Final weeks

28nov06

Out to Dublin City for a farewell dinner, with drinks in the country’s smallest pub, Dawson St Lounge…you enter straight onto narrow spiral stairway to this basement setting, the size of a large bedroom and very cozy…ladies loo has pipe from the street above for fresh air, and a large padded cushion mounted to ceiling above toilet to buffer bumps on the head…lost on me, since I wasn’t tall enough for it to be a factor Then out to The Café Bar Deli for dinner and conversation…wonderful!

11-29nov

Full steam ahead at the Ballyfermot site, completing as much as possible before heading home to the states November 30. While there is still work to be done, much has been accomplished, and the recipient family will move in after the new year...

6-10nov

Edge of the World Vagabond tour to the SW quadrant of Ireland…

10nov

Foggy start and blustery winds…up to Dingle Cobber Pass Ireland’s highest road overlooking Brandon Bay and some of the longest beaches in Ireland…fogged in while there, clearing as we descended with points of light like giant photographer’s spotlights over the landscape. On to Fonyle Strand and Tralee, home of the largest working windmill in Europe…listened to Billy Connelly (Scottish comedian) on the drive back to Dublin via Limerick.

Terrain changes significantly peninsula to peninsula, from undergrowth and ground cover to fern/gorse/holly/blackberry brambles to rocky as you move north. Lush valleys lay out between low mountains, outlined in the irregular patchwork of stone walls and pasturelands, some straight down 70 degree slope, some up to cliff edges, some with an almost crop circle type look.

Fall colors in muted hues of brown/rust/gold brightened by bright red holy berries…nature’s garlands…Adare for lunch and a look at the abbey there Port Laoise/Rock of Dunamare…Dublin

Multiple shades of green defined, punctuated by opulent manor houses and modest cottages throughout. There is a sameness to home construction in this area, similar to saltbox construction in the states, much with block and concrete sill inserts that look a bit like headers on the wrong end of the window : )

9nov

Portmagee…breakfast croissant w/Brie and bacon (Irish style, more like Canadian bacon)…stopped in the hills for the view (clear day!!)…Killorghin…Currantophill in view, the highest mountain @ 3440 ft. Castlemain/Dingle Peninsula…Inchstrand (beach) huge and beautiful…Annagap/Annascaul lake and waterfall for lunch, encountering a herd of sheep coming down as we walked up into the hills to lunch and munch…Sleahead Drive the most westerly point in Europe, at one time known as “the edge of the world” and a spiritual center of sorts as well, with stone “beehives” scattered throughout the countryside…monks lived them as much as 1500-2000 years ago…corbelled construction (like the innermost part of passage tombs), waterproof and virtually indestructible, albeit a bit nippy and quite small…Blasket Islands with one ostensibly like the outstretched figure of Ireland’s Finian McCool sleeping : ) Coumenoole Beach…Dunquin waves crashing 15-20 feet in the air fanning out like Rockettes’ feathered costumes...Brandon Mountain in full view, though normally rarely out of the clouds…a treat given lost views on the first 2 days due to weather…multiple stone walls dividing pasture and farmland are a result of property division by descendency…aside: Irish were “means” tested to determine qualification to vote until the 1970’s...another aside: some believe the Irish were the true discoverers of America (see St Brandon’s book Navigatia (Ireland 638 AD), and Gavin McKenzie’s “1421” (China 1421 AD), and “Key of Hyrum” …circled Dingle Peninsula and back into Dingle for the night, with shopping and live Irish music to cap the trip before heading back

8nov
Bear Island…7 miles long and hosting several Martello Towers, an early warning system network against the French in years past, both here and on the mainland…the mast of an old refrigeration ship sunk between the island and mainland in one of the world’s largest natural harbors lends a certain nautical mystique (and no doubt a somewhat problematic navigational challenge at low tide)…Healy Pass thru Caha Mountains…Kenmare for a wee bit o’ shopping…90 minute hike along Kerry Way, an old track from Kerry to Killarney…thru Killarney National Forrest…Moll’s Gap…Lady’s View Lakes…Sneem for ice cream…Derrnone Beach...near Daniel O’Connell’s home; a peaceable Ghandi type person who broke new ground in Ireland as the 1st Catholic in Parliament…Portmagee overnight at The Moorings…a superb sunset closed the day

