THE RING OF KERRY

BY Roy Lanphier-Osborne

I have been travelling to and from Ireland now for about twenty-five years, since the time I met and married my wife Denise who comes from a small place called the Horse and Jockey (Yes, I did say “place” – it’s not a pub), which is about five miles outside a little town called Thurles on the main Dublin to Cork road.

We have travelled extensively in Ireland from the Gaelic speaking Gaeltacht outside Navan in the North, to Galway in the west, Waterford on the East coast, and Kerry in the South, and a hundred and one places in between. On our last excursion we went to the Dingle Peninsula which is on the South West coast and juts out into the Atlantic Ocean, our destination being the Blasket Islands which is the most westerly point on the map of Europe.

We stayed in a small hotel in Dingle, which was quite reasonably priced, and the hotel restaurant specialised in seafood. Not surprisingly, Dingle is a fishing port and my first meal there was so fresh it almost swam off the plate.

Dingle Hotel

The route we had decided to take is known as the Ring of Kerry, which takes in the Conor Pass, and it has some of the most spectacular views of the Mountains and Lakes in the whole of Ireland. Every corner we turned opened up a new vista of pictures waiting to be taken.

Our first stop en-route was to a small museum of Pre-historic artefacts with many fossils and carvings on display and an actual mammoth’s skull.

Along the route there are many excellent watering holes where you can indulge yourself with a great selection of homemade soups, bread and cakes. Seafood is always on the menu, and of course the traditional bacon and cabbage served with colcannon which is mashed potato and cabbage with onion mixed into it.

Enough about food, let’s get back on route. As we headed towards the Blaskets we could see that the weather was becoming a little more overcast, not a good omen as we had hoped to take a boat out to the islands and we knew if the weather was bad the boat would not sail. Unfortunately, when we arrived our worst fears were confirmed – it was too rough to sail. The boatman explained that if we did get out and the sea turned dangerous we could be stranded there for two or three days, if not longer. So we decided to photograph them instead. One of the islands is known as the sleeping man for obvious reasons (see picture).

Sleeping Man

There is a museum you can visit dedicated to the people that used to live on the islands. It was fascinating to see the way they lived and worked and the hardships they had to endure to eek out an existence. The community spoke only Gaelic and many Irish poets and writers went to live there to experience the peace and tranquillity of the place.

Undeterred, we set off again. The next place we arrived at was a Pre-historic settlement of beehive huts. These buildings and walls were built without a dollop of mortar between the stones yet they still remain intact to this day. Take note, Mr Barratt!

Beehive hut

By now the light was starting to draw in, as we continued on our way, and we were rewarded by a spectacular sunset sinking down behind the mountains and into the Atlantic Ocean.

The last leg of the journey, and we were back at the hotel for, dare I say it, another fantastic three course meal, before heading off into the Irish mist for a gallon of Guinness and Irish malt whiskey accompanied by the strains of the Uilleann pipes and fiddles playing traditional Irish music.

If anyone reading this should decide to take a holiday to Ireland, I would whole heartedly recommend taking a trip down to Kerry and the Dingle Peninsula to find out for yourselves what great photographic opportunities await you.

Sunset

Please send any comments to Roy