Dingle Peninsula

 We visited Dingle peninsula in June of 2013 and really enjoyed the area. We have been wanting to return and finally made it happen over St Brigid's weekend. We arrived first in to Inch Beach around 12:45. We had the sun peaking out and went out toward the water for a bit. On our short drive in to Dingle from there, we drove through a rainbow that seemed to start on the road just in front of us! We parked and found Paul Geaney's pub open and serving food. Quite a few places were not yet open for the year. After this we checked in to our apartment (and met the local cat Cocoa). We headed back in to town for a Murphy's ice cream and to charge the car. Next we drove out to Holden Leathergoods, just 10 minutes from town (with a view of town across the water). We went back to the apartment for a rest and walked in to town for dinner at Lord Bakers. 

The next day was our day to drive the Dingle Loop. We followed Rick Steve's guide once again. We started at Ventry Beach around 10:45. We had lovely sun on us all day. I don't think it tried to rain on us at all! We stopped at Fairy Ringfort but the gate was closed. And, there is really only earth mounds left, so it wasn't a big deal as we could see most of it from the road. Next was the Dunbeg Fort. This has a small cafe that was closed, but the ticket booth was manned so we walked down to the fort. It was a really beautiful view and remnants of the fort and the beehive are there to see. We then drove a few minutes to the first beehives. We walked through and explored them a bit. These few had no remaining tops, but were still impressive. Further down the road we stopped at Cashel Murphy. This is a collection of five beehives (without roofs) with an outer wall. Another couple minutes down the road was two more beehives, complete with roofs. At each stop we also take in a view of the sea, which is constantly changing.

Next we came to Slea Head, the westernmost point of Ireland. There is a cross along this road, and the road narrows to single lane (but is still 2-way traffic). We parked at the trail head for the Dunmore Head walk. While it looks quite high and steep, you can make it up in 15 minutes to the westernmost point of Ireland! There is an old WW2 lookout bunker at the top and a great view of the Blasket Islands. Next we needed to stop for lunch. Krugers Bar in Dun Chaoin is the most westerly pub in Europe! We got some food and even sat outside for a few minutes in the sunny weather. After lunch we drove down the road toward the Blasket Heritage Museum. We continued on another minute to the sea. Kacey and I sat and enjoyed the waves crashing on the rocks for a while. Next we drove on to Clogher Head. We didn't walk up to the head but we stayed down for views of the strand below. We also had a nice view here of the Three Sisters, mountains filmed as part of Star Wars.

Next we headed to Reask Monastic site. There isn't much to see here but it shows a larger area and how it would have been arranged, including grave stones. We moved on to Gallarus Oratory next. We still had beautiful sunny skies, but it was getting late in the day and we were starting to lose the sun. We recreated a picture of Kacey and Liana from 13 years ago. We moved on to Kilmalkedar Church next. The site dates to 600AD but the church was built around the 12th century. We decided to add a couple stops to our loop and drove up to Dooneen Pier on a whim. We had an awesome view of the setting sun and waves crashing on a small pier that we sat and enjoyed for a while. Finally we drove by Brandon Creek, next to Brandon Mountain. This was also just a small pier and the waves were crashing in to a small cave, causing explosive spray every 10-15 seconds. It was pretty cool! We drove back in to Dingle town for some Murphys ice cream (before dinner). I ended up taking the kids to Adams pub for dinner. Nothing special, but we had fun.

The next morning we checked out and walked around town for just a few more minutes. We found the creek that runs under buildings, which is a neat site to see. On our way back home, we took the road through Connors Pass. This provided amazing views of both sides of the peninsula, as well as Brandon Mountain.