Sunday was a typical Irish day weather-wise. Clouds. Some rain. Some sun. Our weather has been great.

Sunday morning we took a ride out the R559, a local road that runs from just outside Dingle to near Ballydavid (a distance of just 12 kilometers). We often go to Ballydavid but usually via beautiful Slea Head Drive along the coast. The R559, rarely used by tourists, has a few sites worth seeing on it as well as views down to the coast. We made several stops.

Caherdorgan Stone Fort

Caherdorgan Stone Fort is a great stop. This is so unknown to most that there is not even a sign at the fort. No attendants. No cafe. No gift shop. No facilities. You just have to know where it is on this little used road. There is room for maybe three cars to stop nearby. Click the link to learn more. It was built in the 8th or 9th century. Oddly, there has been no archaeological study made of the fort. It is really pretty fascinating to think the rock walls have been there, without mortar or maintenance, since the 9th century. To get into the fort you have to climb over the wall using stones built into the wall just for that purpose.

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The Chancellor’s House

Just a kilometer down the road from the fort are the ruins of the Chancellor’s House. It was once the HQ for a chancellor of the Bishop of Ardfert. (We visited the ruins of Adfert Cathedral near Tralee a couple of weeks ago with Bob and Barbara.) Here there is at least a sign with some information, but that’s it. There were two beautiful horses grazing nearby.

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Kilmalkedar Church and Graveyard

Another kilometer down the road are the ruins of Kilmalkedar Church. This is the best known of the sites along the R559. Among the points of interest are a holed ogham stone, a sun dial, a large stone cross, two Holy Wells, two Bullaun stones, and St Brendans Oratory . The Graveyard has ancient headstones but also is still in use as the local burying ground.

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Gallarus Oratory

Finally, back onto the main road, you find yourself as a well known site – Gallarus Oratory. Here there is a gift shop, a cafe, attendants, and there was even a tour bus arriving when we left.

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Finally we returned home for a quick stop before walking at noon to our next stop for the day.

Whiskey on a Sunday

The Dingle Distillery was founded in 2012 with the idea of returning craft whiskey brewing to Ireland. Since it takes three years (minimum) of aging to produce a great whiskey, the distillery also distilled Dingle Original Gin and Dingle Distillery Vodka because they could start selling that in just seven days. I can vouch for the fact that the vodka is excellent – smooth as silk. It is all I have been using in my nightly gimlet since we arrived in DIngle. And their gin just won the title of Best Gin in the World at a blind tasting of more than 400 gins in London. A cask of the first batch of whiskey, released in 2015, is now worth lots of money. That is good news to Dingle townsfolk who financed the distillery by buying casks of the first year’s product three years before it would be available for use. That cask, many of which are still in storage at the distillery, is now worth lots of money. The tour of the facility takes an hour and is delightfully given by a knowledgeable guide. You get samples of all the products. I generally don’t like whiskey, but I drank my sample and enjoyed it.

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After the tour we had lunch at Flannery’s Fish Box and spent the rest of the day at home. Tomorrow we head out for a two-day road trip. We will spend one night in Doolin (near the Cliffs of Moher and a gateway to the Aran Islands) and one night at Ballybunion. More on that to follow. I’m not sure if I will post along the way or wait until we get back to Dingle on Wednesday.

Cheers for now.

Saturday

Tralee once had a viable horse racing track at Ballybeggan Park.. Ballybeggan once ran a week long meet in August as part of the Rose of Tralee Festival. It closed its doors to regular flat racing and steeplechasing back in 2008. The track was slated for redevelopment, but the economic downtown shortly after meant the development never happened. As you can see from the pictures, the facilities have deteriorated significantly. But the local North Kerry Harriers have kept a breath of life in the track with an annual one-day point-to-point meet where amateur riders and hunting horses compete in steeplechase races. There were six races plus two flat pony races for under 16 riders. We stayed for the first three jump races. All six races were run at three miles over thirteen fences. There are bookies that take bets. The first race had 42 entries and was split into two divisions with 14 horses in each. (The rest were scratched). I had no winners.

