and boarding facility. Founded in 1900 by the son of a wealthy Scots brewer, the Stud was
granted to the English government where it prospered as the British National Stud Company. It
was given to the Irish government in 1943 and in 1945 the Irish National Stud Company was
formed and the property remains as such today. The Japanese Gardens, built between 1906 and
1915 on the same property, are today acclaimed as the finest Japanese Gardens in Europe.
The horses shown below, like many here at the Stud, are worth several million dollars due to their racing victories.
Just a small part of the beautiful Japanese Gardens.
Mary and Snuffles peek out from a covered walkway in the Japanese Gardens.
We have now returned to Dublin for our last group dinner before returning home the next morning.
What a fun time it has been! Thanks for viewing our journey through part of Ireland and I hope
these pictures have given you some idea of the beauty, the history, and the fun time we had here!
Just a word about our tour guide, Gerry O'Brien. Mary and I are new to the small group touring
experience, but from this, our first tour, and from many others who have traveled with several small
touring groups, Gerry is considered among the best, if not THE BEST, tour guide you will ever have.
His knowledge, speaking ability, sense of humor, attention to detail, and desire to make your
vacation a world-class experience, all combine to put Gerry right at the top of the list. For
a sample of his wit and style, you can see Gerry read (and ad lib) a couple of paragraphs that
we wrote for him, emphasizing some of the words and manners of speech we so enjoyed throughout our
tour of Ireland, by visiting my YouTube site: Click to view Gerry.
Gerry reads the following paragraphs, which are filled with words having "th" in them ... Gerry
explains that he does not pronounce "th" as you would expect, just saying "t" instead:
Once upon a time there were three boys who grew up in County Meath, Ireland. Their mother and
father did everything they could to help them grow up right. They made sure they took a bath
every day, they took their vitamins, and they went to bed every night by 8:30-ish.
The boys grew up and when they were each thirty-three years old, they left their thatched
cottage and started careers. One became a thief, one became a thug, and one became the owner
of a theatre that showed adult films. But, through thick and thin, they sent home three
hundred and thirty-three Euros to their mother and father every month.
There's not really a moral to this here story, as such, but it sure was fun listening to Gerry read it!
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