Killorglin, County Kerry, Ireland
Himself and I arrived in Ireland without too much drama. “Without too much” being the operative phrase. As travels will often go, we had a little kurrfuffle, as they say.
On our last day in Chipping Norton, we were enjoying lunch at our new favorite restaurant, Alberto’s. owned by Clare and Val (a lovely young couple, she English and he, an Italian from Rome). We ate there 3x while in Chippy and would have eaten there a few more had we discovered it earlier in our trip. They befriended the oldsters (us) and we found them to be just charming – new friendships being made. Anyway, I digress.
As I was saying, we were enjoying a leisurely lunch, including a fine wine, fully intending to go back to our flat and finish packing and get to bed early for our journey to Ireland the next day. We got to talking about what time we would have to leave Chippy to get to the airport by 10AM for our 12:45PM flight given it is a 3 hour drive to Louton from Chipping Norton. I pulled up the boarding pass only to notice that boarding was to begin at 7:50AM. WHAAAATTT??? That’s impossible. The flight is at 12:45pm – why in the travel god’s name is boarding 5 hours before take-off? Well, boarding is at 7:50AM because the flight leaves at 8:45am NOT 12:45PM. So, we would now have to get up at 2AM to make it to Louton by 5:30AM in time to make the flight. Turns out, the flight time was changed from 12:45PM to 8:45AM and we (ok, I) totally missed the email telling us of the change in flight time. Oye! So, using the travel management skills taught to me by my dear friend, Fay, I quickly secured a hotel room at the Louton Airport and notified our VRBO host in Chipping Norton that we would be leaving that afternoon and not the next morning. I then phoned the car rental and made changes to return and pick up earlier than expected on either end; all while talking Jimmy off the ledge, finishing my wine and pizza and Claire and Val looking on at the multi-tasking going on during what was supposed to be a leisurely farewell lunch. Then, home we ran to finish throwing everything in the suitcases, clean up the flat to get our security deposit back and then load the car and drive the 3 hours to Louton during rush hour. Check in to the hotel, have a glass of wine and some crackers we bought, and get to bed to wake up at 3:45am, to return the car, get a transfer back to the airport and be at “bag drop” by 6:10am.
Very little drama, indeed! I have heart palpitations just reliving this story! Imagine the look on Jim’s face if we arrived at the airport at 10AM only to find that our flight left 2 hours earlier and the next flight to Cork is 4 DAYS later! Well, thankfully, that is not the story I have to tell. We happily landed in Cork with no further drama.
We are renting a flat in a small town named Killorglin. While small (about 2,200 residents as of 2022), Killorglin is a bustling tourist location because it is situated on the Ring of Kerry, at the very top of the Ring and the Wild Atlantic Way. It is either the starting or the ending point of any Ring of Kerry tour, depending on which way you start the journey. Killorglin is also known for its annual Puck Fair. Yes, Puck but not as in “hockey”. The Puck Fair is a tradition dating back hundreds of years, the origin of which is the stuff of legends and varied. Some say the goat came down from the mountains to warn the locals that Cromwell was coming, others believe the goat symbolizes fertility and the start of the harvest season and others believe it is tied to witches. Interesting fact, it is the only day in the County in which the pubs can stay open until 3AM (Ireland’s laws require all pubs be closed by 2AM), so no matter which legend you subscribe too, it all boils down to it is another excuse for the Irish to party! No judgement here, just a more perhaps, plausible hypothesis for the Puck Festival than witches and fertility gods, etc. So I say, whatever the Puck, carry on!
Where was I? Oh, yes, where we are staying while in Killorglin. Our flat is on the River Luane and we enjoy not only the sound of the quick running water, we also view some pretty incredible mountains from our bedroom and the living room. If the sun is out and the day is mild in temperature, we sit out on the patio and enjoy the mountain view. At this time of year, the sun rises at about 4:30am and sets at 10:30pm and so there is plenty of daylight in which to enjoy the beauty of Ireland. Aloha on the move!
On our first full day here, we set out to explore a bit of Killorglin. We attended Mass at the local Catholic Church, which is enormous. Remember, there are only 2200 people living in Killorglin. The townspeople built this beautiful church about 250 years ago, so relatively new as churches go. The interior has an amazing stained glass window directly behind the alter and a pipe organ at the rear of the Church which is really quite impressive.
After Mass, we walked a bit and found around the corner The Aloha House!!! OH MY GOSH! Can you believe it? surely, this is fate in all of its amazing glory. We belong here! Turns out, The Aloha House is a yoga studio. Mental note to self to visit The Yoga House at least once while we are here!
In addition to the Puck statue on the edge of town, there is a very interesting statue representing the great migration of the Irish to America, especially during the time of the potato famine. The inscription is really quite touching and relevant to the history of immigration.
