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Welcome to the “Georgia Wasp…”
This blog is modeled on the Carolina Israelite. That was an old-time newspaper – more like a personal newsletter – written and published by Harry Golden. Back in the 1950s, people called Harry a “voice of sanity amid the braying of jackals.” (For his work on the Israelite.)
That’s now my goal as well. To be a “voice of sanity amid the braying of jackals.”
For more on the blog-name connection, see the notes below.
In the meantime:
May 3, 2026 – It won’t be long now. (After this last weekend before flying over to Ireland for two weeks). Which means trying to get a handle on packing while realizing there’s a lot of stuff you can’t pack because you’ll be using it – mostly clothes – in the remaining few days at home.
And as always, a bit of angst about leaving the comforts of home for a strange new country. (Not to mention the challenge of having to drive on the far-left side of the road, with steering wheel and such on the far right of the rental car.) Which brings up the Fifth Rule of Power. “Don’t make waves, blend in, glide through the forest of life, leaving the ‘forest’ as you found it.”
That’s just what I’ll try to do once we get over there – my travel partner and I – as we make a great circle trip around the perimeter of the Emerald Isle. (A term “synonymous with Ireland and its rolling hills and vales of green.”) And speaking of that, the last post got us out of our first three days – in Dublin – and on to Kilkenny, and from there to Cork, home of Murphy’s Irish Stout. “Brewed to be less heavy and less bitter than its chief competitor Guinness.”
(And it’s described as “a distant relative of chocolate milk,” so certainly worth a sampling.)
On the drive from Killkenny to Cork we’ll stop and see the Rock of Cashel, “a historical site located dramatically above a plain at Cashel, County Tipperary.” (Shown in the image at the top of the page.) According to legend, the Rock got there from the Devil’s Bit, a mountain 20 miles to the north, where “St. Patrick banished Satan from a cave.” (“Devil’s Bit” is a large hill, also in County Tipperary, which got its name “because the devil took a bite out of it,” according to legend.) After that excitement we’ll meet friends for dinner in Cork itself.
Next morning we’ll drive to Haven Suites on O’Flaherty Road in Killarney, there to check the weather report – to see if I can catch the boat from Portmagee to Skellig Michael. (And do that clambering; i.e., “climb (something) with some difficulty, or in a haphazard fashion.”)
“Weather permitting” I’ll get do that while my partner visits the Cahergal Stone Fort on the Ring of Kerry and The Kenmare Lace Experience (Museum) 52 miles from Portmagee. (“Weather not permitting” I’ll join the visit to the stone fort and lace museum.) And by the way, it’s a 48-mile, hour-and-a-quarter drive from Killarney to Portmagee, and the boat leaves early, so we’ll have to get up at the crack o’ dawn that morning. That evening we’ll return to Killarney
Next day we’ll drive to Galway. (In 2018, “named the European Region of Gastronomy [and] the European Capital of Culture for 2020, alongside Rijeka, Croatia.”) On the way we’ll stop at the Gallarus Oratory, the Bunratty Castle, and also visit Gus O’Connor’s Pub in Doolin. And that’s not to mention the Cliffs of Moher, four miles south of Doolin and on the way there.
Some highlights? The Oratory has been described as: 1) by Charles Smith in 1756, an early-Christian stone church (or more like a big hut to me), or 2) “a 12th-century Romanesque church by archaeologist Peter Harbison in 1970,” and 3) a shelter for pilgrims (said the same Harbison in 1994). It’s built of large cut stones “brought from the cliffs of the sea shore, which cuts readily and is very durable…. The stones are cut on every side and end so as to fit perfectly together and slope slightly down to help rain run off the structure.”
Bunratty Castle is a large 15th-century tower house in County Clare, named from the Irish for “mouth of the Ratty River.” It dates from Viking times; “The first recorded settlement at the site may have been a Norse trading camp reported in the Annals of the Four Masters to have been destroyed by Brian Boru in 977.” Gus O’Connor’s Pub is known “throughout the world as the home of Irish Traditional Music.” It is said to offer a “warm and cozy atmosphere in a traditional setting… The perfect spot to grab a hot meal after a walk along the Cliffs or cold pint in front of a roaring open fire!” I don’t know about the roaring open fire in mid-May, but I’m sure that cold pint will be refreshing after visiting the Cliffs of Moher. (Shown below.)
The Cliffs are one of the most popular Irish tourist destinations. They run about nine miles and at the southern end rise 390 feet above the Atlantic at Hag’s Head. They reach their maximum height of 702 feet “just north of O’Brien’s Tower, a round stone tower near the midpoint of the cliffs.” You can see the Aran Islands in Galway Bay and the Maumturks and Twelve Pins to the north. And a final note: “While the cliffs can be accessed at multiple points, and there is an 18 kilometres (11 miles) Cliff Walk, the majority of visitors come to the official visitor centre.”
I don’t if I’ll cover that 11 miles, but I do know I’ll enjoy that cold pint at Gus O’Connor’s…
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The upper image is courtesy of the Rock of Cashel Wikipedia article, with the full caption: “The Rock of Cashel in County Tipperary, Ireland, features the ruins of a Gothic cathedral and a 12th century round tower. King Cormac’s Chapel (1127) on the Rock was the first Romanesque church in Ireland.”
Re: Fifth Rule of Power. From the book, “Power! How to get it, how to use it,” Korda, M. Ballantine Books, New York, 1976, at page 304.
Re: Emerald Isle. See Why is Ireland Called the Emerald Isle? – IrelandExplore, and How did Ireland come to be called the Emerald Isle?
Re: Ring fort. See also Visiting Cahergal Fort: Ancient Ringfort on the Ring of Kerry.
The lower image is courtesy of Cliffs of Moher – Wikipedia. With the caption: “Looking north along the cliffs towards O’Brien’s Tower.”
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Re: The Israelite. Harry Golden grew up in the Jewish ghetto of New York City, but eventually moved to Charlotte, North Carolina. Thus the “Carolina Israelite.” I on the other hand am a “classic 74-year-old “WASP” – White Anglo-Saxon Protestant – and live in north Georgia. Thus the “Georgia Wasp.”
Anyway, in North Carolina Harry wrote and published the “israelite” from the 1940s through the 1960s. He was a “cigar-smoking, bourbon-loving raconteur.” (He told good stories.) That also means if he was around today, the “Israelite would be done as a blog.” But what made Harry special was his positive outlook on life. As he got older but didn’t turn sour, like many do today. He still got a kick out of life. For more on the blog-name connection, see “Wasp” and/or The blog.
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