Hamlet (as recited by moi)

Alas, poor Yorick! I knew him, Horatio: a fellow
of infinite jest, of most excellent fancy: he hath
borne me on his back a thousand times; and now, how
abhorred in my imagination it is! my gorge rims at
it. Here hung those lips that I have kissed I know
not how oft. Where be your gibes now? your
gambols? your songs? your flashes of merriment,
that were wont to set the table on a roar? Not one
now, to mock your own grinning? quite chap-fallen?
Now get you to my lady’s chamber, and tell her, let
her paint an inch thick, to this favour she must
come; make her laugh at that.

I’ll still talk to you all when I’m famous ~ you can even send me a postcard via Hollywood Post Office.

Now where was I? …. ah yes! ….

Double, double toil and trouble, fire burn, and cauldron bubble (Macbeth) …. oops …. sorry Grannymar …. I didn’t mean to take over your lines!

The Merchant of Venice (as spoken by Portia)

The quality of mercy is not strain’d,
It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven
Upon the place beneath: it is twice blest;
It blesseth him that gives and him that takes:
‘Tis mightiest in the mightiest: it becomes
The throned monarch better than his crown;
His sceptre shows the force of temporal power,
The attribute to awe and majesty,
Wherein doth sit the dread and fear of kings;
But mercy is above this sceptred sway;
It is enthroned in the hearts of kings,
It is an attribute to God himself;
And earthly power doth then show likest God’s
When mercy seasons justice. Therefore, Jew,
Though justice be thy plea, consider this,
That, in the course of justice, none of us
Should see salvation: we do pray for mercy;
And that same prayer doth teach us all to render
The deeds of mercy. I have spoke thus much
To mitigate the justice of thy plea;
Which if thou follow, this strict court of Venice
Must needs give sentence ‘gainst the merchant there.

Duckett’s Grove was the 18^th, 19^th and early 20^th century home of the Duckett family. It was the centre of a 12,000 acre estate that dominated the Carlow landscape for over 300 years.

The mansion was transformed into a castellated Gothic fantasy by Thomas A. Cobden for J. D. Duckett in 1830.

The estate house was used as a training camp in the early 1920^s by the Irish Republican Army (IRA). It was owned by a local farmers’ co-operative after that until it was taken over by the Land Commission.

In the early 1930^s the house and surrounding lands was owned by a local firm called Thompson’s Engineering Works.

The main building was burned in 1933. Carlow County Council acquired the property in 2005.

It’s an impressive place …. the stone work is amazing …. it’s a pity there’s only a shell on the inside.

I tried to find some info on the net about the Duckett family but failed to find anything of consequence.

The Duckett family motto was “Spectemur agendo – Let us be judged by our actions.”

I wonder what actions they took during their 300 year occupation of Duckett’s Grove?

Good or bad? Anyone care to enlighten me?

I wonder if this is anything to go by?

While in Carlow we visted Brownshill Portal Tomb which has a capstone weighing about 150 tonnes probably making it the heaviest capstone in Europe.

You can learn more about Portal Tombs/Dolmens here!

Baino …. as you’ve never seen her before!

Sorry Baino …. I stole your picture …. but I wanted it on my blog!!

TC ~ let me think about your tag for awhile …..

Included are photos taken around the Healy Pass and some taken around Kilmackillogue.

(Any WordPress gurus out there know how I can integrate an appropriate plugin so that I can display photo pages etc. ?)