Castlemaine County Kerry Saturday 21 September to Tuesday 24 September.

After a morning walk around Youghal we drove up to Castlemaine, Grandad Cronin's hometown.

Stayed in an apartment though I'm sure no one in County Kerry would use the term 'apartment '.

Castlemaine  is a small cluster of properties at the crossroads to Tralee, Milltown, Dingle and somewhere else. Quiet a busy junction that has probably not changed since grandad left in 1905 (apart from two of the four pubs have now closed).

Saturday night we dined at the Anvil Bar in Boolteens,

Sunday morning we met Owen O'Shea (local historian and writer about the early days of the irish struggle for independence and the involvement of the Cronins. He took us to the site of the Ballymacandy ambush and to Milltown square.

An informative visit as our family knew nothing of this until very recently.

Attended Mass in Milltown at 11.15 followed by morning tea with the church community.

Sunday afternoon drove to Inch beach and Dingle and were fortunate to visit the Holy Stone which bestowed all sorts of blessings and gifts upon us. (Father Ted's holy stone was not comparable)

Dinner at Griffins Bar next to our accommodation. This was the same bar the constablery stopped at for refreshments prior to the ambush. Met the Lord Mayor of Castlemaine. 

The Wild Colonial Boy statue in centre of Castlemaine.

Monday. Erin visited the Colm Cronin father and son. And we all went to Tralee in the afternoon. Aidan flies back to London tomorrow and we are off to Kildare for one night before our flight to Birmingham on Wednesday.