Day Seventy Eight: Doing the Dingle

Thursday, August 16, 2007 During breakfast I had the opportunity to sit with some folks from Wisconsin who had completed seeing the Dingle peninsula yesterday. It seemed that the weather had been localized to the extent that it appeared lousy here at the B&B and was nicer further west onto the peninsula when they made their run. It also looked equally as poor this morning, but with my time running out in Ireland, bold measures were required. Rain or no, it was time……to do the Dingle!

Needing to run into Killarney, I decided to upload my data at the internet café there as opposed to using the one in Dingle. The management there did not like folks uploading photographs on their system, and were restrictive in the practice when enough customers started bogging down the bandwidth. Be it far from me to be a bandwidth bandit, so I figured it would be best to use another internet café.

After arriving in Killarney I was fortunate to find a parking space on the street near the internet café, and ran in to upload my files. After reviewing my entry one last time, I was going to upload the photos first before posting my text. However, in my haste to hit the road this morning, I forgot to transfer the files onto my memory stick. Well, it seemed I was going to have to hope that the Dingle café would be understanding enough to forgive me for stealing some bandwidth. I did not want to have a backlog of files to upload, especially with the anticipation of obtaining several photographs on today’s scenic drive on the Dingle peninsula.

After stopping by my room on the way back from Killarney, I made my way into Dingle and had much difficulty finding an available parking space near the internet café. The streets were absolutely packed with people and cars, as it seemed that the town’s tourist population had swelled considerably with the end of summer in sight. As such, feeling like a true native, I decided to park on the sidewalk in a double-yellow-line zone. It seemed that when in Ireland, if there was a sidewalk, there was a parking space… period!

Uploading my files in record time, I was on the road again but stopped at a deli to grab a quick snack to eat in the car, before charging out onto Slea Head Drive. Anticipating some slender, winding roads, I was not going to attempt to drive and eat at the same time, even though driving had become more relaxing now. It only took a few minutes to inhale my chicken and chips and I was on my way.

As I was heading out of the service station lot, I saw a man with a dog and donkey heading into town. The donkey was loaded for bear with a white sign on its pack that said, “Slow” and the gentleman looked quite weathered in his loose garb and floppy hat. Judging from his beard and length of hair, he had not been groomed in some time either. It seemed that I could add another creature combination to the list of things that shared the roads of Ireland.

Before I go into the trip, let me advise you with a critical piece of information to remember when cruising the Dingle Peninsula; drive the loop clockwise! The reason for this is simple; that is the direction the tour buses go. Let me explain.

The roads are very narrow at some points in the loop, and only one vehicle can pass at a time. This required cooperation among drivers in which one had to assume a passive role and accommodate the other. As such, it seemed that there was this unwritten rule that who ever is bigger, DOES NOT BACK UP!

So if the driver of a car encountered a bus, guess who has the onus to pull off or back up? If you said the bus, you will find yourself rotting in your car waiting for it to get out of your way. Having said that, I will consider my readers fairly warned.

As I had expected, the drive was a narrow two-lane road without a shoulder, with only enough room for opposing traffic to pass ever so tightly. Fortunately, there were several pull-offs along the way to allow drivers to stop and get out to view the scenery and take photographs. It was also comforting to see the buses going the clockwise direction, making me feel like I had the right information.

Having been in Ireland for the last three months enjoying the pristine scenery, the first few kilometers were pretty ho-hum for me, except for the occasional coastal view of the surf pounding the rocky shores. There were even some beehive-shaped, stone houses supposedly from prehistoric times, which added a nice touch to the scenery. There was, of course, an admission to view them, so I decided to grab a long-distance photo.

It seemed that every household on the peninsula had a shingle hanging for some kind of enterprise, so it would be hard to validate sites that were not a part of a government agency. It may sound cynical, but when there is a feeding frenzy on tourism, I expect everyone wants a piece of the action.

The drive went from “Ho-hum” to “WOW” in short order as I neared Slea Head. The road became rough and snaked along the rocky edges, with shear drops just off the side of the road. Fortunately there were stone barriers to keep the unwary driver from an early demise. With driving speeds at a crawl on the dicey road, it was easy to see why it was crucial for traffic to be going a consistent direction. Encountering opposing traffic at this juncture would make for quite the frustration.

Once around the head, the road opened up some but still required caution. At what seemed liked the apex of the drive, was a white statue of the Crucifixion with three women standing at the base of the cross. There were no placards to be seen to explain the ensemble’s purpose. Having read about the many shipwrecks in the area between Slea Head and the Blasket Islands just off the coast, I supposed it may have been a memorial or beacon for ships.

Heading back around the north side of Slea Head, I was glad to see more pull-offs, which allowed me to stop and take some photographs of the magnificent scenery. The views were picturesque and I imagined that many painters found inspiration from the beautiful landscape. There were a couple of beaches along the way, and I could see some swimmers and surfers taking advantage of the active surf.

Once around the head, the road moved inland somewhat and began a turn back to Dingle. Before driving into the town’s roundabout at the east end, I pulled off to look at my map to see if there was any more to the peninsula other than the Slea Head Drive. It looked like the R560 heading out of Dingle covered the rest of the northern half of the peninsula, so I continued through town to find the roundabout on the west end, where which the R560 could be met.

As I entered the eastern roundabout, I saw a green sign that said Connor Pass but no markings indicating the R560. Using my reasons of deduction and comparing the map with the roads around me, I figured that this was the way to go. Since being in Ireland, I had to use some creative navigation skills, with the occasional gut feeling, to find my way. It seemed to be paying off, so I went with the road to Connor Pass.

As I reached the edge of Dingle, I saw a white sign with an arrow on it that pointed down a road, indicating the way I wanted to go. As I passed the sign, having to jog my course a bit, I noticed that some vandals had modified it by using a large marker to add an “S” to Connor and covered over the letter “P” in Pass with some white paint. So it seemed that I was going to be driving my rental car up Connors……..Alrighty then, on to the next paragraph.

As I ascended the mountainside, which was barren with the exception of grass, stone walls and the occasional livestock, I could see the summit in the distance as the road crested and apparently traveled down the north side of the elevation. I could not wait to get at the summit to stop and examine the view from what appeared to be the highest point in the region.

Stopping at the summit to take some photographs and a short break, it was easy to see the town of Dingle to the southwest and the town of Castlegregory on the northern coast. When standing on the north slope, I had to be very careful of the shear drop along the side of the road. Looking down, there was a commanding view of the landscape of fields and lakes below.

After taking a few panoramic shots, I climbed back into the car and continued on down the north slope. Cutting back toward Dingle on the N86 after reaching sea level, I found a sign-posted short cut to Inch that would put me on the road to Boolteens. After a short jaunt I was on the road that would take me back to my B&B.

Having started the Dingle tour around the noon hour, I completed the run in about five hours, which included the stop at the internet café, a quick lunch and several stops along the road. It would have easily been a day trip, had I stopped at some of the tourist traps along the way, but for me the pleasure was to just………do the Dingle!

To see more photographs related to this post go to the Photo gallery and click on the link for “Dingle Peninsula.” Please note the IMG_####.jpg files are in high resolution to enable clearer enlargement.