Dingle Peninsula, Killarney, Blarney 10/20/04

Day 6

“Is that frost on the backyard grass?” I asked Steve as we prepared for our all day Peninsula drive. Brrrrr. Well, last night the temperature in our car did register 3 degrees Celsius. And this morning a couple of savvy gals from Minnesota were pouring warm water on their windshield to melt the ice crystals??? Nothing new to them, they said this is mild weather compared to the Midwest! Undeterred by the weather, we bundled up and headed out, prepared as two Southern Californians can be!

I had read so much about the Dingle Peninsula Drive. Most of the guide books highly recommended this as a day long excursion with lots of time to explore and absorb the historical and natural value. The remarkable landscape is punctuated by ringforts, beehive stone huts, standing stone and curving bays with long golden beaches.

We followed Rick Steve’s “circular tour by bike or by car” from his guide book. He even told us where to set the odometer and each point of interest was easy to locate.

Steve and I had our favorite stops and took advantage of the wonderful off season non-congested roads. I’m sure August would be another story but we toodled along with nary an impatient driver beckoning us to speed up or pull over.

Dingle feels so traditionally Irish because it’s a “Gael Tacht” (a region when the government subsidizes the survival of the Irish language and culture.) Though English is always spoken there, many of the signs and menus come in Gaelic. The first sign we came upon translated to “Go slowly”.

The pink building was a grammar school teaming with fresh faced youngsters at recess. The stonehouse restaurant was remarkable with each stone carefully detailed and placed. It reminded me of all the stone walls we saw in each of the counties we have traveled through so far. Those walls are free standing and not mortared so they can be quickly disassembled to let the cows and sheep pass through.

Dunbeg Fort was a promontory hill fort used as a refuge of last resort during the celtic invasion. The dates are all in question but the literature guesses it was inhabited in the 10th or 11th centuries. The “clochans” – or igloo shaped buildings – resemble beehives and liberally litter the hillside along the Dingle Peninsula Drive.

We had our photo taken on a cliff with the Great Blasket Islands as the majestic background. They are no longer inhabited due to harsh, remote conditions. Dunmore Head is the westernmost point in Europe and just beyond that, a gorgeous beach that was the central location of the 1970’s movie Ryan’s Daughter.

Dunquin Harbor lays quietly in front of the “Three Sisters” mountain range. If you look closely, you can spot the island that resembles a “Sleeping Giant” to the right. During the great potato famine in Ireland, many of the homes in Dunquin Harbor were abandoned. Up this hillside is the first bit of land Charles Lindberg gazed upon after crossing the Atlantic on his way to Paris in 1927. It is called Mt. Eagle and the story goes that the villagers were as excited as he was since they had never seen anything so big in the air before!

We were intrigued by the playful pastel-colored buildings in the town of Dunquin Harbor. Traditionally the stores and such were drab gray or whitewashed. Apparently 30 years ago a competition prompted everyone to paint their buildings, the merrier the better!

Our peninsula tour came to a close but not before another group of “commuters” greeted us. This time they brought along their “guide” presumably to set the pace?!

Both Steve and I were getting rather edgy having been cooped up in the car for the better part of 2 days so we were eager to head out to Muckross House and walk around this renowned estate on the edge of Killarney National Park. A light rain stayed with us most of the drive there and the temperature felt cool and crisp. Once we arrived, a brisk hike to the Abbey sounded like a fine idea to get the blood pumping and the car legs refreshed. Our California boy refused to succumb to a coat though it did turn a bit nippy!

The grounds were splendid and lush. Queen Victoria had excellent taste as she stayed in the mansion back in 1861 (on the ground floor because it is said that she was afraid of fires!). We didn’t tour the Muckross Traditional Farms or the inside of the House but it was lovely and definitely worth a longer visit. Prepare for the weather and the walking tours would be pleasant as well.

The steady rain and our challenging navigational skills convinced us from attempting to drive to the coastal town of Kinsale this afternoon so instead we headed over to Blarney. Our third rainbow of the trip gallantly appeared overhead and I took it as a clear sign we had made a wise decision.

We must have looked rather hungry and weary upon arrival at the Pineforest Bed and Breakfast because our proprietress immediately directed us to the Blair Inn for a warm dinner meal. Oh Lordy, I had the BEST Irish stew (called Murphy stew) while sitting in the coziest of pubs, warm, homey, reminiscent of a long lost friend’s living room. And get this – one of the locals sidled up to the bar and ordered a BUDWEISER. What, no Guinness? Steve was tickled, it is his favorite beer back home. I wanted to sleep soundly because tomorrow…drum roll please…Steve will receive the gift of gab at the Blarney Stone. It may be a LONG time before I can get a word in edgewise again. :~)