Ireland 6 - Dingle
We spent the entire Day 6 in the Dingle Peninsula, which sits just above the Iveragh Peninsula (the Ring of Kerry). We left the hotel in the early morning as usual. We entered the Dingle Peninsula and drove a long straight road for a while. Then it became a hilly winding road. We spontaneously but safely stopped the car on the side of the road and appreciated the view of the vast rolling hills in the morning sun for a moment.
Good morning, Sheep!
Our first destination was Minard Castle, a 16th-century fortress originally built by the Knight of Kerry and heavily damaged by English forces in 1650 during the Irish Confederate Wars. The ruins perched on a small hill, overlooking Minard Bay and the Atlantic Ocean. The whole setting was very atmospheric.
Next we went to a quiet beach overlooking Dingle Harbor for a morning coastal walk. The sea breezes were a little bit chilly but refreshing. It was getting cloudy at that time. Nobody knows Irish weather.
We strolled toward Hussey's Folly over there. The tower was built in 1845 as a public works project during the Great Famine, also known as the Irish Potato Famine, to provide employment, and it's in ruins now.
Peacefully surrounded by the water, grass fields and the open sky, I didn't realize we came so far from the start point.
We walked further along the coast toward the mouth of Dingle Harbor. The tip of the opposite bank looked curious.
Dingle Lighthouse was built in 1885 to guide ships into Dingle Harbour and is still in operation. While a keeper's cottage was built with it, the lighthouse is now automated. We walked around the lighthouse and walked back the same path to where we parked our car, saying hello again to Hussey's Folly.
Our breakfast venue was Bean in Dingle, a coffee shop offering a variety of baked treats and of course, coffee. The compact shop was lively. We managed to secure a table for two. I had a custard bun with berries. It was delightful! J tried a sausage roll and liked it, I believe. We also shared something like a chunky scone. I don't remember its name but it was tasty, too.
While we were dining there, more baked treats were just delivered, including Cinnamon Swirls and Almond Croissants. Everything there looked so tempting!
We continued our Dingle Peninsula tour. The next stop was a historical site of beehive huts, called Caher Conor, also known as the Fahan Beehive Huts. The car park on the main coastal road was a great view point by the way.
The Fahan Beehive Huts are situated on the slopes of Mount Eagle on the southern coast of the Dingle Peninsula. A good uphill walk was required to get there. The Fahan Beehive Huts are a collection of ancient, dry-stone structures known as clocháns or beehive huts, which are part of over 400 similar structures found on the slopes of Mount Eagle. The huts were built by layering stones in a dome or beehive-like shape, without mortar. While the exact age is undetermined, they could be as old as the Iron Age. They are thought to have been dwellings, possibly for a single family or a small community of monks or farmers.
The stone monuments were interesting while the surrounding landscapes were amazing. While we were wandering around the beehive huts, I felt someone looking at me from behind...
I turned around and found a cute face!
We got back to the main road, drove only two minutes and visited another ancient stone settlement on the hillside slope. Cashel Murphy dates as far back as the Neolithic period around 3200BC, featuring five beehive huts surrounded by tiered walls as well as an underground passage, which would be used to store food supplies. According to a leaflet we received at the site, the huts were used by the Celts after they arrived in Ireland in 500BC, and even druids were invited there as they performed rituals in the era before Ireland converted to Christianity.
While we continued running along with the coast, we briefly stopped to admire a wonderful vista of Dunmore Head (the westernmost point of mainland Ireland), the Blasket Islands and the Atlantic Ocean.
A seagull was posing on one leg like a flamingo in front of me. Ok, cheese!
Soon we started driving again, another incredibly stunning view point stopped us. I took hundreds of photos there and here are more than a dozen that I hand-selected.
We drove for some minutes and stopped again to quickly take a few photos of the opposite side of Dunmore Head and the further coastline. Everywhere was picturesque.
Eventually we arrived at Dunquin Pier, a famous scenic spot on the Dingle Peninsula. Visitors normally walk down the steep, windy rock path to the pier. However, we stayed on the cliff tops that was beautifully covered with soft short grass. In fact we were the only ones wandering on the grassy fields. I had a great time to stroll there and enjoy breathtaking panoramic views of cliffs, rocks, mountain ranges, islands, and the ocean. We were blessed with marvelous weather. Probably it was my favorite place out of all the places we visited that day. My new dream is to have a picnic there when we revisit Kerry in the future.
