IRELAND DAY 7 - KILLARNEY TO DINGLE

It’s another cool, sunny morning here in southwest Ireland.  We can’t figure out what all the fuss is about the weather here.  We’ve only had nice spring days, and this one finds us driving to the Killarney National Park for this morning’s hike to the Gap of Dunloe.  When we tell local people we’re heading here, they all warn us to “be careful… the roads get pretty narrow up there.”  Given the roads we’ve been driving on to get this far, that’s a terrifying admonishment.  They’re right.

We park at Kate’s Cottage, the unofficial start to this hike.  It’s a steep mile to the Black Lake and the Wishing Bridge and the payoffs are obvious.  We’ve been surrounded by amazing landscapes for a week now, and yet we’re still impressed with the sheer beauty of this place.

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I’ve been blathering on about how narrow the roads are, and half a mile past the Wishing Bridge, I figure out a way to illustrate my point:

The yellow lines on the outside of the pavement indicate that this is a two lane, two direction road, shared by us with other cars, tour busses and farm implements.  The fences on either side are just a bonus.  The fact that our Opal Corsa still has both mirrors is a damned miracle.

Back in the car, next stop is Inch Beach, a broad swath of wide sand on a tongue of a peninsula jutting out into the North Atlantic.  The beach is buzzing with activity.  The local surf school has about two dozen participants, and with plenty more families walking and playing on the shore.  Opal is feeling a little stressed from all the near misses, so we give him his own few minutes on the sand as well.

We finish the drive to the town of Dingle.  Our room is not quite ready so have lunch at Quinn’s, an unassuming little pub with great water views in the next little village over.  It’s the first time we’re having mackerel, pan fried whole, lightly salted and served as an appetizer.  For our main we split today’s special, a mixed platter of John Dory and halibut, both fresh off the boat this morning. 

We check into the Greenmount B&B, home for the next two days offering great views of the town, then set out to explore Dingle.  After a series of ridiculously charming Irish villages, this one may be the most charming yet.  We bop into Dublin Artworks, a gallery featuring only local artists.  We’ve been in several galleries since the beginning of our trip and we’re surprised by how much we connect with the aesthetic.  Our preconceived misconception was that all the work was going to be Celtic inspired and heavy, but we find most work, regardless of the artist or medium, is hopeful, airy and soulful.  Mandy connects with a small framed piece and the shopkeeper meticulously wraps and bags it for us.

After a fine nap, it’s Ashe’s for dinner.  The bleu cheese on the salad is some of the most delicate we have ever had and the crab claws are loaded with yummy garlic.  Nearby we head into M. Nelligan’s for their Trad, five musicians sitting in the now familiar circle-around-a-low-table, taking turns leading a song each.  This group is especially talented and the female violinist/vocalist really wins us over.  We strike up a conversation with a pair of guys from Killarney, Tom and Tomas, or TomTom as they call themselves.  Tomas is celebrating his 50^th birthday and we end up in some really funny conversation with the duo.  Crazily, Tomas has spent time in Newtown, PA, and loves Bucks County and Philadelphia.  At one point, Tomas walks up to the band and asks for the mic.  He makes an announcement dedicating his song “to my new friends from Yardley, PA”, then sings a fantastic rendition of a traditional song he’s used to sing with his family.  No sooner then he stops singing, then a group of three guys come over to us and say “Yardley?!?! We’re from Philly”.  More drinks ensue.  When Mandy tells Tom that I sing a bit, he drags me up to the band.  I’m very hesitant, but Tom and the band are insistent, so I ask if it would be OK if I did an American country number.  They give an enthusiastic thumbs up, so I sit as they hand me the microphone.  Dunno why, but I did Friends In Low Places, and by the first chorus, the entire bar is singing along.  I’m shocked, but lean in.  When I finish, Tom tells me that Garth Brooks is absolutely HUGE in Ireland.  In fact, he just did 5 sold out stadium shows at Croke Park in Dublin this past September.  Moreover, he apparently has friends in Dingle and spends time here often.  We didn’t buy another beer all night. 

IRELAND DAY 6 - KENMARE AND KILLARNEY

 

Smoked salmon is a staple of the Irish diet, and the generous piece served with breakfast this morning was absolutely delicious.  Then it’s just a short drive to Muckross House, the 65 room Tudor style mansion situated on Lake Muckross in what is now Killarney National Park.  This morning’s hike takes us from the house to Torc Waterfall, and the views of the landscape look like something you’d see on a jigsaw puzzle box with blue skies, mirror reflective lakes and mountain backgrounds.

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A couple hours later we’re back where we started and wander the grounds, appreciating the manicured gardens, exotic vegetation and house itself.  One plant that really intrigues us is the Chilean rhubarb, thick and spikey with broad leaves, resembling a stumpy palm tree.

