The last of four features on Glengarriff this week!
See below: Garinish, a Precious Island Gem in lovely Glengarriff; Snacking and Snapping in Glengarriff and Castletownbere; Glengarriff's Nature Reserve and Bamboo Park.
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Casey's of Glengarriff is a small hotel with a great big welcome.
Engaging personality, top notch food and the drink isn't bad either. One of the best 3-Stars around.
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| Fish cakes with an outstanding tomato/chorizo sauce plus an excellent Seasonal Mixed Salad. Tomatoes were deliciously juicy. The dish, with fries, also available as a main course (as in above pic). Every delicious morsel savoured. |
Just back from a short and sunny break in Glengarriff where Casey's 3-star hotel proved to be an ideal base with a string of top visits such as Garinish Island, The Nature Reserve (in the hands of the NPWS), and the Bamboo Garden., Bantry House, the peninsulas of Sheep's Head and Castletownbere and the islands, and the spectacular Healy Pass are all within easy striking distance.
Casey's was established in 1884, 142 years ago. Didn't really know anything about Casey's as we made a spur of the moment decision to head down on a sunny Sunday with much more sunshine promised. It has 20 rooms, all upstairs, and after a warm Monday welcome, our cases were brought up for us - you could see there was no way that we were going to be allowed bring them up ourselves!
The room was large and well equipped. It was spotless as was the rest of the hotel, including the bar, the lounge and the impressive breakfast room. It has two parking yards so we never had a problem getting a space.
With the weather at its best, we were able to make full use of their outdoor dining area, under a canopy of Wisteria. Terrific service here also, including from the bar where they had two excellent craft beers on tap, 9 White Deer's Stag Pale Ale and Sullivan's Red Ale and more in bottle. Happy out, as we say around here.
If you cross the hotel's back garden, you'll find yourself at the side of the Glengarriff River, though the Proudly is the local name for this stretch of the river making its way to the nearby Blue Pool and from there to the Atlantic.
Casey's overall performance in all areas, including the kitchen, belies its three star status. Other three star venues enjoyed in recent years include the Bunratty Manor, Gleeson's Roscommon, Killeen House Hotel Killarney, Emmett Hotel Clonakilty and Foyle's in Clifden .
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| The sun beamed down as we enjoyed our Cajun Salmon and, as you can see, there was no shortage of good local produce to accompany it. |
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| A cool and refreshing local pint from the tap. Both of us enjoyed this Gluten Free Pale Ale from Ballyvourney. |
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| Al fresco. Sunshine dining, under a "ceiling" of Wisteria |
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| Chicken (wrapped in bacon) with all the trimmings including Fresh Herb and Bread Stuffing. No shortage of veg. |
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| Another excellent pint from the tap |
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Some starter! Oak Smoked Salmon and Shrimp Salad served with Marie Rose Sauce and Brown Soda Bread. Terrific combination of quality and quantity |
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A tasty starter of Duck Spring Rolls with hoisin Sauce, also available as a main course |
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| Not quite the Full Irish - reduced by request - but one of the best, good produce expertly cooked, nothing too soft, nothing too hard, delivered at proper temperature. Perfect. |
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| Another excellent breakfast plate, a classic combination featuring oak smoked salmon and scrambled egg. |
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Snacking and Snapping in Glengarriff and Castletownbere
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| An eye-catching mural on main street illustrates a seal and a golden eagle, both of which are associated with Glengarriff. |
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| The Bere island ferry arriving in Castletownbere with three large trawlers in the background. |
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| "How's it going Joe?". "Ah you know yourself, keeping the old head above water." |
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This chip van was parked in Castletownbere and not open for business when we were around. In any event, after a big breakfast and before a big dinner, we didn't need much around the middle of the day. On the first day, we landed on Garinish around lunchtime and enjoyed the excellent apple cake and a super scone (packed with tasty raspberries) at the café by the dock. You'd be hard put to find such quality in a five star hotel. Even the tea was exceptional and, by the way, you can also fill your bottle at the water station outside the door. Back in Glengarriff, and with the temperatures passing the mid-twenties, we went looking for ice-cream and found it in the local Spar & Post Office. Took a seat at the side of the main street and every kid passing by car (it was school out time) glanced jealously in our direction. Not just kids! Indeed, we were soon asked for the source of the massive cones and were glad to pass on the directions. The following day, we felt like a little bite round lunchtime and I remembered the Spar. Here we got a Cajun chicken, with fresh salad roll, for a very reasonable four euro. Just the job. Years ago, on the continent, we were often directed (by guides) to the local Spar for just such a sandwich and I've noticed that quite a few Irish supermarkets now provide the service. |
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| Superb quality at the Garinish Island Café. |
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| The Skibbereen registered Ocean Challenger in Castletownbere. |
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| Quills in Glengarriff. |
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Hill Walks. River Walks. Bamboo Park.
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| The Glengarriff River |
Glengarriff's Nature Reserve.
Forests, rivers and mountains.
