Valentia Island and The Ring of Kerry

Staying on the Iveragh peninsula this week, otherwise known as the Ring of Kerry. It's one of the most beautiful places in Ireland and, because of that fact, is a magnet for every tourist who comes here. We stayed near Killarney on our last visit and having learned our lesson opted to stay on the other side of the peninsula...on Valentia Island, just north of the little village of Port Magee.

We stayed in another remote little cottage in the country, in fact I adjusted our itinerary just so we could stay in this particular place because both the cottage and the area looked so inviting. it certainly hasn't disappointed - been one of the most pleasant weekly stays we've ever experienced.

The view from the front porch looking out across Dingle Bay. Our only neighbors were a small herd of milk cows and some sheep. Several times this week the local dairy farmer next door moved his cows from one pasture to another down the little lane that fronts the cottage, and when he did we had to close our gate to keep the little beasties out of our yard and driveway. One interesting factoid: when Charles Lindbergh flew across the Atlantic in 1927 his first landfall was right here - apparently he flew right across the fields you see in front of us at about 100 ft, waved to the farmer and a couple of guys working in the field below us, cut his engine and shouted down at them asking where he was...he thought he was in Dingle Bay but wanted verification. The boys were so amazed at the sight of his airplane that all they could do was wave back, and after a couple of circles Lindbergh continued on his way to Paris.

Another look at our "front yard".

Just below us down the hill was St. Brendan's Well, where the ancient monk brought Christianity to the locals. He apparently was quite a sailor and navigator too. Local lore has it that one of his voyages took him to the shores of the New World (Newfoundland) about 900 years before Columbus.

The little village of Port Magee was a scenic place to wander around...had a couple of very nice pubs too.

In fact it was so nice that we thought about making an offer on this "fixer-upper" on Main Street, but eventually decided against it.

At the other end of Valentia Island was the village of Knightstown - another picturesque little spot. Had lunch in this cozy little coffee shop one afternoon.

The rhododendrons are in full bloom all over this area. They were introduced a couple of hundred years ago as hedges and have since spread over the surrounding hills - absolutely covering them in some cases. Makes for a very pretty scene on a sunny day.

Same with the Fuschias, which were also introduced as hedges and which now seem to line every country lane in Ireland. Had several warm sunny days recently that has caused them to explode.

Had to drive up to Kerry airport on Wednesday to swap out our little rental car and pick up another - can only rent a vehicle for 28 consecutive days in Ireland and our time was up. Opted to trade up and get a compact instead of the little POS economy car we had been driving and boy - what a difference - feels like I'm driving a Cadillac by comparison. I will say one thing about the first car - it got about 50 mpg and took some of the sting out of the $8.25 per gallon gas prices - but was so tinny that it felt like we were driving without any floorboards. Nice to get rid of it anyway.

On the way home we stopped off at the Gap of Dunloe - one of our all time favorite hiking places and maybe the prettiest little valley in Kerry. It's about 3.5 miles through the gap and all of it it absolutely gorgeous as you can see from the photos below.

 The sun finally made an appearance which made for a terrific day out.

Our lunch stop. Just us, the sheep, and about 20 jaunting cars going by on the road just above us.

Another excursion was over to Staigue Fort, one of many ancient ruins in the area and supposedly the best example of an old ring fort in Ireland. Dates from about 400 AD and was built by a local warlord. We opted to walk up to it from the village below. 

After a rather warm 6 mile hike up to the fort and back we felt we'd earned a pint, and so drove a few miles up the road to Sneem...another one of the prettiest villages in Ireland and home to Dan Murphy's bar. The poem on the wall outside the entrance was pretty cute, and the bar tender did know how to pour a good pint of the Black Stuff.


On our last day we opted to take a boat ride out to Skellig Michael - an island about 9 miles off shore and home to the ruins of an old monastic settlement dating from around 600 AD. The monks who founded the settlement and toughed it out here for a few hundred years must have REALLY wanted to be isolated, because this place was about as isolated as you can get. After enduring centuries of Viking raids, every kind of privation, and epic winter storms they finally resettled back on the mainland in the village of Ballinskelligs...about 10 miles up the road from us here at Port Magee. The islands seems to float above the sea when viewed from the mainland, and look like an illustration from a child's fairy tale...or maybe a Tolkien novel.

You can just see the beehive huts that mark the settlement on the cliff face above.

Takes 682 steps to claw your way up from the boat landing to the settlement...and no hand rails.

Looking back at "Little Skellig" from the monastic settlement - now home to a colony of about 40,000 nesting pairs of Gannets.

