Saint Valentine's Day 2010, Glenstal Abbey

Today was a lovely day, bright, clear and sunny. A bit chilly, but perfect for a walk.
The two eldest daughters were gone to friends so it was just the Swede, the 9 year old daughter, the 3 year old son and myself. We drove to the nearby village, to a place called Glenstal Abbey, which is a Benedictine monastery and an exclusive boarding school for boys.
We walked along their private road, while daughter cycled. It was a great day to be out and about, my first time back in Glenstal since the operation. I took lots of photos, of the lake, the playing fields, the trees, snowdrops, the cannon, the tower.


walking along the private road in Glenstal


we call this piece of wooden sculpture 'The Whistling Man'


Glenstal is a wildlife sanctuary, so no picking the flowers!


more snowdrops above...


approaching Glenstal Castle, the buildings which house the school are beyond the Castle


I doubt this cannon was ever used, I think the original owners put it here to add a bit of 'authenticity'...


daughter on bike


It may look like there's a guard on duty on the tower, but it's just a statue, with a crow on his head.

Potted history of Glenstal Abbey:
Glenstal Abbey was built in the 1830s for the Barrington family. It was designed as a castle in 12th century style. It has a great gate and a massive drum tower that resembles the one at Windsor Castle. The Barringtons moved to England in the 1920s and in 1927 sold the castle and lands to the Benedictine Order.
In September 1932, the monks opened the Secondary School. The school started with just seven pupils. There are approximately 200 pupils in the school now.
The monastery became an abbey in 1957. Visitors are welcome to Glenstal Abbey. They can walk in the extensive grounds and in the seventeenth-century terrace garden, participate in the community’s worship (at set times throughout the day), visit the Icon Chapel (by arrangement) and browse in the Abbey Book and Gift Shop. Refreshments by arrangement. Glenstal Abbey, Murroe, Co. Limerick.
Glenstal is south facing and has an excellent view of the Galtee Mountains. It is on an estate of around 500 acres (2.0 km2), of which some is farmland, forestry, games fields, lakes, gardens and school and monastery buildings.
The Abbey grounds contain a great variety of trees and flowers, mostly planted during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries by the Barrington Family. There are also five artificial lakes, mostly stocked with trout and one of which pupils may swim in during the summer months.
text borrowed from discoverireland.com and wikipedia.



When I came home I took this photo, below, of one of my favourite things - a full washing line, lots of clothes hanging out to dry! I maintain that hanging out washing is therapeutic, you get to commune with nature in your own backgarden, the birds are singing, the clouds blowing by and you feel the sun and the wind on your skin....



I also took snaps of the birch trees, there were some catkins on them, another sign of spring, I took these shots so I can compare the trees now in mid-February to the same trees in mid-March or so.

birch against a blue, blue sky



I love this weeping willow, (above), the little white catkins are also peeping out here.
And this is my Forsythia, (below), it will soon have yellow flowers on it, right now, I can just about see green tips on some of the buds.