After having a wonderful chat with our hostess this morning we headed out to discover this town. She told us that she had been running the B&B for eleven years and that her husband ran a salmon smoking business. He smokes salmon the traditional way and supplies small gourmet shops throughout the country, which explains the excellent smoked salmon we received for breakfast. He is also into rallying which was evident in the cabinet full of crystal ware.
In the township there was a market going on selling fresh produce, fish, cakes, cheeses, unfortunately there was nothing that was very travel friendly. On continuing through the town we found signs pointing towards a ‘Stone Circle’ right within the town. What we found was just that … a circle of stones. Maybe we have become used to them now, every village and every town on this island seems to boast a 5000 year old something. These stone circles are everywhere.
MIZEN HEAD : County Cork : Republic of Ireland
Located at the western extremity of a peninsula in the south-westernmost point of Ireland, it is one of the extreme points of the island of Ireland. Located on the promontory are an old signalling station, a weather station, and a lighthouse. Geography books have long measured the length of Ireland ‘from Malin Head to Mizen Head’.
After leaving town we headed West towards Mizen Head, Ireland’s most South Westerly point. Getting there was a familiar story of the roads becoming more winding and narrow until they became not much more that a farm track. These tracks form an interconnecting network that can easily become confusing, and perhaps they were built with that in mind, to confuse the tourists. The scenery was wonderful, green grass, white beaches, and lots of sheep. As we got nearer to the Head the landscape became more rugged, until by the time we got there we were looking down on spectacular rocks with the Atlantic slamming hard against them and shooting it’s energy straight up into the air. However what this place is probably best known for is the old signal station. We walked along a path, and over an arched bridge looking down immense cliffs of solid rock with anticlines and synclines twisting and turning in unbelievable patterns, evidence of the geographical forces that created this landscape. On the other side, hanging on for grim life in this howling gale (and today is a calm day) is the signal station, the site that was built over 100 years ago to help warn ships off the rocks. When the haze cleared a little we could see Fastnet Rock Lighthouse 9 miles out to sea, another amazing piece of engineering. Built entirely out of granite rock, built like a 3D jigsaw puzzle with each piece shaped like a cube with interlocking shapes on five of its six faces. Each block numbered and dropped into place. Amazing.
FASTNET ROCK LIGHTHOUSE : County Cork : Republic of Ireland
Old Norse Name : Hvasstann-ey meaning "sharp-tooth isle"
Irish Name : Carraig Aonair, meaning "solitary rock / lone rock"
Due to its location, Fastnet was known as 'Ireland's Teardrop' because it was the last part of the country that Irish emigrants would see as they sailed to the United States in the 19th century. Fastnet Rock is used as the midpoint of one of the world's classic offshore yachting races, the Fastnet Race, a 979 kilometres (608 mi) round trip from Cowes, UK round the rock and back to Plymouth. Construction of the first lighthouse started in 1853, but was soon proven to be too weak. The construction of the second (and current) stone lighthouse started in 1897. The masonry tower is 44.5 m high, with the focal point of the light 48.5 m above high water mark. Using granite blocks, weighing 4300 tons in total and with a volume of 1645 cubic metres. In 1985, the lighthouse was struck by a rogue wave measuring about 48m in height.
Our next stop was Baltimore, a small town that was reputed to have its sailing cap ‘set at a jaunty angle’. We suspect that the sailors hat only comes out during summer time. We saw a small fishing village, with a regular ferry service over to the Islands, set amongst a setting of drinking establishments plying their wares to those wanting to watch the boats come and go.
TIMOLEAGUE ABBEY : County Cork : Republic of Ireland
Timoleague Friary is a Franciscan friary. It dates from about 1300.
From here we thought that we would head straight to our destination of Kinsale for the night, however we got distracted along the way. Driving through one of the many little villages we found that we had come face to face with the ruins of an Abbey in the middle of town. We stopped for a peruse through the ruins of Timoleague Abbey (this one isn’t in the guide books). It would have been a grand Abbey in its time. We came to appreciate how big it was as we wandered through the ruins from one room to the next and on to the next, going from the Nave to the Chapel, from the now uncovered Cloisters to the Chapter Room, from the Transept to the Sacristy through the Choir Hall. In amongst the array of rooms and passageways, there were graves both ancient and present, buried both outside its walls and also within the confines of the Abbey, covering every piece of available ground. Quite an incredible place.
KINSALE : County Cork : Republic of Ireland : Population 2200
The population increases substantially during the summer months when the tourist season is at its peak and when the boating fraternity arrive in large numbers.
We arrived in Kinsale at an unusual time, it was deserted. We found out later that this was largely due to a major football game being on. We decided to join the locals in a bar, watch the game, and get some dinner at the same time. The locals were more interested in the game, the game didn’t feature any local teams anyway, and the food was decidedly dodgy. We made a bad choice tonight.
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