Ring of Kerry, Ireland

Thursday,  August 7, 2014   Ring of Kerry, Ireland

                                       The second lower peninsula is the Ring of Kerry.

After breakfast, we headed down N70 to Killorglin. This quaint little village has a crowned goat statute in the city center. They celebrate their summer festival by crowning a wild goat as “king” as well as a little girl as queen. On we journeyed on the Ring of Kerry with views of the Dingle Peninsula, what we had traveled around yesterday. Today we are traveling around the Iveragh Peninsula. We stopped in Glenbeigh to take a little walk seeing a quaint little village with pretty blooming flower pots and an old church sitting in the center of town. 

                                                            Glenbeigh was a pretty little village.

We stopped in King’s Head where we had an endless view of the coast with numerous stones stacked in foot high columns.

                                               Dingle Peninsula in the background.
We spotted a picnic table and decided to have lunch in this scenic little spot. Three motorcycles pulled into the area and we had a nice chat with an Irish family of six who were enjoying a week of cycling the area…mom, dad, two daughters, and two sons. They actually lived in the interior of the country. We swapped motorcycle stories for a while before deciding to motor on to Cahersiveen, the main town on the peninsula.

Cahersiveen was a bustling little waterfront town with lots of tourists, shops, restaurants, and pubs as well as traffic so we motored on to the next little delightful town of Waterville.

 

Loads of mountain views and seascapes were captured on the camera as we strolled the waterfront looking in shops and enjoying the warm sunshine.  From here you could possibly arrange a boat out to the Skellig Islands where a pinnacle of rock rose out of the sea. Monks over a thousand years ago built a towering staircase up the side of this towering rock of 714 feet.  Today thousands of sea birds…sea petrels, PUFFINS, manx, gannets nest and breed on the high cliffs. What is so remarkable about these rocks  today? This week Harrison Ford and other “Star War” actors are gathered  on the Skellig's for a scene in the next chapter of movie.

After soaking up a grand bit of sunshine we continued up the mountainside to stop at the Coomakista Pass .  Striking views of both sides of the peninsula were captured. We continued traveling through another quaint little village, Sneem .

We continued to travel down N71 to the lovely village of Kenmare. Taking a wrong turn took us right down the middle of the unique Irish village of pubs, restaurants and cafes that was bustling with locals who were hustling to go home from work. The town is renowned for its traditional lace. To create work for women and girls during the famine, nuns from the local convent long ago taught this intricate skill that still remains.

We traveled on through a rolling land of pastures of sheep and cows and drove through the famous Moll’s Gap.

 From here we stopped at the lovely Ladies View, named for the delight that it gave the Queen Victoria’s ladies in waiting. It afforded beautiful views of the Upper Lake, smallest of the Three Lakes of Killarney. From here we journeyed through the town of Killarney seeing many of the same sights that we had viewed on Tuesday.

                         Hydrangas were so colorful and at their peak everywhere!

We were happy to see Crestfield, our home in Tralee. Larry and I had literally             “O D-ed” on Irish scenery today. We had a quick dinner and had no problems with capturing some badly needed shut eye. The five hour time change had finally caught up with us.

Tralee to Dingle Peninsula

Wednesday,  August 6, 2014 Tralee to Dingle Peninsula

With Larry driving the car we headed out to Dingle Peninsula about 10:00am. Dingle Peninsula offers some of Ireland’s most beautiful scenery with towering Brandon Mountains and spectacular west coast seascapes.  The wild flowers along the road were at their peak.

                                                              So absolutely stunning!

We began with a short drive down the highway coming to Connor Pass. What a thrilling drive! Sheep and cattle dotted the hillsides of marvelous green with rocks and stone fences climbing the mountains while the road shrunk to a single lane unexpectedly.

 

 It was thrilling to meet the cars and buses that were coming from the other direction. We all seemed to smile and wave and slowly creep through the narrow passage. We know that the other drivers were enjoying the experience as much as we were with all the thumbs up that we got.

