not all who wander are lost

Guest performance part 2 – I’m making a guest appearance a second time at Lindsey’s request. At the request of our host for the last two nights, Maggie O, we stayed in Kilarney for the morning to visit two sites she felt were necessary: Muckross Abbey and Ross Castle. They turned out to be exactly what we needed to see before hitting the road. The abbey had been around since the 14th century but had gone unused since 1562 when the Cromwellians swept the country. We were surprised to find people are still being buried in the cemetery on the grounds there – seeing how small the cemetery was we figured these must have been some significant people to Kilarney. Unfortunately the abbey was not very well lit in some parts so Lindsey chickened out on going down some walkways. On the whole the abbey has stood up to the tests of time and is still in great shape considering. Complete with a Yew tree in the center, as is the Franciscan monk tradition Lindsey tells me, and a watch tower built into the center that allows you to have a perfect 360 view of Kilarney and Kilarney national park.

Ross castle is just down the road and has been operational for much longer, having upgrades being made well into the 16th century. Unlike the abbey, Ross castle has been renovated for tours. Boats will take you onto the lake if you like, which the castle has been built on, but the big prize is the wildlife. Ducks, geese, and other wildlife have made their home around the castle and it’s just as awesome as it sounds.

Having studied the maps of the area and knowing we were supposed to be going to the Dingle Peninsula I got a little spontaneous on our drive down. Dingle peninsula is Ireland’s answer to Scotland’s Fort William, it thrives on outdoor tourism. We started our drive over to the peninsula as planned by google maps until I started to see signs for ‘fun stuff.’ We went to Brandon Point which took significantly longer than expected but was well worth the 20 minute drive off script. Brandon point is the northern most point of the peninsula and provides clear views of beach, fishermen, and wildlife. Next we traveled down Connor Pass, also not on the original script. Connor pass is a break in the mountains you drive through to get to Dingle. The cool thing about Connor pass is if you’re feeling up to a 15 minute hike you climb to a small lake that’s been naturally created and holds water most of the time of the year that’s the result of melted snow. When we arrived to the top and look out we could see the entire peninsula north of the Connor pass.

We continued our spontaneous journey through Dingle to the beehive huts, huts that have been around since the 1200 and contain no mortar in the creation of their walls so it’s surprising to see they stood up as long as they have. We continued down Slea Head Drive, the scenic route that takes you around the peninsula from Dingle, only to stop at Slea Head. Seeing no signs of a path and unconcerned about trespassing on the sheep grazing on Slea Head, Lindsey and I made our way to the tip of Slea Head or the western most point of Europe. If trespassing was always this rewarding I would be enjoying a life of crime. Words can’t describe how amazing the views were on the other side of the fence and hill we crossed over. For the most part the sheep left us alone except for a few angry stares from the males. I goproed the entire trip so that will be viewable to anyone interested when we get home.

We finished Slea Head Drive in Dingle, checked into our nice little B&B and grabbed some American food at Lindsey’s request. I was happy to oblige after seeing how anxious she had gotten at times when we decided to ‘get lost.’ Not all our getting lost resulted in this much reward but today made up for all the past issues!