European Grand Tour continues..2016: The road less traveled..the Ring of Beara 04/25/2016

We have been here a week, now. Yes, it exists. The pubs, the history, the people. Most of all the people. We have traveled all over southern Ireland. From Dublin to the East coast, from Waterford to the West coast. We have drunk a Guinness, eaten in a pub, listened to their music, stayed overnight in a castle, broken crystal at Waterford crystal (it was an accident), and explored the country. We have been very well received by any of the Irish citizens we have met. I only hope that they receive the same reception when they visit the United States.

We spent a day on the Ring of Kerry, explored the Dingle Peninsula, and today experienced the Ring of Beara. All of these places are steeped in history. Thousands of years of history. The Beara Peninsula is rich in historical and cultural sights. We experienced them both. The cultural sights we limited mostly to O'Brians Pub.

We began our drive today on the spectacular Healy Pass Road. This is a mountain road that cuts across the peninsula from Cork to Kerry. This road was built 170 years ago to facilitate food- relief delivery during the famine era. It was built through a barren, rocky landscape with hairpin curves on a one lane road that allowed two way traffic. The views from the 1,000 foot level are stunning. This drive was worth the trip alone.

After completing this leg , we stopped in Castletownbere at Jack Patrick's Pub. We had coffee and dessert. We would have lunch later. Then we continued our journey. Along the way we stopped and toured the remains of the Dunboy Castle. This castle was destroyed in 1602 by the British. While there we met Mr. Michael O'Sullivan, a descendant of O'Sullivans, who owned the castle way back when. The O'Sullivan we met was the Grand Marshall of the Memphis St. Patrick's Parade about 10 years ago.
We then drove to furthermost tip of the Beara ring to Dursey Island. This small island has 6 full time residents in the winter and is accessible only by cable car. Unfortunately for us, the cable car was closed today. Dursey has a dark past. It was once used to house Irish slaves, captured by the Vikings. They would keep them there until they had enough slaves to fill a boat. Then they were shipped out.

It was now lunch time. We stopped at O'Neill's Pub and had another good meal. Then we headed back to Kenmare. There was a Lace Museum we wanted to see and it closed at 6:00. We were lucky, we got there by 4:30.
Tomorrow....the Cliffs of Moher.