The Ring of Kerry Part 1
Killorglin is on the Wild Atlantic Way and The Ring of Kerry. The Ring is famous for its beauty, varied landscape and charming towns along the way. It is a road that forms a ring around the County Kerry. If you have never been here, you may be missing out on some of the most beautiful countryside in the world. The climate in this part of Ireland is mostly “wet”. There are gorgeous mountains dominating the area, in the heart of which are the tallest peaks in Ireland, MacGillycuddy Reeks and Carrantuohill. The Ring of Kerry is also host to the Atlantic Ocean, and a myriad of large lakes connecting to the Atlantic Ocean via a host of running rivers. The end result is lush, green landscape, beautiful fauna indigenous to the area and a mystical aura surrounding the land as the fog often hangs around the mountains.
Did I mention the roads? Hang on sweet baby J.
The roads in Ireland are INSANE. First, like England, they drive on the wrong side of the car and the wrong side of the road. Second, the locals travel at speeds approaching “lightening”. Third, many of the roads are only as wide as a typical bike lane, despite being 2 lane roads and in some places on these “2 lane” roads, only ONE car can pass at a time. Fourth, there are more roundabouts in Ireland than there are people, animals, and birds combined. Each roundabout averages 3 “exits” and in many instances 4 exits. If you miss your “exit”, you are SOL, and that is not Spanish for “sun”, people. If you miss your exit on the roundabout, you can literally circle for hours before you get the next chance to find your “exit”. A wee bit of an exaggeration, but not by much. Traveling the Ring of Kerry exponentially increases your chances of a harrowing life experience, because it is not only autos that travel these narrow, winding, climbing roads with huge drop offs into the ocean. It is also ENORMOUS tour buses that share the bike-lane sized roads. Because, The Ring of Kerry is one of the most well-known tourist attractions in the Northern Hemisphere, if not the entire world. Again, a wee bit of an exaggeration, but only “wee”.
Jim and I have visited the Ring of Kerry twice, by tour bus both times. So we are well-aware of the harrowing roads. You would think that 2 college educated individuals would have the good sense to not try to drive the Ring of Kerry on our own. Oh no, that is not the stuff that Jimmy Flynn and I are made of!
So, we embark on our drive of the Ring of Kerry, Part 1 (the Ring can be done in 1 day but really, it takes at least 2 days if you want to see it all at a leisurely pace). The first town on our self-guided tour is Glenbeigh, which is a very small town. If you blink, you will miss it! Glenbeigh is home to Rossleigh Beach, 5 miles of golden sand and white-cap waters. There is a beautiful old hotel here, where we are told many weddings take place and on the main street (about 2 US city blocks), there are at least 5 or 6 pubs. Some of them are what I lovingly call “dueling pubs”. that is to say, they are literally right next to each other, sharing a common building wall!
Your honor, I present Exhibit A: The Dueling Pubs! You can see the locals enjoying the “fruits” of both as they sit on a picnic bench situated directly in the middle of the 2 Pub locations. By, the way, I think that this might represent the entire male population of Glenbeigh!
Anyway, we had a lovely lunch in one of the other quaint pubs in Glenbeigh – yes, you guessed it, located directly across the street from the Dueling Pubs! And, these are the other 2 local residents you see here in this picture!
The fun continues when, lucky for me, I have to use the “toilets” at the Glenbeigh pub where we had lunch, It truly was lucky because I encountered a most fabulous sign hanging between the door to the Gents and the door to the Ladies. Now, you know how much I love a good sign!
So, to the left here you will see the sign between the two toilets. Clearly, the Irishman who came up with this little ditty was more than just a “hat rack”!
Ah, my liberal and liberated heart sings!
By the way, “toilets’ is the proper terminology, not bathrooms, ladies room, etc. Just Toilets, plain and simple.
From Glenbeigh we drove on to the town of Cahersiveen. This is a fairly large town and its location on an estuary of the River Ferta made is a market town in its day. There is one long street going in an out of town and it is lined with shops selling beautiful wools and Irish lace and porcelain. There is a beautiful Catholic church here, The O’Connell Memorial Church. It is named for Daniel O’Connell, known as the Great Liberator. He is so known because he gained full religious freedom for Catholics in Ireland and campaigned vigorously for Irish independence from GB. He was a well known orator and lawyer, remembered for his “performances in the law courts”. This Catholic Church is the only one in Ireland which is dedicated to a layman.
Another famous citizen of Cahersiveen was Monsignor Hugh O’Flaherty who lived in Rome during World War II and is known for having sheltered and repatriated thousands of allied prisoners. He is buried on the grounds of the O’Connell Memorial Church.
We had a great lunch at Camo in Cahersiveen and did a little window shopping after lunch, where we found an incredibly well-stocked wine store with some beautiful Italian and French wines. Aloha on the Move!!
Well, that was enough of the Ring of Kerry for one day. We decided to head back to Killorglin before we got too tired to drive back. The stop after Cahersiveen is Valencia Island and we are told that you can spend a day touring around Valencia so we decided to save it for another day and so off to another adventure tomorrow!
