This morning’s walk was without camera, so no random pictures.

Today’s history lesson is about the Blasket Islands, just three miles off the Dingle Peninsula coast. For a more complete history, read the above link or this one here. The highest population of the Great Blasket (pictured above – not my photo), the largest island, was about 180. It was tough living out there. They raised sheep and lived off the sea. Only three miles away, the mainland was often unreachable for days at a time because of the rough seas. By the 1950’s the population was down to 30-ish. Only one child and no doctor. In 1953 the government declared that the island was to be evacuated and so it was. Oddly enough, many of the Blasket islanders, both from earlier days and at evacuation time, ended up in, of all places, West Springfield, Massachusetts. There are still close ties between the Dingle Peninsula and West Springfield. The Blaskets are also noted for the literature that emanated from there. More detail here. I have read several of the books.

Yes, we visited the deserted Blaskets on one of our visits to Dingle. Now there are two (or maybe three) structures on the island where you can spend the night in a B&B type environment. No heat. No electricity. No food – bring your own. There is, oddly enough, excellent cell phone reception.

The last boy on the island was Gerald Keane (Gearóid Ó Catháin). He wrote a book called the Loneliest Boy in the World. I’ve read it. And we met him and his wife about ten years ago in the Dingle Pub one quiet afternoon. He is still alive and lives in Cork now. When we met him, he was looking for a place to buy in Dunquin, the closest village to the Blaskets. He never bought anything.

So, anyway, today we visited the Blasket Islands Center outside of Dunquin (Dún Chaoin). We’ve been before, but it has been substantially upgraded and improved since about 2019. We had a pleasant visit, and we saw Hannah again as she was also visiting the Blasket Center. We watched numerous movies about the Blaskets and interviews conducted with many of the final residents. The stories are compelling. Most of them are now dead and buried, save for the Loneliest Boy and a couple of others. In general, islanders are buried on the mainland as there is no consecrated graveyard on the island. There is unconsecrated grave site that was used for unknown bodies that washed up on shore from time to time.

Oh, and we had a very pleasant lunch in the Coffee Shop.

It was raining when we left. We stopped at the store for some stuff, and I filled the car up with gas. (Gas is about $7.00/gallon when you convert the euros/liter price.) Dinner was at home – leftover lamb sausages with potato and carrots. Early to bed.

Not much to report today. Did our walks in the morning. Pictures follow. You’ll see Murphy’s Ice Cream Store for which Dingle is famous. You’ll also see Kool Scoops run by Mr &. Mrs. O’Connor, our ice cream store of choice. Elaine loves the honeycomb flavor. You’ll also see SuperValu (our grocery store), the Chart House (our favorite restaurant), the Coach House (our landlady Grainne’s shop), the town gas station, the town street sweeper (out every day!), and a few other landmarks. Oh, and we separately saw a van with NH license plates. He must have taken the new tunnel from Portsmouth to Dingle. And you’ll see the three flags you saw yesterday blowing full out standing limp today. Fortunately the fierce winds have ceased.

We spent most of the day at home. We journeyed out together in the afternoon for the odd pints at Curran’s Pub. Good conversation with Johnny, the bartender, and a couple of locals. Dinner tonight was at the third of our top three restaurants – Ashe’s Bar and Restaurant. Dinner was grand.

Elaine had mussels to start and scallops for her main. I had Glenbeigh oysters followed by John Dory with shrimp. We shared a chocolate brownie with ice cream for dessert.

The highlight of the meal was meeting Hannah (pictured below), a Seattle nurse and Boston College grad (Go Eagles!) travelling alone. Great craic. She has the website url and probably will be reading this. (Hi, Hannah! We loved meeting you. The canal boat trip is on the old blog – here’s a link to the last post from that trip to the Scottish islands and our boat adventure on the canals of Wales. Scroll down from there to see the canal boat portion. Enjoy!)

No music tonight. Early to bed. Told you there wasn’t much to report. There was a pleasant sunset just finishing as we arrived home. Later!

Amazing. We’ve already been in Dingle for a week. And we got yet another sunny day – not a cloud in the sky all day. Temperatures in the upper 50’s. But the wind was fierce. Still, no rain is a blessing.

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We did our walks and I took my random pictures. Find my selfie in the window.

MAPS

Can you find Dingle on the map of Ireland? The other map is of the Dingle Peninsula and the Blasket Islands.

