Friday, October 9
We checked out of the castle and drove off to our next stop. We were headed to Dingle. Some people we spoke with last night had done the drive to Dingle and warned us to avoid the route the went over the Conor Pass. Apparently it’s very narrow but also there is very little for a side barrier along the areas of a very steep cliff drop off. The inside of the road is a steep rocky vertical wall so you have a steep wall on one side and a sheer drop off the other and no real way to fit 2 cars going in opposite directions. It was very hard for this couple to manage so we took note and told google to take us to Dingle and when given the option to take a longer route that would avoid the pass, we went that way.
Once we got to Dingle we went straight onto the Slea Head Peninsula Loop, stopping at Gallarus Oratory first. This was a small site, but an amazing building. It’s an ancient stone chapel, dating back to about 1200. It’s still in perfect condition, with no missing stones, and still shedding rain water as when first built. There is a very informative AV presentation to see before walking about five minutes to the church. It’s small, but still very impressive and was well worth the stop, and the fee to see it.
We drove on to see Dunquin Pier and Blasket Island in the distance. The pier was reached by a very long, and very steep path from the road/car park to the water. I got part way down and, as it was getting steeper, decided the walk back up might even approach being painful! Next was an incredible view at Slea Head Viewpoint, and the islands off shore. We chatted with 2 vendors there and bought a cookie from a woman who’s lived in Ireland for 20 years but was born in Springfield, Ma and went to Smith College, and then Mt Holyoke in the late 1990s.
It was one of the not really sunny and not really raining kind of days. Seems there are a lot of days like this. We passed Ventry Beach, which looked to be a really nice beach. Then we saw a few people swimming. Seems the thing for some here. Someone mentioned that it really took off as an activity during covid.
We finished up the loop and went to our guest house in Dingle. It was easy to check in and go for a walk in the town, about 5 minutes away. We walked along the water front and stopped in at a seafood restaurant that looked interesting. Turns out it’s very popular and they could seat us at 745 for dinner.
