Dingle Peninsula



Tom and I woke to sunshine (!!!), so we ate a hasty breakfast and walked down into the town. Dingle is the westernmost town in Europe and has been referred to as the prettiest town on the edge of the world.

There are brightly painted houses, traditional storefronts, numerous pubs, and tightly bunched, narrow streets, all of which run down to the harbor. We browsed in the little shops, many of which sell artisan jewelry, crystal, pottery, woolens, and other locally-crafted items. Suddenly, I heard the familiar clip-clop of trotting horses ! There was a group of 8 horses and riders trotting down one of the main streets of the town on a “pony trek”. Sure wish I had been one of them.

 

We wanted to take the Slea Head Drive around the Dingle Peninsula while the sun was still out, so we picked up the car and took off for another adventure. The peninsula combines in its landscape the ruggedness of rocky outcrops and cliffs with the soft shapes of hills and mountains, skirted by coastal lowlands. National Geographic has described it as “the most beautiful place on earth”.

We were soon on a narrow, cliff-hugging road, high above Dingle Bay.

The drive was still part of the Wild Atlantic Way which Tom and I have been doing for the past three (3) days – still the same twisting, narrow, back roads with barely enough room for two cars (let alone tour buses) to pass each other – very harrowing in parts !

Our first landmark was the Iron Age Fort of Dunbeg. Surrounded by the sea on three sides, this fortress has walls 23 feet thick, bounded by earthen trenches. Although much of the original construction has long since fallen into the sea, it still presents an imposing sight. The nearby beehive huts (clochans) are prehistoric dwellings constructed of un-mortared stone. Many of the nearly 400 huts in the Dingle area are in good condition and remain watertight.

The Slea Head is the westernmost point in Europe, and the focal point of the drive. The sweep of sea, craggy coves and outlying islands that come into view as you round the headland is a spectacular sight. A short distance further on, the road sweeps around to Coumeenoole Bay, popular with surfers and swimmers. There were no surfers, but a few brave souls were in the water ! It has been our warmest day of the trip so far (still needed our jackets with temps about 60), but I would not have ventured into the ocean !

 

Tom and I could have continued along the coast, but had purchased tickets for a 7:30 PM Irish folk concert in Dingle at St. James Church. We needed to get to the market, get back to the cottage and eat dinner, (once again, we hadn’t stopped for lunch) and we did not know how long it would take us to get there.

The track that we took for the 'back road shortcut' (pictured here - they call this a 2 lane road !) over the mountains didn't last long, and we were back to Dingle in no time.

The concert was superb ! Dingle is the home of many traditional Irish musicians and our performers were truly talented.

We ended the evening by treating ourselves to Dingle’s famous Murphy’s Ice Cream – made in Dingle from the milk of rare Kerry cows. I hadn’t yet had my Irish whiskey here in Ireland, so Tom and I had the Irish Coffee flavor – coffee ice cream blended with Jameson Irish Whiskey ! Oh, so good ! ! !