Dissapointed Ring but thrilled with the Dingle

Ring of Kerry   This is the famous peninsula that is on every Southwest Irish bus tour. For the last day I have heard the praises of the fantastic vistas, beautiful lakes and glorious mountains that we will soon be experiencing by car.  Leaving Kenmare, we drive north on N71 thru hills and valleys and unannounced ROAD CONSTRUCTION. Fifteen minutes later we crest the peak of the mountain at Moll's Gap, at 863 feet it's  the highest elevation on the Ring, a small parking lot is on the right side of the road. Avoca Handweavers woolen outlet, a coffee shop and restrooms are across. This white building sticks out like an white elephant. From the parking lot (we are told by the storekeeper)

A Jaunting car

IF the weather is clear there is a great view of the Gap of Dunloe, the mountain gorge. If you walk about 100 yards up the road there is a wide open view the Kenmare river, again weather permitting. We saw very little, but we did find sheep at the parking lot. 

Ladies View

We continue on past more free roaming sheep to a small sign announcing "Ladies' View." This is known as the best view in all of Ireland. The short well-traveled path leads to a viewing area. I gaze down at the three gray lakes calmly lying in the valley surrounded by hills. I am stunned. Maybe Pennsylvanians fail to acknowledge the mountainous beauty in their backyards, but this vista is very similar to the scenery we pass by daily. Or maybe without a bright blue sky the scenery is overrated? We drive on to Torc Waterfall. A large parking lot accommodates buses. No admission charge. Small visitor center. A short four minute walk up the hillside and I am standing before the tallest waterfall in Ireland. Surrounded by dense green forest, and moss covered stones in the lower creek, the waterfall is a pretty site. Snap a photo and back to the car. Less than a mile we arrive at Muckross House.

Water fall

Attraction/rating:5  Muckross House a 19th century Elizabethan manor houses the Folklife Center, one of Irelands' top attractions. The house and the sweeping view of Mucross lake and Torc Mountain is astounding, with public rooms open on the first and second floors (only a small number of rooms are open) The most impressive are the entry hall (with a pair of extinct Irish Elk antlers), a main hall with stag's head and portrait collection and a huge oak staircase, dining room containing authentic period furnishings, billiard room, library and parlor. Upstairs is the master bedroom where Queen Victoria once slept, a dressing room, and a child's bedroom with miniature furnishings and toys is next to the master bedroom.  Some rooms are used for museum-like displays including a water painting exhibit. The huge maze-like basement houses the wine room, laundry and boiler area and exhibits on 19th century cooking and rural life, and charcoals environmental impact on the area. A 15 minute video presentation outlines the  Muckross Gardens are adjacent to the house. Large green houses, formal gardens, sunken garden, walled gardens, sprawling lawns, and uncountable rhododendrons, and an arboretum with trees from the southern hemisphere.  

Muckross Traditional Farms recreate rural life from the 1930's -1940's period. These are actual working farms. Tour the three different sized farms (small, medium and large) each complete with period house, kitchen activities (such as butter making)  horse drawn machinery and livestock. Craftsmen's shops include a harness maker, blacksmith and carpenter. Depending on the season you may see fields being plowed, sowed and harvested.

A 15 minute video presentation (located at garden entrance)

Hours: Muckross House and Gardens  daily  (except the Christmas period) Muckross House  Sept 1 - June 30 9am - 5:30pm  July 1st - August 9am - 6pm  Traditional Farms open March .  March & April (Saturday and Sunday only) 1pm - 6pm. May daily 1pm -6pm. June- Sept 10am - 7pm. Oct (Saturday and Sunday only) 1pm -6pm

Rates: Adult - Muckross House or Traditional Farm €5.50  combo ticket € 8.25  Group/senior   Muckross House or Traditional Farm €4.25  combo ticket €6.25Student/child  Muckross House or Traditional Farm €2.25  combo ticket €3.75

Family  Muckross House or Traditional Farm €13.75  combo ticket €21 .00

Allow at least one hour each for house, gardens or farm.

Jaunting cars (horse pulled touring carts that follow path beside lake) are available for hire near entrance to house. Contact:   email: killarneynationalpark@ealga.ie

Town: Killarney.