Waterfall along side the road

 

At Connors Pass we stopped to take pictures and hiked to the top of the mountain. The stone landscape became more of a reality as we walked up. You had to pay close attention to every step…uneven stones and sheep dung made you step carefully…but what a view! It was marvelous!  Seeing all the rock along the hillside made you aware of the labor intensity it took to clear the fields for farming and to build the stone walled fences between fields.  Amazing!

Connor's Pass was breath taking...for beauty and climbing the mountains!

                          Doesn't this look like a painting? It is a snap shot from our little camera. 

On we rode up N86 to Dingle, a beautiful little fishing port with brightly painted shops and cafes. Home to Dingle’s biggest star, Fungie, the dolphin. A statue of the dolphin stood proudly in the harbor area.  Fungie has been living in the Dingle Harbor since 1983 and he attracts tourist from all over the world. After a short walk around the town we drove on to Slea Head where we saw the Crucifixion beside the road known to the locals as the Cross.

 

We stopped near the Dungerg Fort to a picnic lunch on the hillside.

 

The views were spectacular.  Hikers passed us on a 20 kilometer hike with 36 pound packs. Whew! They were heading  uphill the whole way.  We viewed some potato famine huts all built of stone. They were beautiful stone architecture.

      Famine Huts

                         

Stone House...even the roof!              

Just past this point we came to Dunmore Head, where you can spot Ireland’s most westerly point of islands, the Blaskets.

 

We stopped in Ballyferriter to see Louis Mulcahy’s Pottery. Oh my! What beautiful pieces of work!

 

 

 We passed the Gallarus Oratory, a tiny dry-stone church shaped like an upturned boat overlooking Smerwick Harbour built between the 6^th and 9^th century. What a historical artifact! Amazing! We never see anything this old in USA.

We ventured to Inch Point.  Anne had told us that she had spent many summer vacations here with her family as a child. Today the beach was loaded with visitors swimming and surfing along the coast. Cars drove right out on the beach and we could not resist the temptation of a stop.

 

 

The tide was way, way out making the beach huge. Although the wind was blowing briskly we joined the hundreds of travelers and walked out to the seaside. All along the beachside, several vans sat  advertising the rental of beach equipment…surf boards, chairs, umbrellas, etc. as well as surfing lessons.

The wind whipped all around us waking  usfor the final leg of our trip.

 

 We returned to our Tralee home arriving around 6:00pm.. Anne’s 82 year old father had had a bad spell during the day, so Larry and I decided to fix dinner for us all. Larry barbecued chicken on the grill while I cooked some fresh broccoli and sweet potatoes. We ate outside next to their garden and enjoyed the gorgeous weather and a fabulous sunset…the end to another lovely day.

                                               Larry and Kevan at our Tralee, Ireland home.

Tralee to Killarney, Ireland

Tuesday, August 5, 2014 Tralee to Killarney, Ireland

After a grand breakfast, we jumped into the car to head to Killarney, one of the hottest tourist spots in Southwestern Ireland. Larry got to practice driving on the Irish side of the road…the left! The experience of driving on the left in East Timor came back to him in a snap. In Killarney lots of B and Bs, hotels, shops, and restaurants dotted the roads. The village was so quaint. All along the roads you could spot Jaunting Carts, horse drawn wagons that take visitors for tours of the town and the national park.

 

The flowers in Ireland were just gorgeous. Planters and window boxes donned all the homes and businesses. They thrive in the cool temps and the misty rain that occurs most days.

                                       Fushia grow wild here in enormous bushes all along the roads.

 

Ben and Anne had taken the week off and decided to accompany us to Killarney suggesting that we go to see the Muckross House, a 19^th century manor home with gorgeous landscaped gardens.

 

 

The mansion had 25 bedrooms and 68 chimneys. Can you imagine being the servant that kept those fires burning?  This lovely old home had the servant’s bells that reminded us of the BBC’s television show “Doughton Abbey”. 

