Ireland: Sligo to Cork via Kerry (#3 of 3)

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This is the final ‘episode’ in another of 'our' travel experiences.

The collective ‘episodes’ describe our journey from our arrival in London (2nd week of June) and across the 'ditch' to Ireland for a few weeks before a return home in mid July. In part 1, we described our journey from Cork to Dublin, and part 2 described the time spent between Dublin and Sligo. This ‘episode’ describes our foray from Sligo back to Cork (our departure point) via the pretty South East of Ireland.

As always, if you want to 'see' more detail in an accompanying picture, click it to enlarge.

We've attached a few pics that give you a flavour of our journey, and some 'flow over' past the dialogue.

Tuesday - back to the lakes country.

Sligo is situated at the western end of the 'lakes' country and fronts a large shallow bay. A tightly packed little town, it has plenty to offer. We'd been near there earlier - when at Drumshanbo - but then chose to head towards Northern Ireland. We'd left a jumper at Drumshambo, so instead of venturing south towards Ballina, we backtracked to the lakes country before heading to Westport. Along the way, we stopped at quaint Boyle, named after the family that held a castle here and structured family life for several centuries. After the rugged, rock strewn topogaphy of county Donegal, the vast grain covered rolling hills of county Sligo was quite a contrast.

While we thought Sligo was tight, nothing prepared us for Westport (in county Mayo). Like so many other towns, the city fathers had organised the streets as one way, and local and passing traffic had to negotiate a 'rat run' loop through very narrow streets. This had the effect of making a short drive a long wait. The weather had closed in with drizzle and so any desire to stay soon evaporated.

We continued on and landed in Newport, a quaint town of very old buildings. After the unplanned delay, an inviting cafe had us enjoying local hospitality. Looking at our literature, we learned that Achill Island was linked to the nearby Curraun peninsular by a bridge; and the region was described in glowing terms. On the advice of numerous sleeping options, we headed for the 'holiday' town of Keel. Yuk! On a sunny day, the flat sandy treeless plain may have been nice, but under heavy cloud it was anything but. Nevertheless, the description of rest of the area was right.

We wandered around the island, and in one place, found the ruins of a castle that had been the home of a female pirate. So successful was she in robbing English ships that Queen Elizabeth (1st) gave her a pardon and a pension on the premise she cease her ways. Apparently, she only stopped raiding English ships.

Wednesday - gloomy weather.

We've yet to meet an Irish person that is not so, so friendly and talkative. Like people everywhere, it's not long till the conversation turns to the weather. We were told two different views This is an unusually wet time for Ireland, normally there's more sunshine or You can never tell what the weather will be like in summer, some years June and July are wet, others are lovely. Given that we'd encountered very little sunshine, clearly, we have come in a wet year.

For us, it has not been so much the wet as mostly it is just passing showers. Rather, it is the dark gloomy sky and bitingly cold breezes. Without sunshine, the landscape is a monotonous dull green. But a flash of sunshine transforms the countryside, the dull green becomes 'emerald' and surprisingly radiates an appealing allure.

Our return into Newport (on our continued journey south) took on a quite different and pleasant ambience with a bit of sun.

We'd read that the journey from Leenane through to Letterfrack in county Galway was worth the deviation. the scribes were not wrong. While the gloomy weather prevented us seeing the area in sparkling circumstances, the (relative) remoteness and stunning scenery made for a great drive.

A rest stop at Letterfrack reminded us of a wonderful aspect of Irish food; bread. Everywhere we go, there is an immense variety of breads available - and rarely white bread. The preferred Irish bread is 'soda' - same as in a scone. But as in yeast breads, it is the use of a variety of rye, wheat, barley, spelt, etc, flour. All are heavy and wholemeal breads. Especially important to note is that each baker appears to want a distinctive (almost 'personal'😉 flavour for their bread. Our enlarged girths reveal how we've enjoyed the breads.