Killarney Brewing
It will also come as no surprise to you that we visited the local Killarney Brewing & Distillery location which included a full tour of the brewery. It turns out, this brewery was started by 3 young entrepreneurs in Chicago, IL! Talk about aloha on the move! They started this brewery in 2015 after a series of brainstorming sessions that took place at a local Chicago pub. In Ireland, craft brews represent about 3% of the market. In Chicago, craft brews represent over 20% of the market. So, they thought, let’s capitalize on the craft brew business and bring more of the market to Ireland, where at least one of them had roots in Ireland. Off to Ireland they went and 7 years later, they have grown to the point that they were able to open this $30 MILLION operation which includes a huge dining area, retail, private conference rooms, a full brewing and distillery facility and an outdoor space to sip beer while you gaze upon the beautiful mountains. It is really stunning. It has capacity to produce 4 million pints of beer a year! Here are a few photos of our afternoon at Killarney B&D.
Below, I am being schooled on the beer making process….
Given the strong Chicago, connection, there is an entire room dedicated to Chicago (The Chicago Room); check out the posters. One is advertising Elvis doing a show at the Chicago Civic Center in 1957!. The other poster is a famous line from Chicago Cubs great, Ernie Banks, #14, “let’s play 2” and referred to playing a double header. We did a tasting in the room that is designed after a Chicago Speak Easy, which was really fun.
I am not a big beer fan, however, I have to say that this brewery makes some darn good beer.
After the tasting it was back to Killorglin to chill for the night. Ireland is very tough on alcohol and driving and so decided to get back to home base after the tasting. Is it possible that we are actually maturing in our old age? What???
There are so many things to do in Killorglin and the surrounding area! I’m beginning to wonder if 2 weeks is enough time to experience all of the beauty of this land, with its lovely people and customs, not to mention it’s ancient history. Tomorrow we are going to visit Killarney National Park before we try tackling another round of the Ring of Kerry.
For now, it’s time to get a Shepard’s Pie in the oven before Himself gets “hangry” and I find myself on the wrong side of the River Luane embankment! Sure, because that could happen in real life. Ha! The real truth is, I’m ready for a glass of wine and so,
Slainte mahaith, my friends, (a drinking toast in Ireland, which when translated means “good health”!). Sleep well and may the faeries keep you safe, until tomorrow!
Killarney National Park
We have been told that Killarney National Park is a “must see” so off we go! Killarney National Park is about 10,000 acres of beautiful park located in the city of Killarney. Killarney is a beautiful town on the shore of Lake Leane, one of the largest lakes in Ireland and has as its backdrop the MacGillycuddy Reeks, the tallest mountains in Ireland. The town has about 15,000 residents, tons of restaurants, shops and pubs galore. More on Killarney later. In the middle of this bustling city is this amazing and beautiful property, Killarney National Park. The entrance to the Park is unassuming and really, you could miss it if you were not told to be sure to visit. Inside of the 10,000 acre park are Ross Castle, Muckross House and gardens, Muckross Abbey, and Torc Waterfall, to name a few of the many things to see in the Park. .
On our first visit to the Park, we walked almost 4 miles roundtrip and all we were able to see were Muckross House and its gardens and Muckross Abbey. By the way, “muckross” means pig wood. Don’t ask. I have researched every Wikipedia page out there and no one clearly states why the name “Muckross”.
Carry on…The Park used to be the Muckross Estate, which is why the Muckross House and gardens are nestled in the middle of the Park. The House is a Victorian-era mansion and was built in the 1800’s by a local politician and his wife. It was eventually sold to an American business tycoon who donated it to the Irish state in the 1930’s, presumably because he could not pay to keep it up (a little event known as the Depression a wee impact on his portfolio!). Legend has it that he donated it to the Irish state because he reasoned that the government would always have the money to keep it up. Hmmmm….. Fast forward to today and you will pay a fee to go in to see the inside of the Muckross House. Fearing it would dip into our beer-drinking allowance, we bypassed the tour of yet another old manor house. We probably would have found out why it is called the Muckross House!
The Muckross Abbey was a Franciscan Friary built around 1400 AD and was fully operational until the Cromwellians persecuted the Friars and left the Abbey in ruins. Today, the Abbey is without a roof however, the walls are still standing and you can walk around the entire building and get a real feel for where the monks ate, slept and attended Mass and prayers. It is really very cool to experience. There is also a graveyard outside the Abbey which we were told holds the burial site of a number of prominent Irish poets. Not sure how poets ended up being buried in the ruins of a Franciscan Abbey. It’s Ireland and perhaps the faeries made it happen! The non-aloha in me surmises that there was a fee to be buried there, providing another source of revenue to upkeep the house. Please note, walking through the Abbey is free. Hence, our visit to its interiors!
Another cool site at the Abbey is the Yew Tree growing right in the middle of the building! As an aside, the Yew Tree is native to Northern Europe. It can grow to heights in excess of 65 feet and has dense foliage when in full bloom. This is an important fact to keep in mind as this drama unfolds.
Ancient legend associated the Yew Tree with death and doom. Given the fate of the Abbey at the hands of the Cromwellians, it is rather interesting that a Yew Tree began to grow right in the middle of the building. Given that these trees grow to be about 65+ feet (remember important fact above?), if the roof was still in place on the Abbey, there would be no Yew Tree growing in the middle of that Abbey. Death and Doom, I’m just sayin!
The picture captures the roofless Abbey building and the aforementioned Yew Tree sprouting up to the sky.
