Rose of Tralee

The Rose of Tralee?  Not quite, as it is the wrong time of year.  The popular Rose of Tralee beauty pageant, open to all women of Irish descent around the world, is held in August.  In fact it is more like a five day festival.  And the town comes alive.

But in June, Tralee is very ordinary.  A county town that is more down to earth and engaged with ordinary life, rather than the tourist trade, according to the Lonely Planet.  And today I think we were the only tourists there.   The Lonely Planet also states that the town is dismissed as it is an overflow for Limerick and its social problems.  

And there were many gambling shops, old run down pubs, charity shops and Euro shops, plus quite a few people who had seen better days.

Aside from social issues, and people getting on with their lives, the centre of Tralee is quite pretty, with a lovely square and buildings that are well looked after.  Plenty of civic pride in the town.  My only complaint was the high number of cars in the centre of town. If the main street was pedestrianised it would be a perfect town to spend time wandering around and looking in the small shops.

The Kerry County Museum is excellent apparently, but we did not have time to visit it.

The beautiful Catholic Church, St John's, with its narrow spire.

The wooden rafters in the ceiling were most unusual.  I am not sure how old the church is, but there was a convent and school attached to the church.

We walked around the different streets, keeping an eye on the cars, when crossing over the roads.  They were all travelling very slowly.

Denny Street, with its elegant Georgian buildings.  This is the oldest part of the town.

The square, surrounded by pretty buildings.  We sat here and ate our ice creams.  The sun shone for a few moments.

I waited, and waited, and finally managed to take a photograph of this narrow street, witn only one car in it.

Another long wait between cars in order to photograph this beautiful pub.

Before I forget, the countryside is very well looked after in Ireland; no rubbish lying on the sides of roads or in car parks, the verges are kept trimmed, and people take great pride in ensurng their houses are painted and gardens are tidy.   Appearances do make a difference.

I bought the book 'Angela's Ashes' from a second hand bookshop today.  So I am all ready to catch up on the story set in Limerick.  Happy reading or not, as the saying goes.