Ride to the Pass & Walk on the Beach

Saturday

Can you believe this? – another perfect weather day. Elaine did a morning walk. Later in the morning we hopped in the car and headed up to Conor Pass (An Chonair in Irish) for some pictures. Beautiful day and no wind. Lots of motorcycles up there. The first picture (and the next to last one with the helmet) looks down at Dingle Town. Most of the other look northward toward Brandon and Castlegregory. One guy was up there selling painted stones and other home made stuff. There’s a stone commemorating Dingle’s relationship as a sister city to Santa Barbara, California. Interestingly enough, all the land around Conor Pass was owned by an American. He decided to sell it. Here’s an old story about the impending sale. One could imagine houses and fast food outlets being built. Ugh! Well, the Irish government stepped in and bought the land and it is destined to become a County or National Park. That’s a much better outcome. Things move slowly in Ireland, so it may not happen in our lifetime.

Click on the galleries below to bring up scrollable windows with full size pictures – the gallery previews may show just thumbnails of the pictures. By the way, the pictures look much better on a tablet or a computer than they do on your phone. Just saying.

Then we drove back down to Dingle. The scary part of the Conor Pass road is going down (or up) the other side toward Castlegregory. Very narrow. Anyway, we went back through Dingle Town and out to the next town, Ventry (Ceann Tra in Irish) with the idea of having lunch. When we got to Ventry, we took a walk on the long beach. It was sunny but a bit windy and chilly (57º F), but there were people on the beach and even a few swimming. We were bundled up in our windbreakers.

Then we crossed the street to Quinn’s Pub for lunch. It was nice enough (and out of the wind) to sit outside and enjoy the day. We both had Irish beef cheeseburgers and fries. The beer was brewed-in-Dingle Dick Mack’s Pale. You’ve heard lots about Dick Mack’s Pub (where is it located?). They also now brew their own beers. Good food. Good beer. Glasses on in the picture to read the menu.

Funny story about Quinn’s. Years (and years) ago we were staying in a house in Ventry for a month, and our friends Bill and Mianne were coming over to spend a week with us. They had friends (Paul and Joan Green) who rented a house in further out on Slea Head, and the plans were for the six of us to meet up during their visit. So, I’m in Quinn’s ordering a beer (Elaine was sitting outside) and a couple comes in. Unlike me (usually), I strike up a conversation asking where they are from, and they respond “Scituate, Massachusetts”. So I ask if they know Bill and Mianne (who also live six months a year in Scituate). They looked shocked and say they are going to see them soon here in Dingle. And I tell them they are staying with us. So that’s how we met the Greens a couple of weeks before Bill and Mianne arrived. Small world. Over the years we met up with the Greens several times in Dingle for lunch or beers. Paul has since passed on and we haven’t heard from Joan in several years. (Is she still alive, Mianne?)

After lunch we drove back to Dingle and stopped in Curran’s for a beer. I had Béal Bán from the West Kerry Brewery. (The West Kerry Brewery is in what was and still is Bhric’s Pub, another venue we visited out on Slea Head Drive.) Elaine had Rockshore Lager from Guinness. And we had a long chat with Craig, an American ex-pat that we have know for years. Last time we were here (at Christmas and New Year’s 2023/24), he got quite sick and went into the hospital. So we were glad to see he was well once again. Turns out he had had RSV and almost died.

Dinner was at home. Frozen Chicken Kiev and salad. We watched some of the Chase quiz show on tv and went to bed.