This brought us to the end of our 2 mile, one-way hike. Now we have to get back to the car so we can get to the pub as the Guinness is being delivered! Ready, set, go!
Until tomorrow Dear Diary. Aloha will be on the move to more of the Ring of Kerry and exploring daily life in Ireland. Jim reports there is a rainbow to see outside!. Always looking for the pot of gold, that one! One of the many reasons I love this man. Slainte!
Ring of Kerry: Part 2
It is a very chilly day, rainy and there is fog hanging around the mountains. A beautiful day to stay indoors, read a book and cook a big pot of pasta while drinking some delicious Italian wine. Now, this is what most people will do on a day like this, especially when said people are unfamiliar with their surroundings. Have I introduced you to Debra & Jim Flynn???
Himself announces that he doesn’t want to sit in the house all day – let’s go for a ride. Well, okay then. Let’s go for a ride. He suggests we tackle the next leg of the Ring of Kerry and “tackle” is a very good use of a verb in this case. The further one travels away from Killarney along the Ring, the more remote and wild it becomes. There is a significant part of the Ring of Kerry that is designated one of the 14 stages of the “Wild Atlantic Way”, the longest defined coastal route in the world (1,600 miles). The overlap between the Ring and Wild Atlantic Way is about is about 16 miles long. It is 16 miles of edenic beauty with a highway that is not much wider than a bicycle lane. The drop-offs from these scary cliffs into the wild ocean waters below will make the most iron willed person white knuckle it all the way. And, if it is a rainy, chilly day outside, plan for low hanging fog that makes it impossible to see more than a few feet in front of you. The only redeeming factor here is that the fog makes it difficult to see how far you will fall if the car goes over the side of the mountain. So, there’s that going for us.
Back to the road for a second….the road in this part of the Ring is a one lane road that allows for 2 lanes of traffic. This brilliant feat of road building engineering requires that if there is a car coming towards you, one of you has to pull over to the “side of the road” and allow the oncoming intruder to pass you. The speed limit on these one lane roads is 80 kilometers per hour (roughly 50 mph) and the road sign is a “squiggly” arrow for most of the drive. Now recall please the said drop-offs and guess what happens when the oncoming intruder is suddenly upon you? You pull over to the side of the road and pray that you do not misjudge the edge of the road. If you do, you are plummeting into the freezing waters of the Atlantic hundreds of feet below and I promise you, there is no Search & Rescue opportunity here. Add a little dense fog to the mix and even the most atheist at heart is praying for his immortal soul. After 30 minutes of white-knuckle driving experience, I start to think about my husband’s suggestion that we tackle the next leg of the Ring of Kerry. So, I promptly advise him that I have informed everyone of my whereabouts and that if I should mysteriously disappear, they will know where to find my body. He just laughs and now I’m really nervous!
Suddenly we break through the fog and on my left is one of the most beautiful sights I have ever seen and on my right is the 2nd most beautiful sight I have ever seen! One is a force of nature and the other is a CHOCOLATE FACTORY!!! Whaaaat????
This beautiful force of nature is known as St. Finnian’s Bay, It is located on the Skellig Ring, which is a Ring at the southwest portion of the Ring of Kerry. It is absolutely stunning. Even on a fog-filled day, one is in awe of the romantic dance being played out between the cliffs and the wild Atlantic as they come crashing together.
You can see in the photos here that portions of the cliffs are shrouded in fog. The scenery is something right out of an Emily Bronte novel.
Well, except for this chocolate factory, which would be totally out of place in an Emily Bronte novel.
By the way, my posting of this silly picture of my dear husband at the Chocolate Factory is an act of total revenge for his scaring the daylights out of me with his driving on the harrowing Skellig Ring road. It is not an act of Aloha, I will admit and so for this act of sweet revenge, I will go to confession tomorrow. In the meantime, let it be known that Hell hath no fury like that of a woman scared by her husband’s driving. And might I add, he is damn lucky he stopped at this Chocolate Factory!
Now, on to the details of this chocolate factory. It is located in this very remote area of the Skellig Ring on the Ring of Kerry, with nothing around for miles and miles. It is brilliant marketing because the remoteness works in its favor. First, the Ring of Kerry is the most visited tourist attraction in Ireland by many accounts. So Skellig’s is visited by thousands of people a year. Second, by the time you reach the Chocolate Factory, you are in need of a break from the harrowing drive! Nothing soothes a stressed-filled soul like a delicious treat, Coupled with the fact that their artisanal chocolate is divine, they are the “only game in town” makes the Skellig Chocolate Factory a roaring success! We walk in and the atmosphere is delightful. The chocolate making is on full display, there are places to sit and enjoy a hot chocolate and a large artisanal chunk of chocolate while staring out at St. Finnian’s Bay through floor-to-ceiling windows and absolutely nothing to obstruct your view of the stunning bit of nature at play.
But the wonders do not stop there. Right next door to the chocolate factory is something resembling a Food Truck called the Driftwood Surf Cafe & Farm Shop. It is located on the hillside, overlooking the magnificent St Finnian’s Bay and the Skeelig’s Chocolate Factory. There are picnic tables spread throughout the property and set with napkins, silverware, little candles. The locals will all tell you that Driftwood serves “proper” food, meaning it is really good and worth the your time. Its remoteness adds to its charm and the view is second to none.
