The South East Coast

Travelling south we tried to keep away from the main thoroughfares and drive the back roads towards our destination of Dungarvan. Views of the countryside are patchy as the roads are all sunken into the earth and there are hedgerows either side. Occasionally there is a gap and we see down to the ocean across paddocks edged by stone fences. The sky is grey most days and threatening rain, unless it is already raining! At Dungarvan we hired bikes for the day, electric bikes for the first time. These are the way forward no doubt. The little electric motor flattens out the hills and sends you flying past all the others who are pedalling hard against the wind. No wind on the e-bike, it cuts a path with ease. The bike trail is the longest uninterrupted in Ireland and we had a great day out.

From Dungarvan we headed for the County Kerry, a chunk of land that has fingers poking into the North Atlantic Ocean. Each finger (only 4 of them) (Oliver Cromwell probably chopped off the other one!) has well promoted drives around the coast of each. We started in the south and circled clockwise as instructed around the Beara Peninsula. The coastal road was very narrow in places with little villages dotted along it and seemed a very relaxed place on a good day. “Good days” if referring to the weather are few and far between. While in NZ we can expect 4 seasons in one day sometimes, it occurs here every day from our experience. In saying that, it isn’t cold and we haven’t been caught in a down pour as yet. We walked some short loop tracks, through farmers paddocks and along coastal trails. We saw numerous smashed castles, I think Cromwell is to blame for most of the damage. We came across one church yard with a small building (St. Declans Oratory) that had been renovated in 1716!. It was reroofed at that time and I have a feeling that the long run iron that we will replace on our roof when we get home isn’t going to last quite as long.

 

On to the Ring of Kerry, the main attraction in this corner of Ireland. We toured anticlockwise as instructed and saw great views from some precipitous angles. We drove through little towns where front doors open almost directly onto the carriageway. Interesting too that they have no car sheds, I guess that the houses were built prior to vehicular transport. They are very bold with their house paint as well, seemingly one trying to outdo the other. Far more flamboyant than us kiwis for sure. 

We walked high up a mountain (called a hill in NZ) to find a ring of stones placed here in the olden days. The “olden days” here are anything beyond 2000 years ago. Bit spooky to think humans were wandering about up here then, no merino icebreaker on and no central heating when they got home! Must have been hardy souls. We walked to a very southern point where the Kerry Cliffs fell away 300 metres to the Ocean. We drove past small paddocks fenced with stone fences, no doubt several hundred years old. There are numerous farm houses as many of these farms are under 100 acres and survive through subsidies. There is serious concern that Brexit is going to have a major effect on Irish exports as London is the gateway to the EU for Ireland. Should that gate be closed, and according to Boris it will be, then the Irish are going to face difficulties and taxes, getting their goods to Europe. They are not keen to be at the behest of England nor to have to strike deals or negotiate with them.

Our last day in the south corner we spent on the Dingle Peninsula, another worthwhile circumnavigation of a finger. One attraction on this drive was Cashel Murphy, an iron age settlement consisting of five houses, all adjoined and within a ringed fence (of stone). It looks most striking from the air but we didn’t have a drone to see it from that angle. Murphy is the most common name in Ireland and this could be perhaps one of the first settlements of Murphys in Ireland. Inside the wee settlement there was an underground tunnel and room. Presumably to store food and also to shelter from enemies. I had no need for food nor was I avoiding enemies but decided that I would adventure into the cavity. Easier said than done. While it was dark, damp and very small I was reasonably relaxed. However, being hunched over, developing cramps in a dark damp small space I decided to evacuate. Again, easier said than done. I was a tad anxious as I squeezed my self out the inlet. I won’t look to do that again in a hurry.

After 3 nights in Killarney on the shores of Lake Leane we headed northwards back toward Dublin. Not though before we had visited Muckross House. This is a well maintained Victorian style mansion built for the Herbert family and completed in 1843. In 1861, with the imminent visit by Queen Victoria and her Prince Albert, old man Herbert spent 3 years upgrading, renovating and installing all sorts of lavish furniture and fixings to impress the Queen. Hopeful he was of earning a knighthood, no expense was spared. Unfortunately for him he overspent his budget and his estate began to fall into financial ruin while he had to suck the bitter pill of no knighthood as well. I think old Victoria could smell a social climber before she saw him, poor old Henry Herbert didn’t impress. We drove north with no particular place to go looking for a bed. While it’s a long way to Tipperary we passed within 20 kms but still didn’t get there so it shall remain “…a long way to Tipperary…”. We camped at Limerick, the first place we found that had a bed for us, and planned our last few days in Ireland.