Dingle
With three days to spend in Dingle, this stop is full of adventures. On the way to Dingle, we stop in the delightful town of Kenmare, at Muckross House, Killarney National Park and the Kissane Sheep Farm. We drive along Slea Head Drive, visit the Blasket Island Center, Riasc Monastery site, Gallarus Oratory, enjoy an evening concert of traditional music and lovely singing and have a free day where I find Fungi the Dolphin, visit Ocean World, shop for crystal, find a great rain hat and have more adventures in pubs.
Kenmare
Kissane Sheep Farm
Sheep farming in Ireland is only for those who are passionate about preserving a way of life. You won't get rich doing it and if you barely come out even, you are successful.
We stopped at Kissane Farms on the way from Kinsale to Dingle. It's still a working farm, but they have demonstrations. All wool farms receive government subsidies. Opening up for demonstrations reduces the subsidy. Once the sheep are sheared, they are lucky to receive between 1500 and 1600 Euros for all the wool. Nowadays, people wear less wool and more synthetic fabrics and cotton.
These are Scottish Highland Blackface Sheep. Their wool is quite coarse and best suited for carpets. In the summer, the sheep graze down in the lower valley and in the winter, they go up to the hills. Farmers will often bring grass up to the sheep in the hills. Lambs are born in late March and early April. Each farmer identifies his sheep with a biodegradable paint brand - on this farm the color is red.
Three hard working dogs round up the sheep. They don't begin training until at least 2 years of age. Like finding a good K-9 officer, good sheep herding dogs are hard to find and quite expensive. Hope you enjoy the slide show!
We stopped at Kissane Farms on the way from Kinsale to Dingle. It's still a working farm, but they have demonstrations. All wool farms receive government subsidies. Opening up for demonstrations reduces the subsidy. Once the sheep are sheared, they are lucky to receive between 1500 and 1600 Euros for all the wool. Nowadays, people wear less wool and more synthetic fabrics and cotton.
These are Scottish Highland Blackface Sheep. Their wool is quite coarse and best suited for carpets. In the summer, the sheep graze down in the lower valley and in the winter, they go up to the hills. Farmers will often bring grass up to the sheep in the hills. Lambs are born in late March and early April. Each farmer identifies his sheep with a biodegradable paint brand - on this farm the color is red.
Three hard working dogs round up the sheep. They don't begin training until at least 2 years of age. Like finding a good K-9 officer, good sheep herding dogs are hard to find and quite expensive. Hope you enjoy the slide show!
Killarney National Park
The Irish countryside is just beautiful. We joke about 50 Shades of Green - but know there are more shades than we can count. (Click on the photo to enlarge.)
Muckross House
Just a short distance from Killarney National Park, sits Muckross House, a huge mansion built in 1843 in the Elizabethan style that sits overlooking the lakes. No photos are allowed inside but the gardens are spectacular - another slide show!
Slea Head Drive
Today we discover Gaelic heritage with our local guide, Tim Collins. He is a retired police chief; he was with the Dingle Police Department for about 30 years - they had very few crimes, no rapes, no assaults, no murders. It was rather a boring job.
He speaks Gaelic and tried to teach us a few words - it is a complicated language - I learned how to say "Slainte" and another phrase that I won't repeat - just know that there is an Irish band named "Pogue" which was the first word in my phrase . . . You can see the Blasket Islands from these pictures - a group of Islands that were quintessentially Irish. About 160 people lived here. Life was hard but good. They harvested peat for fires, fished, had a few cows and sheep. The people of the Blasket Islands have an incredible gift of story telling. I purchased the book Peig, by Peig Sayers and Twenty Years A-Growing, by Maurice O'Sullivan who was born on the Great Blasket Island in 1904. In 1953, the government moved the last residents to the mainland. In our evening concert, our female singers let us know they were initially from the Great Blasket Island - beautiful voices and beautiful music. On the bottom left, the picture is of "The Sleeping Giant"; his feet are on the left, his head, with beard is on the right; he has a Guinness belly. |
Slea Head Slide Show
Great Blasket Center
This is a huge stained glass window. Tomas, our local guide explains the artwork. The steel curved pieces represent the currach, a traditional fishing boat, as they were traditionally stored -- upside down. This art represents that the ocean gives -- seagull eggs, cod, mackerel, salmon, lobster -- and the ocean takes -- with cliffs, storms, drownings. The beach is represented along with periwinkles, barnacles and sea grass. The glass boxes represent houses. There are oars with small paddles for steering. Potatoes were farmed along with oats. There was grass, bracken, and heather along with peat which was used for fires and for cooking.