We did not get a chance to dine at Driftwood as we were both too full of the chocolate from next door. It is at the top of our bucket list however. So our next trip to the Skellig’s Ring will include a dining experience at the Driftwood and most likely, a well-paid car service to bring us there and back. This will be cheaper than the divorce that will likely play out should I be the passenger in any car my husband is driving on the Skellig’s Ring! LOL
Following our chocolate feast, a lengthy photo opp and promises from Jim that he will drive with the care that he swears I am worth, we make our way back to Killorglin with the plan to finish our Ring of Kerry experience the next day. We have a reservation for dinner at a restaurant in town called 10 Bridge Street, which is in an old, repurposed church. The ambiance, food and wine list are supposed to be 5-star worthy. We also plan to visit one of the local pubs after dinner where we hear they serve a mean Guinness and will have live music.
So, until the next chapter in our Ring of Kerry experience, so long from St. Finnian’s Bay!
Ring of Kerry: Part 3
It is a beautiful day in Killorglin – sunny and 65F. A rare beauty of a day so after attending Mass at St. James Church (next door to the Aloha House), we head out for what I hope will be our final drive on the Ring of Kerry. Of course, at the time I had no idea how wrong I was. More to follow.
We head out to visit the remaining “must see” sights on the Ring of Kerry. However, we first make a wee little diversion to see the small beach town of Cromane, which also has a large harbor and is host to a number of large fishery concerns.
The beach is really beautiful and huge. On this particular Sunday afternoon, it is deserted for the most part and so you can really appreciate the vastness and beauty of the area. Beside it being still rather chilly, it is Sunday just after Mass has ended and so the lack of attendance at the beach is understandable. There is just one hearty, Irish soul sunning herself while enjoying the solitude and beauty all around her.
We drive a bit further and at the end of the road is one of the funniest sights I have yet to see. In the absolute middle of NOWHERE is a little round wooden structure. We park the car to get out and explore this little structure. Low and behold, it is a SAUNA! What in the Sam-hell is this thing doing here?? There is literally nothing but sand and the ocean anywhere in sight. We approach slowly to explore further and sure enough, it is a sauna! There is no contact information, hours of operation, or any sign of life anywhere. We are amazed and come to the conclusion that the faeries must own the sauna for their own pleasure and are not to be found because like all good faeries, they are off visiting the Church on this lovely Sunday morn. Just an aside, we went back to Croman on Tuesday to check out the harbor further and the faeries’ sauna was gone!!
After staring at the ocean and beautiful mountains a bit longer, we continue with our original plan to tour the remainder of the Ring of Kerry. We head south to visit Valentia Island, which requires a crossing via Ferry. It is a short distance across from the main Ring road to Valentia Island, costing approximately $12 per car and takes about 5 minutes. The Ferry can transport about 12 cars at a time. Once on Valentia Island, there is much to see. It was from this island that the first transatlantic cable was laid. After several failed attempts, in 1858, an American ship and a British ship met in the Atlantic and successfully joined Ireland and Newfoundland via transatlantic cable. It is a fascinating story and if you ever get to this part of the world, be sure to pay a visit to Valentia Island to learn more about the history of this island, which is being reviewed as a site to be included in the UNESCO’s World Heritage List.
After tooling around the Island for a bit longer, we head back on the Ring of Kerry road to our next stop, Waterville.
Waterville is a delightful town filled with lovely B&Bs, a grand hotel, pastel and primary colored buildings that dot the main road like a box of crayons! it sits on the seashore of Ballinskelligs Bay and is known as a fisherman’s haven. It is also home to a championship golf course and for more than 10 years, was the annual playground of Charlie Chaplin. He was a very well-known and famous figure in town during his day, although the locals will tell you that he acted just like “one of them”. He was not a famous movie star while here, he was a family man, a community advocate and said to have genuinely loved Waterville. There is a bronze statue of Charlie in his beloved “tramp” gear erected in the main plaza. The area is worn by footprints of people posing for a picture with Charlie over the years. Charlie has the distinct honor of being positioned near a bronze statue of the famous Mick O’Dwyer, a beloved Gaelic football player and manager, thought to be the greatest manager in the history of the game. Mick was born in Waterville and approaches sainthood in the opinion of the locals. While we did not get a picture with the likeness of the great Mick O’Dwyer, being a star-struck Hollywood groupie, I had to get a picture with Mr. Chaplin. It’s one for the books for sure! Perhaps the next Red Carpet event??
Waterville is really a must-see. We did not have time to do this while we were there, but we hear that Charlie’s Restaurant (named for Mr. Chaplin) has great food. It sits across the street from the waterfront with a spectacular view of the ocean and mountains.
Our next stop is Sneem, a little village known for its bohemian flair. There are galleries galore, artist studios, sidewalk artists, little cafes and a host of beautifully painted buildings along the main road. We did not have time to stop in Sneem this time so it is on the bucket list for the next trip to this part of the Ring road. It looks to be a delightful place to spend the day sipping cappuccino and carrying on maximum people watching; a few of our favorite things to do!