                                                                           Muckross

                                                                         Our Foley Friends

 Back in the 1800’s the owners of Muckross entertained Queen Victoria and later donated the property and the surrounding  3,000 acres including the three Lakes of Killarney to the Irish government forming Killarney National Park. Queen Victoria’s visit made many aware of the beauty of the area making it renowned throughout the world. 

 

After a grand tour of the mansion, we had a fabulous picnic lunch….fresh bread, cheese, tomatoes, and other delights that Anne had graciously packed.

 

 

To work off lunch we hiked up a pretty trail to the Torc Waterfall, a 60 foot waterfall tumbling from the Owengarriff  River.

 

We hiked further up the mountain to get a grand view of the three Lakes of Killarney. Simply Gorgeous! Just outside the Killarney National Park, lies the Macgillycuddy's Reeks, Irelands highest mountains. We were lucky to catch a glimpse of this on the way into Killarney.

 

 

 

After hiking back down we went to the Lake Hotel, an old Victorian five star masterpiece that was situated on the edge of Muckross Lake. Here we hiked out to a fantastic castle ruins which looked out on the lake. Inside the luxurious hotel, we had afternoon tea and coffee while enjoying the views of the lakes. What a peaceful pleasure with our Irish friends!

 

We enjoyed a final stop at the Ross Castle in Killarney, walking through the ruins and taking a last look at the Muckross Lake. The government refurbished the castle in the 1970’s and continues to maintain the structure. It was a fantastic stately old castle.

 

Whom ever lived in this castle was short...Larry's  too tall for this castle door!

Upon returning to our Tralee home, Ben and a Larry manned the barbecue cooking  pork and beef, Ann made Irish potatoes, and I made peas and carrots. What a fabulous meal we enjoyed outside on the edge of their garden recalling so many moments of our beautiful day! 

Sunday, August 3-Monday August 4, 2014  Front Royal to Oakton to Reagan National to Boston, MA to Shannon, Ireland to Tralee, Ireland

We had a wonderful send off on our Summer 2014 trip to Ireland. A nice surprise, Chad Heflin came for breakfast. After a great visit, we headed to Oakton for a scrumptious lunch with Kristy, Brian, and Molly who later took us to Washington, DC to board our  Reagan National Flight on US Air to Boston. Larry noticed that a flight left an hour earlier at 3:30pm so he quickly rearranged for us to jump on the earlier flight. What a beautiful hour and half flight! Upon arriving we were able to catch a bus from B Terminal to E Terminal and find the Aer Lingus flight that left at 7:15pm to Shannon, Ireland. Nice flight across the Atlantic Ocean. Larry watched Draft Day with Kevin Costner while I watched Kevin Spacey in House of Cards. We both tried to nap before arriving in Shannon at 6:05AM, a 5 hours and ten minutes flight.

 

In Shannon we met Ben Foley who transported us and his dear friend who was also on our flight, Bria, to Tralee, an hour and half car ride.

Our Tralee home away from home.

                    Each home in Ireland is given a name for postal reasons. Our home is called Crestfield.

 

Upon arrival, Ben’s lovely wife, Anne served us some homemade scones and tea before scooting us off to bed where we snoozed into the afternoon, Ireland time. Anne prepared us a delicious Irish dinner…pineapple-melon salad, bacon (pork tenderloin) cabbage, and potatoes with a  fruit cobbler.

                Anne walking in with another delicious dish while Ben serves me and his sister-in-law.

After dinner we drove to Ben and Anne’s son’s, Kevan’s, Gaelic football match and were excited to catch the last 15 minutes of the game. Gaelic football is sort of a  combination of American football and soccer.

                                                          Kevan is the goalie for the Kerry Team.

After that we went to a young Irish traditional folklore show with music, singing, Riverland Dancing, and prose.  It was excellent. We tumbled into bed around midnight and  said, “Jumpin’ Begora, we gotta slow down or we’ll never make it through the next 6 weeks.”