Leaving tomorrow and driving up to Connemara...about 30 miles west of Galway near the town of Clifden. Saturday seems to be bicycle day in Ireland - we constantly see them out and about (in the hundreds) as we're driving on Saturday afternoons. Hoping to get an early start to avoid the worst of the congestion on the narrow roads. 

Dingle

One of our favorite stops during our last trip to Ireland was Dingle, so we made sure to book some time there on this trip. Stayed in another nice self-catering cottage on the north side of the peninsula, ie away from Dingle town and the (rest of) the tourists. On the drive up from Beara we stopped off in Tralee to visit their Saturday Farmer's market and generally walk around a bit to stretch our legs.

Although not as clobbered with visitors as the better known Ring of Kerry just to the south of us, Dingle has been discovered by the tourist throngs thanks to several movies that have been set here, showing off some of the most spectacular seascapes in all of 
Ireland. 

Dingle town really is a pretty little place, full of colorful shops and some truly world class pubs. It's so small, though, that when a tour bus pulls in and disgorges its load the place gets crowded in a hurry. Good place for a quick lunch stop and look around, but better to continue out to Slea Head Drive just west of town - goes all around the tip of the peninsula with spectacular views around every turn. Some pretty good hiking too. 

We stayed in the countryside again, near the village of Castlegregory, which had some terrific scenery of its own. Most of the tourists pass by this area which really is too bad - pretty countryside, great hikes, and friendly locals as per usual.

Took about 30 minutes to drive from our cottage down thru the mountain passes to Dingle, and a nice halfway stop turned out to be this local landmark in the village of Anascaul. Tom Crean was an Antarctic explorer with both the Scott and Shackleton expeditions back in the 1910's. When he retired from the Royal Navy he returned home and opened this pub. Not sure who operates it now - whether family descendants or what - but it really was a terrific pub, with vintage photos of the guy highlighting his several heroic exploits lining the walls. It was essentially a great little museum that just happened to serve a terrific pint of Guiness.

Haven't been in a bad pub yet...and the search continues.

A picturesque landmark on the ring drive was the pier at the village of Dunquin, from where you can take a boat trip out to the nearby Blasket Islands just offshore. 

Rita at the top of the walk heading down to the pier.

A popular local postcard shows a herd of sheep being driven up the trail from the pier - really a picturesque scene.

Passed by another local landmark on one of our excursions. This is Gallarus Oratory, built about 1400 years ago by local monks without the use of mortar or any other adhesive to bind everything together. It's just stacked rocks placed so that everything slants towards the outside, thus making it waterproof. 

Also happened by Kilmalkedar Church, which is also about 1,000 years old. We've found that on virtually any hike into the back country around here you continually trip over these monastic settlements. We had both commented how much Ireland reminded us of New Zealand until it occurred to me that New Zealand was essentially Ireland without the history. Both starkly beautiful in their own way.

Some of that history is reflected in the landscape. If you look closely you can see the boundary between the newer paddocks and fields lower down the slope from the older ones above...going all the way up to the summit. Those fields were casualties of the Great Famine in the mid 1800's. West Cork was extremely hard hit by the failure of the potato crop and about half the population of the county either starved or emigrated between 1846-1850. So, those fields that you see above are actually the remains of the last planting of 1848 when the crop rotted in the ground. The people just left (or died) and the fields have never been reclaimed.

On a lighter note, there are some terrific beaches along the Dingle peninsula, including some pretty good surfing beaches. This one is called Inch beach and featured in the movie Ryan's daughter made here back around 1970. It's a spectacular, wide, sandy strand with dunes stretching out behind it...would be a great place to come on a summer's day.

It's Spring here and the wildflowers are popping out all over. Have seen fields and fields of these wild yellow irises, as well as fuschias, wild roses, and lilies. Even the Gorse - a truly noxious, thorny weed similar to heather - is in full bloom.

At the far western tip of the Slea Head drive around the peninsula is this marker facing the Blasket Islands. Have also seen numerous shrines to the Virgin Mary along the roadsides and country lanes. Ireland is still a very Catholic country, even though regular attendance at Sunday Mass has declined in recent years. 

Just up the road from our little cottage was Glanteenassig Forest Park (Little Glen of Waterfalls), a true off-the-beaten-path little gem of a place. It was so pretty here that we came back twice to hike around the Loughs and have lunch. 

Been a great trip so far and Ireland is just as pretty as we remembered it. As you can see from several of the photos it hasn't exactly been shirtsleeve weather so far. We've had our fair share of rainy and blustery days and even when the sun does appear it stays a bit nippy with temps in the 50's. Gorgeous place though, and thanks to the scientific breakthrough that is Goretex we've managed to get out and about on all but the most blustery of days. Those are made for peat fires and snug days of staying in for the day. it's all part of the adventure.

