We woke up this morning to a grey and drizzly day, which is a shame as today we heading up the Dingle peninsula (one of the prettiest areas of the country evidently), however we can’t complain as we have had fine weather until now. After packing up and saying goodbye to our host, we headed through North Kerry. It is quite a contrast here to what we have been seeing lately. It has elements of green amongst the tussock grass. In comparison to the last few days it looks positively luxuriant.
TRALEE : County Kerry : Republic of Ireland : Population 22,700
The town is situated on the northern side of the neck of the Dingle Peninsula, and is the largest town in County Kerry. Notable people include : St Brendan the monastic saint and navigator and Sean O'Callaghan the Provisional IRA member.
We passed through Tralee towards the Dingle Peninsula. We didn’t stop until we got to Dingle as the weather was quite miserable, with high winds to drive the cold drizzle right through you.
DINGLE : County Kerry : Republic of Ireland : Population 1900
One of Irelands largest Gaeltacht towns. It is the only town on the Dingle Peninsula and it sits on the Atlantic coast.
As we came into Dingle the sun came out, however that wasn’t to last very long. We spent a few hours wandering around the town admiring the brightly coloured shops, perusing the craft shops and art shops. Most things are closed due to it being a Bank Holiday. So we spent most of our time imagining what it must be like mid summer when the sun comes out and the crowds arrive (as they do). After a final ‘Hit and Run’ around the harbour area we took refuge in Murphy’s Pub for a nice seafood chowder to warm us up. We have found that a lot of the stores hedge their opportunities, with a pub also serving as a hardware store or perhaps a souvenir as well. It makes for an interesting experience drinking a pint amongst the screw and nuts. It seems to be quite an arty little town, a cross between Coromandel and Nelson. As we emerged the sun came out again to welcome us, although once again it didn’t smile for very long.
From Dingle we took the loop road around the end of the peninsula via Connor Pass (the highest Pass in Ireland), along steep, winding, narrow roads, small stone walls protecting us from the sheer drop to the valley below. One advantage was that there were no large trucks or tour buses (they would fit around here). It was quite a dramatic coast, although we weren’t able to maximize on the scenery due to the weather.
BLASKET ISLANDS : County Kerry : Republic of Ireland
The six principle islands are : Great Blasket Island, Beginish, Inishnabro, Inishvickillane, Inishtooskert, Tearaght Island. They were inhabited until 1953 by a completely Irish-speaking population. The inhabitants were evacuated to the mainland on 17 November 1953.
From the end of the point we were able to look out at the Blasket Islands only 5kms away and the most westerly islands off Ireland. Being so close it is hard to believe that they are so isolated. There is evidence of them being inhabited during the Iron age. In their more resent history they were in habited until 1953, when the inhabitants agreed that it was no longer feasible to live in such isolated and harsh conditions.
After continuing the loop back to Dingle, we passed through Inch and through Castlemaine. We then turned right and commenced the first part of the Ring of Kerry on the Kerry Peninsula. As we started along the coast passing through cute little villages and wonderfully green farmland, with the hills rising around us, we looked back across at the Dingle Peninsula to find that it was now swathed in sunshine (where we had been just a few hours ago)
CAHIRSIVEEN : County Kerry : Republic of Ireland : Population 1300
Pre-Famine population 30,000. Birthplace of Daniel O’Connell
We arrived in Cahirsiveen and found our accommodation just out town, another wonderful B&B with another very welcoming and friendly hostess. After settling in we went into town to find ourselves some dinner. When we looked at the shop we had parked in front of, we found that it was another one of those multifunctional shops. This one was half top shop, and half headstones and memorial plaques. An interesting mix we thought. In the window were the Hallmark cards of the Plaque world, stone slabs with lovely verses interjected with ‘insert name here’, ‘insert photo here’. We have noticed before that the funeral business seems to be big business in this country.
We moved on down the road and had dinner at a wonderful seafood restaurant that guarantees the fish on your plate to be less than two hours out of the water (they have their own fishing boats). They also have an obvious passion for sailing with the whole restaurant in a nautical theme with some fantastic sailing photos all around the walls. Justine was right in her element.
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