Killarney Area and Dingle Peninsula (in pink)

Our original plans had us driving along the Ring of Kerry (the peninsula just south of Dingle). However, we decided to take the less-traveled road along the Dingle peninsula instead (shown above). After driving across the country, the idea of meeting lots of tour buses on a tiny road didn't appeal to us!

Our first stop along the Dingle drive.

Another stop, what a view!

A panorama of the countryside.

Here's a video clip of the countryside. Warning--for those of you with dial-up service, this file will take a long time to load!

Click to play video clip of this view (1.5MB, MPEG format)
Can't view it? Download QuickTime.

An amusing trio of shots. Notice the cows in the third shot are all looking at David!

The next few pictures were taken at Doonmanagh Castle. The Fodor's book had absolutely nothing about this place; we only knew it was nearby because it was on our atlas. It was one of those surprising treasures that we love!

The view from the castle.

A picturesque creek nearby.

This place wasn't really "freely accessible". Maybe that's why it wasn't in the Fodor's book.

The owner apparently wanted to make the point, "If a thousand-year-old rock falls on your head, don't blame me!"

I believe this is Dingle, the town. Notice the green and yellow flags hanging over the street. The All Ireland Soccer Championships were just about to take place and every town and county had their flags flying! Green and yellow was for County Kerry's team.

Just a couple driving shots. These roads were actually very wide. When there was a yellow line painted on the edges, you knew that the road would at least fit two cars. It was when there were no yellow lines, and sometimes not even a white one in the middle, that you had to worry. I didn't take too many pictures of those roads, because I was always busy holding my breath!

Notice the thick vegatation on the side of the road. It was so thick that you couldn't pull over to get out of the way when a huge tractor came down the road! You just had to look for a driveway to pull into.

This pretty horse was guarding the entrance to Dunbeg, an Iron Age promontory fort. His owners stayed in a little hut to collect two Euros from each tourist. Nice little income!

Our pictures don't show this very well, but right through this arch is a small area at the end of a triangular point. If the attackers got beyond this protection, there was nowhere to go but down, right onto the rocks.

View to the right from the point.

Below is the view to the left. You don't quite grasp the size of these cliffs until you notice that there is a person standing on the flat rocks in the upper right hand corner. See him? The next picture shows him clearer.

In the picture below, David is posing beside a prehistoric "beehive hut." Built of unmortared stone, these cells were used by hermit monks in the early Christian period; some 414 exist in the local area.

That's the Dingle Bay in the background, which opens into the Atlantic Ocean.

Finally got to use that timer! (Camera is sitting on a prehistoric beehive hut!)

I couldn't stop taking pictures of the cliffs! Aren't they beautiful?

More countryside.

Sheep grazing on the edge of the hill above the road.

This is the Connor Pass. It passes right through the middle of the Dingle peninsula. It was very high, very beautiful, and the road was very small! No lines! That means it's not really wide enough for two cars. And I mean two European cars (no Yukons here, folks)!

Thank God there weren't any tractors!

"Oh, no! Here comes a car! Look for cover!"

A bit of an artsy sheep picture.

Whew, we made it over!

Here's a strange site. Check out these rocks. We're not sure if this was a business or someone's home, but we had to turn around to get a shot of it. Pretty cute!

Back to the hotel to freshen up. Then we headed into town for a good old pub dinner, where we were waited on by a young man from San Francisco! Small world.