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| The Blue Pool |
Glengarriff Woods Nature Reserve, now in the care of the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS), covers some 300 hectares of forests, rivers and mountains.
The extensive woods have been cleared of non-native conifers over the last few years and now form one of the best examples of oceanic sessile oak woodland in Ireland, spectacular and beautiful, "hiding" a web of trails, some short, some long, some easy, some not so.
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| High on Esknamucky |
Of course, we had to go and pick the hardest one, the 90 minute Esknamucky. It doesn't exactly trip off the tongue but it is also called the High Walk! The reserve was on our short-list for this visit and we were looking forward to the shade as the temperatures reached into the mid twenties. This trail climbs up through the woods for views over the vast number of trees to the mountains beyond. It can also be combined with the waterfall walk which we did.
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| The Eccles Hotel (from Bamboo Park) |
Armed with our sticks and proper footwear, we confidently headed off, even taking a short detour early on to see the waterfall. After that it was uphill all the way, steps, and slopes, and not very easy. A big test for our combined 160 years, the majority of them mine, I hasten to add! We eventually reached one of the viewing points. Here we took in the vast size of the woods, views towards the Caha Mountains and a little slice of the ocean on the horizon.
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| Glengarriff Bay (from the Bamboo Park) |
On the descent, as we neared the main road, I spotted a deer bounding upwards about 25 metres away. He looked fit and healthy and was soon hidden from sight by a mound. So I thought that was the last we'd see of him. Just as we restarted the stroll down, I glanced back and there he was, just his head visible and sneaking a peak at us, like a playful puppy, from the far side of the mound.
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| Bamboo Park |
Soon we were back in the car park and checking the other walks on the fading board. We picked the easy 1km river walk to "wind down". The Glengarriff River was on our left as we made headed out. It made the odd meander here and there and provided some beautiful small views with the legendary 40 shades of green. It also provided a cooling relief for the hot feet.
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| At the Blue Pool as the Garinish Island ferry fills up |
Back then to Casey's Hotel for a short lunchtime rest before making our first visit to the nearby Bamboo Park. The garden features 30 different species of bamboo surrounded by palms and other tropical plants. Shaded paths lead between the bamboo (look out too for the Eucalyptus groves) and to the shoreline, where well placed viewpoints make it easy to appreciate the beauty of Glengarriff harbour.
The park, and its viewing points, is available for use as a site for wedding photos, especially the pergola that gives quite a view of the long Eccles Hotel across a narrow stretch of water. This has been a hospitality site since 1745. Casey's Hotel in the centre of the village was established in 1884.
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| Bend in the river |
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Garinish. Precious Island Gem in lovely Glengarriff
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| In the Italian Garden |
Garinish Island, officially known as Ilnacullin, and often spoken of as Garnish Island, is a small island of rare beauty, nestled in the sheltered coastal harbour at Glengarriff in Bantry Bay and nowadays in the hands of the OPW.
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| Boarding at the Blue Pool |
We were lucky with the weather last week and made it our first port of call on the opening day of our short stay, using Casey's as our base. As usual, we headed for the Blue Pool from which the eponymous ferry company operates. Unusually, the ferry does not take credit cards, while the island entry point does.
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| The Temple |
The boat took us close to Seal Island on our way out, and there were all sizes of seals lounging in the sun. Soon, we landed at Garinish and paid the nominal entry fee. There is also a little café here selling high quality pastries, teas, hot chocolate and cold drinks and you may sit indoors or out. Toilets, the only ones on the island, are also here. There's a water staion if you need to top up your bottle and also a mounted map to check out.
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| The Bryce family, who created the gardens, gifted the island and this, their, house to the Irish state in 1953. The building is now a museum, with tours available. |
There is a recommended route, but don’t worry if you take a wrong turn, as you’ll soon find your way. It is not very big. The big attraction is the Italian Garden, its beautiful little building, ornamental pool, lawn and walled garden so pleasing to the eye.
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| Light and shade at the Garinish Café. Dine inside or al fresco. |
Not all the walking is so easy, though. There are many steps up to the Martello tower, but do persevere as the views are stunning. There is also a designated viewpoint nearby if you don’t feel like taking the narrow internal staircase to the top of the tower.
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| The pool in the Italian Garden. |
From the tower, head down to the Happy Valley and the Jungle (which has many imported trees and shrubs, some from South America, New Zealand and China, almost as international as the mix of tourists that now visit the beautiful place).
Be sure also to visit the popular temple, reached via an avenue of Italian cypress and giving superb views out to the sea and the Caha Mountains.
The island is quite small and you won't get lost. Probably best to buy the Visitors Guide (Ilnacullin, by the OPW at the entry office) and, if you follow this, you’ll enjoy your visit even more.
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| Crossing the bay. |
Having enjoyed our time there, we headed to the little harbour and soon our Blue Ferry boat arrived to take us back after a delightful 90 minutes or so in the shade and the sun. Another ferry operates from the eastern sidem of the village and tickets are not inter-changeable.