Reask Monastery
Reask Monastery dates from the 6th to 12th century. This site was unearthed in 1975. The pillar below is Celtic in origin; the Christians just carved a Maltese-type cross over the Celtic designs.
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Gallarus Oratory
One of Ireland's best preserved early Christian churches. Built between the 6th and 9th centuries, each stone is precisely cut to fit. No mortar was used. While it appears quite dim at first, you quickly realize that it is well lit. (All photos are without flash). Legend has it that if you climb out the window, your soul would be cleansed.
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Kilmalkedar Church
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This was once a pagan center of worship. This Romanesque church has stone carvings. The legend for this window is that anyone climbing through this window will cleanse your soul and go to heaven. A few of the skinny "b's" climbed through . . . while the rest of us watched. This church fell into disrepair with the Reformation and never gained use again. Lots of gravestones here - lots with the Russell name on the headstones.
Traditional Music Concert in St. James Church
My Free Day in Dingle
I sleep in a bit later than normal and wander to the breakfast room, lured by the smell of fresh, hot coffee. The menu invites me "Try our Eggs Benedict" and so I do! Roz stops by, eyeing the scone in my bread basket and tells me "Eat the scones, they are wonderful." Greedily, I grab the scone, slather on the butter and pop it into my mouth - heavenly! Janis and Roz are planning their free day - we agree to meet up for lunch. I want to find Fungi, visit the Aquarium and shop in Dingle. We decide to have a picnic for dinner and we invite Jon and Joan to join us - we all will visit the markets to select items for dinner and to make sandwiches for the next day since we have a busy day and lots of time on the bus. Of course, no day would be complete without a pub crawl!
With my late start, and with the rain and gusty wind, I'm worried I will have missed the boat to go and see Fungi, Dingle's resident dolphin for some 26 years (pronounced "Fun - Gee"). My worries were needless. The rain delayed the start of the boat trip as they were waiting for more of us to join up. I am the last passenger on board. The boat is practically deserted! Just myself, an Italian family of four, two young, quiet girls, a mother and her son on a weekend visit to Dingle from Dublin and our boat captain and his granddaughter (she is spending her third summer earning money as a deckhand). What a plus, I think! The Captain promises that if we do not see Fungi, we don't have to pay for our one hour tour.
Dingle is beautiful from the water. We are able to see the cliffs and farms and lighthouse up close. The bay is quiet. We get the briefest glimpse of Fungi and we're off after the elusive dolphin. The Captain and his granddaughter are quite disappointed - after an hour we've only spotted the smallest of glimpses of Fungi. Turns out, he too, is having a late morning and is busy fishing -- he's not his usual show off self. The Captain decides to extend the trip by another hour. Every time we catch a glimpse of Fungi and get into position to capture him on film, he disappears. I alternate using my ziplock bag as a raincoat for my camera and putting it under my coat. Finally, I set the camera to "Sports" mode and to continuous shooting, hoping I will have success. At long last, success. Another boat, this one packed with people, comes along side. Fungi loves traveling between the boats - porpoising in the wake. He is larger than I thought he would be!
I meet up with Roz and Janis and we have lunch in a great little restaurant they discovered. We shop up and down the streets of Dingle - stopping in and buying crystal from Sean Daly of Dingle Crystal. He used to be a master craftsman for Waterford crystal; however, the company was bought up by a non-Irish company, most of the Irish workers were sacked and most of the work is now outsourced to other countries. Sean started his own business - he's a personable guy. I placed my order for beautiful cut crystal Irish martini glasses with Celtic knots and wine glasses and was not disappointed!
