Ireland Day 2 - 25th Nov. 2004

Best View in Ireland

Dingle to Cappoquin via the Ring of Kerry
Ireland Weather: 100% Shitty - Upper 40's (got nice late though)

Leaving Dingle at approximately 9:00am, we were concerned about the potential conditions of the road…and there were only two ways out of there – the way we came in, and a smaller road. We decided to take a chance on the smaller road and were not disappointed. It was actually in much better condition than the larger national road. Furthermore, the R561 afforded us some remarkable views as we drove along the perimeter of Dingle Bay.

The town of Inch has a lovely turn-out where you can see miles of coastline. That small bar of sand protects the harbor of Killorglin, and looks like a very pleasant place to spend a summer afternoon.

Once in Castlemaine, we got on a larger road – the N70 – and followed signs for the Ring of Kerry and a town called Waterville.

^ Seefin - Just outside Castlemaine towards the Ring of Kerry ^

The Ring of Kerry – largely considered one of the most beautiful tourist spots in all of Ireland – was a total scam. Draped in fog, you couldn’t see much further than 50 feet in most places. It was cold, rainy, foggy and all on small bendy roads with oncoming traffic that takes far too many liberties with regards to lane markings.

The highlight of the Ring was seen near a town called Sneem – a sign indicated that it was the location of “The Best View in Ireland”. Unfortunately, you could barely make out the words on the sign due to the relentless fog.

^ Near Castlecove ~ The Ring of Kerry at its most beautiful ^

We did manage to find a nice stop off point in the Kenmare River bay near Castle Cove. We were able to go all the way down to the water and walk out on some interesting rock formations that looked almost identical to felled trees. The pattern on the rock was amazing.

We were lucky we started back to the car when we did, too – the tide was coming in so fast that in the 20 minutes we were down there, the path we took to get out there was covered by roughly 4 inches of water.

After the Ring of Kerry, we needed to get another 140km to Cappoquin via Macroom, Cork, Fermoy and Lismore. We decided to skip lunch (breakfast was VERY filling) and drive on. Besides, we had some snack food and people were digging into that.

At one particularly hairy moment (dark, rain, etc.) I was offered a pringle potato chip. I was driving Ol’ Blue at the time, and I initially didn’t see any harm in stuffing a chip in my mouth. I began to second guess myself about 3 nanoseconds after I looked down to locate the hand that was offering me the chip. Imagine driving 40mph in the rain at night on a curve on the wrong side of the road. Now throw into the mix a delicious potato chip handed to you by the person you trust the most in the world. Finally, park a car on the left side of the road about 50 feet in front of you (lights off – naturally) and cue a tour bus to come around the corner and scare the bejeezus out of you.

I considered myself lucky by only having one tire go off the pavement…and it was only for a moment.

Note to self – no more food or drink while driving the Ring of Kerry in the dark in November of 2004 while it’s rainy.

We got into Macroom on the N22 and found a restaurant on the main drag called Dan Buckley’s – a pub attached to a hotel. Very good food and not too expensive either. We were able to find an Internet café as well so we could let loved ones know that the cell phone I brought didn’t work for anything other than an alarm clock, and that we landed safely and all was well.

The beer in Macroom worked equally as well as the beer in Dingle at Murphy’s…and after the Pringle episode, I needed it.

We piled back into the car (after phoning the B&B to let them know we’d arrive late) and drove off. Good roads all the way, and due to construction we really got to see a lot of Cork…the N22 main road goes straight through downtown Cork. From there we needed the N8 to Fermoy and then we had to find signs for the N72 road to Lismore and Dungarvan.

We had one final stop off – Lismore Castle.

As we were driving along, a fog had begun to roll in. Lismore Castle is a private residence, but it has gardens that are open to the public. Unfortunately they’re not open to the public at 10:00pm, and if they were it would be very very dark, so we had to content ourselves with a view of the castle lit up by floodlights.

^ Lismore Castle ^

There’s a small river (the Blackwater) that runs beneath the castle and through the town of Lismore. It provides a very nice feature for the gardens and helped protect the castle in days gone by. It also provides for a beautiful little stone bridge that affords a wonderful view of the castle and the river surrounded by large trees. Lismore looks like a very nice little town.

Our B&B – Woodlands Farmhouse – was just beyond the town of Cappoquin on a road that headed south. You take that road for approximately 1.5km and you’ll reach an Indian Gothic gate – the only example of this type of architecture in Ireland, and it was built in 1851. Apparently the Pavilion at Brighton (England) was the inspiration this gate which was on the perimeter of an Earl’s estate in Cappoquin. When money ran out, they sold off what they could and divided up the land into parcels.

Had a nice cup of tea on arrival at the B&B and got a good night’s sleep in a very short bed (sleigh style and built for midget Irishmen).