Part 3: Dingle Peninsula Tour

The Dingle peninsula is on the southwest side of Ireland on the Atlantic Ocean. We stayed in the only town on the Peninsula, Dingle. We chose the Dingle Peninsula over the Ring of Kerry (another popular driving tour for the views and the sights) because it was only about 47 km (30 miles) round trip. The Ring is about 179 km round trip. Since we were traveling with a 4 year old we thought she would enjoy the shorter trip with less time in between stops. We were right, she loved it! Mostly because there were lots of stops, beaches and rocks to climb.

 Our first beach. Ashlyn had fun running around and letting the waves chase her. Daddy found us a pretty rock to bring home, our own little piece of Ireland.

 Selfie

Our first stop, Dunbeg Fort from 500bc. It was small, crumbling and on the edge of the cliff.

 This cat followed Ashlyn around the whole time we were there. I think she was hoping Ashlyn might have some snacks with her. 

 Ashlyn crawled inside one of the "rooms"

 Next stop: Beehive huts from 2000bc. These pre-historic peope must've been short! Only Ashlyn could stand up in the doorway.

 Inside the hut, Ashlyn didn't get the memo to smile :)

 Climbing around the walls of the hut "village"

 Beehive hut cemetery tombstone

 More beehive huts, too crumbly to walk inside. Excavating around the peninsula has shown that people have lived here since before 4000bc

 Roadside crucifix at Slea Head, just in case you forget the country is 85% Catholic

Another nice beach we saw when we stopped for the picture of the crucifix

 The same beach as above, nice lady took our family pic. This beach had big, crashing waves. One of them caught us and got us a little wet.

Look at my sandy hands!

I was trying to get a picture of all of the stone walls built so long ago. Imagine the work it took to build those stone walls, bring sand and seaweed up from the beaches to nourish the clay soil so they could plant potatoes. Then in 1845 when the potatoes wouldn't grow, just rotted in the ground. Before the famine, 40,000 people lived on this peninsula. Now only about 10,000.

 That looks like a nice beach, lets figure out how to get down there.

 We made it! These two put their toes in and of course Ashlyn fell in. Her right leg and arm totally wet. She dried out, eventually

 We brought a mini tripod with us for this one.

 Gallarus Oratory, built about 1300 years ago is one of Ireland's best preserved early Christian churches, and its still waterproof, amazing! That doorway may look tall enough but believe me its not. 

 Jered

 Me

 tall enough for one of us though

 Kilmalkedar Church, built in the 12th century, it was surrounded by a densely populated cemetery. Some of the headstones were as recent as the 1980's, other's were so old we couldn't make out the dates or names.

 Early Christian cross, disproportionate because most of it is buried underground.

 This is an Ogham stone and was here 900 years before the church was built, it marked a pre-Christian holy spot. We found out later that the stone was used as a marriage ceremony. They would touch thumbs through the hole in the center (there was another on the other side, although it didn't go all the way through) and say their vows in front of the their ancestors and the church. Jered and I missed our chance to "renew our vows" darn it!

 Inside the church, she thought she was "hiding" from us. 

 A "fairy fort" dating back to 1000bc

 Our little fairy

A very nice drive with beautiful scenery and really cool old crumbling forts and churches. Ashlyn and Jered's favorite part were the beaches. I loved the beaches too but probably my favorite part was just the views. Its what you picture Ireland looking like. Green, green grass, rock walls, crashing waves. Our day was pretty overcast but at least it didn't rain on us. 

We got a late start to dinner and halfway there it started downpouring on us! It went from mist to downpour in 2 seconds flat. We jumped into a doorway of the pub and figured we might as well go in and have a drink and hope the rain stopped. By the time we were done with our drinks the rain had stopped and off to dinner we went. The Dingle Pub, food was typical, drinks were good and they had cozy little snugs (booths) to sit in while we listened to the trad music.

 Ashlyn pretty much survived on chicken gougons (strips) for lunch/dinner and cereal for breakfast.

no description needed here

Free wi-fi, we had a love-hate relationship. Jered and Ashlyn had a love-love relationship. As soon as we got the password, phones and tablets were on! Most restaurants/pubs had free wi-fi and all of our B&B's did. Since we weren't using our cell phones as phones while we there (mostly because we're too cheap to pay for an international plan or rent a phone while there) we had to take advantage of the free wi-fi everywhere and anywhere so we could be connected. Facebook, email etc.

Next up is our Fungie the Dolphin tour, Jered got a great video!

Ireland Trip Part 2:

After our busy and tiring first day we woke feeling pretty refreshed.  We had been to the Gardens of Powerscourt and Glendalough the first day. Both great stops because they were both outside and required lots of walking. The only way to beat jet-lag is to just go, get lots of sun and fresh air. We managed to stay awake until about 830pm, 1230pm Portland time. Our total time without sleep: 31.5 hours. 

