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June 12-22, 2007 Kilkenny |
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| Wednesday, 6/20 | |
  The next day we stayed on the Mount Juliet Conrad grounds; Jason relaxing in our room |
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  We had breakfast in the main house |
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  Entering the Mount Juliet grounds |
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 We stayed in The Hunter's Yard which is a five minute walk from the main house. This is where the spa, clubhouse, and golf area are located |
 There was a break in the weather so we took the time to walk the golf course |
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  Mom and dad reading their papers in the main house |
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  The yellow room |
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  Upstairs are the guest rooms, downstairs the common rooms; view of the gorgeous house from the front |
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  A view of the river that runs through the grounds; during mild weather you can go fishing; in the distance are the property's horses; the grounds are HUGE (1500 acres) and is one of Ireland's finest sporting estates |
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  The American Express Championship golf tournament was held here in 2002; Tiger Wood's scorecard |
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  The golfers would wait until there was a break in the weather then run out and hit balls until the rain came back 10 minutes later; we had lunch and watched them from the clubhouse |
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  A delicious Caesar salad for me and burger and fries for Jas |
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  After lunch we got a tour of the grounds from the Estate Manager. First stop, the hounds. There are over 100 hunting hounds raised on the estate. |
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  We woke these guys up but they still gave us a warm welcome |
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  These puppies were being moved to a different location, we got a peak before their journey |
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  The Estate Manager giving us a history of the main house - none of which I remember. Read more at www.mountjuliet.ie |
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  The basement floor contained the fishing room, a snookers room, and a bar |
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  We also got a tour of the chef's private garden; every herb you can imagine, I believe this is thyme and mint |
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  Gooseberries |
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  Yellow raspberries |
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  Fennel and basil |
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  Their most successful horse, The Tetrarch, was buried here in 1935; his gravemarker lists his wins and the amount of money he won during his lifetime |
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  A mare and her fowl in one of the stables |
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  That evening we had a drink at Marble City Bar in Kilkenny |
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  Then we returned to The Hunter's Lodge for dessert! |
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