8/15 -- Explore the Dingle Peninsula

We set off in the fog to visit beehive huts and the Blasket Islands Museum with an opportunity to take an afternoon walk.Our first stop featured feeding motherless lambs and looking at the ancient beehive dwellings on the property. Aodon is a former sailor who is raising sheep, but really surviving on making his home a B&B and running a tourist attraction.

We started out with the lambs, whose mothers either died, had no milk, or couldn't support triplets. They all seemed DESPERATELY hungry for their milk bottles. One I fed sucked so hard that he pulled the nipple off the bottle. It was misty and cold out, so we stayed in the lamb shed and asked a ton of questions before moving on to the stone beehive shaped homes. The theory is that there were a lot more stones than trees in the area, and that drystone construction was dryer and cozier than mortar-based construction would have been. The home we entered had no roof any more (it might have originally been thatch) but it had 3 rooms and a storage area under one room. Then we repaired to Aodon's  tea and cake shop for tea or coffee and more conversation. He showed us photos from the movie, Ryan's Daughter, which was filmed here and another with Tom Cruise hugging Aodon's grandmother during the Irish part of Far and Away.

My first turn at feeding

Holly and a lamb

Aodon and Tom (right) feeding a lamb

The lamb shed

Complete beehive hut

View to a second room from the main one. The slot is the
storage area entrance.

The main room

Entrance to the other secondary room. Elizabeth was short
enough to get in. Looked a bit problematic for me.

The main room, lookjng toward the entrance

From the outside

Artist's rendering of probable village appearance.

Aodan's home and B&B

Then we headed out to the farthest west point of Ireland, Slea Head, and the Blasket Islands Museum through the continuing fog along the coast. These three pictures were taken when the fog was a bit less dense. Just wait for the second pass on this route (down below) for the true beauty of the coast.

When Holly talked about it, I thought I heard 'Blasted' Islands. They are 3 miles off the coast but look much closer. The largest was inhabited from the 13th century to 1953 when the aging population could no longer support themselves in the harsh conditions. The 1920 census counted 160 people living there -- a very simple life without electricity or running water. Transport to the mainland was in 20 foot row boats whose oars were nearly paddle-less. During the famine years, (1945-1850), they did relatively better than the mainland. However, young people started to emigrate to the US and send home photos of a life the locals could hardly imagine. As more young people left, life on the island became unsustainable. When they were evacuated to the mainland at the end of 1953, there were only 2 boat crews  left. Now the island is tourist stop with ferry service. We watched a movie about the island, which was an important center keeping the Gaelic language alive when the British were trying to kill it. After lunch, we went for a 3 mile hike on the peninsula toward the islands.We started off in fog and increasing rain, and I was ready to call it quits and shortcut back to the museum when the fog started to lift and we finished the hike with wonderful views of the area.

While we were in the museum, the fog lifted enough to actually
SEE the main island, but it got worse by the time we started
our hike.

Above and below: Transport boats to the
mainland. A light frame of wood was covered
with canvas and tarred to make it watertight.

A better view of old farm tools we saw yesterday.
The left one is for cutting peat. The right one
digs up potatoes

The village above us as we start up.

There are many old houses among the modern ones.

Nothing much to see here except Jim getting wet.

As the fog finally starts to lift, you can see an island out there.

The coast line looks a lot like California.

Finally it cleared enough to see the houses.

We climbed several stiles on our walk. These were modern,
metal, and slippery with the rain.

 

My turn on a stile, with a buff to cover my
ears and hair.

Coming back toward the valley and the end of our loop.

Our bus driver volunteered to take us around to the start of the route we had taken in the fog to see the landscape in all its natural glory, which was totally worth it.

This beach, which we couldn't see at all before, was a key
scene in Ryan's Daughter

What should have been our first view of the Blasket Islands.

The peninsula in front stood in for Skellig Island in a
subsequent episode of Star Wars. Apparently the crew was
not careful the first time and damaged monastery artifacts.
The three hills in the top right were named the Three
Sisters when a farmer's three daughters didn't marry
and their father made the hills an inheritance for each one.

Back in Dingle, we had time to ourselves before meeting up for dinner at the BoatYard, yet another fish place. I had a fish cake and chicken because I am started to get fished out, but Jim said the hake was great.