Tag Archives: Brilliance of the Seas

August 2, 2021 · 5:35 am

Ireland — Blarney Castle


Another day, another port. Brilliance of the Seas had left Belfast, Northern Ireland, and the next day we made Cobh, Ireland, the port serving the city of Cork. This would be our last port of call in Ireland before heading west to the Azores. But before heading across the pond, Ursula had us set up for a tour of Blarney Castle, home of the famous Blarney Stone (about which you’ll read in Wednesday’s article).

Blarney Castle

Blarney Castle is about 38 kilometers/20 miles from Cobh, and it takes about forty minutes for the tour bus to make the trip. The current stone keep here dates back to 1446, having replaced an earlier structure that predated it by about 236 years.

Blarney Castle Keep

But the keep isn’t the only impressive sight here. There’s also the castle’s watchtower:

Blarney Castle Watchtower

One of the most impressive views of Blarney Castle is of the north face of the keep, as explained here:

Description of Blarney Castle’s North Wall

And here is the north wall:

Blarney Castle North Wall

We’ll return to this subject on Wednesday. Until then, I’ll leave you with this unique view:

Blarney Castle

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July 30, 2021 · 5:35 am

Fun Photo Friday — Giant’s Causeway favorites 2


Today is our last look at the Giant’s Causeway before moving on to our next destination aboard Brilliance of the Seas:

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July 28, 2021 · 5:35 am

Northern Ireland — Giant’s Causeway; Mosaics in the ground


We begin Week 2 of our look at Northern Ireland’s Giant’s Causeway. Today I’ll be concentrating, but not completely fixating, upon the basalt mosaic patterns seen in much of this area rather than the columns.

Giant’s Causeway mosaic pattern

It seemed to me that most of the columns lay further from shore, and the ground level mosaic patterns were closer to the water.

Giant’s Causeway, Northern Ireland

This didn’t appear to be solely due to erosion, as the tops of the exposed columns were mostly perpendicular to the column. Erosion only appeared to become a factor right along the shoreline.

Columns and erosion

But as you move away from the sea, the columns become taller, more pronounced, and display a beautiful orange hue:

Giant’s Causeway basalt columns

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