Off the Beaten Path: The Beara Peninsula

 Beara Peninsula

The Ring of Kerry and the Dingle Peninsula are famous destinations in the west of Ireland, renowned for their rugged cliffs and ocean views. Since we were wanting to avoid the tour busses and crowds, we opted for the Beara Peninsula which is along the same coastline but smaller and far less traveled. The locals assured us we would not be disappointed and we weren't!

Beara Peninsula, West Cork Co., Ireland




Some of these fences are stone underneath overgrown with vegetation

Incredibly rugged land, you wonder how people eek out a living here

Very typical of the ruins you see all over Ireland. Old house, church, barn?

Zoom in on the top of the one of the stone fences

Driving these coastal roads is beautiful but tiring. Narrow lanes, lots of twists, extra vigilance required!

Typical pasture with sheep and cows grazing

Toormore, Co. Cork

Toormore hardly counts as a village, more like a cross in the roads. But here lies one of the many wedge tombs left by Neolithic people long before the Celts arrived.


Notice the sign is in Gaelic as well as English



Another type of stone fence

Laundrette in Schull

On our last day in West Cork at Heron's Cove we decided to do laundry. The ladies at the B&B told us about the launderette in Schull, so off we went!
These are really a brilliant idea! Once we knew what to look for, we started seeing them all over. Normally in the parking lots of grocery stores or shopping centers, you can do a load of laundry while you shop!
So its a brilliant idea unless the large load fails to spin. There is no way to back it up and re-spin without repeating the entire cycle. So we diligently tried to wring as much out of our clothes as we could. They ran for an hour in the dryer and were still not dry, so we threw ourselves on the mercy of the ladies at the B&B who finished drying our clothes for us.

Main street in Schull. Very typical of the Irish towns with brightly painted stores and homes.

It's always important to sample the local beer!



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