Later in the morning we decided to visit Dingle Oceanworld. It’s a small aquarium that we last visited probably twenty years ago. It was enjoyable then, so we decided to revisit. They have a nice butterfly area. And we learned everything there is to know about otters. Cute, right? No. Smelly, vicious, and anti-social. And they eat anything . . . . or everything. Still, they are endangered, and Oceanworld has a breeding program. And they are fun to watch. Plus they have the usual fish tanks and a nice penguin exhibit. It was fun to visit. Also, note the photo of the world’s biggest predator.

Oceanworld also has a cinematic Atlantic Ocean experience. It’s a movie, sort of, but amazingly well done. Can you tell these are fake?

Right next door is the Boatyard, a recently refurbished restaurant on the harbor. We had never eaten there. We decided to try it for a light lunch. It was good. Elaine had chowder. I had a fisherman’s sandwich which wasn’t really a sandwich at all, but servings of crab salad, shrimp salad, and smoked salmon served with brown bread and a salad. It was scrumptious.

Then it was home for reading, tv, naps, and eventually dinner. Home barbequed pork chops with potato and veg. Wine, of course. Our house wine in Dingle is Oyster Bay Pinot Noir from New Zealand. Very nice meal.

After dinner it was off to O’Flaherty’s. We had a short chat with Fergus, the owner and lead musician. We had Guinness (me) and Smithwick’s (Elaine) – real Smithwicks’s this time, Kris. And we listened to some fine music by Fergus and his friend accompanied by visiting musicians from Maine and Maryland. Pictures and videos follow: Fergus plays, Fergus sings, and Fergus on Bodhrán Drum. After music it was home to bed.

is not Prince Spaghetti Day in Ireland. And we are having very un-Irish weather – bright sun almost all day (and it’s forecast to stay that through Friday).

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We took our usual separate walks (when I usually take random photos). In the first photo you can see our house – second to the right of the telephone pole. That’s St Mary’s Church further down – Elaine stops in daily to light a “Paul” candle. Lisbeth Mulcahy is a noted weaver (and wife of pottery wizard Louis Mulcahy). Sadly, she passed away suddenly very recently. And, yes, we have a Dingle candle in the house.

Lunch was at home. Then we went into town. I renewed my Dingle Library card, and we checked out some books. I tend to read Irish history or stories about Dingle while we are here. We visited the Little Cheese Shop and bought some brie and some Cashel blue. And we visited Fitzgerald’s Hardware to buy a sharp knife (the ones in our kitchen are very dull) and a pair of tongs for my barbequing. Elaine walked home whilst I stopped at Curran’s for a Guinness. Rarely is there a tourist in Curran’s. It’s a local’s hangout.

Dinner was at our favorite restaurant, the Chart House. It’s no connection to the US chain. Dinner was yummy. The wine was Tinpot Hut, a pinot noir from New Zealand.

Elaine: Dingle Bay Seafood Chowder with Croutons and a Dash of Lemon Oil -followed by- Baked Fillet of Hake, Sweet Potato and Burbon Puree, Coco De Paimpol Beans, Gubeen Chorizo, Herb Oil -followed by- Warm Pear and Spiced Ginger Pudding, Rosemary Toffee Sauce, Caramelised Poached Pear and Pistachio Ice Cream

Moi: Local Mussels in a Ginger Sauce -followed by- Roast Rack of Kerry Lamb, Dauphinoise Potatoes, Fig & Red Onion Chutney, Rosemary Jus -followed by- Dark Chocolate Parfait, White Chocolate & Vanilla Bean Cremeux, Salted Caramel, Candied Pecan Tuille, and Chocolate Crumb.

I hate my picture. I look old. Well, I guess I am old. Oh, well. Age is only a number. 80 is the new 79. Blah.

OK, no tacos. This is the 465th blog post. There have been 1,313 comments. Keep ’em coming. Uneventful but pleasant Tuesday. Nice sunny day.

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Walks as usual in the morning. Can you spot the fixer upper I could buy and rehab? Bad building on a prime site. The cat in the window is at Elaine’s hair stylist’s shop. It’s on Dykegate Lane (pronounced Daggot). The second pic is from our backyard looking down the backside of Ard Na Mara.

Then we took a ride up to Conor Pass. Good views but a bit hazy. Can you see Dingle? Can you identify Harp Lake?