Urban sprawl with every recognizable American hotel company joining in the madness. The only hotel brand I did not see was a Red Roof. If you search long enough, you will see some resemblance to the small Irish town this once was. Shopping is the activity here and can be found on High Street and New Street. 

Backtracking past Muckross Lake we decided to skip part of "The Ring", taking R568 through inland into Sneem (stopping again at Ladies' View). The sky is brighter and the view is still not taking my breath away. The advantage of R568 is NO BUSES!

We pass near the Macgillucuddy's Reeks which includes Ireland's highest mountain, Carrauntoohil at1038 feet. These "mountains" are a cross between miniature Colorado Rockies and Shenandoahs. The land here is open and sparsely populate. It's a gradual decent. Looking down into the horizon flows the wide waters of the Kenmare River and Sneem, a vibrant multi-colored picture perfect small-town Ireland. We pass a few pubs, shops, and eateries, and the look up at the 18th Century church with sports a salmon on its weather-vane. This town loves modern art and it is evident in many unsuspecting places. "Peaceful Panda" this white mammal sculpture which sits on a rock was created as a symbol of friendship and understanding between China and Ireland in the 1980's.   We are officially back on The Ring.

It's the off season and the busses packed with tourists keep coming at a steady rate. I can't imagine this in season. It must be overwhelming. It's suggested to driving counter-clockwise as the busses do. We are driving clockwise. To me this is better. No fumes from the busses exhausts, no quick stops, or busses on your tail end.

The vegetation is unbelievable. Palm trees, yuccas, palm ferns, cactus and bamboo? Along with your garden variety of spring bloomers.   

Attraction/rating: Staigue Fort 5 (for its uniqueness)   Turn right at the sign. A small non-official visitors center adjacent to the inn is only open in season.  Continue on the dirt road for a couple of miles, don't turn back you are going in the right direction. This is a farm road and you may encounter farm machinery. You will pass a couple houses on your left. The round stone fort will be in view on your right. Continue till you are at the farm house on the left. Parking is on the road. Walk past the farm to the gate where you will find a container for payment (request is 50 pence). I noticed some pay, some don't. Staigue Fort is one of the finest examples of a dry-stone fort in Ireland. It was built two to three thousand years ago. It is circular, about 90 feet in diameter, with walls 13 feet thick at the base and tapering to about half that at the top. The walls are about 18 feet high. There are numerous steps inside the walls leading to platforms on which the fort's defenders would have stood. You can climb (carefully) them. The forts' entrance is not original. This current entry design keeps the sheep from coming in!    

The road begins to climb. Around a sharp curve busses of tourists are leaning out their windows snapping photos. I glance to the left and see a pub proclaiming "The loveliest view in Ireland". We stop quickly and look down the hillside at the stone fenced farm land ending at the bay. No sun. Grey skies, but a nice site. I take a photo. I think "damn, what a great marketing idea. Who could pass stopping here?" We  are now near the top of the Coomakesta Pass. At the parking area is a large cross. From here the views are of the mountains, Kenmare River and Ballinskelligs Bay. It's overcast, so not the best photo conditions. 

This is now the premier coastal golfing town on the Ring of Kerry, attracting Tiger Woods and Hollywood celebrities. Charlie Chaplin and his family frequented the town, staying at the Butler's Arms. The hotel's pub is filled with Chaplin photos taken during his stays.        

At Knights' Town, we take R565 to Valentia Island passing fields of cut bog on our right while on our left green farming plots rise steeply up the hills. We adjust our wipers as scattered showers hit the windshield, hoping the sea conditions are calm enough to hire a boat to the Skelling Michael Island and climb to hundreds of steps to the monastery.

Town: Valentia is accessed by bridge from Knights Town or by car/passenger ferry to Chaersiveen. We arrive at the harbor and are told the seas are to rough.  This was on my must-do list and once again, we didn't do it. Next best thing - we head to the Skelling Experience. A newly built facility that for those who cannot get to the Skellings, can at least experience thru the exhibits.   