We are approaching the end of the Ring of Kerry, with just a few more “must see” sights when out of the corner of his eye, Himself spots a sign that reads McGill’s Brewery. I thought I was going to go straight through the windshield as he hit the breaks to see what this might be all about. Pulling over, he jumps out to investigate. I am still trying to “right” myself and untangle my arms and legs when he returns to announce that we absolutely must see this brewery. I beg and plead and swear to make 10 of his most favorite meals in a row if he will agree to visit the brewery on another trip. Tomorrow, perhaps? he proposes. And this is how this “last trip” on the Ring of Kerry Road ends up being not the last after all.
Sigh…
Carry on! So, we finish the long, long day with a visit to the last 3 sites on our list; Ladies View, Torc Falls and Molls Gap.
Molls Gap is the highest point on the Ring of Kerry Road between Kenmare and Killarney. One more narrow road to travel (or so I think) and it is so worth it. There are breathtaking views of beautiful lakes, views of the MacGillycuddy’s Reeks and Peakeen Mountains laid out at one’s feet. As legend has it, a woman named Moll Kissame regaled tired travelers with an illegal homemade spirit as they passed through the gap back in the day, and so it was named Molls Gap. Much to our chagrin, there was no sign of old Moll as we passed through on our way to the Ladies View.
Ladies View is another stunning vista to behold and is considered to be one of the most beautiful viewpoints on the Ring road. The thing I most noted about the visit to Ladies View, besides its beauty, is the fact that the viewpoint is extremely tight, with your car wheels being literally on the edge of the road as you pull in or try to back out to leave. Either way, 0ne slight misstep and it’s “good night Irene”…. Another white knuckle event for Herself (me).
Back to the beauty of Ladies View. This is relevant because legend has it that when Queen Victoria visited Ireland in 1861 and traveled to Killarney, she and her entourage stopped to view the beautiful sights. Her Ladies In Waiting were so “gobsmacked” by the beauty of the sight, it was named Ladies View, after them. You can see for yourself why they were so enchanted with the view, and the pictures cannot even do it justice. If only it were a bit safer to visit! Now, I cannot even imagine Queen Victoria travelling up to this elevation on this narrow road in a carriage. I really don’t know a horse alive who would agree to traverse this rough terrain! By the way, gobsmacked sounds like they got hit in the head, doesn’t it?
Torc Falls is another amazing sight and happens to be in the Killarney National Park, the end of the Ring of Kerry and a mere 20 minutes from our flat (wahoo!). To reach the Falls, one has to park and take a short hike up about 60feet (cardio workout of the day!). The waterfall is about 350 feet long and is formed by a river with a very long name which drops into the Devil’s Punchbowl It is less that 5 miles from the heart of the city of Killarney and one of the main attractions in the Killarney National Park. I was afraid to inquire as to the “Devil’s Punchbowl”…
Enjoy the view!
Torc Falls Killarney National Park
Ring of Kerry: Finale!
I promise, this is the last story about the Ring of Kerry! Remember the brewery that Himself spotted requiring a hitting of the brakes and a near death experience of me flying through the window? Perhaps you will recall that I promised to make his 10 favorite meals if we could postpone the brewery visit to another day? Well, he remembered. Go figure. He usually doesn’t “recall” anything I say. But this one, he definitely remembered. So, I’ve been busy cooking and he got busy planning the visit to the brewery. Honestly? I’m glad he did because it was a great experience and a delightful afternoon meeting Joe McGill, proprietor of McGill’s Brewery.
Joe McGill, like Jim, started out as a home brewer. He has moved upward, albeit is still considered a small brewery. Small and mighty because he makes a mean beer! Joe had a very successful career in broadcasting as well as marketing, with several impressive degrees under his belt. To this day, he is a part time news journalist and newscaster on the local radio station, Radio Kerry. Joe recently, and very publicly, challenged himself to learn Gaelic in 12 months. I will talk about this mysterious language is just a bit. Back to Joe. He comes from a rather large family and just about everyone, including Mom McGill is involved in the business. The brewery is committed to very high standards in craft beer making, focusing on freshness and quality of product and process. The brewery makes 3 beers year-round with 2 additional, more seasonal brews. He delivers his beer himself and stays within a 15 mile radius of the brewery. Beers are bottled and labeled by hand. He has recently started doing tours and tastings in his one room brewing operation.
The tour is quintessential Ireland – sit around, drink good beer, learn all about the process of McGill brewing and listen to fabulous stories. If you don’t know this, I can assure you that the Irish are some of the best story tellers in the world. We learn that each beer is dedicated to a local hero and/or legend. So in addition to being high quality, each beer tells a story and they sure do taste good! If you are in the “neighborhood”, stop by and say hello to the McGill’s and you might just get the chance to hear the stories yourself and sample some great brew.
After 2 hours of great fun, learning about McGill’s passion for making beer and tasting some of that fine beer, we leave with our own 6-pak and a picture with our host. We are both happy to have met Joe and wish him and his brewery a ton of good luck. Joe laughingly shared with us that some days he wants to rule the world and other days he is quite happy with the way things are today. Whichever way they go, we just hope Joe keeps making his great beer.