Beara

Our one week stay on the Beara peninsula was great, but the place was so remote that it lacked internet connectivity. So...need to catch up a bit.

This was the view from the front porch of our cottage near the village of Ardgroom. When we arrived there was an absolute gale blowing - winds up to 45 mph with rain...really lovely. Blew itself out overnight though and most of the rest of the week was actually pretty nice.

The travel books describe the Irish weather as "changeable". That doesn't quite capture it though. We've had all four seasons (sun, rain, hail, gale force winds) show up on a single hike, so a day out is never boring. Thank goodness for Goretex.




Did several hikes along the Beara Way hiking trail that circles the peninsula, and which featured lots of beautiful scenes along the way.

A pretty typical driving scene along one of the rural roads. Driving here is pretty mellow thanks to the understanding and patient locals, but there are some aspects of it that are guaranteed to cause a bit of anxiety...like the fact that most of the rural roads are about 1.5 lanes wide (except where they shrink down to a single lane), which happens quite a lot. The Irish word for road translates to "cow path", which is a pretty good indicator of what you're dealing with behind the wheel. Add the fact that the roads are all twisty-turny things, and that your sight lines ahead are blocked by old walls topped with vegetation so that you can't see around the next bend and get a little advance warning of what's coming at you, and you have the makings of some exciting encounters as two vehicles meet head-on at a junction where  there's only room for one to pass. Lots of hard braking and backing up then ensues as one or the other looks for a pullover spot to permit the other guy to get by. Thing is - the locals don't bat an eye about any of this, but just go barreling down the road at speeds that give the average Yank nightmares. 

The locals really do go out of their way to be helpful. On the drive from Kinsale to Ardgroom I got turned around enroute and couldn't find the correct turnoff to save my life. Finally swallowed my pride and pulled into a gas station to ask for directions. The first guy started rattling off directions so fast it made my head spin. The second guy then tried to direct me on to the correct road back thru the town, but in such a strong Gaelic accent that the only two words I could recognize were "pub" and "Corner"...everything else was gibberish. (Come to think of it maybe he WAS speaking in Gaelic). Anyway, a third guy apparently read the utter confusion on my face, took pity,  and said "I'm going that way, just follow me". So I did - for about 5 miles thru the serpentine alleys and back streets of a little Irish village until he pointed me to the sign that put me back on the correct route. Without his help I'd probably still be wandering around that town. Great folks the Irish.

We started out by stopping at every historic landmark that we saw a sign for, thinking that the stone circles, ring forts, and various megalithic sites were rare and therefore unique. Have since found out that they're all over the place, especially here in the western part of the country. Our Ordnance Survey Hiking maps are filled with them. The signage just points out the major ones...and those accessible from the roads at that. If you're on foot you come across these things all the time, like this old "Mass Rock" in the hills above one of the old villages. 

Following the "Little Yellow Man" around Ireland. Most of the hiking trails are signed pretty well, but if you venture too far afield they do tend to disappear. Have had some interesting experiences finding our way back to the trail after getting lost in the hills.

A lunch stop along one of the trails.

Some of the back roads are really pretty...like this farm track back into a little hidden valley.

A Stone Circle we encountered in a sheep paddock along one of the hikes. Haven't seen any Druids yet though.

One of the trails worked its way up and over this hill into a hidden valley.

Coming down the other side into the abandoned village of Cummeengeera...which was a thriving concern for about 50 years in the early 1800's. The famine years hit this area pretty hard, however, and the village was abandoned around 1848. It was like a little time capsule, with just the old ruins and the ancient stone walls marking the places where about 20 families once lived.  It was so pretty looking down on it from the hills above that it was like hiking into Brigadoon.

We wandered around the valley and explored the remains of the village for a couple of hours...had it completely to ourselves. 

There are a few rocks in Ireland.

More unnamed ruins. Actually, the one on the right is unnamed - the one on the left is named "Bob". 

Spent a week here driving around every rural road we could find - don't think I ever got the car out of 3rd gear. Lots of stops along the way to enjoy the pretty scenery...like this view from Cill Katherine church along the Beara Ring road.

Saturday is usually moving day the way our itinerary is set up. Good day to travel, plus it's about the only time all week I'm able to get the car into 5th gear, what with all of the rural driving we're doing.

