Saturday 4 May 2024--I told the lads the other day that I didn't really know what I was going to do in Tralee...I'm only here because it seemed a reasonable place to lay over before my flight out of Cork tomorrow. Ron did some quick googling and discovered that there is a ruined medieval church in the eastern neighborhood of Ratass. How can I resist a name like that? (I also see the spelling "Rathass", but that's no fun.) This morning I walk a mile and a half through the town park and out to the old burial ground. The ruin is, to my undiscerning eye, much like any of dozens of derelict chapels I've seen. An interpretation board notes some of the details that might otherwise have escaped my attention. The oldest parts date to the late 10th century, making the church over a thousand years old. Modifications were made over the next several centuries. It fell into disrepair in the 16th century, and suffered a "clumsy reconstruction" around 1700. There are two old stones over against the north wall, one with Ogham markings, believed to date to the late 6th century.

I go for a swim in the pool at my hotel this afternoon. I often pack my trunks when I travel, but haven't actually had them on in quite a few years. I've had a kink in my back through this entire trip. A half-hour in the water seems to do it good.

Looking for a quick dinner, I pass up Eskimo Pizza--I'm picturing a seal, narwhal, and whale blubber combo, with moss and lichens--and settle on a kebab, before going for a pint. In my experience, Irish pubs do not generally have extensive whiskey offerings, and the selection at An Chearnóg is typically skimpy...except for a special release cask-strength bottle from the Dingle distillery that I spy tucked in amongst the Powers and Jamesons and Bushmills. It's very nice.

I'm in my room relatively early, and decide to watch a bit of telly, which I don't often. This evening's highlight is a Dating Game-type show called Naked Attraction. A young gent chooses from among several prospective dates, who are shown to him first from the waist down, then from the neck down, then in their entirety, all along stark naked, with eliminations made at each stage, purely on physical appeal. For the final selection, the gent is also starkers. I shut it off and turn out the lights before the second game, in which the sexes are reversed. Apparently the show has aired episodes featuring a broad range of human sexual proclivity--straight, gay, trans, polyamorous. Must-see TV.