The Dingle Way: Cloghane to Fahamore

Wednesday, 21 September 2022 (10.8 miles)

A glorious day of walking along a wide beach.

Looking back up the River Owenmore towards the pass we crossed yesterday.

Oystercatchers were commonly seen birds.

This gate-in-the-wall reminded me of The Secret Garden (which I read as a child).

Dead birds were a common sight on the beaches for the last two or three days. Avian flu is a huge problem this year.

At low tide, Fermoyle Strand is a very wide beach. We spent most of the day (10 km, 6 miles) walking along this beach.

The wind was very strong today, and wind-surfers were plentiful.

The wind was strong and spray from the waves was significant. By the end of the day my glasses were almost opaque from salt deposits.

More waves and spray.

Ditto.

While we never encountered rain, back on the mainland it looked quite wet!

More rain behind us.

Sandpipers.

An interesting wood figure along the top of the dunes. It was next to a geodesic dome that served as a private shelter on the beach.

This area was the only place where we saw Sea Holly (Eryngium maritimum). It's easy to see how it got its common name.

A great way to end the day - a rainbow at our evening's B&B in Castlegregory.

We had an arranged transfer from Spillane's Pub in Fahamore to our B&B in Castlegregory with Mary, the taxi driver.

Overnight at the Castle House B&B in Castlegregory. Good room. Fabulous breakfast. Thank you, Sheila!

The Dingle Way: Glin North to Cloghane

Tuesday, 20 September 2022 (7.4 miles)

Today we "wimped out" and took the short route into Cloghane. We had to make a choice between a 13-mile over-the-mountain-pass route, or a 7-mile over-the-lower-pass route. While I thought I could make the 2500-ft climb on the official Dingle Way, it was the steep descent over stone steps that made me re-think that route. Even so, we had a 875-ft climb to get over the pass.

 

Looking back on our ascent up to the pass.

Lon near the pass. As you can see from these photos, we followed a power line most of the way.

From the top of the pass to Cloghane, we followed a valley that was popular with fishermen for having both lakes and streams.

A small stream near where we connected with the road into Cloghane.

Rock and heather.

These impressive horns must be impeding his eyesight!

Cloghane is a village at the base of Brandon Point.

Overnight at the O'Connor's Pub & Guesthouse, where Micheal, the proprietor, will tell many entertaining stories and exhibit a real Emmy statuette. The room is fine and the food is good.

The Dingle Way: Ballyferriter to Cuas

Monday, 19 September 2022 (13.3 miles)

Nary a hill to climb today!

After returning to Smerwick Harbour from Ballyferriter, the first part of the day was more beach walking.

The beach along Smerwick Harbour is not entirely sandy.

We opted to visit the Gallarus Oratory - about 1 mile each way off the Dingle Way. Along the way we passed Gallarus Castle - under restoration and not open to visitors.

Gallarus Oratory is the best-preserved oratory (small church) in Ireland. It has stood intact for over 1200 years.

Sue in the east-facing door.

The inside of the oratory showing the stone work and the small, east-facing window.

After returning to the Dingle Way, we continued to walk along the shore, most of which was rocky cliffs. Lon thought that this striking patch of algae looked like a green waterfall.

All roads lead to Dingle. You can get there directly, or you can take the scenic route. We walked about 20 miles to get here from Dingle, but by road it's less than 8 miles!

We turned inland at Feohanagh to get to Cuas. The farm road we were following clearly forded the creek here, but fortunately, we could follow a path alongside the creek for a short distance to get to ...

... a road bridge, where we could cross the creek without getting our feet wet!

Overnight at the lovely Imeall na Mara B&B (Seashore House) in Ballydavid, which we passed about a third of the way into today's walk. After having dinner in Cuas at the An Bothar Pub, we got a transfer back to Ballydavid.

The Dingle Way: Glanfahan to Ballyferriter

Sunday, 18 September 2022 (13.5 miles)

The westernmost section of the Dingle Way has it all: moors, headlands, hills, beaches. Our day started with the steep climb back up to the Dingle Way from the Old Irish Farmhouse.

The Blasket Islands are off the westernmost point of the Dingle Peninsula. They can be reached by ferry from Dingle or Dunquin. The Great Blasket Centre is a museum on the mainland that tells the story of these islands. We did not view the exhibits because we didn't feel like spending an extra hour or two on our feet in a museum. Probably our loss.

