Day Twelve: Dingle Peninsula

Today was our last day in Ireland! We started the day continuing to test out the scones across the entire country. Then we walked around town a bit, and went out to sea! We took an ecotour around the Blasket Islands (where no one lives anymore (?) except for some donkeys) and saw Risso’s dolphins, lots of common dolphins, a couple of minke whales, and some seals. We finished off the evening with a fresh fish dinner and traditional music at one of the churches in town. As we were packing up, we were treated to an awesome sunset above the town!

Day Eleven: Skelligs and Dingle

Today we left early to head out on the boat to the Skelligs. There were so many puffins flying around and nesting up on the islands! The little Skellig is home to the second largest gannet colony in the world, and it was like being in the middle of a Planet Earth filming. On Valentia Island, we saw the oldest known tetrapod tracks in the world (I’ve circled them for your viewing convenience because they just look like holes in the rocks). We then drove up and around to Dingle, where we went to see the pier at sunset.

Day Ten: Ring of Kerry Pt I

We left Kenmare this morning to start our Ring of Kerry drive! Over the hills and around curves we went. The scenery is beautiful, and we stopped at quite a few overlooks and beaches. We also stopped at Daniel O’Connell’s house, which, if you don’t know who he is, you haven’t been paying attention during Irish history walking tour lessons! On the dunes around his house, there are endangered natterjack toads that live in giant burrows and there were some gannets circling the bay. Once we turned toward Portmagee, we could see the Skelligs (right out the door of Skillegs Chocolate, where we obviously stopped for a free tasting and some souvenirs that may or may not make it to the airport). Our last stop for today’s half of the Ring of Kerry was the overlook at the Kerry Cliffs (where we saw both a seal and a kestrel) and Portmagee for dinner.

Day Nine: Killarney and Kenmare

Today was a good day to drive back over towards the west coast. On the way, we stopped in Killarney National Park to check out the Torc Waterfall and get out in the fresh air. Once we arrived in Kenmare, we went to the museum where we learned all about (world-famous, fit for the Queen) Kenmare Lace. We also walked to see the Kenmare Stone Circle (the largest in the south-west of Ireland and made during the Bronze Age.)

Day Eight: Kinsale

We spent the day in Kinsale today, initially starting off on a historical walking tour. Our guide, Barry, was awesome and told us about everything from the sinking of the Lusitania to the pirate Anne Bonny (the inspiration for Elizabeth Swann in Pirates of the Caribbean) to Alexander Selkirk (the inspiration for Robinson Crusoe). We then went on a harbor cruise to take a look at the two forts, Charles Fort and James Fort. For dinner, after a recommendation from a cute seal to try the fish, I had monkfish, which was delicious.

Colors of Kinsale:

Day Seven: The Town That Shall Remain Nameless

So Dad has an aversion to Kilkenny, the town, since it sounds a bit on the scary side for anyone named Kenny. Before we went into town, we went on an impromptu tour of Lawcus Farm (complete with chicken subway) and the house castle that Mark (who should be the most interesting man in the world) is building (with his own bare hands. based on plans he drew. in three years. with random stuff he’s collected.) We took a quick tour of Kell’s Priory (not to be confused with Kell’s Monastery where the book of Kells is from). Then we went to the town that shall remain nameless and took a walking tour that helped complete some of the gaps in our Irish history knowledge.