Attraction: Skelling Experience (not rated as it was not open)      The Skellig Michael Island is known throughout the world of archaeology as the site of a well-preserved monastic outpost of the Early Christian period - now designated a World Heritage Site; Small Skellig is equally renowned in matters of ornithology as the home of some 27,000 pairs of gannets - the second largest colony of such seabirds in the world..  In The Skellig Experience Centre you can experience many aspects of those offshore Skellig islands while remaining on dry land, in a custom built, stone clad, grass roofed, prize winning building located on the waterfront beside the Valentia Island bridge. Here, through re-creations and models you can study the works and lives of the Skellig monks of the early Christian period, their activities, their endurance and their dedication in gaining a foothold on a tiny, inhospitable, offshore island and creating a community there that survived for some 600 years. In an 80-seat auditorium, a 16-minute audio-visual presentation allows you to follow the footsteps of those Skellig monks, and wonder at the legacy of architecture that they left behind. A re-created Skellig sea cliff, with life-size models and related presentations, let you experience by sight and sound, the life and times of the seabirds of Skellig. Step in to a reconstruction of a Skelligs lighthouse, and inspect equipment, artefacts, log books, charts, and the personal effects, hobbies and history of Skelligs lighthouse men. You can smile at the wry humour from the cartoon pages of the lighthouse journals of yesteryear. You can admire the exquisite pen-and-ink lighthouse drawings by Captain Colin Myles-Hook, Master for many years of the lighthouse service vessel, Granuaile. Experience the Skellig lighthouse and its history and service to mariners since the 1820's.  Underwater life of Skellig is presented through a gallery of the still photographs of visiting international Skellig divers and through a colorful video exclusively from Skellig waters.  A gift shop is on site.  

Skellig Experience Sea Cruise is subject to the weather and sea conditions of the moment, daily sea cruises are available from The Skellig Experience Centre throughout the season from April to September. En route to the islands you will meet the seabirds of Skellig - gannets all season long, puffins from April to early August, as well as kittiwakes, razorbills, guillemots, manx shearwaters, fulmars. Possible sightings of a Bottlenose or Common dolphins, an elusive Minke whale, or a Basking shark. Sail slowly by Small Skellig resident 27,000 pairs of gannets, close enough to see the great volume of hardware that gannets call nest-building material: bits of nets, ropes, weeds, and anything that floats! Check out the rock ledges at sea level to see the island's company of Grey seals. Low tide and sunny mornings are best sightings. Move on towards Skellig Michael. Note the domed rooftops of the monastery buildings high up on the skyline of the 200-metre cliff. See the three ancient stone stairways leading from sea level to the monastic site. Sail southwestwards and the Skellig lighthouse comes into view - automatic now, but home to lighthouse men and lighthouse families since 1820. The storm power of a winter's gale can send waves up to the lighthouse tower, which stands some 50 metres above the sea!

ALTERNATIVE CRUISES are also available from the Skellig Experience Centre.

If the weather and conditions out at sea are unsuitable for our Skellig Cruise, there may be the option of a Skellig-related cruise within the sheltered waters of Valentia harbour and Portmagee Channel. This cruise of about one hour and 30 minutes duration will take in the monastic settlements of Illaunloughan and Church Island, as well as views of other local points of interest, the Western Union Trans Atlantic Telegraph Station, the harbour of Knightstown, Valentia lighthouse and Glanleam estate.   

 Food Services:  Fionan's Kitchen'our 'restaurant-with-a-view', overlooking the waterfront of Portmagee Channel, and seating up to 48 persons, offers teas, coffees, snacks, sandwiches and larger meals.                                                                                                                                                                                                     Times/Rates: Skellig Experience April and May: 10am to 6pm (Last admission 5:15pm) June, July, August: 10.00am to 7pm (Last admission 6pm) Sept, Oct, Nov: 10.00am to 6pm (Last admission 5:15pm) Adults €4.40 Students/Senior €3.80 Child €2.20 Family €2.20   Times/Rates: Skellig Experience and Round Skelling Cruise Adults €21.50 Students/Senior€19.40 Child €10.70 Family €57.00                                                                                                                                                               Times/Rates: Skellig Experience and Alternative "mini" Cruise within the Valentia Harbor   Adults €17.00 Students/Senior€15.00 Child €8.50 Family €48.00         