Lunch was at home. More shopping in the afternoon. Had to fill the wine cellar. And we stopped at Jerry Kennedy’s Butcher Shop. We bought some pork chops and some lamb sausages. I LOVE those lamb sausages. Dinner was at home – lamb sausages (of course) on the barbeque with fresh broccoli and scalloped potatoes. (That’s, of course, after figuring out the intricacies of a new bbq grill – a big one with SIX burners and a side burner for a pan.)

We rarely venture out after dinner at home, but we headed into the Dingle Pub to listen to our friend Richie O’Brien, the lead singer and guitarist with Dreams of Freedom. And we had up close seats to watch David Geaney, the publican Tom’s son, dance in his magical way as Richie sings “Galway Girl” (which was written by an Englishman, Ed Sheeran). My request from Richie was “Grace” about a young Irish Protestant girl who converted to Catholicism to marry her love, Joseph Plunkett, an Irish republican. They were to be married Easter Day 1916. Alas, that was the Easter Uprising and Plunkett was arrested and imprisoned in Kilmainham Jail and sentenced to death. A priest got Graced admitted into the prison to marry Joseph. The next morning he was executed. Grace never remarried. Listen to the song here.

Busy day.

Camera Talk

People always ask what camera I use. Well, three actually. My camera of choice and most often used is my Sony RX100 VII. If I don’t take that camera with me, then I normally use my Pixel 7 Pro phone camera. It takes very good pictures. Since the Pixel Pro has a sim card that does not work outside the USA, I also have my Irish phone – a Samsung Galaxy A03 which has an OK camera. So mostly you will see pics from the Sony or the Samsung A03.

Walking

Normally, when it’s not raining, we take separate walks in the morning. (Elaine is too fast for me to keep up with). So today we did our first walks. Normally it’s a loop walk – into town one way and back the other way. The Irish are late risers, so it’s normally very quiet in town at 7:00 to 8:00 am when we are walking. We went in opposite directions and usually meet somewhere mid-walk unless we take different routes in town.

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The House – 18 Ard Na Mara.

Very comfortable house. Great sun room and patio. Bed very comfortable. We preferred the master bedroom at #23 Ard Na Mara, and 23 also had a better kitchen. But the view, patio, and sun room are nice. All in all, it’s a wash. The bedroom we use is the one with the yellow blanket. The yellow flowers (which are everywhere in Ireland) are gorse. Our car is a Toyota C-HR Hybrid. The car’s name is Eion ( = Owen in English).

The Drive

It was overcast, but we decided to ride out to Slea Head. We made two stops.

Dunquin Pier is where the ferry goes to the Blasket Islands. It’s a very small passenger-only ferry holding twenty people max. It often doesn’t run because the seas are too rough. It wasn’t running today. Great pics of the road (path?) down to the pier. The last picture is of a picture of sheep coming up the path.

Then we stopped at Clogher Strand, one of my favorite spots in Dingle. There were a bunch of stone towers on the beach that people had built. The waves were crashing.

Dinner at the Half Door

Our first eat out dinner was at the Half Door Restaurant. It’s one of our favorite three. We had kir royales to start. The wine with dinner was a Louis Latour Burgandy pinot noir. Elaine had the pork belly starter and then cod with mussels as her main followed by fruit pavlova for dessert. I had six local oysters followed by a duo of John Dory and turbot. My dessert was lemon posset with strawberries. Fabulous meal!

We stopped at O’Flaherty’s for an after dinner drink. No music on Mondays, but we checked in with bartender Mary and had a quick libation. Then it was home to bed.

Weather was threatening this morning, but we hoped for the best and got it. It was breezy at times but no rain. Every no rain day in Ireland is a bonus. We slept great again – grand mattress.

It was a quiet do nothing day. We walked about Dingle. Elaine bought some candles for the house. So the house will smell nice. I bought a role of tape. You never know when you’ll need tape. Better to have it than not.

And we had lunch at the Fish Box run by the Flannery fishing family. The manager lives three doors away from our house. It’s wonderful fresh fish caught by the family. The restaurant only has six or seven tables (although they supposedly expanding in the near future). We both had a cup of delicious seafood chowder. Then Elaine had Dingle fish and chips (with an enormous piece of fish) while I had spicy calamari and chips. Very good lunch.

