Wild Atlantic Way

At the market yesterday, we bought Irish ham and sweet rolls, and Brigid had left eggs, bananas, and Irish Cheddar for our breakfast. It was raining, the wind was blowing, with temps in the 40’s, and although we would probably cancel our two-hour hike along the cliffs above the Atlantic, we could at least take a drive.

It seems like we keep going back farther in time, and I was excited to see my first Megalithic sites. Drombeg was only about 15 km from Clonakilty, and would be our first stop of the day.

We found the tiny, narrow road leading to the site and parked in a small parking lot. There was a gate we had to pass through, then we had to walk about two hundred yards, in the wind and rain. We were glad to have our good raincoats, hats and hiking boots, but they were hardly a match for the weather !

Stone circles were places of ritual and ceremony usually associated with human burial. Drombeg is a fine example of a stone circle where the 17 freestanding stones are symmetrically arranged so that one stone is set directly opposite a pair of tall stones which form the entrance to the circle. Excavations in 1957 revealed a compact gravel surface within the circle and a central pit which contained an inverted pottery vessel covering the cremated remains of a youth. More recently, radiocarbon dating has placed the burial in the period c. 1100 – 899 B.C. – the later Bronze Age.

Like many other circles, Drombeg is oriented on a celestial occurrence: here it is the winter solstice. As the sun sets in a cleft of the hill to the southwest on 21 December, the stones’ alignment causes the last rays to pass through the axial and entrance stones.

To the west of the circle are the foundations of two huts. Adjacent to the huts are the excavated remains of a fulacht fiadh, a Bronze Age cooking place. The water-filled dug out pit is fed by a nearby spring. Water was heated in the trough by rolling hot stones into it from a fire. Meat, wrapped in straw, was immersed in the boiling water and cooked according to taste. Burnt shattered stones are found close by.

Stone circles were built over 4000 years ago. Their builders had knowledge of farming and metallurgy. Some scholars suggest that this type of stone circle, unique to West Cork and Kerry, is linked to the availability of copper in the area.

Now the adventure really began . . . car radio weather reports warned of a strong Atlantic storm with heavy rain and gale force winds covering all of Ireland, and we drove right into it. Regardless, the scenery was beautiful. Our route took us along the Wild Atlantic Way.

Out at the very edge of Ireland and Europe, the Wild Atlantic Way stretches for 2500 km (1500 miles) along Ireland’s western seaboard. It is the longest defined coastal drive in the world. For those of you who have been to my Parents’ house in Accokeek, this major road was very much like Bryan Point Road, but with the trees right to the edge of the road, or a sheer drop-off to the ocean – with a speed limit of 100 kph (60 mph) ! ! ! Tom described it as white-knuckle driving, and I insisted that he not drive as fast as the speed limit.

Following what seemed to be an endless hair-raising drive Tom and I arrived in Skibbereen. Since it continued to rain heavily, it would be a good opportunity to be indoors at the Heritage Center, which was located in a restored old Gas Works building which tells the story of Ireland’s Great Potato Famine. Also, the Lough Hyne Visitor Center within the building tells the story of the salt water lake which is a world-renowned scientific destination for marine studies.

The Great Potato Famine – in 1845, the population of Ireland was 8.5 million. For 4.7 million of these people, potatoes were the main food with a family of five consuming 25 pounds of potatoes daily. The potato crop failed due to blight between 1845 and 1851. One million people died. Over one million people emigrated the US, Australia, and England.

Skibbereen was one of the worst affected areas in Ireland, as evidenced by the mass graves near the town, where almost 10,000 are buried (representing almost 35% of the town’s population).

Well, the gales outside had not diminished – but we continued along the Wild Atlantic Way toward the coastal town of Bantry. On the drive Tom and I saw inlets, tiny coves, safe harbors, and beaches. This tattered part of Ireland appears almost edge-of- the-world.

Since the weather didn’t allow us to explore Bantry, Tom and I left for more back road adventures across the Irish countryside. The fuchsia is the symbol of West Cork, and we have seen it growing everywhere – in the cities, in the gardens, and along the back roads.

Kate, our GPS navigator, has been pretty reliable except for our drive back to Clonakilty (1¾ hours). Kate took us on a direct rural route (a farm road) over hills, valleys, streams, and a mountain pass) – talk about back roads – some places had grass growing in the middle of two tracks. There was no way two (2) cars could pass each other - I was not pleased, and now it was my turn for white knuckles (I might have muttered a few bad words, too) ! ! What a relief to finally get back on the main road just 10 km from our Clonakilty cottage !