Times/Rates: Skellig Experience and 45 minute cruise within Portmagee Channel dents/Students €8.50         Contact: Phone: 353 214255107  Fax: 353 4255199  Web: www.skelligexperience.com  E mail: cmeikle@corkkerrytourism.ie

 Determined to at least "see" Skellig Michael, the last resort is to walk/run the 2 mile trail to south to Bray Head. The sporadic rain/mist does not deter us. This is the scenery I was expecting on the Ring. We pass sixteenth century "beehive" huts with waterviews of Portmagee Harbor as we walk to the south end of the peninsula over verdant green turf. Bray Tower sits high on the hill. At the crest, there like pyramids rising from the ocean, are the Skelligs. The wind is blasting us with its force.  What a sight! 

Attraction/rating: Glanleam Subtropical Gardens Valentia Island/4 Glanleam Subtropical Gardens were created over 150 years ago by the 19th Knight of Kerry, Sir Peter Fitzgeral. The forty acre garden are famous for a unique collection of rare and tender southern hemisphere plants are interplanted with native species. The Victorian garden is situated in a large sheltered east-facing cove, surrounded by mature woodland. Woodlands sweep down to the sea, overlooking the spectacular scenery of Valentia harbour and the distant Kerry mountains. Broad walks weave through jungle-like plantings of South American palms, Australian tree ferns, bananas and giant groves of bamboo and myrtles from Chile. Recent additions combine to offer visitors an enchanted garden, a rain forest, a subtropical paradise and a jungle.

Rates:Times April - October 10am - 7pm Adults €4.50 Students/Senior €3.50 Child €2.50   

Contact:  email  info@glanleam.com

We head north on the island to the ferry and get completely lost on this tiny island. No signs, limited dirt roads, and we are on high ground looking down at the bay and cannot find a road to the ferry. We can find the road back to the bridge, so we take it. (We later learn that the ferry it is open April - September 8:30am - 10:30pm crossings are five minutes)  

At Knights Town we are back on the Ring N70 stopping in Cahersiveen for film. Plenty of shops, pubs, restaurants and accommodations.  One mile from town on the left we spot the modern sculpture of St. Brendan the Navigator in his curragh. St. Brendan sailed to American in one of these small crafts in the sixth century.  On the right are ruins of Carhan House where Daniel O'Connell was born in 1775. His  bust sculpture is next to the ruins. To our left are sporadic views of Dingle Bay, and the mountains before we enter...                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       Town: Kells         Attraction/rating 5 "The Sheep Man"      

 Pub owner gives half-hour to forty five minute sheep herding demonstrations.    Rates/Times €2.00 per person. Group rates available depending on size. Contact Caitin to set time.

Contact : Caitin Beatars at Caitin's Pub    Gleesk, Kells Phone: 066 9477614     

Town: Glenbeigh  Main attraction of this pretty village is the superb seven mile unpolluted Blue Flag beach, Rosbeigh with views across the bay to the Dingle Mountains. Life guard on duty during summer. Numerous pubs, inns and shops.

Attraction/Rating:Kerry Bog Village Museum/4 ½*A semi-circle cluster of eight thatched-roof cottages depicting typical early 1800's Irish life in a bog-side village. The museum village includes houses of a blacksmith, thatcher, tradesman, turf-cutter and laborer, along with blacksmiths forge, a stable and dairy. The interiors are authentically furnished with County Kerry period antiques. Demonstrations of peat cutting, stacking and drying (depending on the season) and explanations on this traditional heating source.  Almost extinct, Kerry bog ponies, once used to haul peat carts are being bred on site.        

Rates/Times:  Adults €4.50,  Children €3 Family €12, Contact: P: 066-9769184 F: 066-9769477.    No email    Daily 9:00am-6:00pm

Dining:  Red Fox Inn is next to the Bog Village and is famous for its Irish Coffee. Reported to be the best in Ireland.  Right past the Red Fox Inn an old man sells poitin (illegal Irish version moonshine made from Barley) from a very old van. Ask at the Red Fox if you are interested. Price is lower than Irish Whiskey.  

