Ireland part one b - Dingle Peninsula  

posted october 2013

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On Sunday morning we awoke to find an already-full breakfast room. The owner apologized for the delay, due to an unusually full house and a boisterous party of fishermen. She said come back in 45 minutes, so I briefly joined Doris, Paul, and Mary, for coffee in the front room. From the picture window I could see surrounding hills.  

Then I took a walk down the nearest lanes, exploring new scenery. I found no castle in Castlegregory, or even a town of any kind. Only a small restaurant is here.    

It was a beautiful morning, sunny w/a chill wind blowing. I was pleasantly surprised to see that we were entirely surrounded (to the west) by the Atlantic Ocean. 

Back at breakfast, I had no idea how much food is served, in Ireland (or throughout the UK, I later learned). But it was good to be having breakfast on our first morning waking up in Ireland, and the quality and service were first class !         

After mobilizing, we had an hour's drive up & over Conor Pass to get to the coastal town of Dingle. Our next overnight B&B was in Ventrys, a few miles south of Dingle. 

Conor Pass is (surprisingly) the highest drive-able mountain pass in Ireland. A northeast wind at the overlook was fierce, sweeping right off the North Atlantic & into our faces.  

note - you can enlarge any part of a picture by left-clicking in and then out again.

	new Gaelic above old Gaelic?		a cool & windy morning		Irish scenery		the sea is  everywhere
		drive to Conor Pass		we parked & climbed to a higher viewpoint		intense wind on the ridge
	open air chat with other tourists		Kerry Peninsula on the horizon		closer look		sunny Dingle down below
		in a mighty wind on Conor Pass		back to the car
	local road		center city Dingle

Next we toured the Dingle Peninsula, a scenic drive that was completely uncrowded.   

			visitor center & cafe		red fuchsia was everywhere
		a curragh type boat		Paul at visitor center		ancient Dunbeg Fort was across the street
	colors indicate the owner (a local told me that)		a promontory fort in use since the neolithic age		accidentally under-exposed a few shots		contains 8th  century remains
		Mary and Paul				impressive horse, see note
	potato famine house		this part of Ireland had the worst starvation

note - on the main path to the famine house, a young Irish boy was posted, warning tourists not to go near this horse.

What is called the Potato Famine in Ireland is more realistically called the Starvation, because even with a terrible potato blight, which ruined Irish crops in the 1840s, as it already had throughout Europe for ten years, in Ireland there was plenty of food produced. But at that time, every other farm-raised food of quality, like eggs, meat & vegetables, were shipped to England. 

People throughout Ireland were dependent on the potato to feed themselves. So when the famine hit, starvation followed. Ireland was very much 'under the thumb' of the Brits, and decisions made at Parliament in London lead to families dying out in Ireland, especially here in the southwest.

Up to a million Irish people starved to death, while MPs in London refused to believe stories of their (mandatory food import) policies causing widespread starvation. In fact, word got out via international journalism, and soon world opinion turned heavily against England, criticizing the elites in London for their callousness toward the Irish people.  

Over the next 100 years (1840-1940), the population of Ireland fell another two million, most being emigrants to America or Canada, seeking opportunity and hopefully, less poverty & oppression. For the four of us on this trip, those waves of Irish emigrants included our ancestors, who in our case settled on the east coast of the US.     

The Dingle Peninsula drive - 

	Slea Head		the western-most part of the  European continent		Paul looking out to the Atlantic on the...		....lovely beach at Coumeenoole
		Mount Brandon, area in the distance (note 1)		Smerwick Harbor		tourists at the ancient church of Gallarus
	early Christian church, since 800 AD, note 3		Celtic symbols		Saint Brendan's area		B&B in Ventrys
		palm trees in Ireland?... see note 2		views from the B&B		Kerry Peninsula in the distance
	Mary spotted a Norman castle ruin nearby		back in Dingle for dinner & pub music (note 4)		Paul in sunset light		we're out on the town tonight

note 1 - Mount Brandon (in the clouds) is the second highest peak in Ireland at 3,123 ft. There's some kind of Catholic Pilgrimage trail to a monument at the top, related to Saint Brendan, who was born in Ireland in the 400s and grew to be a great scholar and preacher who introduced Christianity to Ireland.   

note 2 - palm trees do indeed appear on the SW coast of Ireland, testifying to ever-present warm currents in the Atlantic (the Gulf Stream) which sweeps up from a 7 o'clock direction, originating in the Caribbean. The southern-most parts of England & Scotland also benefit and have milder winters than further north. and they also have palms or even (in Cornwall) subtropical plants. But we generally didn't see palm trees once we ventured further north.      

note 3 - Gallarus Oratory is an exquisite stone structure. Anecdotal evidence says it has never been modified since original construction, and, that it has been water tight while services have been held here, for the last 1,200 years. 

note 4 - Dingle is a popular destination, known for having the sunniest weather in Ireland as well as an active traditional Irish music scene. Dingle has 36 pubs, some with music every night, the majority only on weekends. We were there on a Sunday night. 

Summer crowds were long gone and we had no wait for a table for dinner, or for a table at a pub.

On the cobbled main street, Mary and I hung out at one place to hear some general Irish music being played, whereas Doris & Paul went uphill in search of fiddle music.

Later we met up and had a short drive to the B&B at Ventrys. The Moon was still full, lighting up the coastal landscape.

Back at the B&B, my 2nd floor bedroom at the front of the house had a view across miles of open water. Once again, a crank-out window brought in cool coastal air & the sound of waves breaking off in the distance.         

go to next page, Ireland part two, Kilarney

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