Dingle (Day 1)

Sunday, 25 August 2019

It was nice to sleep in.  If seems like it has been a while since we didn't have to set an alarm.  We all woke up, ate breakfast, and got ready to go.  Today we drive around the Dingle Peninsula.  It is a 30 mile loop that promises to have spectacular coastal views.

We left just before noon for the drive.  As I drove, Christine read the accompanying tour from Rick Steves book.  The first thing we stopped for was a road pullout for this view:

Wow...wat a view

Today we had many views of Skellig Michael.  Here are a couple.

Across the road from this view were some cows also enjoying the scenery.  I love the old stone walls on the hillsides.

This is what some of the drive looked like, beautiful views with narrow roads.

Another pulloff with more amazing views.

We saw these ruins on the side of the road, so we pulled over to check them out.  By the way, here is the rental car that we have.  It is a Renault.

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This pullout is called Clogher Head pullout.  The three small peaks on the right are called the Three Sisters.  Left of that is Sybil Head where scenes from Star Wars: The Force Awakens were shot.  ​

Christine taking some photos

This area is definitely trying to cash in on the Star Wars tourism.

At the 19 mile point of the drive, there was a brewery.  Of course we had to stop for a flight.

A flight of beers

Cool Irish pub feel.

About 2 miles further were signs pointing to Gallarus Oratory.  Rick Steves warned not to pull into the first parking lot because the will charge to park.  We followed Rick's directions and parked for free a bit further..thanks Rick Steves!

​Here is the beautiful path leading to the Gallarus Oratory:

So pretty

This Gallarus Oratory was built about 1,300 years ago and was used as a church.  It was pretty cool.

Next stop is the ruined church of Kilmalkedar, but before checking out the church, we noticed there was a marked hiking trail, so we decided to walk a bit on it.  this trail is marked with a symbol of a monk.  It is an old pilgrimage trail called "The Saints' Road."

I think we walked about 10 minutes out and then turned back, mostly because we were all hungry and this loop was taking way more time than we thought it would.

We then went over to the church ruins to check it out.  This church was built in the 12th century, and there are some tombs that looked like they were that old.  This first picture shows the side of the church with newer tombs, but the next photo shows the old tombs.

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Very old tombstones

There are three pretty cool things on these grounds.  The first is an alphabet stone dating around 550 AD that has the latin alphabet.  The second is a sundial dating to around 800 AD.  The third is a ogham stone dating from 600 AD with early Irish language written on it.  

Alphabet stone

Sundial

Ogham stone

When we got back to the car we thought that we were done stopping, but then we saw some more ruins and just couldn't pass them up.  These wound up being remains from a house in the early 14th century.

Walking around the ruins

OK...back to the car and get to Dingle...well...maybe after one more stop to see a "fairy fort" dating around 1000 BC.  Fairy forts, also called ring forts or hill forts, dot the Irish landscape.  They were probably used as a multi-family dwelling.  Irish tradition claim that there is druid magic associated with these ruins, so they are rarely tampered with.

Walking around the fort

Very cool

Finally, back to Dingle around 4:30 PM.

Dingle

We went back to the apartment and quickly left since we were all hungry.  We decided on a fish and chips place called the Fish Box, which is what I ordered.

The fish box

After dinner, we went next door to a brewery called Dick Mack's.  Of course we had a flight.

After dinner and the flight, we returned to the apartment for a break.  Around 7 PM we left for a pub crawl in which we managed to visit five pubs.  Some had music, some had sports, and some just had conversations.  What they all had in common were great Irish beers, great Irish whiskies, and great Irish people that are very friendly.

We made it to last call at Curran bar which occurred at 11 PM since it was Sunday night, then walk back to the apartment.  I was pretty tired, but had to get laundry done, so I was up past midnight before finally going to sleep.  Luckily we don't have to set the alarm since tomorrow we are enjoying a relaxed day in Dingle.