Day Nine - Kenmare to Dingle

Today we left Kenmare for Dingle.  Following the advice of David, our host at Rockcrest, we took the back roads which followed the southern coast of the Dingle Peninsula.  Amazingly the roads were fairly straight and not too narrow.  Since the drive wasn't long we decided to do some caching along the way.  Folks, the sites we saw that we wouldn't have seen otherwise is why we love geocaching.

The first cache we went after was called "Magic" and it was. We parked at a little pull-off, walked through a gate and down a trail.  Soon we came to a little brook where we followed a trail along its edge until we came to a lovely waterfall.  This wasn't in any of our tour books. As a result we had the place to ourselves which just added to the magic of the place.  Everything was so green, the air felt so crisp, and it was such a serene setting.  Oftentimes when people place caches it is to show other a favorite place of theirs and I could see why this would be a favorite..

We stopped again about halfway through our drive where we were treated to two lovely sights. After pulling off a rural road we drove for about half a mile until we came to a parking spot next to a cow pasture.  From there we could see an old abbey and cemetery. A narrow path next to the field led us to the abbey. 

Killagha Augustinian Abbey was erected on the site of an older monastery of St. Colman some time after 1216 by Geoffrey de Marisco for the Canons Regular of St. Augustine and dedicated to Our Blessed Lady. In 1302 it was the third richest monastery in the Diocese of Ardfert, and its Prior was a Lord of Parliament. Having been destroyed by Cromwell's soldiers only the church, with a single long nave, remains.

The cache was not located at the abbey ruins but at nearby White Church Cemetery.  This one was a bit difficult to find.  We walked down the lane past a horse pasture and some woods.  When we knew we had gone too far we gave up and were heading back to the car when I noticed an old rusted gate with a path leading into the woods.  Soon we came to another gate and found the cemetery.  Not too much is known about this cemetery.  It was in use from the mid-18th century, but the origins are unknown. The current structure (in ruins) was probably built on the foundations of an earlier church. A description from 1753 notes "this church is in ruins but appears to be very ancient". The church was rebuilt around 1770, but quickly fell into disreapair with the bankruptcy of the local landlord in 1793 and was abandoned in 1810. 

Again we saw no one.  Our only companions were the cows, horses, and birds.

From there we continued to Dingle where we had a late lunch at the Treehouse Cafe (not sure where the name came from), wandered about a bit, and checked into Tower View, our home for the next two nights.

View from our B&B

After settling in for a bit and getting caught up with the world now that we have internet again, we left for dinner. It was raining more than a drizzle so we opted to drive the short distance to town. When we mentioned that we were interested in just a light dinner, Mary, our host, recommended we have some pub fare at John Benny's.  What a charming and cozy spot - several small, intimate rooms, ours had a Franklin stove.  The Irish are a very polite and friendly people and our server was in the top percentile of "Irishness" and cute as a button to boot.  We overheard a man at the table next to us comment that one should bring her home so her smile could chase the rain away - a very apt description.

Neil decided to give one of the local beers a try.  Since Ireland has very strict drinking and driving laws, I drove us home.  Fortunately it was not far and the roads were fairly wide, so we lived through it!

Tomorrow we drive the Dingle Peninsula.

Day Eight - Killarney National Park

Downtown Kenmare

After wandering the streets of Kenmare for a bit we drove up to Killarney National Park.  On the way we came upon the place we want to live - looking across a lake to a little valley backed up by a mountain with evergreens on one side and an open, craggy green space on the other. Our only disagreement was on where to place the house.  Neil wanted to be across the lake so he could have the view of both the lake and the mountain in front of him; I wanted the opposite side so I could have the lake and valley out the front door and the mountain out the back. Not to worry, I'll wear him down.

We continued to the park passing ever more beautiful scenery on the way and stopping at most every pull off.  The drive was part of the Ring of Kerry but since it was early in the day and we were at the end of the route, we didn't have to deal with tour buses.  Thank goodness as the roads were scary enough without having to face some behemoth bearing down on you.

After arriving at the park we opted to do the tour of Muckross House first.  The house was built by an Irish family but when they fell on hard times it was sold to a man from California who then gave it to his daughter and her Irish husband for their wedding present.  The daughter died at age 47 and the house along with its acreage was given to the Irish government and eventually it became the centerpiece of the national park.

