On a cold winter morning, shortly before the sunrise, we are traveling from Newcastle across the eastern part of the Knockmealdowns. The images below show the change of the light as the sun makes its way up in the sky.
More sheep.
This road will take you to the Mount Melleray Abbey . You see it in the distance with the Knocknafallia mountain (666.5 m) in background.
In my previous post, I wrote about the other way to cross the Knockmealdowns. What links these two roads? Both of them can lead you to the famous Cats Bar where you can get a nice lunch and spend a good time in the evening. Photographs taken over the years.
Also, both of them can eventually take you to Lismore, but that’s another story for another time.
Thank you for traveling across the Knockmealdown Mountains with me. If you are going to Ireland and travel from Tipperary to Waterford, try these two roads – R668 (R669) and ‘Unnamed’ road from Newcastle, Tipperary.
Have a wonderful week!
Making memories 
The cats bar! That’s fabulous love it. By the way thank you so much for voting for me in the authorsdb first lines contest. Appreciate it, 🙂
You are welcome, Marje. It was easy – I love the introduction 🙂
Thank you Inese. 🙂
Beautiful scenery. And the sheep are wonderful, too!
Thank you!
I like the picture of those sheep looking at you. It looks like you were talking to them. It is a bit funny. Is there any cat in the Cats Bar?
Sure I was talking to them 🙂 I always talk to animals and birds when I take pictures of them. It is why they look at me and stay still 🙂
No, there were no cats 😦 But the interior is lovely old style, and the food is good.
You’re making me wishful of not finding a car. I’ve yet to see any of Ireland except the airport. 🙂
Never too late 🙂
No, it isn’t. The winds of chance will guide me. ☺
🙂
Lovely photos, great scenery and lots more sheep 🙂
Haha I just cannot help taking pictures of them 🙂 Sheep and donkeys – my weakness 🙂
The framing and exposure of your images are flawless. It seems to come naturally to you. Some of those look like paintings. Now I am going to remember Knockmealdown Mountains for a long time. I was once an owner of a Leopard Kitten for a brief period of two days before it was assasinated by the neighbourhood dog. Guess I might be permitted to enter The Cat’s Bar if I were to pass by that road.
Thank you so much! The morning colors are so different. We left before the sunset and it was one hour drive. The light was changing at every minute and every turn. The pictures are four years old. Last year I did an attempt to drive there again but the road was flooded.
I love the bar a lot because we ate there when my daughter was visiting in 2012. It is very traditional and cozy there.
I need to return!
Of course you do. So much more to see. I went to the Ring of Kerry the other day. Haven’t been there ages, but got inspired by your travels and went. Visited a donkey sanctuary on the way. It was a great day.
I knew the “Halfway” and the “Bee Hive” but the “Cats” is new to me. Great photos. Looking forward to your take on Petticoat Loose
Thank you Brian! The Cats is a great place, great location.
I am already thinking on how to make the post scary. Should I go and take a dive? Don’t know 😉
I love that you did this through the seasons. It makes it doubly gorgeous. xxxxxxxxx
Thank you! Our countryside is a bit rough, but there is beauty in it. xxxxxxxxxxxxx
It is beautiful. There is nothing wrong with rough beauty, xxxxx
Beautiful photography. Every pic tells a story.
Thank you George!
Beautiful images as usual! I love the sheep shots – do not see many around here. They look like such calm animals and very interested in what you are doing. I really liked the one where they are all just standing there looking at you. What a great place to take images!
Thank you! Indeed, the sheep are standing and looking at you for a while, and then all of a sudden they run away like possessed. Takes them some time to make a decision 😉
It’s so difficult to capture the beauty of the area in photographs. You should be delighted with yourself.
Thank you so much. The beautiful morning light did all the job 🙂
Really? Then why don’t my pictures look like yours? 😉 You’re welcome, Inese. Have a great week.
You too have a great week. They say the weather is going to be tropical 🙂
Although I am not planning a trip to Ireland in the near future, I so very much enjoyed this visit to the Knockmealdown Mountains, Inese. Your photos of the endless mountain vistas and changing light, the sheep, the Abbey, the town and the Cats Bar were a real treat. I found the fourth photo especially attractive, with the three short-legged sheep in a profile beside the bare tree.
Thank you Jet. That was a very interesting place, with all those stone walls and crooked trees, and of course, sheep. The short grass was covered with frost, and everything looked surreal in the dim morning light.My friend and I took a load of pictures there.
When one considers how narrow Ireland’s roads are to begin with, a narrow mountain road would be little more than a path! It was quite a shock to go from expansive North American freeways to hugging the hedges on the (wrong/right) side of the road in Ireland. The scenery however was worth it, for sure, for sure.
Thank you for joining the ride. There is no left or right side – you just drive in the middle, and if (God forbid) someone is heading your way, you have to pull over onto a passing space, if any, or just onto the grass to let each other pass.
Capturing the changes in the weather so well.
Thank you Derrick. The pictures were taken in the space of one hour, around the sunrise.
That’s often the way
Just seeing your images soothes my soul. I may never get there. It’s a longer way to from Tipperary from where I am. ☹️
Thank you so much for your comment! I am happy to post about Tipperary for you any time 🙂 Right now I am planning a drive across the Knockmealdowns by a narrow mountain road. Will see how this goes 🙂
What a joy for us to be able to look at pictures like this. thank you.
Thank you so much for your comment!
My cat Sylvester and I approve of the Cats Bar! LOL!! I don’t drink but I do love the Puss in Boots figure in front. Every time I hear the word Newcastle I always think of the nursery rhyme Carrying Coals to Newcastle.
Thank you! Kisses to Sylvester 🙂 There are many Newcastle towns around the world 🙂
Oh, BTW, what is that palm tree doing as a sentry in front of the gate?? I would never thought to see one in Ireland!
Oh there are plenty of them here in Ireland. They are not technically palms though. The name is Cordyline australis, or a cabbage tree 🙂
Sorry Cindy, I checked the picture. Yes, this is a real palm, but they are not common and found mostly around the castles and special gardens, while the Cabbage palm is a regular front yard tree.
I appreciated the drive! What a beautiful part of the world you live in. I’d love to revisit Ireland and travel down the R668 and R669 and definitely stop at Cats for a pint 🙂
Thank you Cindy! These roads are fun to drive unless you get stuck behind a tractor 🙂