More from Kenmare

June 7 we went to Gleninchaquin Park which is on a working farm. A thirty minute drive from Kenmare, most of that time was on a one lane road with grass growing down the middle. Coming in and out we met about half a dozen vehicles, requiring one or the other to find a space to pull over. It makes for an interesting drive. Luckily Wayne was driving – not me.

The park is pretty impressive. The first thing you see from the parking lot is a huge waterfall. As you hike you have to open and close gates to keep the sheep either in or out.

High up the property the remnants of a cooking shed was found. These would have been used hundreds of years ago.

By the time we arrived back in Kenmare it was almost 3 pm. We got into a pub just before they closed for lunch. Outside the pub were three old Bugatti cars. It turns out there was an international Bugatti meeting going on in Ireland.

Karen and Devan joined us in Kenmare and we took another trip out to the Ring of Kerry. We stopped at a couple of beaches.

One of them was near the Ballingskelligs castle. The castle was built by the McCarthy’s in the 16th century in order to keep away pirates.

We also stopped at a wedge tomb a short distance away. A wedge tomb is an Irish chamber tomb that narrows at one end.

As you go from Ballinskelligs to Glen, you pass a viewpoint of the Skellig Islands. Both are noted for their seabird colonies (30,000 pairs of Northern Gannets live on Little Skellig – the worlds largest colony). Greater Skellig (the larger of the two) also has the remnants of a 6th century monastery and is a Unesco Heritage site.

As you drive down towards Finian’s Bay there is a chocolate factory on the right hand side of the road where they let you sample the chocolates – somewhat like doing a wine tasting in a winery. We did that and then picked up some hot chocolate to go (dark – one of 7 choices) and continued on the road. By that time it was 3 pm and we stopped for a late lunch in Camersiveen. After lunch we stopped by stone fort nearby (about 1000 years old). A man in the parking lot had a small goat and was allowing people to have their pictures taken with it.

After wandering around the stone fort we headed back around the north part of the Ring of Kerry and headed home.

The next day we headed over to the Dingle Peninsula. First stop was Minard Castle.

Next stop – Inch Beach. Maybe not looking like a beach day.

However, the clouds went away as we arrived in Dingle. We saw a lot of the Bugatti’s going through the streets. We had seen them earlier as well – one Bugatti broken down and 4 other Bugatti’s parked nearby while their owners gave advice.

We had lunch in Dingle, wandered around a bit and then drove across to a farm below Eask Tower which overlooks Dingle. The farmer charges 2 Euros to go through their fields and climb up to the top of the hill where the tower is located. Below are some pictures taken along the way and at the top.