When the tour concluded we decided to have lunch before we began our walk.  Once again the Irish weather gods were smiling on us and we enjoyed a nice meal at the Muckross Garden Restaurant overlooking a lovely garden.  After lunch our walk took us down a peninsula which jutted out directly in front of Muckross House.  As we've come to expect, the views were lovely and everything was so very peaceful.

After finishing our peninsula walk We headed off in another direction to find the ruins of Muckross Abbey. The abbey was in surprsingly good shape.  It looked like a wedding party was using it as a backdrop for their pictures. Seems like a good idea as those friars picked a nice spot on a hill overlooking the lake.  On the walk to and from the abbey we were passed by several jaunting carts which are small horse drawn carts made to carry a few people. Very quaint.

On the way back to Kenmare we stopped off at a scenic pull off to score a geocache.  Beautiful views and geocaching - life is good.  In the picture here the cache was just a few feet down from the rock in the foreground.

Back in Kenmare we were, We thought, still somewhat full from lunch and planned on having a light dinner. We got over that notion quickly as we ate at Prego, a cute little bustling Italian place where Neil had a penne pasta and I polished off a twelve inch pizza.

Tomorrow we leave for Dingle.  

Day Seven - The Beara Peninsula

After a very nice breakfast we set out to drive the Ring of Beara. Beara Peninsula is considered the number three loop in terms of popularity with the Ring of Kerry being number one and Dingle Peninsula number two. We have opted to skip the Ring of Kerry. Sharing the narrow roads with hordes of tour buses didn't seem like fun. In addition the Beara Peninsula is considered the most rugged of the three and that appealed to us.

Maybe the other two drives are better but I can't imagine anything more spectacular then what we encountered today. Beautiful ocean views with mountains rising in the background. And the Healy Pass!!! Pardon my language, but holy crap. The peninsula has mountain ranges running lengthwise on it smack in the middle and the Healy Pass is one of the few roads crossing over it. Lots of switchbacks, incredible views, several short tunnels though the mountains, and, of course, Ireland's narrow roads.

And this was a straightaway!

While planning our trip I tried to find out by reading books and asking on forums if there was any benefit to driving clockwise or counterclockwise. The answer I got was that it didn't really matter. Well folks, it really does matter. If we had had to face the roads we did today on our first arrival, we would have needed to stop to buy underwear. Instead we were broken into it in stages. And I think I said it in previous posts but Neil's driving is magnificent. He doesn't drive as fast as the Irish which is good because those people are crazy but he has managed to get past the typical tourist driving of 20 miles an hour.

We stopped and had lunch at Josie's, a lovely little place recommended by our hostess, Marion. We never would have found it on our own, just off the Healy Pass on a one lane road. Not sure what we would have done if we had come upon another car in the five miles it took to get there from the "main" road. Lunch was nice but the views were what made it - nestled in the mountains and overlooking a lake.

Tomorrow we head for Killarney National Park.

Day Six - Mizen head

(There will be several posts coming in short order.  We were without internet in Kenmare which was its only shortcoming.)

Today we checked out of our Kinsale B&B to head to Kenmare via the the Mizen Head Peninsula. If we could do one thing over we would have skipped Cork to spend more time in Kinsale. Kinsale seemed a very cute town, much like it's twin city Newport, RI, and we didn't really do it justice.

We drove along the coast out to the Mizen Head Lighthouse. Wonderful views along the way, becoming spectacular views at the lighthouse. After we parked the car and started walking to the lighthouse, we paused to chat with the ticket taker. Neil mentioned that I was not good with heights and was nervous about crossing over the bridge. As we continued walking we noticed that he was following us. We both got the impression that he was waiting to help out if I needed it. well my nervousness was for naught. I think the scenery was so incredible I plum forgot to be scared and instead started taking pictures. As he came abreast of us he commented that I was one brave lady. Nope, just gobsmacked.

At the museum there was one list of all the ships that had been sunk by German subs just off the coast there and another list of shipwrecked boats. Definitely a place with a sad history.

we then meandered back on the north side of the peninsula eventually arriving in Kenmare. Our B&B, Rockcrest was just outside of the town center, a short walk over a bridge. Upon being shown to our room we were offered tea and biscuits by our host, David. We regretfully declined. My cold had knocked my socks off. Instead we popped into town and bought some cheese and ham and snugged up in our room. I was asleep before eight.