Ring of Scary

Dan and I arrived in Kenmare after a great time experiencing the beautiful  Beara Peninsula.      Though it's much more touristy than the Beara peninsula, we were looking forward to the next day when we would drive the Ring of Kerry, the peninsula just north of Beara.  Our plans were to spend the night at the tip of the peninsula at an area known as the Ballinskelligs, hoping to visit the remote island of Skellig Michael by boat the next morning.

 

Skellig Michael is a steep, rocky island  about 15 kilometers west of where we were staying.  Built in the year 588, Skellig Michael was an important center for Irish Christian monks for over 600 years and has remained very well preserved because of its location.   In addition to seeing the monastery, we were looking forward to seeing Atlantic puffins and gannets since this island is also a nature reserve for many sea birds.   I remember reading about this in one of the guide books while we were still in Phoenix and we had high expectations for an exceptional experience.

Beginning in Kenmare, the evening before our adventures in the Ring of Kerry and the Ballinskelligs, we stayed at a delightful B & B called Abbey Court.    Kenmare, known as the jewel of the Ring of Kerry, is a picturesque town with a reputation of being the gourmet capital of Ireland.   With over 30 restaurants and being the center point of both the Ring of Beara and the Ring of Kerry, Kenmare would have been a perfect place to stay for two or three days.   Now we know.   We had a fine dinner at a restaurant within walking distance of our B & B.  

 

Kenmare, gourmet capital of Ireland and also very cute town

 

Being in no hurry to begin the next leg of our trip the next morning, we enjoyed our usual Irish breakfast and then  stopped to take some pictures of an abandoned abbey just next to our B & B.    A feature of Ireland I find fascinating is the number of old parts of castles, churches, abbeys, etc. that are just lying in ruin by the side of the road.  There are frequently no plaques or information cards about them and there are no attempts to preserve let alone restore these places.   Though these ruins are pretty much ho-hum to the Irish, I love to explore them and imagine what once might have been.

 

Window looking out of the abbey

 

A tree growing out of the top of this tower

Outside the abbey-Hmm, I wonder who's buried here.

 

It's been jacket weather for the last two weeks-cold and rainy.

 

After exploring the abbey for a bit, we were on our way to the Ring of Kerry.   Though beautiful, the scenery didn't have quite the magnificence of Beara.  Besides, the weather seemed to be getting colder and windier by the minute, which may have colored our view somewhat.  Tour busses crowded the small roads bringing visitors from all over.   We stopped at a bathroom where I waited in line with about twenty women all speaking an unfamiliar language.  

 

 

 

 

Clouds blanketed the mountains and the temperature dropped as we turned off the road to the Ballinskelligs.    

 

Making our way to the Beach Cove B & B, off the beaten path of the Ballinskellig area, we found only one place to stop for lunch.   Having the worst food of our whole trip in Ireland, getting lost a few times, and finding the weather getting rainy and colder still should have been signs that things were not going to go as well as expected.

By the time we reached the B & B, we seemed to be in a real storm.  Our host for that night informed us that there would be no trip to Skellig Michael and in fact they hadn't sailed for over a week because the water was too rough.   Besides the disappointment of that information, we found our room to be extremely cold. 

Dan and I were bundled up with layers and asked our tank top clad hostess about heat for the room.   She looked at me like I had two heads and replied, Do you mean during the day?   Apparently, heat was not an option either during that day or that night.  

The storm seemed to be getting more intense so we decided to stay put in our room bundled in all our clothes and blankets as well.  Outside, the temperature was high 40s F or low 50s.   The wind howled loudly through our window like something I've only heard in movies where the inhabitants come to no good end and the rain beat against the window for the rest of our stay until the next morning.

By around 6 or so, we were both getting hungry, but neither of us was particularly thrilled by the idea of venturing out into the storm.   Our hostess assured us that a little town called Portmagee was only a ten minute drive from the B & B and we would be fine.  Just turn right outside the B & B, right again, and then up the hill.   Since the only other option was having crumbled cookies from Dan's backpack for dinner, we decided to give it a shot.  

Somehow or other we missed a sign and found ourselves on a one lane road with zero visibility.  The rain and high winds were only a small part of the problem as the cloud  we were driving through allowed us to  see about one foot in front of the car.   And there was no place to turn around.   I remember thinking that it was a good thing I had made out my will before leaving on this trip and wishing I had opted for crumbled cookies.

Finally, up the hill we found a place to turn around and I found a town on the map  after seeing a sign that was pointing in a different direction.   We made it to Caherseven for dinner and back safely after a couple of hours thanks to Dan's great driving.   Given the rain and severe winds, it was not our best night's sleep.   However, by morning, the sun came out and it was a beautiful day.

No photos were taken from the time we left lunch until the next morning when we took a few before going to Portmagee where we would watch a video about Skellig Michael at the visitor's center.   We also learned that the storm the night before was "a bit of a gale" from various people in the area.   It would have been a fabulous place to visit had the weather been right.

 

  The view from Beach Cove the next morning

Our next adventure:  The Dingle Peninsula