Kilkenny was a great first town. We didn't spend too much time actually in town except in the evenings. We spent one whole day day-tripping to other towns and sites. From Kilkenny we went to the Rock of Cashel, Cahir Castle a nd then back to Kilkenny to tour Kilkenny Castle.

The Rock of Cashel was old, crumbling and beautiful and a historic site for Ireland. Cashel is reputed to be the site of the conversion of the King of Munster by St. Patrick in the 5th century. In 1101, the King of Munster,donated his fortress on the Rock to the Church. Few remnants of the early structures survive; the majority of buildings on the current site date from the 12th and 13th centuries.

Cahir Castle was amazing! It was one of those castles that we were able to climb all over and in. Ashlyn had a blast with that! The only way to see it is by guided tour and our guide seemed very knowledgeable. Its one of the most complete, preserved castles, built in 1142.

Kilkenny Castle was built in 1195. It was huge and had an awesome park where there were lots of Irish, tourists and little kids having picnics, running around and just enjoying the sunshine. The inside of the castle was by self-guided tour. It looked pretty fancy, especially by 12th century standards.

After all the castles we were hungry and our B&B host Liam had suggested we find somewhere to watch the Hurling Championship game. Hurling is BIG in Ireland and especially in Kilkenny. We found out just how big when we stepped into a pub. We got there just a bit before the game started. The bar area was packed and it was LOUD! We watched the game upstairs in the dinner area and it was still loud. Interesting game though it took us a while to figure it out. Liam's team didn't win, but he had a great time, he was at the game in Dublin.

The next morning it was time to head to Dingle. On the way we stopped at the Donkey Sanctuary. It was so much more than we expected. There were hundreds of donkeys! We walked around the whole place and spent more time than expected. Ashlyn loved petting the donkeys and trying to talk to them. We even saw a mama donkey with her baby. 

After that we headed to Killarney National Park and the Muckross House. Muckross House was beautiful, built in 1843 on a lake with huge lawns for us to run around on. We toured the House and we got to see how the rich lived in the the 19th century.

Then it was on to Dingle, my favorite town we stayed in. Its hard to pick a favorite because all the towns were so different but Dingle just has the relaxed friendly atmosphere you expect in a small town. It was definitely the smallest of the four towns we stayed in. Our host told us, "you can walk the whole town in 10 minutes!" She was right, we walked a lot of the town. 

We had our first misty drizzle our first night in Dingle walking to dinner. It wasn't enough to call it rain. We also found an excellent ice cream shop on our walk to dinner, so of course we had to stop on the way back to the B&B! :) Murphy's Ice Cream, oh yum! Its ice cream made the way it should be: with eggs, cream, cane sugar, and only fresh milk from the rare indigenous Kerry cows. Whatever they're doing, its some of the best ice cream I've ever had. My favorite flavor? Dingle Sea Salt, yep they use water from Dingle Bay to get the salt! Ashlyn's favorite and what she ordered every time we went: Valrhona Chocolate! She's a girl who knows what she wants. 

 First night at Murphy's

 and the next day

Kerry cows

being silly

Next up in Part 3, all about our Dingle Peninsula trip with lots of pictures!

Shamrocks, Lucky Leprechauns, Guinness, Bulmers and Castles, Castles and more Castles

We had the most fantastic time in Ireland! We had beautiful weather, it only rained on us a few times. We adjusted to Irish time quite easily. Our B&B's were all really nice and clean and the hosts were just fabulous. They were always full of tips and ideas for fun things to do.

The breakfasts were so yummy and included with your stay. I usually ordered oatmeal, at the B&B in Dingle they put Bailey's in my oatmeal!! Bailey's in oatmeal is super yummy! Jered had the full Irish breakfast at least six times, I only had it once. Too much food for me. Typical Irish breakfast is 2 eggs, 2 sausages, 2 slices bacon, grilled mushrooms and tomatoes, blood sausage and another sausage that looked some sort of haggis. Jered ate everything on the plate except the tomatoes of course, I ate those. Yes even the blood sausage and haggis! The one time I ordered the traditional Irish, I left those two things on the plate and Jered helped me eat the rest.

What was it like driving on the left side of the road and sitting on the right side of the car? Well I couldn't tell you, I didn't do any driving! Jered did all the driving (Thanks babe!). We rented just a small car. A 4-door little Nissan hatchback. Thank goodness it was so small because the roads feel even smaller. I had to sit on the left side of the car, next to the stone fences and bushes. There were quite few moments, especially in the first couple of days, where I felt like those fences were coming right into the car to have a seat on my lap!