We'd planned to stop the night at Clifden, but soon found the area is a haven for Dubliners seeking recuperation. The B+B's were overpriced. We headed for Ballyconneely, and had a most wonderful evening. The weather had become wet by late afternoon so we headed to the only pub. There a local befriended us, and by dinner time our 'group' had expanded considerably as did the laughter and merryment. It didn't matter that the 'pub grub' was basic, the social interaction more than compensated.

Thursday - miserable weather.

Though we'd read much about county Galway and wanted to wander through, the constant rain meant a change of plans. Knowing that we were spending more time 'wandering' than land to see, we knew we'd eventually have to make a call as to where we'd skip. The wet weather provided the perfect opportunity to follow the main road.

That said, as there was no ring road, we stopped into Galway (town) for a look see and a cuppa. Despite the rain, we liked that the centre is pedestrianised and has much tourist appeal.

By early afternoon we'd scooted through county Galway and entered county Clare. With just the occasional shower, we deviated off the highway to Killaloe - birthplace and stronghold of Brian Baru; the first 'king' of Ireland. At about 1000ad, and using persuasion and force, Baru joined the various regional 'lords' into one 'entity'. Though the 'reign' was shortlived as Vikings with Norman support gained control, he is credited as Ireland's true king.

Not wanting to stay in Limerick (a small city), we opted to head for Adare. Unknown to us, but Adare is tourism central. Nevertheless, we found a B&B nearby and found a great pub and an even better restaurant. We chose rack of lamb and discovered the joy of Irish lamb. On the flipside, we realised Australian lamb is a pale comparison.

Friday - sunny weather.

With a blue sky (but cold wind), we decided to stay 2 nights and explore the local area. A short trip back to Limerick had us agreeing with the reviews that it is not a favoured tourist destination. After a quick flight through the 'old' quarter, we ventured back to the countryside to an old celtic site at Lough Gur. Wandering around celtic stone circles, burial grounds and other relics in emerald green fields 'shadowed' by magnificent elm and oak trees was a delight. That the wind had stopped, the now warm sunshine amplified the beautiful aromas from flowers, grasses and trees. Ahhhh, bliss!!!

Needing a cuppa, we 'discovered' a delightfully quaint town with much medieval history (and fine surviving buildings). Clearly, today was our history lesson. We'd seen a restaurant at the nearby tiny village of Bruff, and headed to the pub before another delightful meal. Again, driving 'home' at about 9pm in what is for us 'late afternoon' sunshine is odd.

Saturday - to Kerry.

The gently rolling hills and flat countryside of county Limerick countryside is great farmland. We decided not to stay, nor head east to Tipperary and Cashel, but explore county Kerry. Instead of heading straight to Killarney, we chose to explore the Dingle Peninsular.

The tourist 'industry' (over)sell 3 parts of county Kerry; the Dingle Peninsular, the Ring of Kerry (a coastal road around the Iveragh Peninsular) and Killarney (town). Our experience is that tourists have spoilt each.

After winding around the north side of Dingle Peninsular, we arrived at pretty Dingle on the southside at lunchtime in glorious sunshine and in time for a wicked seafood chowder and a pint of beer.

Where the narrow roads on the northside of the peninsular were largely free of traffic, Dingle was crammed with cars and buses. A drive around the steep coastal cliffs of Mt Eagle to the south became frustrating as tourists in oversized rental cars inched along the narrow roads.

Taking our leave, we headed off the (tourist) beaten track and stayed at Castlemaine (home of the wild colonial boy).

Sunday - Killarney + beyond.

Killarney is reputed to have been a tourist destination for over 400 years. Set aside a beautiful (and for Ireland, large) National Park, we could see why. Despite being Sunday am (when Irish commerce stands still), the town centre was nonetheless filled with tourists. We'd heard that the Gap of Dunloe is a good journey, so headed there to later return to Killarney.

