From peninsula to peninsula…

We continue our journey north, this week with Bantry Bay and the Beara Peninsula, and we leave County Cork (it might not seem like it, but it’s big!…) to reach County Kerry, and therefore, the peninsula of the same name… And on the way, we go back to a more… Irish weather…

Sheep’s Head…

Okay, so, to fully understand the situation, you have to imagine a very small winding road that reaches the coast after 2 km, and opens onto a small pebble beach behind which the tide forms a small lagoon where a swan and a whole family of ducks (ducklings included) paddle peacefully… You then have to imagine a small path between the beach and the lagoon, just wide enough to pass with Marvin, sometimes covered with grass, sometimes with pebbles, and which leads to the other end of the beach, where there is a small, relatively flat, green grassy promontory, set there, facing the bay, as if alone in the world. That’s where we settled, right next to the village of Kilcrohane, with all that space to ourselves, right on the water’s edge… All of which probably explains why we stayed there for three nights (a first since the beginning of our adventures) with, as a bonus, a walk to the village and a visit to the local pub, just to help us settle in a little…

Well, to be completely honest, we also stayed longer because we had to work (and we had a good internet connection). But we also had a small hiking trail to stretch our legs from time to time, which reached a small headland, just 5 minutes away, with a panoramic view of the entire bay… We had visits from a few neighbours, who came to walk their dogs, all very friendly and smiling…

Beara Peninsula…

Sheep’s Head is a “small” spur of land south of Bantry Bay, on the other side of which lies the Beara Peninsula. In fact, the west coast of Ireland is a bit like a smaller version of Norway’s. The coast is made up of a whole series of fjords and peninsulas of various sizes, except that here, instead of 2.000m high mountains on either side of the fjords, there are cliffs, sandy beaches, pebble beaches, and a few mountains, although the ones here rarely exceed 700m in height.

These mini-mountains (logically located in the center of the peninsulas) still offer some lovely viewpoints when you want a change from the water’s edge. This is the case, for example, of Seefin Mountain, in the center of the Sheep’s Head Peninsula, where, according to local folklore, the legendary Irish warrior Fionn mac Cumhaill (or Finn Mac Cool in English, who possessed a magic thumb that gave him wisdom) would come to rest and contemplate the view after a hard hunting day. Stories of giants seem quite common in Ireland, since from this same Sheep’s Head Peninsula, another giant is said to have thrown a boulder into the ocean, which became Fastnet Rock, where the lighthouse at the end of the peninsula now stands.

But it is on the neighbouring peninsula that we continue this adventure, that of Beara, which has, among other things, the distinction of being “blessed” by the Gulf Stream, which gives it a semi-tropical climate, at least at the very beginning of the peninsula. The result is that we find trees there! Yes, it’s a rare enough phenomenon in Ireland to be worth noting! In fact, the Blue Pool, in ​​Glenngarriff, boasts a beautiful forest, lush enough to actually resemble a tropical forest. There are even tree ferns there (even if they were introduced).

After observing a few seals resting there, we were off again towards our stop for the day, once again alone in the world at the end of another small winding road that ends… nowhere! Just on a rock facing the sea, where we could watch the big clouds pass from one side of the bay to the other in just a few minutes (it’s very windy again). And for a change, in addition to the seagulls and seals, we also had three cows and some Angora goats to keep us company that night… 😁

New shoes and whitefish…

It turns out that, in addition to its landscapes straight out of a special series of Irish postcards, the Beara Peninsula is also famous for being home to Ireland’s largest whitefish fishing fleet, in the small village of Castletownbere, which obviously had to be our next stop. The idea was to spend a night close to the fishermen, to “experience” the atmosphere of a fishing port. So, we settled in the port, on the quayside right in front of the boats. But it seems that fishing activity isn’t at its peak at the moment, since during the 24 hours we spent there, we only saw one boat return from fishing, and another leave… Not quite the experience we’d imagined, but it was still good, and we were able to take advantage of it to do four errands, some laundry, and… ta-da! Wash Marvin! Yes, ma’am! First wash since we left (but we couldn’t find a truck wash around here…). Needless to say, it needed it!… It must weigh less, without all the mud it had stuck everywhere… 😜

