We woke up to what looked like a very nice day. The view from our bed & breakfast attic room was of some vacation homes in Dingle. You can also see our rental car.
An old church at the end of a very narrow, two way street in Dingle. And you thought I was joking about how narrow the streets are!!!
The Eask Tower is a solid stone tower on the top of Carhoo Hill, in County Kerry over-looking Dingle Harbor. The beacon, erected during the Great Famine as Famine Relief work, is a solid tower masonry, 35ft high, from which a wooden fingerpost points to the harbor entrance. You have to get permission from a farmer in order to climb the hill to the tower. The gal was very nice and very talkative. We climbed the hill - it was a rather long, steep hill (I am thinking it was about a mile to the top). It was a sheep pasture so you had to be VERY careful where you walked and parts were quite muddy - it was an interesting hike, to say the least! The views from the top were absolutely gorgeous!
Today we are driving the Slea Head Drive. It is a circular route on the Dingle peninsula, beginning and ending in Dingle town. It was a beautiful drive!
The Stonehouse Restaurant "is one of the most unique restaurants in the world; situated on the world famous Slea Head Drive on the Dingle Peninsula, it overlooks the vast, blue, Atlantic Ocean and the Skellig Islands. The entire building is constructed in stone, in the time honoured tradition of the area." We did not eat here but it was a very cool building.
Dunbeg is a promontory stone fort located at the base of Mount Eagle. Excavation show it was begun in the late Bronze Age around 800 B.C. The fort was used through the Celtic period to the 10th Century. It may have been used as a defensive fort, for ritual purposes, or it may have just been a dwelling. It is built on a sheer cliff. The views from the fort were fantastic!
There are all those rock walls again... so cool!
Just about directly across the road from Dunbeg are the Beehive Huts. They have stood there for over 4,000 years. They were in habited from ancient times until about 1200 AD. The stones were piled in a downward and outward manner, so rain water was funneled away from the inside. They were quite interesting to see!
Slea Head Drive - yes, this is a two lane highway!!
The Blasket Islands are a group of islands off the west coast of Ireland. They were inhabited until 1953 by a completely Irish-speaking population. From the Smithsonian Magazine: "Life here was hard. Each family had a cow, a few sheep, and a plot of potatoes. They cut their peat from the high ridge and harvested fish from the sea. There was no priest, pub, or doctor. Because they were not entirely dependent upon the potato, they survived the famine relatively unscathed. These people formed the most traditional Irish community of the 20th century—the symbol of ancient Gaelic culture." 
Beautiful views along the coast...
Ryan's Daughter, starring Rober Mitchem, is a film done in 1970 and filmed at this spot. Set in 1916, it tells of a married Irish woman who affair with a British officer during WWI.
There was a large parking area here and a LOT of people milling around. It was absolutely gorgeous!!
More scenic views along Slea Head Drive:
The Gallarus Oratory is believed to be an early Christian church. The building is believed to have been built between the 6th and 9th century; although some believe it could have been built as late as the 12th century. Monastic settlements were being built in remote areas of Ireland as early as the 6th century. The stones were laid at an angle to allow the rain to run off and keep the inside completely dry which accounts for the excellent condition of the oratory.
Ruins of a tower castle near the Gallarus Oratory.
Old church along the road...
Kilmalkedar Church is the most important church site on the Dingle Peninsula. The Romanesque church ruins date to the first half of the 12th century.
View from the church
Very nice Irish home we drove by... (it was actually amazing how many really nice homes are in Ireland)
As you can see, I love those stone walls...
We are staying a second night in Dingle town at the DeVane Bed & Breakfast. We got back to town fairly early after our day of touring the peninsula and were able to do some shopping in town. We had dinner Murphy's Pub. It was packed and there was quite a wait for a table so we just ate at the bar. It was good!
No comments:
Post a Comment