We leave the park and set out to finish the last bit of the Ring of Kerry we didn’t get to yesterday – Killarney to Kenmare.  We head up and over the mountain pass, stopping at to take in the scenery at Ladies View.  I cut the ignition and pop the door open when an older gentlemen, who introduces himself as “a Kennedy from Donegal”, spontaneously starts chatting with us.  We end up talking for 10 minutes about Ireland, the States, travel and dining.  He even gives us restaurant recommendations for some of our upcoming stops before saying polite goodbyes.  Back in the car, we realize that Kennedy is not an anomaly, but just a good representation of the open and kind people we have met throughout this trip.

Exploring Kenmare is fun, lively shops, colorful buildings and some fantastic fresh goat cheese with lunch at Davitt’s, a traditional guesthouse with an attached pub.  The goat cheese here has been another surprise to us, and our salad features a big, warm round of the best example we have had yet.  On our way back to Killarney, we stop at Kissane Farm, a working sheep farm, to watch the award-winning Border Collies work their flocks.  Before the demonstration starts, the dogs come over to us to teach us how stick is played in these parts and we realize they’re warming up the crowd like a comedian before the taping of a late night talk show.  We’ve never seen sheep dogs in action before and it’s fascinating and funny to watch them corral the individuals into one unit, then move them right where they need to go. 

Driving back we take the opportunity for one last hike, a two mile out and back along the lake to the Meeting of the Waters.  A nice trail and blessedly flat.

Back at the hotel we take full advantage of the spa facility again, letting the water, steam and air reinvigorate our tired muscles.  Dinner in town at The Laurel, followed by Trad, Irish abbreviation speak for “traditional Irish Music”, at Dunlow Lodge.  Days are long here, maybe two more hours of light than back home, and on our way back to the Muckross, we catch the last purple rays of the sunset.

IRELAND DAY 5 - THE RING OF KERRY

We’re out of the hotel before coffee service, jumping into one of our most anticipated days.  We’re headed to Kenmare for the Ring of Kerry drive, but damn we need some caffeine.  It’s impossible to get a cup before 8, even in the active factory towns.  We blessedly find a quaint Irish diner next to a gas station just opening for business.  The brew is strong and fresh and the efficient women behind the counter indulge us when we teach them how to make a proper bacon, egg and cheese sammy.  Pretty sure it hits the menu next week.

We’re in Kenmare by 9 and set the GPS for Sneem, a little town on the Wild Atlantic Way immersing us into the Ring.  The Ring of Kerry Drive, one of the most beautiful sections of the WAW, circumnavigates the Iveragh Peninsula in County Kerry and is loaded with history, charisma, grand seascapes and broad swarths or rolling Irish countryside.  Sneem radiates Irish charm with colorful buildings, babeling brooks and bold mountain backdrops, so we wander around for bit taking it all in.

Next stop is Darrynane Beach, a secluded stretch of shoreline down an even smaller offshoot road and our first chance to get toes in the sand this trip.  It’s crazy windy so we only make it out of the car for a few minutes, but the beach is beautiful just the same.  Before we get back on the Ring, we stop to check out the Darrynane House, ancestral home to Daniel O’Connell, one of the great figures in modern Irish history.  The house is fantastic and we definitely understand why they selected this stunning seaside location.  We’re especially taken by the gorgeously landscaped Fairy Trail and the Summerhouse, a diminutive detached castle tower built by O’Connell as a quiet place for contemplation and study.

The road back to the WAW is absurdly narrow even by Irish standards, and the blind turns up the steep mountain are the craziest yet.  We add the Ring of Skellig to our drive, a western lobe off the Ring of Kerry, often overlooked by tours because the roads are impassable to all but the best coach drivers, but home to some of the most amazing features in western Ireland.  We stop on the side of the road at the top of Coomanaspig Pass near Portmagee for some panoramic top-of-the-world pix then carry on to the very windy Kerry Cliffs for some edge-of-the-planet shots.

We lunch in Waterville, an historic fishing village nestled between the Atlantic Ocean and the fresh water lake Lough Currane.  It’s everything you’d hope an historic fishing village would be, the salty characters as colorful as the shops on Main Street.  And the water.  We didn’t expect it to be so, well, blue.  Blue like the Caribbean.  Crystal clear blue, all the way to the bottom.  Mesmerizingly blue.

We finish the Rings and make our way to the Muckross Park Hotel and Spa in Killarney.  We check into this very civilized inn and we’re asked if we’d like to book the spa this afternoon.  It’s included in the room and I’m a sucker for a good bargain and a good soak, so book we do.  Given that the word spa is now attached to every strip mall nail joint, we’re just hoping for a nice Jacuzzi, and are VERY pleasantly surprised when we walk into…

Dinner is at Mad Monk, well reviewed, but in overreaching in our opinion.  When the seafood is that fresh, it should be the star of the dishes, not heavy sauces or novel presentations.  The atmosphere was nice, though.  We end the night at Teddy’s, a pub we wander into when we hear the songs of a very talented duo emanating from the front door.