Postcards from the Western Edge
Dingle on a sunny day
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| The view of the Blasket Islands as you crest Clogher. |
Hard to beat the Dingle peninsula on a sunny day. We hit the jackpot last Saturday.
The local food festival, quite the event, was in full swing but we gave it a skip until the following day, reasoning that it was best to take in the outdoor sights in favourable weather.
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| Inch Beach |
First stop, after a 2-hour trip from Cork, was the fabulous Inch Beach, made famous by the filming of Ryan’s Daughter there in 1970. The car park was close to full when we pulled in but there is quite an overflow as lines of cars park on the beach itself.
The first action we saw, as we tucked into our snack, was a couple of the beach ponies enjoying themselves rolling in the softer sand at the back. Quite a bit of activity on the water also, no shortage of hardy swimmers and also quite a few paddling their canoes.
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| No shortage of space to walk on Inch. |
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| Slea Head |
This is part of the superb Wild Atlantic Way drive, based in Dingle. We often call to Ventry Beach but drove by this time and soon arrived at Slea Head, relieved that there was plenty of room in the car park.
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| The beach at Slea Head |
Time for another walk. No, not to the top of the nearby hill - we’ve done that in the past - but just down the hard-surfaced road to the beach, taking in the views of the jagged rocks below, and, believe it or not, a display of local landscape paintings with the artist on hand to chat.
The tide was pretty well out at the time and just one or two swimmers were in the water. Took something of a shortcut on our way back to the car park, aided by a some well-placed and well-spaced steps.
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| Art imitating life.... at Slea Head |
A few minutes later, we arrived at our final outdoor stop, Clogher, a rugged hill that is close to the well-signposted Louis Mulcahy Pottery. The hill is not the easiest of climbs so our walking shoes and a stick each were deployed.
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| Sybil Head |
There are different paths as you go up, most are stony and sometimes one or more may be boggy. I’ve been up there a good few times and I reckon I’ve never used the same route up and down. But you won’t get lost!
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| Clogher Strand, with the Three Sisters peaks at top left. |
The reward, as you reach the summit and crest it, is a superb ocean view with the Blasket Islands (including the “isolated” Sleeping Giant) right in the middle. On the way down (and up, if you look back occasionally), there are splendid views of Ceann Sibéal, the Three Sisters and the local strand. Clogher is really worth the effort. Just be careful!
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| The Three Sisters |
After all that walking, I felt I deserved a reward and had just the place in mind. Tigh Bhric is on the "back" way back to Dingle and is both a bar and also houses the West Kerry Brewery. Here, you’ll some of Ireland’s best craft beers.
They currently have a great deal, ten 500ml bottles for forty euros. Soon, a nice stash of Beal Bán, Cúl Dorcha and Blue Rose Irish PA, was placed in the boot before we headed back to Dingle and our base at the fabulous Greenmount House at the top of John Street.
Look out for upcoming posts on Greenmount House, Fenton's Restaurant, the Humble Fishmonger and the festival market.