A good road to the Gap of Dunloe enters from the west. A lesser road from the east requires climbing a mountain range past the National Park and up to a pass (called Moll's Gap) and head down into the 'valley' to Brandon's Cottage. There one meets the upper portion of Lough Leane, and hordes of tourists who have arrived by boat. Despite this, a nearby creek valley (reached by car) is a most tranquil but eerie place. The trunks of the trees are moss covered, the grass like an emerald shaggy green rug, interrupted occasionally by white lichen covered rocks.

The journey back up the mountain to the Gap is ruggedly stunning - in places awe inspiring.

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After lunch at Killarney, we headed to the Iveragh Peninsular and the Ring of Kerry. While the road may once have been narrow and offered stunning views, it is now quite wide to accommodate the numerous buses and has become a speedway. From quite high up, we ventured off the 'highway' down into Kell's Bay; what a delight! Where the 'high' road was barren, this narrow track was a tunnel in the trees. Under a sunny sky, we walked the beach and did some rock-hopping.

Venturing on, we arrived at Caherciveen and took a car ferry across to Valentia Island (a short distance away). Following an enjoyable wander on Valentia, we headed to the other end of the island where a long bridge took us back to the big island and the village of Portmagee where we stayed the night. WOW, what a meal!! An entre of shelled crab claws in garlic butter and the most delectable lamb casserole meant there was no space for sweets. Again, the lamb was without the fat so evident in Australia and has a much sweeter flavour.

Monday - Ring of Kerry.

Having yesterday travelled on the north side of the Iveragh Peninsular to the western end at Portmagee, today we headed along the south side. The many bays and headlands offered us several great opportunities for walks. We deviated off the main Ring of Kerry road to the narrower (and less touristy) Skellig Ring. This is another Gaelic speaking area, and Skellig means craggy. Aside from that, there are plenty of bays and headlands for walking. At Ballinskelligs, we earnt a thirst wandering around the bay, speaking to locals, exploring medieval ruins, and again enjoyed lunch in the warmth of brilliant sunshine.

Like yesterday, we again only travelled about 80km and spent the night at pretty Kenmare. The various things to do, see and experience has meant that most days don’t see us travel much distance. Many days, like today, we had to push ourselves to move on when our enjoyment dial was saying stay and have more fun.

Like Killarney, Kenmare is ‘on the tourist trail’ as it has much history, is very pretty and offers the traveller many bed and food options. After securing a B&B, we opted to have a pint at a quaint old pub before dinner next door. The pub was quite small inside, but with a great atmosphere. We were quickly ’embraced’ in conversation, and after considerable merriment had to drag ourselves away several hours later or the food next door would cease. We’re glad we did, again we had a wonderful meal. Shortly into our meal we were treated to some Irish ballads, and all were encouraged to join in. It was a late night for us at Kenmare.

Tuesday - Ring of Beara.

Where the Dingle and Iveragh Peninsulars are well and truly on the tourist trail, the Beara Peninsular is delightfully way off the tourism radar. But, for us, this peninsular was far prettier, was more treed, offered so many more wandering options, and the villagefolk appeared even more friendlier (if that is possible). An enjoyable feature is that in most villages, each of the buildings have been rendered and painted a different colour. This gaiety makes for a cheery disposition. We considered stopping the night at Bantry at the end of the peninsular drive, but felt it wasn’t the place for us.

Now being in Cork county and wanting to position ourselves in a way to get to the airport without drama, we headed east for Skibbereen. With the sun beaming down, we took a detour to Baltimore that turned out well.

Outside Skibbereen we picked up a mature lady hitch-hiker who pointed us to a wonderful B&B overlooking Baltimore and the harbour, and a nearby pub eatery (which is so out of the way, only locals eat there). Being beer time, we headed into Baltimore itself, and found a yachtie heaven; several pubs and eateries in a semi-circle facing the harbour and the forecourt set up with tables and chairs all basked in the afternoon sun. With a pint in front of us, we lapped up the warmth. We noticed people eating crab sandwiches, so got some for ourselves. These weren’t skimpy, it seemed like the two large layers of bread were kept apart by the contents of a very large crab. We can assure you that crab sandwiches, beer and afternoon sun are a fabulous combination.