I made it a point to rent a small "compact" car from Hertz...anticipating having to negotiate some pretty tight squeezes in the out-of-the-way places we're staying. Most of the cars here have manual transmissions, which adds another fun factor into the drama of driving on the wrong side of the road. You can rent automatics, but they're the exception and are twice as expensive as manuals (no kidding), so we went with the manual to save a few bucks. Turned out to be a good call since, with a little practice and continued familiarity, shifting with my left hand seems almost as natural now as it used to with my right. Now if I could just get my heart to stop spiking every time I meet an oncoming car on a one-lane road...

Heading for Dingle next.

Exploring the South Coast

Have spent the past several days rambling around the southern coast. First day trip was to the seaport of Youghal (pronounced "Yawl") - one of the original Viking and Norman settlements along this stretch of coast. Pretty little place as you can see.

The old Clock Tower on Main St. only dates from the 1700's so it's fairly new as historic buildings go around here. Used to hang condemned prisoners from the windows on the second floor according to local lore - including 12 in one day during the rising of 1798.

Asked about historic walking tours at the Tourist Information building and they introduced us to Clive - this little leprechaun of a guy who also happened to be the official Town Crier. Gave us a great individualized tour around the historic sites of the ancient city. We peppered him with questions for nearly two hours and I think we wore him out  - he was pretty tired by the end of the tour.Those stairs to the right go up onto the old city walls - first built in the late 1100's soon after the Normans moved in to displace the Vikings.

The Water Gate used to be the only entrance into the town from the seaport beyond. This was the route taken by Oliver Cromwell in 1650 to access the city, which he used as a base from which to brutally subdue the rest of Ireland. Old Oliver is still a much hated Brit around these parts - the Irish do know how to hold a grudge.

One historic building of note was Myrtle Wood - an old manor house which was given to Sir Walter Raleigh by Elizabeth I in the late 1500's as his reward for helping to defeat the Spanish Armada in 1588. It formed the centerpiece of his vast property grant and, according to local legend, it was in the gardens just behind the house that he planted the first corn and (notably) potatoes in Ireland.


On the short drive from to Kinsale we stopped off for the day in another seaport town called Cobh (pronounced "Cove"), which used to be one of the major ports of the British Empire. It's notable as the last port of call for the Titanic in 1912 - it was from here that virtually all of the 3rd Class passengers embarked on the fatal voyage. For those of us with Irish ancestry, there's more than a 50% chance that our ancestors departed from here, since it was the major port of embarkation during the famine years when over a million destitute Irish fled for the New World. The first immigrant to ever be processed thru Ellis Island departed from Cobh in 1889. And it was to Cobh that victims of the Lusitania were brought in 1915 after that ship was torpedoed off the Old Head of Kinsale nearby.

Colorful place - looking up at the town from the waterside promenade. Just behind me is the quay from which the tenders ran last-minute cargo and passengers out to the Titanic before she sailed away into legend .

The memorial to the Lusitania in the city square. It was international outrage over the sinking of this unarmed passenger liner that eventually drew the US into WWI, although there is modern evidence that suggests that the ship was carrying contraband war munitions and therefore would have been a legitimate target after all.

St. Colman's Cathedral. One of the last Titanic photos shows the city skyline from one of the tenders...with the church still uncrowned by the steeple, which wasn't completed until 1915.


For the last several days we've been staying in the village of Kinsale (pronounced "Jacksonville" (just kidding)), another beautiful seaport with a ton of history going back to Viking days. Its place in Irish history was secured by the Battle of Kinsale which was fought here in 1601. The last Spanish Armada sailed here to join with several Irish Chieftans trying to defeat the Brits, but the battle was a resounding defeat for the Spanish/Irish alliance and resulted in 300 more years of Irish subjugation by the British Empire. The town really trades on that history too - there are restaurants and pubs all over town with names referencing the 1601 battle.

A view of the town from the pretty, winding shore walk that started just behind our cottage.

The end point of the 6K walk was Charles Fort - built in the late 1600's.

The shoreline walk continued another 2 K beyond the fort, which presented nice views of the place looking back from the water.

The real reward for doing the walk out to the fort was this little pub about halfway along the trail in the tiny village of Summercove - looked like something from the set of "Waking Ned Devine". Anyway, we stopped in for lunch, and I also sampled the local brew called Murphy's..went down real easy.

One famed local landmark is the Spaniard  pub (and restaurant) which was right across the street from where we were staying - had to try a Murphy's there too. It's one of several places in town with names that refer to the 1601 battle...the signboard features a portrait of the Admiral who commanded the Spanish fleet. 

Have actually seen the sun the past couple of days which made for some pleasant days out and about. Supposed to turn cool, rainy and windy tomorrow, however, just in time for our drive out west to the Beara peninsula where we'll be for the next week.