.

Also, many tourist items. We drove next from Blarney to Cork where we would spend the night.