The weather continues to be changeable. I was particularly frustrated with my hood on the boat - it obscures my vision and hearing. An umbrella is not practical for me since my camera is always in my hand. I stopped into a cool looking shop and find the perfect rain hat designed by Kathleen McAuliffe - it's on sale but even then it seems a bit spendy. The salesman assures me that not only is it nice looking, but it is waterproof because of the wax coating placed on the material. "We know how to make rain hats here in Dingle", he assures me with a huge grin. He insists on wrapping it in tissue paper and putting it in a beautiful bag - we both look out the window at the same time; I suggest that he cut the tag off and leave the tissue since I'll be wearing it in seconds. He agrees and the moment I step out the door, the rain starts. I think this is my happiest purchase ever. I got a lot of use out of it in Ireland and now at home, it's perfect for walking my dog. Every time I put it on, I feel happy.
After deciding that we will make brie baguette sandwiches with pear and red onion chutney and arugula for lunch the following day, I leave Janis and Roz and head to Ocean World, a wonderful aquarium with underwater tunnels full of local sea life.
With my late start, and with the rain and gusty wind, I'm worried I will have missed the boat to go and see Fungi, Dingle's resident dolphin for some 26 years (pronounced "Fun - Gee"). My worries were needless. The rain delayed the start of the boat trip as they were waiting for more of us to join up. I am the last passenger on board. The boat is practically deserted! Just myself, an Italian family of four, two young, quiet girls, a mother and her son on a weekend visit to Dingle from Dublin and our boat captain and his granddaughter (she is spending her third summer earning money as a deckhand). What a plus, I think! The Captain promises that if we do not see Fungi, we don't have to pay for our one hour tour.
Dingle is beautiful from the water. We are able to see the cliffs and farms and lighthouse up close. The bay is quiet. We get the briefest glimpse of Fungi and we're off after the elusive dolphin. The Captain and his granddaughter are quite disappointed - after an hour we've only spotted the smallest of glimpses of Fungi. Turns out, he too, is having a late morning and is busy fishing -- he's not his usual show off self. The Captain decides to extend the trip by another hour. Every time we catch a glimpse of Fungi and get into position to capture him on film, he disappears. I alternate using my ziplock bag as a raincoat for my camera and putting it under my coat. Finally, I set the camera to "Sports" mode and to continuous shooting, hoping I will have success. At long last, success. Another boat, this one packed with people, comes along side. Fungi loves traveling between the boats - porpoising in the wake. He is larger than I thought he would be!
I meet up with Roz and Janis and we have lunch in a great little restaurant they discovered. We shop up and down the streets of Dingle - stopping in and buying crystal from Sean Daly of Dingle Crystal. He used to be a master craftsman for Waterford crystal; however, the company was bought up by a non-Irish company, most of the Irish workers were sacked and most of the work is now outsourced to other countries. Sean started his own business - he's a personable guy. I placed my order for beautiful cut crystal Irish martini glasses with Celtic knots and wine glasses and was not disappointed!
The weather continues to be changeable. I was particularly frustrated with my hood on the boat - it obscures my vision and hearing. An umbrella is not practical for me since my camera is always in my hand. I stopped into a cool looking shop and find the perfect rain hat designed by Kathleen McAuliffe - it's on sale but even then it seems a bit spendy. The salesman assures me that not only is it nice looking, but it is waterproof because of the wax coating placed on the material. "We know how to make rain hats here in Dingle", he assures me with a huge grin. He insists on wrapping it in tissue paper and putting it in a beautiful bag - we both look out the window at the same time; I suggest that he cut the tag off and leave the tissue since I'll be wearing it in seconds. He agrees and the moment I step out the door, the rain starts. I think this is my happiest purchase ever. I got a lot of use out of it in Ireland and now at home, it's perfect for walking my dog. Every time I put it on, I feel happy.
After deciding that we will make brie baguette sandwiches with pear and red onion chutney and arugula for lunch the following day, I leave Janis and Roz and head to Ocean World, a wonderful aquarium with underwater tunnels full of local sea life.