Slainte, Joe! See you next trip around the Ring.
Joe McGill, me & Jimmy Flynn
Dingle Peninsula & Connor Pass
As the name implies, the Dingle Peninsula is a peninsula (duh). It ends around the town of Dingle, near what is known as Dunmore Head, the westernmost part of Ireland, jutting out into the wild, almighty Atlantic. From where I sat in our little car, the peninsula is one big mountain range. Ireland’s second highest mountain (Mount Brandon) forms a ridge offering views to die for, almost literally, and Conor Pass is the highest mountain pass in Ireland. Let me repeat this, Conor Pass is the highest mountain pass in Ireland. It is not only the highest pass in Ireland, it is likely also the most narrow. It is a one lane road which is forced to accommodate traffic going up through the Pass as well as traffic coming back down through the Pass. If you are traveling up this narrow mountain ridge and a car is coming down at the same time, you stop and look at each other through your respective windshields. Then, using age-old methods of eye-to-eye communication (do not take your hands off the wheel), you decide which of you is going to move over into the mountain side and which of you is going to pass while hugging the edge of the road and inching past the car hugging the mountain. This is 100% true: coaches and motor homes are not permitted on Conor Pass because the road is not wide enough to accommodate anything larger than a small car. When I tell you that there has never been a better case made for Depends, I kid you not (you know I was dying to say “I sh*t you not!).
Now we set out this morning with the goal to see the town of Dingle and have some lunch. The peninsula is beautiful and Dingle Town is very lively and fun, both of which we wanted to experience. The thing is, there are 2 ways to get to Dingle Town. As you travel along the carriageway, there is a fork in the road. Go left and you reach Dingle without need for the proverbial adult diaper. Go right, and well, read the paragraph above.
Guess what? We miss the signs in the fork in the road and we took the fork to the right. Of course we did, we are The Flynn’s! About 1/2 hour in, we are climbing up, up and away. Jim says: “I think we (we? what’s with the “we”? I am not the one driving!) may have messed up back there. We (again, with the “we”) probably should have stayed to the left and taken the highway.”
Well, at the end of the day, we saw Conor Pass. We also saw some amazing views, along with the eyeballs of a number of drivers traveling back down through the Pass. Each time we ran into one of these stand-offs, I assured Jim that if he did not choose to hug the mountain side while the other car inched by on the edge of the mountain, the next meal I made for him would be filled with his favorite rat poison. Thank the Dingle Peninsula goddess that Jim is so food motivated! By the way, just as an aside, Dingle is named after an ancient Irish goddess.
We did manage to catch some great photos and a few videos of our Conor Pass adventure. Here are just a few. Oh, and we did make it to Dingle. I drank the biggest Guinness they would agree to serve me! Slainte!
Connor Pass photos. Anyone else curious about the 2 lonely sheep 3,500 feet up on a steep ridge???
A fond farewell to Killorglin: A Day of the 3 Churches
St. Mary’s Cathedral, Killarney
Our time in Ireland is drawing to an end. Our last day is very rainy and so we decide to visit the one spot we had not yet crossed off our bucket list – St. Mary’s Cathedral. The Cathedral sits right in the middle of Killarney and is an imposing piece of Gothic architecture, to be sure. Construction started in 1842 but was halted by the famine, lack of building funds and so on. The final spires were completed in the early 1900’s. It is an amazing combination of gray and brown stone and gorgeous stained glass windows. I am simplifying it by far and pictures cannot do it justice. The one thing that struck me most about the cathedral is the simplicity of its interior. I later learned that in the mid-1970’s, the interior underwent a somewhat controversial renovation took place wherein much of the Victorian stonework was replaced with more modern materials. The photo on the left is a picture of the magnificent pipe organ. The photo below is a picture facing the main altar.
10 Bridge Street
We wrapped up our Ireland experience with Mass at St. James in Killorglin followed by dinner at our most favorite restaurant in all of Kerry, 10 Bridge Street, a fabulous restaurant built inside of a grand old church (our 3rd “church” of the day!). Our hosts, Cliodhna Foley & Adrian Mulvhill, really know how to do it right. They renovated this lovely old church into a hip and happening restaurant and, according to the locals, have been serving amazing food and wine here for the last 18 years. We could not believe our good fortune at finding such a top-notch dining experience in the small town of Killorglin (population ~2300). This is the kind of food and wine you enjoy at the better restaurants in Chicago! We ate dinner here twice while in Killorglin and both times we were impressed with our meal, the wine and the service. Clodhna has been in the hospitality business her entire career, with extensive experience in wine. She picks all of the wines served at 10 Bridge Street. We sampled 4 of her choices; she certainly knows her wine! The food is elegant and the wine list is well-curated. If you visit this part of Ireland, be sure to stop in and visit Cliodna & Adrian and stay for dinner. You won’t regret it!