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As the races progressed there was also a dog show going on behind the stands. Amateur jockeys mingle with the crowd and their families if they are not riding in the current race. Elaine took my picture in a well worn judge’s stand. There is a special parking area for vintage cars. There is a bouncy castle for kids. There is an ice cream truck. Given the state of the facilities, it all makes for a surreal experience.

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Before the races we had a nice lunch in Tralee at Quinlin’s Fish Bar that we visited some days ago during our day out in Tralee. Dinner was at home. In the morning before setting out for Tralee, I visited Kennedy’s Butcher shop and bought a nice strip steak for myself and some chicken breast fillets for Elaine. There were delicious on the barbecue.

An aside: Tralee still has a very popular greyhound track that runs three nights a week. I have never been. Also, before we leave the Dingle Peninsula we will attend a real race meet at Listowel.

Back again tomorrow.

Friday was mostly cloudy with some hazy sunshine filtering through. No blue skies though. We decided to do something new today – a visit to Glanteenassig Forest Park near the town of Castlegregory. Castlegregory is located just over Conor Pass from Dingle and we have ridden by the side road to the park dozens of times but never visited before. Although it’s reportedly a great picnic spot, we decided not to pack a lunch.

The park is quite beautiful. There are several lakes fed by mountain streams. The lakes are populated by local brown trout and stocked with rainbow trout, so anglers will love it here. There is, oddly, lots of dead trees and some deforestation, but it is still very scenic. There is no explanation provided for the dead trees. We hiked 1.8 kilometers (OK, walked) around one lake on an ingeniously built wood plank pathway. There was a tree growing out of a rock and a tree that started growing upside down before righting itself. Elaine especially loved it here. And, indeed, it was a great spot for a picnic.

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After our visit we planned to return to Dingle through Anascual rather than back over Conor Pass. Inch Beach is just a few kilometers from Anascual, and a friend had recommended Sammy’s Restaurant at the beach. So we stopped there for a nice lunch. Elaine had a Reuben and I had a delicious Steak and Guinness Pie with chips. It was, of course, accompanied by a Guinness.

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Dinner consisted of a baguette from Bacus (disappointing), duck paté from the farmer’s market (wonderful), and a variety of cheeses (yum!) from Dingle’s Little Cheese Shop. After dinner we ventured into town for some music at O’Flaherty’s where we chatted with some people we knew from previous trips and some new friends made this trip.

And home to bed.

My trusty Canon G7X Mark II has taken a two-day rest, so no photos from today in the post. Actually it is the photographer (your trusty admin) who has taken a rest from using it. At the end I’ve posted a potpourri of photos taken by Elaine

Wednesday morning arrived with the sun still shining. But, as predicted, the clouds soon rolled in. By early evening it was raining lightly. We had a nice do-nothing day. We both did our walks into town in the morning. After lunch at home we walked back into town in the afternoon to try a new (for us) pub. We stopped in at the MacCártaìg Pub on Goat Street. It’s been in the MacCarthy family since the 1800’s. We met a pretentious American woman customer who now lives in Mexico. She is travelling with a man she barely knows, is staying in a hostel, drives a Volkswagen bug, is the daughter of a three-star general, and knows all about everything. We left after one beer to escape her.

On to the reliable Dingle Pub where we chatted with a nice couple from Maine and a young woman (from Chandler, AZ) travelling alone. Then it was home to rest.

We had dinner at Ashe’s (Glenbeigh oysters and turbot for me; gambas and hake for Elaine – no camera with us). After dinner we moved two doors up to the crammed pack full Dingle Pub. The woman (Lynn) from Chandler was there and we successfully negotiated our ways to the back of the bar where we found seats. David Geaney danced (between bar-tending and waiting on tables) and Richie entertained with Dreams of Freedom. We gave Lynn a lift back to Pax House (her B&B) before heading home to #23 Ard Na Mara for bed.

