Great. Now, we've ALL got the gift of gab.

This is Dr. Spratt. Dr. Spratt is the dean of the Cork School of Music here in Corcaigh (that’s the Irish Gaelic spelling of the city). Today, the touring choir worked in a 2½ hour workshop (or “master class”) with Dr. Spratt rehearsing “The Time is Drawing Nigh,” a new work by David Wallace (a famous composer here in the British Isles). The touring choir will present the World Premiere of this piece at the concert on Saturday.

After the master class, we headed off towards Blarney. Yes, that Blarney. Home of Blarney Castle and the world famous Blarney Stone. We climbed to the top of the Castle through the ever narrower spiral staircase and emerged at the top of the battlements, where many of us opted to kiss the Blarney stone to get the gift of gab. (By the way, Kissing the Blarney Stone is one of the Travel Channel’s official list of the 99 things to do before you die. Check.)

Once we all returned from the castle, we returned to our coaches and made our way to Cobh (pronounced “Cove”), which is an important port town. It was, in fact, the point of departure for the large majority of the Irish emigrants from the era of the famine (as well as before and after). It was also the last port of call of the Titanic before she met her watery end. At Cobh, we visited the town’s official Heritage Centre which has a small museum exhibit explaining the Irish emigration, the famine, and the heyday of the famous ship lines such as White Star and Cunard. It was extremely interesting for many of us who had visited Ellis Island (the ending point of the passage) to see Cobh—where so many Irish emigrants began their journey toward America.

After Cobh, we returned to the Imperial Hotel in Cork where we had dinner. Our tour managers, Liz and Dominic, organized an hilarious limerick writing competition where style counted as much as the rhyme. Needless to say, the room was riotous with laughter.

Today, everyone exchanged the second Secret Singer gift and the recipients are all one clue closer to discovering the identity of their Secret Singer.

A few photos from today are online now at http://picasaweb.google.com/pgcireland

It's a long, long way to Tipperary... (so we stopped in Kilkenny)

A Big Day! I’m writing from the Imperial Hotel in Cork, our new home for the next few days. We started out early this morning and drove approximately two hours out of Dublin and through rolling Irish countryside to Kilkenny, where the touring choir gave a lunchtime concert at St. Canice’s Cathedral.

St. Canice’s—“the second longest cathedral in Ireland”—was constructed at least as early as the 13th Century and retains all of its gothic medieval charm. Many, many generations of the Butler family (the local nobles) were treated to the concert from their individual apartments in the crypt of the cathedral. Joining them in the audience were about fifty (living) locals from the town of Kilkenny.

After visiting and performing in the cathedral, we visited Kilkenny Castle, the home of the Butlers when they were alive. The Castle was initially built in 1213 as a fortification, on the site of an early wooden fort. The Butler family bought the castle in 1391 and their family lived there until 1935. Throughout the family’s history, many alterations and redecorations of the castle were undertaken. In 1967, the family sold the castle to the Irish government for the symbolic sum of £50. The castle is currently under restoration to appear largely as it did in the final chapters of the family’s residence: as a palatial estate in the Victorian style.

We hopped back in our coaches and continued on our way toward Cork. Along the route, we stopped briefly in Cashel, Ireland (in County Tipperary) at a roadside restaurant called the Rock House, which lies just in the shadow of "the Rock of Cashel"--a ruined medieval cathedral, and where we enjoyed delicious scones and muffins.

When we arrived in Cork, we came right here to the hotel and had our first meal in the city. Tomorrow, the touring choir participates in a master class workshop with Dr. Geoffrey Spatt, of the Cork School of Music.

A picture blitz from Day Four is online at http://picasaweb.google.com/pgcireland