Believe it or not, we had to drag ourselves away as the very late afternoon sun was starting to burn.

Wednesday - to Kinsale.

With now only a short(ish) distance to Cork, and when there earlier in our journey having been asked quite often whether we’d been to Kinsale, we chose to head there for the night.

Mmmmmm!!!

Kinsale is another yachtie ‘heaven’ - an enclosed deepish harbour with plenty of mooring space. But Kinsale is also only 30 minutes from Cork and the nearby 'open' coast has many fine beaches. Thus, the town is a popular relaxation destination in good weather, for weekends, etc..

Being a sunny day, the town was packed. Given all the cars, and it also being on the main road, it took us about half an hour to travel through the 4 kilometres of 'urban' area. Also being summer school holidays, accommodation was at a premium. We eventually found a B&B nearby and decided to book at a well regarded restaurant. All we could get was an 8:45pm, so took it. We then went off to do the tourist thing - (go look see).

Later, we found a pub with a good outdoor area and stationed ourselves in the pleasant sunshine. After some great conversation with locals and several pints, we headed off to what turned out to be a sensational meal. The reason for this place was not only the reputation, but also that it specialised in local seafood. We’d come to really enjoy black mussels, so ordered a plate of those in a pernot cream sauce to share, followed by a chilli / basil / lemon butter dressed shelled crab claws. For us, on our last night in Ireland, it was a delightfully memorable meal.

Reflections.

Clearly, we enjoyed Ireland. The only laments were the monotonous lack of vegetation (especially in the north), the gloomy weather, and some of the gritty treeless cities. Fortunately, we were mostly able to avoid the tourist ’haunts’ (with the associated crass commercialism) and get off their beaten tracks.

As noted, we found the Irish people ever so friendly. Their humour is both quick and wickedly funny. Their eternal optimism is also very infectious. Economically, Ireland is currently facing difficulties. Rarely did we hear an Irish person raise economic woe in their conversation.

We loved the range of breads, the various beers, the seafood, the lamb, and that the food is so often served unpretentiously.

Aside from the motorways the roads are quite narrow, all too often they are merely a large car wide. While the lack of straight (non motorway) roads was challenging, when coupled with narrow pavements our travel was slow (but not unenjoyable). Like the backroads of Britain and Europe, one has to be aware and considerate of others and in tight situations try and be friendly and courteous. This brought home to us that wide straight roads, so evident in Australia, are anti-social; speedsters tend to pay little respect to/for others.

We've mentioned several times that we found the treeless landscapes confronting. There are several reasons for this. First, at many B&B's we stayed we noted the absolute silence in the mornings. Unlike 'home', where a cacophony of birds greets the morn, we recognised the lack of trees gave neither a refuge nor an ecosystem foodchain for birdlife. Second, and as is shown in Britain, native vegetation (both as trees and understory) as hedgerows as well as forests offers habitat for native wildlife. This introduces the third aspect, native vegetation not only provides habitat, but when aggregated into forests it also offers scope for humans to contrast their 'constructed' world. Fourth, and this aspect intrigued us, mature and tall trees (and understory) as dense hedgerows enables windbreaks for stock. That is not to say there were no hedgerows. Rather, that they tend to be pruned to be narrow in width and height. Lastly, as in England, the fact of mature trees in a landscape offers a comforting aesthetic contrast to the 'constructed' world.

People will always ask ”what part appealed most?” Our answer could only be "Ireland!". While each county offered features often not evident elsewhere, none were somehow lesser than others. Perhaps we should qualify that by saying that largely it was the rural Ireland that appealed most; Dublin and Derry were two exceptions.

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Cheers

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Photos

Killaloe
This is actually a man-made canal beside the Shannon River. There are several hundreds of km\'s of canals from the mouth of the Shannon to the Midlands.

Shamrock
We were surprised when a bartender presented us with a Murphy's (stout) onto which he'd fashioned a Shamrock.