Thursday was a day of rain, overcast, and fog save for a brief spell of sun late afternoon. So we decided on another quiet day at home. We did a bit of shopping for tonight’s dinner – a store bought SuperValu fish pie – which turned out to be edible but not memorable. We did drive the 10 kilometers to Ballyferriter (Baile an Fheirtéaraigh in Irish) for lunch. In Irish, Bally means town or township or townland, so Ballyferiter is Ferriter’s Town. The Ferriters settled here way back in late medievil period. We ate at the small hotel in town – Ceann Sibeal. We got there shortly afternoon to beat the tour buses that often stop there for lunch. None appeared during our pleasant lunch. I had the best seafood chowder EVER and traditional Irish lamb stew. Elaine skipped the starter and enjoyed chicken goujons for her main.

Naps, reading, and television consumed time after lunch. We especially like watching the UK series Four in a Bed. At 4:00 I went to the Dingle Pub for a pint. After cocktails and dinner (the fish pie) at home, it was off to bed.

Photo Potpourri
(None from yesterday or today)
(All taken by Elaine on her Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W830)

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Good lord, another stunning day on Tuesday. The weather has been so good, we finally planned a picnic lunch, our first, for today. No walks this morning. We headed out in Winnie the Peugeot at 9:30 headed toward Killarney once again.

First stop was at Kate Kearney’s Cottage located at the entrance of the Gap of Dunloe:

“Kate was a well known beauty in Ireland in the years before the Great Famine (1845-1849). The legend of Kate has captured the imagination of people far and wide down through the years.It was at this síbín that Kate distilled her famous poitín, ‘Kate Kearney’s Mountain Dew’, which was “very fierce and wild, requiring not less than seven times its own quantity of water to tame and subdue it.” It was of course illicit. However, Kate flouted the law and invited the weary traveller to partake of her hospitality.” (We didn’t sip any!)

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Normally you can drive the very narrow and hazardous road through the Gap of Dunloe, but today the road is closed to motor traffic for maintenance. I hadn’t planned on risking the drive anyway. Instead we took another jaunting car ride partway through the Gap. This time our driver was Paddy O’Donaghue and our horse was 10 year old Lily. It’s a stunningly beautiful area and we enjoyed our ride. Paddy was a great guide and Lily was great.

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After returning to Winnie P. we drove past Killarney to Ladies View. It was here we enjoyed our sandwiches and chips sitting on the wall looking down on the Killarney lakes. Queen Victoria’s ladies-in-waiting visited here during the royal visit in 1861. They were so taken with the view that it was named after them. Lunch was great and followed by an ice cream cone in the shop/restaurant at the site.

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Then it was back home for a nap. I went into town for a Guinness at the Dingle Pub before cocktails and appetizers (smoked salmon paté and cheese) on the patio. I fired up the barbecue and grilled some delicious sausages from Kennedy”s Butcher Shop for dinner while Elaine sauteed spinach and made a potato salad with the delicious Maharees Potatoes. Yum!

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Rain predicted for tomorrow. We’ll see.

PS: Here’s a panorama Elaine took yesterday at Lake Anascual:

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Monday – Weather close to perfect again. Lots of sunshine. Rains predicted to arrive on Wednesday.

The usual walks in the AM. I walked mostly around the harbor area and enjoyed a hot chocolate at My Boy Blue.

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Late morning we drove to Anascual, small town just a 20-minute drive east of Dingle. It is most noted as the home of Antarctic explorer Tom Crean. We have read several books about him. After retiring from exploring he returned to his birthplace in Anascual and opened a pub, the South Pole Inn. The pub is filled with interesting memorabilia of his journeys. I’ve written about it in past year blog posts. It’s gone downhill under the present owners, so we skipped a return visit.

Anascual is also the home of Jerome O’Connor, a noted sculptor who emigrated to Springfield, Massachusetts. There is a Jerome O’Connor Trust that has a collection of his works on display upstairs at the South Pole Inn.

