Crooke

We started our day off at Colneen House B&B in Tramore just like every other morning in Ireland – BREAKFAST! In avoiding major metropolitan areas as much as possible, we made our way towards a ferry town – Passage East through Crooke town. The only bridges across the River Suir were in Waterford. We stopped for coffee at Burke’s Daybreak. The dog poop signs were everywhere we stopped in Ireland and were usually humorous. If only they paid that much attention to litter in general. There was a fair bit of rubbish which was very surprising for such a beautiful country.

Crooke is the “crook” in “By hook or by crook.” Hook and Crook are the names of headlands on either side of a bay by Waterford, Ireland. Hook Head and Crooke are on opposite sides of the Waterford channel. Cromwell is reputed to have said that Waterford would fall ‘by Hook or by Crooke’, that is, by a landing of his army at one of those two places during the siege of the town in 1649/50.

Right next to the filling station we noticed St. John the Baptist Church and decided to take a closer look.

When we arrived back at the car I notices a crow behaving weirdly atop a building across the street.

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Tramore Town

Our stop in Tramore was the result of one of our unscheduled destination/lodging nights in The Republic of Ireland. This worked out well. We called ahead on our way and were able to book the night at Colneen House Bed & Breakfast.

Tramore is a charming town by the sea in southeast Ireland . From our B&B the downtown was only a short walk away along The Doneraile Walk. From the walk, you can take in sweeping views of Tramore Bay and Brownstown Head in the distance. The Doneraile Walk is home to many historical features, which show the maritime nature of Tramore. An ancient canon gun lies on top of the cliff overlooking the entrance to the bay. There is a Memorial Stone erected to commemorate the military victims of the Sea Horse Tragedy (1816) in Tramore Bay, when 363 people were drowned.

The Esquire Bar & Restaurant

After a stroll around the town center reading dinner menus as we passed restaurants, we decided on The Esquire Bar (& Restaurant). The Esquire opened in 1932 by local business man Jim Quinn as a Gentleman’s Bar. It was taken over by Chef Paul Horan in 1980 and soon after opened one of Waterford first good food restaurants.

A unique collection of over three hundred ports, spirits and liqueurs are on offer from Chef Paul’s world collection. Lobster and Seafood are available throughout the year. Surf and turf is a regular feature as well as oysters, crab and scallops. Try any Irish made Beer and Spirits Harp, Guinness, Smithwicks, Baileys, Black Bush and Bushmills, to name but a few.