Fairy Forts and Bagpipes
Trip Start
Jun 24, 2012
1
5
11
Trip End
Jul 07, 2012
Dingle, County Kerry, Ireland
Friday, June 29, 2012
We started our day at 8:30 with a full Irish breakfast (Rich), smoked mackerel (Den and Michael) and smoked salmon (me). There's wonderful seafood in Ireland and we’ve sampled lots and lots of it! Den and I gathered up all our dirty clothes to take to a local laundry while Michael and Rich checked email. The laundry was on Green Street and was manned by a nice attendant who said it would be done in a few hours and that they’d close at 4:00 sharp and not open again until Monday. That put some boundaries on our trip around the Dingle Peninsula since we weren’t keen on having to drive back two hours to Dingle on Monday morning from Kenmare, our next stop. On the way back, we stopped by the Centra grocery store and selected salad plates to take for a picnic lunch.
We got on the road around 11:00 in a rather misty morning but with high hopes for some sun along the way. We used our Rick Steves’ Ireland guidebook directions and odometer readings to point out the sites along the 30-mile loop of the Dingle Peninsula. The route is along narrow little lanes that twist and turn up and down hills and bluffs. A small part of it is one-way, but in most places you share the road with vehicles of all kinds from large delivery trucks to locals to gawking tourists like us. There are turnouts in some places, but not nearly enough. We stopped several times early in the loop just to look out at the beautiful bay and islands visible from the road.
Our first real stop was at Dunbeg Fort, a series of grassy ditches and stone walls and structures clinging right on the edge of a cliff overlooking the crashing sea. The fort dates back to the Iron Age (500 B.C. to A.D. 500) and was occupied during Medieval times as well. There was a short film to describe what is known about the forts (not much). One of the reasons so many of these structures survived was because the local people called them "fairy forts" and thought it would be bad luck to disturb them—lucky for us.
We stopped along the road at a beautiful overlook and pulled out our salad plates. It was so cold and windy that we decided to have our picnic lunch in the car, but it was no hardship with that kind of view.
The highlight of the loop trail for us was the Great Blasket Centre, which details the lives and writings of the inhabitants of the Blasket Islands, visible from the Centre. The Centre itself is a masterpiece of architecture (making us think of Rich's brother Paul) and perfectly depicts the way of life on the island. It’s filled with stained glass, art, photos, quotes from writings, and even recordings of Blasket Island inhabitants telling stories in Gaelic. The last resident was moved off the island in the early 1950’s. We were a little rushed in the Centre since we were keeping an eye on time to get back for the laundry. I think you could spend several hours there to see everything.
Once back on the road, we reached the halfway point in the drive and began to see another whole set of sweeping vistas. The sun peeked in and out and we’d leap out of the car to grab a photo whenever we could. At one particularly memorable overlook a lovely little Irish lady was set up with her bagpipe and a dog at her feet. She said it was just a “gentle wind” and then began to play a beautiful tune. I’m not generally a fan of bagpipes but somehow looking out at the sea and the wild Irish landscape, it just seemed right.
Another stop on the loop was the Reasc Monastery ruins dating from the 6th to 12th centuries. The sun was shining brightly so everything took on an amazing beauty. I was especially taken with the stone Celtic pillar dating from 500 B.C. with interesting carvings. Our final stop was the ruined church of Kilmalkedar, the Norman center of worship for this part of the peninsula. By that time, we had almost lost the sun entirely as we made our way back to Dingle in plenty of time to collect our laundry.
We relaxed the rest of the afternoon at the B&B reading our email and catching up on our blog posts. At about 6:00, Den and I went up to a beautiful woolen shop we had passed on our morning errands. She and I each “oohed” and “aahed” over some brightly colored shawls that were as light at feathers. We both ended up buying one and I added a few other little gifts. Let’s hope I can fit everything into our already stuffed suitcases!
Dinner was at The Half Door, a fantastic seafood restaurant where we got early bird menus virtually guaranteeing we’d all eat too much. I had gratineed mushrooms that were creamy and divine and a baked salmon in buerre blanc. Rich had lobster bisque and gratineed crabmeat—both quite wonderful. We topped that off with apple-pear crumble for me and orangle panna cotta for Rich.
After dinner we decided to go for a walk since it was such a pretty evening. About five minutes into the walk, the heavens opened up. Luckily we had our raincoats, but unfortunately we didn’t have umbrellas. Michael, Den and Rich went into a pub near our B&B for some live Irish music. I decided to take some down time for myself and arrived at the B&B soaked to the skin. When Rich got home a little after 10:30, he reported great music and had a CD of the performers in hand to prove it.
Comments
Another set of photographs that are simply stunning in their beauty. Lucky you! Glad you're still having a good time and that you got back in time for your clean laundry. Rebecca, you and I know the joys of clean laundry when your suitcase is empty and the stuff you have has gotten a bit stiff. Life is good again......
Love you and miss ya!
Mart
When are you and Rich going shopping for Kilt ? Or are you having one Custom Made. Just think a couple of dark Kilts and a couple of dark shirts Rich would be set for at least a week before he would have to visit the laundry. It would lighten his wardrobe considerably.. LOL..Beautiful Pics as always Thanks for sharing..Larry
hey, i haven't been able to keep up with all of your blogs but i read this one this a.m. and it was lovely; the countryside stunning; i could feel some of the excitement and heart softening that for me goes with seeing such beauty. in the restaurant pic your friend looks a bit like dh lawrence. much love, carol