Killorglin, another small town is divided by the river.  It is best known for the bizarre annual Puck Fair which takes place from August 10-12. A billy goat from the area is captured, crowned and enthroned on a chair in the town square. He presides over a festival lasting three days and nights. Shops and pubs remain open all through the night. Horses, sheep and cattle are traded. It is the largest gathering of tinkers or knackers in Ireland. The origin of this festival is uncertain but probably has something to do with the old Celtic god Lugh.

We've completed the "Ring of Kerry". 

If I was sitting on a bus the entire time, watching out a rain-streaked window, or it was an overcast day, I would have been very disappointed with the scenery, and the wasted day. If I was in a private car as a couple or family and was more interested in the attractions or hiking vs. scenery, then this would have been an OK day.  It would have been better if we had the time to dedicate a full day to the Gap of Dunloe, which has the best scenery on the Penninsula, but is not appropriate for group tours.

Killorglin to Dingle we guesstimate about 30 miles. Traffic is light and we are on the Dingle in no time. Here the directional and town signs are not in English, but Gaeltch. Without a map, you would be lost.  We pull off to see the famous Inch Beach, one of the largest dunes in Ireland.  Daytona also allows cars to drive on the sand, but will never match the beauty of this 5km wild stretch of beach.

The scenery keeps amazing me as we drive thru Annascaul's valley. Newly built rental cottages dot the hillsides and overlook the Bay. The road turns windy and hilly. We spot Minard Castle, on a curve but it's quickly gone from site. Stone fences and farms shoot up the hillsides and down to the bright blue waters of the Dingle Bay. Turning the last bend, we are on the outskirts of Dingle (An Daingean).

Checking into the Dingle Skellig Hotel the receptionists greets us "failte go dti Ostan na Sceilge ata suite."  I reply "Go raibh maith ad" (struggling to remember the words, and wishing I had brushed up on some phrases) She blesses me with a quick smile for my futile efforts.   A note left at the front desk informs me that Caroline Boland, the sales manager cannot meet with me, but a "replacement" is on duty that evening and will give me a tour of the hotel after check-in. 

We knew our room had been upgraded to an Executive Suite prior to arrival. We did NOT know that our huge windows have a full view of both the Dingle Harbor and Minard Castle with 100 shades of glimmering green hillsides and farmland in the background! WOW.  It's getting late and we have the hotel inspection here and one scheduled for the sister property Dingle Benners, and my stomach is saying feed me! 

  Hotel/rating: Dingle Skellig/4*  115 rooms. 2 Presidential suites, 8 two room suites, 2 Junior suites,  31Executive queen or queen/single  rooms, 72 double/single rooms. Executive rooms are located on 3rd floor and are refurbished with large white marble bathrooms, oversize bathtub and separate, large glass enclosed showerm. Many have view of bay. Standard double or double/single rooms are bright and roomy. Located on 2nd floor. Not all have views. 

Dining: Coastguard Restaurant (reservations required for dinner) Five star dining. Unique menu which changes daily.  (menu in file). This restaurant is also used for the breakfast buffet. Most tables have views through the floor to ceiling windows of Dingle Bay and the hillside farmland beyond.

Blasket Bar: Warm atmosphere. Bar menu including roast beef, fish and chips and traditional Irish meals.

Gallarus Lounge: Walking in the room (beside the Coastguard Restaurant) you first notice the large burning fireplace, huge overstuffed easy chairs and sofas and dark wood paneling. On the left - the fantastic view of the bay and hillside! With complimentary tea, coffee and munchies, this would be my place to relax with a book in the evening. Or, bring a drink from the nearby bar.

Peninsula Spa. Newly opened. 4 treatment rooms. Located next to the indoor pool (which is used by school children on the Dingle during the day for swim lessons). A large wood hot tub is located outside with views of the bay and farmland. This is only open during spa hours, which end at 8pm. Complete spa treatments along with seaweed body wraps.        