Ireland does have freeways, we used those a few times but they are more for commuting long distances. Mostly to see all the sights you have to be on the smaller roads. The M roads are the freeways. N roads are smaller freeways. R roads sometimes have stripes and feel like there could be room for two cars until a big truck or bus is coming at you and then you start looking for a wide spot so you can swerve over to the curb as you pass each other. L roads are the most rural, no stripes, looks like a single lane even though its not and when you find yourself on those roads you pray no other vehicle will come your way! We spent most of our time on the R and L roads praying and hoping no one would be coming our way and when they did, praying and hoping there was room enough for both us. :)

The first morning we were driving to this little small village to have breakfast before we went to our first tourist stop. We had arrived at 5:15am Ireland time, so it was still dark. We were driving down this little small road, it was dark and there were huge trees making a canopy over the road. We turn a corner and all I see is huge bright lights of a doubledecker bus. Now remember we had already been awake for about 18 hours. We arrived in Dublin on Friday morning, we left Portland on Thursday morning so we completely missed Thursday night. We were all a little delirious to say the least. Ok so I'm staring at the headlights of the doubledecker and it looks like its coming right at us. I start slapping Jered's leg and screaming, "You're on the wrong side of the road!! You're on the wrong side of the road!! You're on the wrong side of the road!!" Jered is yelling back, "No I'm on not! No I'm not! No I"m not!" After the bus went by I felt like my heart had jumped right out of my chest! We had a good laugh and Jered made me promise to put the story in this blog. :)

There were a few times he actually was on the wrong side of the road but I managed to handle those much more calmly and would usually just say, "Dude, you're on the wrong side of the road." He would say, "Sh*t!" and swerve back over. :)

We spent a lot of our time in pubs, especially in the evenings. Pubs to the Irish are a place to relax, meet up with friends and have good craic (conversation). They're not bars like we have here. They're basically a restaurant but the bar is not separate. They were all very kid-friendly and most of them had nightly music. We all loved that! Ashlyn even got up and danced a few times. If she caught me or Jered watching her though she would say, "Stop looking at me Daddy/Mommy! You're making me nervous!" Not sure where she came up with that one!

Here's a few pictures, we're still combing through the 1200 we took and are planning a slideshow. Hopefully we'll have that ready soon! I'm also planning a few more Ireland posts, there is just too much to say and share.

 Daddy being silly!

 Family photo before we take off on day 1. We all look pretty

tired but we went for it and put in a full day of travel, sites and fun.

 Gardens of Powerscourt. Beautiful! A great first tourist stop

because it gave us the chance to walk around in the fresh

air and beautiful sunshine.

 Family photo, it was really sunny and Ashlyn didn't have her

sunglasses with her.

 Ashlyn's first castle/tower. She was looking for a 

princess. Didn't find one but did find the door to the

stairs that took us up to the top. She was up those stairs

before Jered or I even realized!

 Pretty waterfall

 Self portrait, trying different modes on the camera

 When you see a big tall rock sticking out of the ground

you should definitely pull over, jump up on top and 

make your wife take your picture!

 Then help your daughter up so she can have her picture

taken also. (He is standing just out of frame, so he

can catch her if needed)

 Our first roadside sheep (seen on the Old Military Hwy)! 

The next day our B&B host told us 

(please say this w/ an Irish accent), 

"Oh, you should never find yourself up there!"

It was a very tiny road! 

 Serious bed-head! Ashlyn slept from PowersCourt to Glendalough.

She bounced right back though! 

 Daddy was trying to do a cool pic but its difficult to get 

the 4 yr old to cooperate and do exactly what you want!

 First night, walking to dinner in Kilkenny. This was a clothing

shop and of course we had to our picture!

 Starting out on Day 2, looking much more rested

 Ruins in the backyard, totally normal right?

 Roadside ruins, we saw hundreds of these! This one

was most likely an old church. 

 Donkey Sanctuary, Day 3. This was super cool! We

weren't sure what to expect but they blew us away. This place

was huge and there were hundreds of donkeys. This was the 

first one Ashlyn had a conversation with. 

 Now that's a whole lot of ASS! HeHe!

 Self portrait fail, only got half my face.

 Daddy and Ashlyn

 We were at Killarney Nat'l Park and Muckross House. 

Do you see the purple horse in her arms? 

His name is Minimus, this was the last we ever saw of Minimus.

The first casualty on our Ireland trip. 

 Family portrait by the lake. 

(We're pretty sure this is where we lost Minimus)

Muckross House, built in 1843 and Queen Victoria 

visited in 1861. Didn't look as fancy inside as I expected.

Beautiful gardens, lawns and lake.

Ireland, we miss you already! We will be back, we promise!