of le Morte d���Arthur,��� wrote Paddy Leigh Fermor, a frequent visitor. Steeped in history, it has been the colorful
background to tragedies and rejoicing, from civil wars
to fantastic festivities for over eight hundred years.
Sean Willoughby, Lord Burlington���s knowledgeable driver,
drove me south over the same mountains. We had just come
up from the Golden Vale, the most fertile in all of Ireland.
Driving down from the pass, Lismore Castle, a prize destination for any traveler, came into view; perched, utterly comfortably, high above the legendary Blackwater river. The Fifth
Duke���s Bridge formed a stately passage. But for all the drama,
and partly because of it, my two visits to Lismore would be
flawlessly happy.
HYLAND