We walked around the gardens at An Díseart, something we had never done before. It is more grandly titled the Díseart Centre of Irish Spirituality and Culture. It is located right next to St, Mary’s Church where Elaine lit a candle for her cousin Paul today. The An Díseart building, closed on Sundays, houses the Harry Clark stained glass windows which we have seen before. They are very well done and can be seen here. The Gardens, tranquil and peaceful, were very quiet, at least for today. Pictures follow.

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After the big lunch, dinner was simple – grilled cheese sandwiches and potato chips at home. Oh, and we figured out the arcane tv remote situation and Elaine can watch her favorite shows: Four in a Bed (where four B&B owners visit each other’s establishments and rate them) and Come Dine with Me (where four people visit each other where the host cooks for them).

Saturday was the annual Ride Dingle bike event. You choose between the 55 km route or the 120 km route. It’s a tough ride with gut busting hills. We chose the 0 km route. Unfortunately after a brilliant weather day Friday, the bikers had to deal with overcast skies and frequent rain. There were thousands of entrants.

Dingle was crowded this weekend with Ride Dingle and the end of the two-week school vacation. The rug rats go back to school on Monday. We had things to buy and decided on the 45-minute ride into Tralee.

We headed out after noon after sleeping very late (for us). First stop was for lunch at . . . . . surprise . . . . . . . Burger King. Then more food shopping at Tesco. And we bought two pillows at the T K Maxx. (Yes, it’s T K in Ireland, not T J – something about copyrights.) We love our house but not the pillows. And I bought a folding chair for use in the sun room or especially on the patio. The plastic chairs outside are fine for Elaine but not so much for me. Gotta be comfortable!

On arrival back in Dingle we stopped for a beer at the Dingle Pub. It was busy and we stayed for only one. We saw publican Tom Geaney and his son David Geaney, the Irish dancer. They are both old friends. We know his daughter Suzy too. She just had her first baby six months ago. Music started at 6 pm just as we headed home.

Cocktails were inside in the solarium. Dinner was Tesco prepared Thai Curry Chicken with a nice salad. Early to bed again.

I got our Irish cell phones working and hooked up to Wi-Fi, always a hassle. Charging stations are set up for phones, kindles, computers, and whatever else needs charging. And I finally got access to our Cox webmail. I hate Cox. They put you through when connecting for outside the USA.

No pictures today, but here is a nice panorama video taken yesterday from Castlegregory. You’ll see a brief glimpse of Elaine as the video ends. See you tomorrow.

Flew to Boston. Easy flight. Spent Wednesday driving to New Hampshire (Rye) to visit my sister and brother-in-law. We all met at at cousin Heidi’s house in Rye. Lunch was at Ray’s Lobster Pound in Rye (where we used to enjoy lobster rolls 65 years ago – still going strong!) Everyone had lobster rolls (or clam rolls) except me. I had the fried clam dinner with onion rings. OMG good! Big fat juicy clams, onion rings made right, and LOTS of food. We ate, reminisced, discussed relatives, and had a grand time. No pictures. My bad!

Thursday we had lunch with friends Bob and Barbara at Tony C’s at Assembly Row in Somerville before heading to the airport. Aer Lingus flight was uneventful except for entertainment system not working at our seats. With lay-flat seats, I got a few hours sleep. We landed on time at Shannon (5:45 am) and picked up our rental car (yet to be named). Amazingly it was a bright sunny day, a rarity in Ireland at any time. It’s only a 2.5 hour drive to Dingle, so we had time to kill before our house was ready. We stopped in Tralee at about 9 am and did some shopping at the Tesco Superstore. We had planned on getting wine and vodka here, but, alas, you cannot buy alcohol before 10:30 am in Ireland.

Then we spent some time around Castlegregory (once described by National Geographic as “the most beautiful place on earth”) and took some photos with my Pixel Pro 7 phone – the camera was still packed away. It’s only about 30 minutes from Dingle.

After that we drove into Dingle, walked around a bit, and had lunch at John Benny’s pub (no relation to Jack). We both had the delicious JB’s fish pie and I got my first pint of Guinness since we left Dingle about 11 months ago.

We did some more shopping at SuperValu where we finally stocked up on wine and vodka. Then we checked into 18 Ard Na Mara, our house for the next four weeks (pictures forthcoming later). We had cocktails outside in the nice sunshine. Still full from lunch, we had wine, cheese, apples, and crackers for dinner. Early to bed after the long overnight flight and long day. View from the patio below

See you tomorrow.