And even though it wasn’t initially planned, it turns out there’s also a tire garage in Castletownbere… And even better, the owner is extremely friendly and knowledgeable, and he offers very competitive prices… So, we took the opportunity to buy Marvin some new shoes, since his old ones were pretty worn out and would have needed replacing anyway before our return to Andorra…

A cable car at the end of the world…

At the end of the Beara Peninsula is Dursey Island, which happens to be the westernmost inhabited island in Ireland, where there are only three permanent inhabitants left. But the island’s unique feature is that it’s connected to the “mainland” by a cable car, which happens to be one of the few cable cars to fly over the sea in Europe, and the only one in Ireland (in general, not just the only one to fly over the sea… 😜)… Not much else to see or do on Dursey Island (which, of course, has no shops or restaurants, although it once had a post office, but it’s also closed today), apart from contemplating the astonishing force of the tide in the tiny strait that separates the island from the rest of Ireland…

As for us, we continued our tour of the peninsula, resisting the urge to stop many times, even if it had to be in the middle of the road, for yet another photo of the spectacular Beara landscapes, and we settled down near the village of Eyeries (another small village with colourful houses), by the water, on a beach, in a place that seems even more beautiful than the best ones we’ve stayed in so far. So we’ll be spending at least two nights here too!… At this rate, we might see the Northern Lights when we’re in Scotland!… 🤣

Irish weather and haunted castle…

The two days on our pretty beach on the Beara Peninsula went by too quickly. The weather was becoming worse (wave and flood warnings along the entire Irish coastline), and so we decided to move on a little to reach the next peninsula, Kerry, which is much wider and has much higher mountains. Much more touristy too. It may be the Easter holidays, but it’s getting difficult to find quiet spots or avoid encountering dozens of vans and camping-cars everywhere around here…

We did find a pretty little harbour, just big enough for one or two small boats, nestled there between the rocks. In fact, they only had to add a road to get there by land, because Mother Nature had already taken care of everything, sea-wise, by carefully placing two enormous rocks to create a sort of small shelter… The place was small, but charming. Even on land, the space was just wide enough for one car to park and another to still have room to turn around, but that didn’t stop a tourist from parking his camping-car right opposite from us, completely blocking the only space to turn around. When Ireland does like Iceland and bans all wild camping, we’ll know why…

Our little spot at the end of the Kerry Peninsula offered us a lovely view of the nearby islands (most of which are famous refuges for Atlantic puffins…). It’s also where signal number 20 is located… During World War II, Ireland installed “signals” all around its coasts. These are inscriptions made with white stones where one can read “Eire” (Ireland), and which served so that the German bombers knew where they were and did not bomb Ireland by accident (at the time, a neutral country) thinking that they were flying over the English coast…

We barely had time to finish our short walk to the signal, and the weather changed completely. Gone was the bright sunshine. We’re returning to more normal weather for Ireland… First, 24 hours of continuous rain until tomorrow, and then intermittent clouds, sun, and rain… Normal, really…

It’s hard to admire the seascapes when it’s raining. The view is still very pretty, of course, but let’s just say that the desire to stay there contemplating the waves or the tide is a little less strong when it’s pouring rain… We still decided to move from our little harbour between the rocks to the north side of the peninsula, possibly waiting to retrace our steps if the sun comes back…

We settled in near the small village of Caherciveen, at the foot of Ballycarbery Castle (or at least, what’s left of it…). The place is a typical postcard, with its ruined castle perched on top of a small hill, facing the bay, and partially covered in ivy… Ballycarbery Castle has all the appearance of the perfect haunted castle, where strange howls escape from between the stones on full moon nights… Moreover, access to the castle is prohibited (although perhaps it is more because in the state it is in, the risk of falling stones is quite significant…) 😜

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UNDER THE SUN, AS IN THE RAIN, LEAVE NO TRACE!

– Always travel on public ways and respect the signs.
– Limit noise and interfere as little as possible with wildlife.
– Respect the other users.
– Leave rocks, plants and other natural features as you found them and respect historic sites.
– Take your waste with you and throw it into the appropriate containers, in the nearest village.
– Do not camp inside protected areas and do not make any fires.