Hotel/rating: Dingle Benners 3*  52 rooms. 4 queen four poster beds. 16 doubles with fireplace. 18 doubles. 2 singles, 12 doubles with sleeper sofa. Located in downtown Dingle one-half block from traditional Irish music at Small Bridge, and convenient to all pubs, store and dining. The four story hotel is two joined buildings. The cozy Victorian lobby and fireplace bedrooms are in the 300 year old section. Comfortable lobby with large leather chairs, love seats, fireplace and flowing draperies. It is heavily used by guests.  Has the warm feel of grandmothers' parlor. Mrs. Benner's Bar is a traditional cozy bar with burning fireplace, lots of polished wood. Very limited bar menu.

Bedrooms are upstairs . Poster beds, and fireplace rooms are in old section. All rooms here are individually decorated. No cookie cutter feel. Many have large windows overlooking the street.  The new section blends with the old and had to be pointed out. All architectural details flow from section to section. Top two floors have scenic view of Dingle Bay.

Dining: Brenners on the Lane Traditional Irish menu, served in an intimate dining room. Irish linen tablecloths and cut crystal.  Breakfast is served here also.

*I prefer this hotel over the Dingle Skellig for its in town location and the overall atmosphere.

The most important Irish words to remember (or recognize) in a Gaeltacht area: Fir - men.  Mna - women. Leithris - public toilet.

Dining: Murphy's Pub, Strand Street Dingle

Typical pub in appearance, but you immediately know you have landed in Gaeltacht. I'm struggling to pick out a few recognizable words from the fast speaking announcer on the "Irish speaking only" station coming from the wall mounted T.V.  

We are seated right beside the sweet smelling peat burning fireplace. Life gets better as I ask for an iced tea and am told by a young re-patriot who lived in Boston that he would bring a pot of tea and a full glass of ice with a slice of lemon.  The pub is tight and homey. The menu encompasses traditional Irish food along with a large variety of local seafood. I ordered a seafood pasta. Gary ordered the roast of the day and we were both in culinary heaven and too stuffed for desert.  It's getting closer 9:30 and we want to get to O'Flaherty's Pub before we can't get a seat, and I'm hoping to find directions to the famine cemetery.

Entertainment: True traditional Irish music. Irish harp, uilleen pipes and solo performers at the St. James Church, Main Street. Wednesday and Saturday nights.  Phone: 66-7122245 call for schedule.

 O'Flaherty's Pub. This is THE traditional pub atmosphere. Smoke stained walls, uneven plank wood floors, Dingle memorabilia plastered on every available surface. A hand full of tables dot the small room already occupied. We pick quickly pick the only one remaining. It has five seats, so we will hopefully be with the local folk, and I can ask directions to the famine cemetery.  A wooden support floor to ceiling pole is in the center of the table. The unlit fireplace is right beside us. 

Gary goes to get drinks and ask where the musicians will set up for the "seision." Luck of the day - we are it as the bodhran player sits down at our "table". The other 3 musicians, of varying ages filter in slowly, sit on the fireplace hearth, talk, call out greetings, tune their instruments and drink their Guinnesses.  It is well past 9:30, but I've adjusted to "Irish time."

At last they start and with a traditional Irish Rebel ballad. Another drink in my hand, my foot is tapping, I am smiling, this IS Ireland.  Well into the set, an older man takes the empty seat next to me, pulls out a small squeeze box, tin pipe and what looks to be two curved six inch flat bones. He nods to the fiddler, puts the bones in his right hand, then quickly twists his wrist back and forth, producing a sound is similar to a drumstick.

Although I have always been entranced by the bodhran, my attention is now on those bones. After the set, I introduce myself and ask THE QUESTION.  Caoilte says they are from the cows' ribs, just got them from the butcher today so they will take some time to break in. He puts them in my right hand, curves my pointer finger tight around the first rib. The second rib is spoon fashion between the pointer and middle fingers and tighter pressure is needed for stability. My wrist rocks back and forth. I try to keep the beat constant. Not as easy as he made it look. Caoilte is another ex-patriot come home to Dingle. He retired from an executive position in New York and is happy to be back with his family.  I'm still trying to get the feel of the bones and joke about them being harder than playing the comb. He is astounded that I can play the comb, and has been trying to remember how he played it as a youth. After getting a comb and paper, I demonstrate. I am accepted. He offers to accompany us to the cemetery tomorrow morning.  Thank you grandma Mert!