Kinnitty to Cahirsiveen

    Our next day dawned bright and hinted at actually clearing skies. We ate a fantastic homemade Irish breakfast, and planned our route with the help of our hostess. Today we were headed to the Ring of Kerry. Christina told us that a GPS was fine, but don’t trust it. We found out why. Seems that there are a few new roads that the GPS didn’t know about. In fact, even the paper map we had didn’t have all the roads right! So we learned to use the GPS to guide us basically from town to town and kept a close eye on the map to make sure that we weren’t going too far astray.  Also ran into another little “glitch” today. The last time we traveled to Ireland, we were mailed paper vouchers for each night’s stay. We in turn gave these vouchers to the B&B’s so they could get paid. This time, we were told that the confirmation number that we had was equivalent to the voucher number and we just needed to give that to the B&B operators. Surprise!!! Wrong answer!! Since it was still the weekend, Christina said that she would call the main offices Monday and get things straightened out. In the meantime, she trusted that we were honest and victims of the system. Very nice lady. 

    The drive itself was very pretty. The countryside was rolling hills and farmlands, much like the Ozarks in Missouri. We came across an interesting sign in Moneygall (Christina told us about it so we looked it up). Seems that President Obama has Irish roots! This sign traces his connection to the village. Who knew??

    Another small village along the way is Adare. It is known for it’s brightly colored shops and Irish gardens. 

Notice the real thatched roof on this place and the end of the row of shops above!

    We stopped briefly at the Kerry Bog Museum. This is a small set of homes recreated in the style of the past. There was a blacksmiths home, Town Thatcher (who was a skilled tradesman and one of the wealthiest in the village), general laborer, and farmer.

    Outside each of the homes, there was a big pile of Peat for heating. Inside the homes, there were working models of life in yesteryear. 

    We stopped for a while at Glenbeigh Beach (beaches are also called Strands in Ireland). Here we walked along the shoreline and watched the waves of the North Atlantic crash ashore. There were a few brave souls who donned wetsuits and were actually surfing! 

    We left Glenbeigh and went up over the mountain pass to get back up on the Ring of Kerry Road. We stopped briefly to look back at the beach and got this great panorama.

    Now the Ring of Kerry is a road that encircles the Iveragh Peninsula in the southwest corner of the country. It starts and ends in Killarney and shows the traveler a new, breathtaking view at every corner (and there are hundreds of corners!!!). One of the cutest sights this time of year is to check out the herds of sheep and see all of the new little lambs. If you’re lucky, you can catch them jumping and playing like only lambs can do. Pull off to the side of the road and stop, you can listen and hear them calling out to each other (and to their Mothers)!

Some more of the Ring...

    We arrived at our B&B with plenty of time for exploring the local sights. I had sent an email to the proprietor, Kathleen O’Sullivan (an Irish name if I ever heard one) when we made the reservations. When we got there, it turns out that they really didn’t plan on opening until the first of April, but Kathleen said that our note was so nice that they decided to open early, just for us! The home was situated on the banks of the inlet where the Atlantic Ocean comes in to Cahirsiveen. 

Here’s the view from the back yard. 

At the edge of town there is a castle called Balleycarberry. There is no OSHA in Ireland. This old castle just sits in the field, and you can climb all around it (at your own risk of course). It’s amazing to wander in the spiral stairways and come into the great hall, knowing that hundreds of years ago, someone lived here.

    The cathedral in town is the only one in Ireland that is named for a lay person! It is named for Daniel O’Connell who was the leader in the fight for Ireland’s independence.  Begun in 1884, it commands the view as it sits in the center of town. 

    After a quick supper, we retired to the sitting room to read and relax (pictured below). From here we watched the sun set over the hills and into the Atlantic.