This trip our goal was a visit to Anascual Lake located in the hills a couple of miles down a narrow side road. We were last there back in 2000. We parked and did a short hike from the lake.

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Back in 1976 a French teenager tried to climb the highest peak near the Lake. A local recorded the following on the website for the lake (link in last paragraph). “Not to labour the ‘safety’ message too much, but when I was a kid I saw a French guy being rescued by Mountain Rescue after he scaled the mountain to the left of the lake and got stuck between the two peaks. This guy had no climbing gear, he was wearing runners and put himself at great risk by underestimating just how steep the climb was.” He was more than at great risk. He died. There is a memorial stone.

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On the way back to the main road we stopped at the local Anascual cemetery to view the grave of Tom Crean. Interestingly, there are lots of Kennedys buried here – Kennedy is a common local name in the Dingle area.

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Then it was home to Dingle for sandwiches and a nap. After a quiet afternoon at home, we had cocktails outside on our warmest day yet. I barbecued burgers for dinner – delicious West Kerry beef from Kennedy’s Butcher Shop. And off to bed.

Sunday was the best weather day so far. Still cool but brilliantly sunny. Pictures will do the talking today.

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Morning Walkabout in Dingle

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Loop Hike at Clogher Strand

A delightfully pretty 2.7 kilometer loop trail starting at Clogher Strand, one of my favorite spots on the peninsula. We had it all to ourselves. It follows the ocean for 80% of the loop, then a dusty track back to Clogher Strand and Winnie the Peugeot.

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And a panorama from Elaine

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Beers at Ballydavid’s Tigh T. P.

Tigh T. P. is a nice pub with tables outside that we rarely find open. (Mianne and Bill will remember eating here. And, Mainne, the old Bhric Pub near where Joan and Paul (RIP) lived is now the West Kerry Brewery – we must stop someday for a pint.)

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Dinner at the Chart House

Food as wonderful as ever at our favorite Dingle restaurant.

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Music at Neligan’s

After dinner we listened to some quiet music at Neligan’s Pub before heading home to bed.

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Not much to say about Friday. It was rainy during the night and into the morning, but it turned into a nice day – mostly overcast but with the sun trying hard to sneak through. We walked into town in the morning for a quick stop at the Farmer’s Market and a stop at Ó Catháin’s, the fish market, to buy today’s lunch (seafood chowder) and tonight’s dinner (monkfish)..

We walked separately into town again in the afternoon, me for a brief pub stop and Elaine to drop off some mail at the PO. I had a pint at Neligan’s where I chatted up some locals. Then Elaine met me at the Dingle Pub for a visit with Tom and Suzy. We met a nice young man from Pennsylvania who was travelling Ireland for a week by himself.

Pictures From Our Yard

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Saturday was rainy in the morning, but just cloudy most of the day with some sun breaking through in spots. We drove to Tralee for the day. The two largest cities in County Kerry are Tralee and Killarney. We have driven through Tralee countless times, but we never really stopped. We parked near the center and had a good walkabout. We visited two churches: Holy Cross Dominican Church and St John’s. Tralee defies the Irish city normality of having its church named after St. Mary. And we toured the Kerry County Museum where they had a brilliant special exhibit on Roger Casement and the 1916 Easter Rising. Another part of the museum is a walk-through of Tralee as it would have existed in medieval times. After the museum we walked through Tralee Town Park and the beautiful rose garden. Tralee is probably most famous for its annual Rose of Tralee Festival in August.

We had lunch at Quinlin’s Seafood Bar & Market where the main business is selling fish, but they have five tables where they serve food. I had grilled John Dory and chips while Elaine lunched on Dingle Bay Squid and chips. Then it was back to Dingle for a relaxing afternoon (after a brief stop at a Tesco Superstore for a few items we can’t find in Dingle).

