8/13 -- The Gap of Dunloe

We took a short bus ride to Ross Castle where we caught an open boat for a ride through the 3 lakes we saw yesterday from above, where we had lunch and then walked and rode a horse cart through the Black Valley to the Gap of Dunloe and on to Kate Kearney'sCottage for an Irish Coffee and a bus ride back to the hotel.

Above and Below: Ross Castle -- from the road and the lake

 

The Black Valley was apparently so named because it didn't get electricity until 1979. Sixteen families live there and there is a primary school (thru 6th grade maybe) with 14 students and 2 teachers. Students who continue their education have to go to Killarney, a 1.5 hr bus ride away.

Our boat driver, Patrick, was full of stories and frequently slowed the boat so he could expound. It definitely made the 2 hour ride more interesting than just steaming across the  lakes we had seen yesterday from Ladies View.

Our boat. This early, the temperature was in the 50s and it
was breezy. Several ladies donned water pants just for warmth.

I have a fleece on under the jacket and need the hood to
keep my ears warmer.

Lough (pronounced Loch)  Leane (the Lake of Learning)

Approaching Innisfallen

We decided to stop at Innisfallen and explore for a bit among the ruins.

First view of the monastery remains.

 

A yew tree at the front. Probably several hundred years old.
One of several revered trees in old Ireland, and used for bows.
They. are also very poisonous.

This kind of knarled trunk is common in yews.

Jim in front of an old gothic style chapel.

Chapel up close. The center piece is a cross
found in the lake.

Back on our way, we passed through bridges and the next two lakes and a five mile long river between two of them. The water get pretty shallow under the bridges. The first time, Patrick had all of us move to the front. The second time, we got off and walked and Patrick got stuck on the rocks, til a deck hand on a following boat got out and pulled him through.

The darker rock marks a higher water level.

Patrick stuck (above) and rescued (below)

Patrick had plenty of tales. At first, he told them to the men,
who were the ones in back and could hear him. After our short
walk around the bridge, the men encouraged the women to take
the back. Apparently, we weren't attentive enough and were
chided a few times.

This is elephant rock. It was behind me from my boat vantage
point, and I was probably a little late with the photo, but you
can see the trunk in the front.

We reached Lord Brandon's Cottage in time for lunch along with a mob of other visitors. Lunch was simple: soup and sandwich, and then we walked to the nearby horse carts which were due to take us the 7.5  miles to Kate Kearney's Cottage. I was shocked that the driver not only had the horse trotting, but also cantering. Because the way up was steep in one part and too challenging for the horse to pull all four of us in the cart, we had the thrill of a 1.3  mile uphill walk.Luckily the hills where we live are steeper, so it was comparatively easy.  Our cart had  left quite a bit after the first two, but we totally caught up to the second one, thanks to our trusty steed, Georgie.

The horse carts were on the other side of this cool bridge.

Candy, Dan (back to us), and Tom in the first cart to leave.

Holly (our illustrious leader), Georgie, and Jim.

Waterfall on the left, with one of the few homes. Most
are widely separated.

Ruined places like these are known as "famine cottages" because
the owners either died or moved during the great potato famine
in the mid 1800s. Before the famine, over 8 million people lived
in Ireland. At least a million starved and 3-4 million moved to
places like the US, halving the island's population.

Our uphill hike. Due to our greater hill experience, we led the way.

Above and below: looking down on the lakes we saw
yesterday from Ladies' View

Because many farmers' sheep graze free in the hills, they are
commonly marked with a vegetable dye that survives the
weather, but washes off. Most only have a single dab,
unlike this one that is all pink with a dark splotch.

This is the Gap of Dunloe, the space between two sets of
tall hills.

This guy was high up the hill alone, apparently looking
for choicer grass.

We walked a bit here too, because the downhill was too
steep for a loaded cart.

This is one of the  more psychedelic markings.

At the end, we stopped at Kate Kearney's Cottage and were rewarded with the beverage of our choice and I picked the Irish Coffee, which was terrific -- carefully made (not the mass production process of San Francisco's Buena Vista -- and topped with whipped cream. Kate Kearney was a beauty who created a "mountain dew" beverage in the years before the famine and was famous as well for her hospitality.

On our journey back to the hotel, we passed the main Killarney Catholic Church. It was started in the early 1800s, but building ceased during the famine and it became a workhouse for the starving. Holly was asked if the Protestant churches in the area assisted the majority Catholic population -- the Protestants demanded people convert before they would be helped and the desperate ones who chose this option were scorned by the rest of the Catholic population.