Our next stop was Gallarus Oratory, another archaeological site. The Dingle Peninsula seemed like a large open air archeological museum. Gallarus Oratory is located near the Smerwick Harbour, which we were able to see far away from the walkway between Gallarus oratory and its visitor center.
"Gallarus oratory which is believed to be over 1000 years old is the best preserved ancient church in Ireland. It's one of the few remaining churches of this type to survive intact today," according to the official website. When it was exactly built was unknown while it has been guessed to originate from the 8th century, but possibly from the 11th or 12th century. Archaeologists have suggested that the distinctive upturned boat shape of the structure reflects the deep respect and devotion associated with St. Brendan the Navigator, one of the early Irish monastic saints and one of the Twelve Apostles of Ireland. The church has only two openings: a door and a window. The inside was pretty dark until my eyes got adjusted to the level of light. Actually it was more spacious than I imagined. The location was lovely, surrounded by mountains.
We drove back to the town of Dingle for lunch. We stopped by The Dingle Whiskey Distillery, located just outside of the town for potential shopping, but we were told that the facility was only for guided tour and tasting and didn't sell their whisky. They suggested we go to a grocery store in the town.
Anyway, we came back to the town of Dingle. Unlike the early morning, the town was busy with many tourists.
We tried the Fish Box, a family owned and run seafood restaurant. Their seafood comes straight from their own trawler, Cú Na Mara. Their family member is the skipper of Cú Na Mara alongside his crew of 7 fishermen. They mainly target Prawns and Monkfish, but also catch Hake, Code, Haddock, Sole, Plaice, and Cuttlefish.
We both started with a cup (1/2 bowl) of FishBox Seafood Chowder. We found so many large pieces of seafood in the cup. It could be one of the best seafood chowder I have ever had!
Our main was The Sharing Box for two - deep-fried of the day, breaded sole strip, monkfish goujons, cajun calamari, tempura prawns, fresh cut chips, mushy peas & house salad, tarter sauce and marie rose. They were good although I could say the fish meats were kinda small and maybe a little overcooked. The batter parts were also heavy for me, who rarely eats fried food, and those spiced ones were too spicy for me, who is very sensitive to peppers. The mushy peas were surprisingly tasty, though. Perhaps, I would get a bowl of chowder and mushy peas as a side.
We also stopped by a cheesemonger and got local honey. One of the grocery stores had our favorite UK brand tea, Teapigs! We bought out all the Teapigs' breakfast tea on the shelf, which were only three boxes. When we saw an ice cream store, we knew what to do. Let's enter!
Murphy's Ice Cream was founded by brothers Sean and Kieran Murphy in Dingle in 2000, aiming to make the best ice cream in the world. The key ingredients of their ice cream is milk from the rare, indigenous breed of Kerry cow, which they think tastes so wonderful. They currently operate 6 shops in Ireland (two in Dingle, one each in Killarney, Galway, Cork, Dublin) to serve their "Made in Dingle" ice cream.
12 flavors were available at that time. While one of the staff enthusiastically offered us tasting the ice cream we were interested in before ordering, we already made our mind and ordered without pre-tasting. One of my two flavors was Strawberry, crafted fresh Irish strawberries sourced locally from Slieve Luchra in County Kerry. It tasted nice but I would prefer stronger Strawberry flavor. The other was Dingle Sea Salt, their best selling flavor. They collect Dingle sea water at BÃn Bán beach, filter and boil down it to create their own salt for that. The ice cream was certainly lightly salty but it was just a pleasant level. Otherwise, it was a simple milky ice cream. I liked it. J tasted Dingle Gin, which was flavored with the Gin produced by Dingle Distillery. His other choice was Irish Brown Bread, which is churned with crumbles of 8 hour caramelized brown bread with muscovado sugar. J kindly let me taste both. They were pretty good!
While we were wandering in the town, it was getting dark and windy, with a chance of rain. It was time to wrap up the fantastic day.
To be continued...
