Kilmore Quay Part v

Here is another of Kilmore Quay's thatched cottages...can you tell I liked them?

This thatched cottage had an interesting shed outside.

I did a sketch of the wood stove in the house we rented. It was really a nice place!

It was a warm place to sketch when it got too cold outside.

This is the end of my sketches in and around Kilmore Quay.

Tomorrow I'll post some work from Kinsale.

Kilmore Quay Part IV

Another place we visited outside of Kilmore Quay was Johnstown Castle Gardens which is part of the Irish Agriculture Museum. The grounds were beautiful with paths aroung several lakes, paths through sculpture gardens, and a walled garden. I liked the towers by the lake and the plants around the lake. They had these gigantic leaves bigger than my head. I wish they had marked what they were.

I did one painting of the tower and the lake.

After having a pot of tea in the cafe and warming up a bit the sun came out and I painted part of the castle itself.

Of course we went to a pub there for music. We couldn't get a spot with a view of the musicians at Kehoe's Pub and Parlour, so I sketched some of the people at the bar instead.

Kilmore Quay Part III

At the beginning of the week it was almost warm enough to sit on the beach at Kilmore Quay.

Of course there were families there for the weekend and the kids did put their feet in the water.

These two guys ventured out in their small sailboat. I would have been freezing. lol

Here are a few houses that were overlooking the beach.

This was the main street in Kilmore Quay...notice all the traffic. lol

This section had the most thatched cottages.

Kilmore Quay Part II

We did take a few side trips from Kilmore. One afternoon we drove to the town of Wexford which was about 30 km away from where we were staying. It was the closest bigger town and actually had a library with internet access. I visited the Spectrum Art and Framing Shop to give something to the owner from a friend who had been there last year. The owner recommended that I visit the Greenacres Gallery which I sketched here.

One day we planned a ride to see two sights. They were about 45 minutes away from Kilmore. The first was Tintern Abbey. We got lost along the way and some kind Irishman led us to the correct road in his car. It was an impressive place, partly in ruins. It was founded in 1131. How's that for historical?The grounds were lovely. I painted this standing on this old bridge facing the abbey.

We left there looking for the Hook Lighthouse. From the map it looked like it was a direct route from one to the other, but we took the Hook Loop which although it sounded like it should be correct...wasn't. We went way out of the way often on these narrow roads where one car could barley pass. And of course it was very windy. Eventually we found the lighthouse.
I sketched it from outside but it was much too windy and I did the painting from inside the car.

Kilmore Quay

Our next stop was Kilmore Quay in County Wexford. It is a sleepy fishing village with several thatched roof cottages that just charmed me. Apparently the population is under 450 people. It is a popular place for RVs and fishermen.

There isn't much of a town...two small (and I do mean small) markets that were barely as large as my living room, two seafood shops, a few restaurants and pubs, a few B&Bs, a church, a lovely beach, a big dock with commercial as well as private boats, a seafood processing plant, and a few gift shops. The weekend we got there it was a bank holiday in Ireland so there were a lot of people in RVs vacationing for a few days. That also meant that Kehoe's Pub had live music two nights over the weekend. Yeah!

Like I said, I was charmed by the thatched roof cottages. Here are a few.

This second one was my favorite. I would have loved to have seen the inside of the cottages. I was fascinated during the week to watch workmen repairing/replacing the roof on one cottage. Each roof is different. There were some newer, more modern looking cottages but the little whitewashed ones had more character.

This is the Catholic Church in Kilmore. I was surprised to see palm trees in front of it.

I painted this during what felt like gale force winds. I was sitting and leaning against a large sign that felt like it was going to blow over on top of me.