Dingle Peninsula (Ireland - Days 4 & 5)

Tuesday morning we left Doolin for the town of Dingle on the Dingle Peninsula. On our way, Jason got to take his first ever ferry ride - he was pretty excited until we discovered that it was 20 euros (~$30) per car. There's nothing like a complete rip off to zap the fun out of something!

The drive to Dingle was beautiful. The sun was shining and there wasn't a cloud in the sky - not the weather we were expecting for Ireland in March! When we got to Dingle, John, our fantastic host at the Pax House B&B (by far the best B&B we have ever stayed in!) served us tea, coffee, and warm scones on the patio. This all came after he upgraded us to a seaview room (same view as below) for free simply because he had an extra one available. We were content to sit and look at this view all afternoon:


Dingle Bay, behind us in this picture, has been home to Fungi the dolphin for the last 25 years. Just between you and I, I was pretty excited to catch a glimpse of him from the patio, but don't mention it to Jason because he never did spot Fungi and it's a bit of a sore subject!



When we weren't enjoying the view, we were playing with John's co-host Roi (pronounced Rio), one of the coolest dogs I've ever met:


Those of you who know Jason and I well know that we are far from dog lovers but we both couldn't help but love this dog. She loved to play fetch (especially with rocks), but she wasn't obnoxious about it. She never once jumped up on us, licked us, or annoyed us. She'd just drop her ball (or rock) at your feet and then go running out in the yard to wait for you to throw it. She'd wait patiently in the yard for 30 minutes if she had to! Do we want a dog now?...NO! But, we did really like Roi!

After enjoying the sun for a while, John encouraged us to make the most of the unusually nice weather and go explore some of the peninsula. He then gave us a list of his favorite places to see and he definitely didn't steer us wrong!

Our first stop was Dunbeg Fort, built up against a sheer cliff wall. Excavation in the area has led historians to speculate that it was built late in the bronze Bronze Age, around 800 BC*, and was used through the 10th century. Apparently, excavation did not reveal conclusively what the site was used for; it may have been defensive, for ritual purposes, or it may have simply been a dwelling. This long path led up to the fort:


The fort itself was a rather crude structure, but it was surrounded by several arc shaped mounds/trenches that I suppose were created to act as additional lines of defense...


The view from the fort was amazing. If it was once a dwelling, the people who lived there were very lucky to look out on this everyday!


Next we drove on to the Clocháns (in English, Beehive Huts). These huts were built using an architectural technique known as corbelling; unmortered stones, placed at an angle so that they are lower on the outside than on the inside enabling rain water to run off, are built up in ever smaller rings until they eventually meet at the top. The huts are generally believed to have been dwellings built as far back as 3100 BC although dating them is diffucult because corbelling has been used as recently as 1950's. Many believe this particular dwelling and others in the area probably date to the 12th century.* They were likely built by the Irish who were forced off their good land by invading Normans and fled to the periphery of the peninsula.


It's a good thing Jason wasn't alive back then! Beehive huts don't appear to be designed for the tallest of our species!

After leaving the Beehive Huts, we drove a bit further, enjoying the rugged landscape, before heading back to Dingle for dinner:


After we finished dinner, we headed back to our B&B were we found our bedside lamps turned on for us, our bed nicely turned down, and some mints and biscuts (cookies to Americans) waiting in case we were in need of a late night snack. I'll take this opportunity to put in one final plug for John at the Pax house, it was amazing!!

The next morning we woke up to another sunny day and continued our explorations of the peninsula. Most of the roads were only one lane and you had to drive pretty slowly because you never quite knew what you might come up on:


Luckily, John had warned us about this one, insisting it was quite normal in Ireland to find small creeks washing over the roads. It wasn't much of an issue on this nice dry day, but I can imagine it gets a bit hairy after a lot of rain!


The scenery was amazing, but with roads like this, I didn't spend much time taking it in unless we were able to find a place to pull over. As you can imagine, there was a lot of white nuckle driving!


The Blasket Islands. In the map at the top of this post, you can see them off the tip of the peninsula. They are largely uninhabited, but there is a ferry that takes people out for sightseeing trips in the summer.


Ramp leading to the Blasket Island ferry terminal. It was steep and I can imagine that a good number of people have ended up somersaulting to the bottom!


Our next stop was at the ruins of an old Romanesque church:


Near by was this rock. Legend has it that if two married people touch fingers through the hole, they renew their wedding vows.


Wish you all could have been there for the special occasion!


Our final stop for the day was at the Gallarus Oratory, an early Christian church bulit in the 7th or 8th centry.* It too was built using corbelling and is claimed to have remained water tight for more than 1000 years.


Jason peaking through the church's only window:


Tired from lots of exploring and some pretty scarey driving, we headed back to Dingle to explore the town a little. I absolutely loved how colorful all of the buildings were!



Once we wandered the streets a bit, we headed back to the wonderful patio at our B&B to enjoy the sun, the view, and a rousing game of Scrabble. Ah, the good life!



*AJD - Do you believe these dates? You're really the only source I have in this area. As we were walking around these places, I couldn't help but feel like the joke was on me. How could these structures still be standing after all those years? Are there farmers all over Ireland having a laugh at the expense of us American tourists, willing to pay 2 euro to come look at the rock piles they've built??