Kerry Bog Village

Just as we had done on our last trip to Ireland, the first extended stop of the day was at the Kerry Bog village. Unlike our previous visit this time we weren't visiting in the middle of monsoon season. In fact, the day couldn't have been any prettier. The locals often commented to us that we were visiting during an unusually hot week, but this was nothing compared to Italy and Greece. At least in this part of Ireland there was a nice breeze keeping things bearable. This village is a popular tourist spot. It's a recreation of a typical early 20th Century village in the area. In this part of Ireland the poor farmers of the region would heat their houses by digging up the peat buried just below the grassland. It was a low-grade alternative to coal and was left a dirty mess when burned but it was cheap and plentiful. The pile next to the house is composed of recently dug peat.