7nov
Low mist and cool all day…the most spectacular views of sea and mountains in IE lurking behind a veil of mist all day : (

Clonkilty to Bantry to Glangariff (Gaelic for rocky glade, short walk there) to Bearra Peninsula red limestone/rocky mountain peninsula to Adrigole sea kayaking with swans, heron, huge seals as accompaniment. Sit on top style boats resplendent in wetsuits and booties…calm, overcast, magical…on to Castletownbere for lunch at McCarthy’s Bar (featured on the cover of a book by the same name)…Puxely’s Manor/Dunboy Castle, the former being renovated into Europe’s first 6 star hotel, the latter now ruins, but with a distinct star shaped outer wall still discernible, cutting edge configuration at the time to allow better vantage for cross fire…beautiful location though mountains remained hidden from view in the overcast. O’Sullivanbere… copper mining area at one time… Ballydobegan for “Vaga-ball” (a variation on beach volleyball) and tea on the beach…took the high road back, all views still hidden in clouds and mist…very like a novel or what one might imagine Ireland to be like in some romantic novel ...thru old copper mines (when depleted many went to Butte Montana in the US to mine there!)… abandoned a cable car trip to Dursey Island due to mist…Bear Island by “ferry”, a small boat that can accommodate 4 vehicles and a dozen passengers at a time…islanders have a second freight ferry to transport goods, and often have a car there and one on the mainland…no taxes on the island, and no Garda (police)…stayed at The Admiral’s House once housed British admirals stationed there, now a hostel…remote island, pop 200, held by Britain due to strategic placement until 1939 (despite Ireland’s independence in 1922)…family style meal in the sitting room with a coal fire while watching the movie Michael Collins…had the house entirely to ourselves…

6nov

Dawned crisp and foggy opened the tour….Dublin through Kildaire….public grounds and racetrack; horses are the largest export from Ireland…65% of Braveheart filmed in the fields here (despite the fact that it’s a Scottish story!!)…geography lesson…IE formed 400,000,000 years ago, up from the sea…32,000 sq mi (about the size of WI)…600 mi S of Artic Circle…on the Gulf Stream, with a warm moist nautical climate…connected by land bridge to England until 9000 years ago… originally all oak forest, though now only 3% of the island is treed…much was cut for ship building in Europe to the tune of roughly 100 acres of forest per ship (WOW!). As the Emerald Isle, it is now the least forested island in Europe….Abbeylocks…small market town where barmen still wear white coats (a bit like butchers coats in the US)…

More history…when the land bridge disappeared, that “capped” (i.e. limited) the species on the island…Neolithic (New Stone Age) man was the first here. …pre Celtic…then Celtic 3500 years ago as first invaders…they formed 100’s of kingdoms versus a single united country…the Roman “non-invasion” was next…they came, decided it was not their thing, and left, making it possible for the Celtic population to survive in Ireland despite its demise elsewhere…St Patrick entered the scene with his Welsh/Roman background and birthed the Celtic Catholic (versus Roman Catholic) church (aside…St. Patrick’s Day is a religious day in IE, no green beer or parades…that’s an exclusively American iteration)…when Rome fell IE became a center of education (science/farming/etc.) with multiple monasteries, in large part because IE was not incorporated as part of the Roman empire…Vikings were next in 795AD. They ruled for 200 years, bringing with them (among other things) the concept of cities and towns…Ireland’s Brian Boru united the country against the Vikings (although Viking methods were adopted: 1st monetary system, expanded Gaelic language, red hair!!...Celts were dark)…he was beheaded @ the largest battle in Clonnaught, where lines were drawn between the Irish and pagan Vikings. Boru was the first high king of IE….Aside…the 3 leaf clover represents the trinity=3 entities, all parts of a whole. Very cool.

Lunch in Galtry Mountains of Tipperary….Cork and Blarney Castle and Stone….beautiful grounds and surroundings…Clonkilty, home of Michael Collins, for the night @ MacLiam Lodge… …dinner at Emmet Hotel…traditional Irish music at DeBarra Pub; Jimmy Hendrix’ drummer Noel Redding played there for years…black currant Guinness (the “girly” version, sweet and filling, like a dessert!)