Howth and Malahide Castle

Last day with Liam and he did not disappoint. Our infamous elderly tour guide, guided the group onto the bus early on Sunday morning to go on a "picturesque tour of the coast." We drove for about 30 minutes north of Dublin to Howth. We parked the bus and were able to hike a bit around the top of this hillside that overlooked the Irish Sea. We had lovely weather and a lovely view. It was nice to see a bit of the coastline and to get out of Dublin for a bit to see some more of Ireland.
Our next stop on Liam's Bus o' Fun was at Malahide castle. This was our first castle visit of the trip. It was all that one expects from an old castle. Made of lots of stone so as to be foreboding and imposing looking to the commoners and the external threats. It had been part of a single family's estate for 800 years, but was sold to the government to pay the taxes after that. (Isn't that the way!) Once you enter this giant structure you can tell immediately that the government may own it, but they don't really love the castle the way a private owner would. It is a bit worn down. As lovers of older homes and preservationists, Bill and I just wanted to get some lemon oil out to give that dry thirsty wood a good drink of moisture and sand down all of the poor plaster jobs and repaint the sun-faded rooms.
The castle had beautiful, well-maintained gardens and was adjacent to what appeared to be city park land with a wonderful playground for children and soccer/rugby fields. After the castle tour, Bill and I snuck away from the group for a few minutes to walk around and enjoy them. After the castle we drove back into Dublin to conclude our time with Liam. Though he was not terribly informative, he was a wonderful Irish character that I will never forget. (And that is saying a lot!)