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Holy Cross Dominican Church

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St John’s Church

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The Kerry County Museum

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The Kerry Town Park & Rose Garden

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Tralee Street Scenes

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Dinner was at home. Soup for Elaine. Leftover lamb for me. Just before going to bed, I took these pictures at 9:20 PM.

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Thursday was Elaine’s 70th birthday! Cards and presents were awaiting her when she arose (including one delivered through Irish Post from Janet in Scottsdale). We spent a quiet day now that she is in her 70’s. Aside from Elaine’s birthday, there is no school in Dingle today because it’s Confirmation Day for Catholic 6th graders. The Bishop is in town.

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Marion stopped in with a card and a gift bottle of wine for the birthday girl. Marion is Grainne’s mother and lives next door. She’s delightful! She stayed for a coffee and we got a full Irish election report and history lesson.

We drove into Dingle to drop off bottles at the recycling center. Other recyclables (plastic bottles, cans, cardboard, paper, etc) are collected curbside every other week, but bottles must be dropped off. Then we visited the library to return our books and pick up a new load. And we bought coffee filters because we didn’t get them yesterday.

Lunch (sandwiches) was at home, and we stayed put for the afternoon up to and including cocktails. Then it was out for a birthday dinner at Global Village, Elaine’s choice of restaurant for her big day. We started off with Kir Royales. And at the next table was a woman from Tucson travelling with her daughter.

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Starters
Joe: Dingle Bay Shellfish Bisque with Shellfish Croutons & Herb Oil
Elaine: Dingle Goats Cheese, Goats Cheese Bon Bon, Organic Garden Beetroot Textures, & Candied Walnuts

Mains
Joe: West Kerry Lamb Tasting Plate: Pink Rump, Slow Roast Belly, Confit Neck Fillet, Braised Shoulder Terrine, Barley, Salsa Verde, Onion Textures, Aubergine Caviar, & Port Jus
Elaine: Pan Fried Scallops, Calvados Flambé, Apple & Onion Purée, Pancetta Crumble, Confit Potato, Roe Parfait, Wild Side Chorizo, Apple Textures, & Nage

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Desserts
I forgot to write them down. But they were good!

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Grainne, our landlord, had called ahead and treated Elaine with a bottle of wine for her birthday. I got to share. Then it was off to O”Flaherty’s for libations and music. Fergus O’Flaherty posed with the Birthday Girl.

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Unbelievably Wednesday was another perfect weather day. It was very windy early on so we decided a hillside walk was inappropriate. We did some serious grocery shopping at Super Valu – we were almost out of vodka and wine amongst other staples. That out of the way, we contemplated what to do.

Well, the wind subsided. After conquering Everest (well, Eask Tower) yesterday, we decided to drive up to Conor Pass and tackle Kilimanjaro  (well, the hill on the other side of the road from the small parking area). We had never walked up that side. The sun was hazily out, but it was warm enough and the wind had calmed significantly. We had a nice hike up the mountain. The views were very similar to what you see at the parking lot, but it was good exercise. And we saw lots of peat (*) that could be harvested.

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Then it was into town for an Elaine treat lunch at Flannery’s Fish Box. Monkfish goujons for Elaine; spicy calamari for me. Delicious! Then home for a post walk nap. Dinner was at home. I fired up the gas grill and we cooked lamb kebabs and lamb sausages from Mr Kennedy’s butcher shop. Elaine sauteed fresh leeks in garlic and butter and heated up some really fat carrots. With a nice French Nouveau Beaujolais, it was all delicious.

(*) Peat, often called turf in Ireland, is cut from peat bogs. For centuries it has been used to heat Irish homes. Natural peat smells wonderful as you burn it. There is also a Peat Board (Bord na Móna) in Ireland that controls peat harvesting. Peat is also processed and sold in briquettes all over Ireland. At the moment the EU is trying to eliminate peat harvesting with an eye to conservation. This is a very controversial subject in Ireland where burning peat is a way of life for many.

See you tomorrow (or the next day).