So far, we have stayed in 2 small towns, Chipping Norton, England and Killorglin, Ireland. In both of these towns, we were fortunate enough to find top notch dining. No slant against the greats in Chicago, New York, London, and so on; however, we now know that you do not have to travel to the big cities to find great food, excellent wine and grade A service. You can find all of these in the smallest, most unlikely, tucked away places if you are willing to stray from the beaten path. We highly recommend taking the diversion!
Living Local with Aloha
The two things we hope to accomplish on this trip, is understanding what it means to live like a local and to try leaving an “aloha” spirit wherever we go. Immersing oneself in another culture is both enlightening and humbling and can also be great craic, as the Irish say.
The official language of the Republic of Ireland is Gaelic. However, as a part of the English colonies for many, many years, all of Ireland speaks English for the most part. However, there is a real focus in the Republic on restoring their native language. It is mandatory for all school children to learn Gaelic, the grammar and nuts and bolts of the language along with conversational Gaelic. All street signs are in English and Gaelic and you often hear Gaelic spoken around town and in the pubs.
What we are finding in our travels is that knowing how to say hello, please, thank you and farewell is the key to being a polite and welcomed visitor in most countries. So I looked into saying a few words in Gaelic,, such as Good Day, Thank you and Please. Oh boy. Talk about humbling AND good craic! The pronunciation has nothing to do with the spelling of any of these phrases!
For example, take the greeting Dia dhuit (“good day” or “hello”). I would say “dee ah DO it”. Not close – it’s actually pronounced “dee ah gwit”.
“Thank you” is “Go Raibh Maith Agat” and is pronounced “gur riv may aht”.
“Please” is “Cead Bhur Lae”, pronounced “kyad vur lay”.
Seriously? Is it really necessary to use 4 words to say 2? or confuse old people like me with making sure the spelling and pronunciation have nothing in common?
Well, here is the thing about trying to be polite by learning some of the basic phrases in any language. If you happen to be lucky enough to pronounce one of these phrases like a “native”, there is an assumption that you are conversant in the language resulting in your “good morning” being responded to with a series of sentences which make no sense to you. Your dumbfounded look will quickly give you away as a one-trick pony. So, be sure to learn how to say “that’s all of the Gaelic/Spanish/French, etc. that I know” and say it immediately after you say “good morning”. like a pro. Alternatively, you might mispronounce the words for Good morning. It is then that you need to quickly pray that your mispronunciation does not come out sounding like a swear word insulting someone’s dear old mom. If your version of Good morning is met with a scowl, quickly say IN ENGLISH, “I am sorry, I don’t know any Gaelic/Spanish/French.” Assuming you have not just unintentionally said something very crass in your attempt to say “good morning”, you will be schooled in how to properly say “good morning” in the native language. And this is how you live aloha on the move!
Now, you know I cannot turn the page to France until I tell you about a few of the signs I saw that are really good craic!
Take a look at this one plastered on the front of a building in downtown Killorglin. First of all, check out the name of the company and then look at what they are selling! Loos is selling loos! But that’s not even the funniest part of this marketing campaign. The tag line that toilets are for all year around – NOT JUST CHRISTMAS. What does that even mean??? I laughed so hard, I cried. You absolutely cannot make this stuff up. It is priceless.
John Loos & Partners
Then there is the Dog Fouling sign. Are you thinking what I’m thinking??
More fun living local….
So when we first checked into our apartment, I find an interesting looking device which I think is a clothes press. Something like a steamer. Upon closer inspection, I discover it is a hair dryer. You are to dry your hair with the end of the hose. This is NOT going to happen. Next morning, we go to town and buy a proper hairdryer. Get back to the apartment, unpack it and give it a spin. Success! Jim takes the empty box out to the recycle bin. Low and behold, there are THREE identical empty hair dryer boxes in the apartment complex recycle bin. Turns out I wasn’t the only one challenged by the strange looking device built into the bathroom wall. So I let the host (owner of the apartment) know that I, along with 3 other guests in the apartment complex, have purchased a real hair dryer. He advises that he will have to send his sister over to inspect the hair dryer to ensure that it meets fire code standards! Now the interesting thing about this part is, you cannot plug anything into a bathroom in the EU except an electric shaver, which has specially designed plugs into which nothing else can fit. So, you cannot use the hairdryer in the bathroom. I am left puzzling where the “fire hazard” comes in. But doesn’t matter, the dryer passed inspection and my hair looked better than a pair of pants just recently pressed.
A final thought
There is so much to learn from the people you meet who are the inhabitants of the country you are visiting. The Irish are fun loving people. They are easy to get to know. They are tough and they roll with the punches (they refer to their war of independence from England as “the Troubles”!). When they meet you, they want to get to know you and where you are from – so if you say “Chicago” for example, the response is “my 3rd cousin, Mary Sullivan lives in Chicago, do ya know her?” (there are at least 2M women named Mary Sullivan in Chicago!) and by the way, “are ya related to the Flynn’s from Cork?” It doesn’t matter the answer, they will welcome you with open arms and tell you a few stories about cousin Mary Sullivan and the Flynn’s from Cork!
They take life in stride and live slow and easy. I saw a sign in the local Cathedral which I though summed up everything I learned about the beautiful people of Ireland. It was my favorite sign of all!
Slow Me Down, Lord…..