Pastures and stone walls near Slea Head.

A closer view of the stone wall complex in the bottom left corner of the previous picture.

The northernmost Blasket Island, Inishtooskert, is also known as the "Sleeping Giant" for it's resemblance to a large sleeping head in profile when viewed from the mainland.

The Louis Mulcahy Pottery near Clogher is famous for its unique (and beautiful) items - all hand thrown.

The Atlantic Ocean and Sybil Point in the background.

The Three Sisters.

Another beach walk, this time along Smerwick Harbour.

Overnight at Ceann Sibeal Hotel in Ballyferriter, not quite a mile off the DingleWay, inland from the beach. Good accommodations and food. (We certainly didn't lack for good food on this trip!)

The Dingle Way: Ventry to Glanfahan

Saturday, 17 September 2022 (7.4 miles)

A short day of walking. Our travel company, Hillwalk Tours, arranged for us to be transported about 5 miles west of Dingle to Ventry for the start of today's walk, bypassing a long section of road/highway walking. Ventry is a small village on the next harbor (Ventry Harbour) west of Dingle.

We had our first taste of beach-walking today. Walking on firm sand is a joy! Much better than pavement or rocks.

Sometimes the path is too narrow for even a tractor. But it's never too narrow for mud and livestock!

The western end of the Dingle Peninsula is littered with archaeological sites. A panoramic view of the "ring fort" we visited along the way. While called a "fort", it really just protected a single household.

Looking back toward Ventry and Dingle Bay.

Typical moor crossed by numerous stone walls.

While never a problem, we encountered livestock (mostly sheep) along our way.

Looking back towards Ventry. Ventry Harbour is the inlet near the middle of the photo.

The gate that leads to our night's lodging, the Old Irish Farmhouse. It was a steep 175-ft descent to the farmhouse and the main highway.

Clochans (Beehive Huts)

Clochans (or beehive huts) were built starting around 1000 AD, presumably to house monks and pilgrims. The clochans around here and on Skellig Michael (a small rocky island just off the coast) were used in filming Star Wars: The Last Jedi.

A large 3-room clochan is on the property of our B&B. Most of the older structures have lost their roofs, which may have been made from stone or thatch.

The huts were small, with very short doors.

Looking through the door, across the central room, to the door of the far room.

The property also had several "modern" clochans, built for farm use in the late 1800s. These still had intact roofs.

Lon beside another "modern" clochan.

Looking up at the roof from the inside, you can see how the stones were corbelled to make the roof and leave a ventilation hole.

Overnight at the Old Irish Farmhouse B&B. Rustic, but great atmosphere. Self-cooked/served breakfast, but plenty of choices available. Since walkers have no access to locations that serve food, the host, Aedan, provided a hearty, delicious Irish stew dinner.

A Day in Dingle

Friday, 16 September 2022

Dingle is the main town on the Dingle Peninsula. It is a center of tourism with its shops, restaurants, and attractions. We took the opportunity to get our laundry done, do some shopping, walk around town, and attend a folk concert in the evening. But the highlight of the day was visiting the birds of prey at Kingdom Falconry. Our private experience lasted about 90 minutes, and we got to see peregrine falcons in action, then get to have a Harris hawk, barn owl, eagle owl, and golden eagle perch on our outstretched (and heavily gloved) arm.

The first peregrine falcon was not very cooperative and liked to annoy the falconers by perching in/on trees, bushes, and this chimney.

Slow-motion video of a Harris hawk coming to Sue's arm.

Lon with a barn owl.

Lon with Gonzo, an eagle owl.

Sue with Gonzo. Those orange eyes are striking!

Gonzo flies to Sue's arm in slow-motion. I was a total failure at trying to video the birds landing on Lon's arm - either switched to "time-lapse" (high-speed) mode or it didn't focus.

The golden eagle weighed about 8 pounds - very heavy! It's hooded to keep it calm.

Lon with the golden eagle.

The talons on the golden eagle could do real damage!

Afterwards we got a tour of the aviary where the birds are kept. There are several more birds besides the ones brought out. This is a gorgeous snowy owl.