Wednesday, May 13 started off horrible with more lashing rain and extremely windy. However, we were not deterred as we wanted to drive the Slea Head Drive. This is done clockwise as that’s the way the buses go and the roads are extremely narrow. Of course, you had some numpties who decide to go the other way and create chaos and bedlam. It’s a 24 mile loop from Dingle so we needed to drive around 20 minutes to get to the start. We also used the drive through Dingle town to decide on where to stay the night when we had finished as we fancied a meal out and some proper Irish music in a pub.
Dingle Peninsula
First stop was Ventry Beach, which was lovely but strangely had an Irish warship anchored in the bay. This was followed by some quite dodgy tourist attractions. Dun Beag Fort had collapsed a few years ago, the Famine Cottages weren’t bad but the Beehive Huts were a rip off.
Ventry BeachWarshipDun Beag FortFamine CottagesFamine CottagesBeehive HitsContinue reading →
We continued our tour of the Ring of Kerry on Tuesday, May 12. We left our park up at Portmagee at 09.00 and continued anti clockwise. First stop was the Coman Chiste view point (The Wild Atlantic Way has various viewpoints along its route). We looked over to the beautiful Derrynane Beach, where Daniel O’Connor’s house was situated. We drove onto the house where he lived when not in Dublin or London. Really interesting to discover more about the man who helped repeal the anti Catholic laws in the 1800s, including a huge chariot that he used when he was released from jail for sedition.
Then onto Sneem, sweet village, and Sneem Seaweed Baths for a much anticipated soak in a hot tub. The seaweed is foraged locally and the vista is gorgeous.
Sneem Hot Seaweed Baths
After a quick look around Sneem we made our way back to Killarney for a food shop, LPG refill and fuel top up before leaving the Kerry peninsula to make our way to the Dingle peninsula. Our park up for the night was at Inch Beach (P4N#289375). Gorgeous 5km beach but very windy. Dinner in the van before the rain absolutely lashed it down.
Sunday, May 10 started sunny but with a very cold wind blowing that was going to be with us for a few days. We left our campsite around 09.15 to start our exploration of the Ring of Kerry. This is a 170km road trip around the Kerry peninsula. We had done a little bit of it from Molls Gap to Killarney but there was still a lot to do. The tour buses do it anticlockwise so we did the same so that we didn’t have to pass them on the narrow roads.
The midges came back with the sunrise so we left pretty promptly on Wednesday morning. We drove to Gour Viewpoint via Castletownbere, which is a sweet harbour town that had its own van parking spots (P4N#90963). It’s a working harbour and famous, apparently, for MacCarthy’s Bar ( name of a novel by Pete McCarthy) and it also had a garage that Maria and Jane needed to call into.
CastletownbereMacCarthy’s BarA hearse, a campervan and a fire engine!
We then drove onto the Ballagh Bay Cable Car to get over to Dursley Island. Unfortunately, the 1960s cable car had a mechanical fault and stopped working just before we arrived. It was a shame as it had been a long drive down narrow lanes.
Looking over to Dursey Island.
We decided to move on to find a spot for lunch and stopped at Ballydonegan beach. Beautiful place where the sand is actually made from crushed quartz from the nearby copper mines.
Ballydonegan Beach
The copper mine industry in nearby Allihies in the 1700s was one of the biggest in Europe at the time. The Copper Mine Museum in this brightly coloured town was very informative and you could then walk on trails to some of the ruined mines. Very evocative.
Allihies
We then headed back towards Castletownbere via Dooneen and Travara Beach as our night stop was Berehaven Golf Club (P4N:79035).
They had set up an aire in the Golf Club car park with all the facilities and they even leave the club house open at night so you can use the showers and toilets. There’s an honesty box to pay the €25 nightly fee. They even encourage campers. We did learn from a regular visitor that the club got a grant to make the track to the club a proper road on the understanding they developed the camping side. Great facility and lovely golf club. We ate in the van again as the restaurant at the club is only open at weekends.
Berehaven Golf Club
The next morning, Thursday May 7th, we played 9 challenging holes with some stunning views over to Bere Island.
Berehaven Golf Club
After availing ourselves of another shower (get them whilst you can) we set off at around 14.00 to tour the north side of the Beara Peninsula. We went in search of Cuas Pier caves that involved very narrow lanes with few passing places but sadly didn’t find them. We stopped for lunch at Killmackillogue Discovery Point with views over to the Kerry Peninsula. Later we spent a very pleasant hour or so in Kenmare with its pretty houses and tourist shops before making our way towards Moll’s Gap, high up in the hills.
Kenmare
Our stopover for the night was a large lay-by off a road near to the Gap overlooking Lough Barfinnihy. (P4N#406844). We arrived around 18.00 and there was only a couple of spots left as a number of cars were parked there for fishing in the lake. They left before dusk and several more vans arrived. A pretty, remote spot but again the midges descended!
Yet another peaceful night in Dora and we awoke on Sunday, May 3 in the car park of Camus Farm to stunning views across the fields. We left relatively early for us at 09.10 as we had booked a ferry trip to go round to the Fastnet Rock Lighthouse at 14.00 from Baltimore and we wanted to visit a few places on the way. First stop was the Drombeg Stone Circle that was created around 150BC with an altar stone that is aligned to where the sun sets on December 21 (Winter Solistice). Next, we saw the waterfall at Leap village. According to legend, many people escaped the law by disappearing into the dense forest around Leap.
Wednesday night at Charles Fort was a bit blustery as we were high up but it was still a peaceful one. We left around 09.30 on Thursday to make our way down towards Old Head of Kinsale to visit the Lusitania Museum. The sinking of the Cunard passenger ship in 1915 by a German U Boat was instrumental in the USA joining the First World War as there were many Americans on board. No one survived. The ship sank very quickly when a second explosion occurred soon after the first. At the time it was thought the U Boat had fired a second torpedo. The more likely reason is that it was carrying ammunition for the British Army! The museum itself is in the old Signal Point that had been established during the Napoleonic Wars to warn of imminent attack along the west coast of Ireland. Unfortunately, the weather was pretty miserable so the views weren’t great!
Whilst we had a peaceful night’s sleep in the golf club car park, the greenkeepers appear to start work before 06.00 on a Monday morning! However, they did try to keep the noise down as much as possible. We left there around 09.45 to drive to Dungarvan via The Magic Road. It’s a road in the hills where you, apparently, go uphill when stationary. Clearly an optical allusion but we couldn’t find the spot to confirm it! We then diverted back to the viaduct at Kilmacthomas that was part of the Waterford to Dungarvan Greenway before going onto Dungarvan, a harbour town with a fort and, more importantly, a good supermarket. What was even better was that the supermarket (SuperValu) gave us several hours free parking so we could do the shop and then explore the town.
Dora The Explorer 