While on a two week vacation in Ireland & London, I kept track of what we did and my own thoughts in order to help me remember. Two weeks is a long time! I realized other might benefit from my experience, or at least enjoy my photos. This should not serve as the definitive guide to Ireland, just my own wandering trip.
Day 4 – Ballybunion and Dingle
We were up before the sun this morning in order for Jared to make his 7:15 tee time at Ballybunion. Mr. Seanor (the proprietor of the Seanor House, we never actually got his name) made us a full Irish Fry. It was quite delicious and we went off having slept our best night of sleep since getting here (it was quiet) and with our bellies full.
We arrived at the course before almost any of the workers. The sun was just coming over the horizon and the sky was pink. Jared got his clubs, but not his caddie because no caddies had arrived yet. We headed out on the first tee and didn’t see another soul until we were well past the 7th. It was cold, but lovely.
Jared played well, beating his goal of under 100. There were a couple of rough holes in the middle, but he birdied the 18th, which made his day. Overall the course was a beautiful example of man taming the natural Irish seaside. I don’t think the photos do it justice.
From there we headed into town, picked up some fresh, warm baguettes, cheese and fruit and had a picnic over looking the Atlantic. We followed the road out of town and south on towards Tralee and Dingle.
My guidebook told me that just after Tralee (which looked like a very cool town,) you have a choice. Take the narrow, faster route to Dingle or the narrow and breathtaking route. We chose the narrow and breathtaking route over the Conor Pass and it was well worth it. The views were amazing, the road was a single lane in parts and there were two short but enjoyable hikes on the way up.
The first hike was on the way up with amazing views back in to Tralee. The book said “Look for the waterfall, then scramble up some rocks to a glacier filled lake.” We came around, what looked like the last corner, and sure enough there was a small waterfall with rocks behind it. We climbed up, enjoying the view down the whole way, and found a lake that was clear and all ours. It was very peaceful and quite.
On the way back down the car I told Jared that I enjoy this day so much more than being in Dublin. I just love natural wonders more than man made.
We then drove a little further, up a windy, cliff-side one-lane road where Jared had to do some amazing maneuvering to get the car past those coming the other way. At the top of the pass, there was a parking lot and small climb up to look down in to Dingle, all the way to the Ring of Kerry.
The drive from there was short to downtown Dingle. We parked, walked to a couple B&B’s before we found Eileen Collins Kirrary B&B. It has a garden where we are currently relaxing with our feet up. We are planning on spending two nights here. I can’t wait.
Later that night….We had dinner at the James G. Ashe Pub, recommended to us by the Rick Steve’s Guidebook (which I can’t live without.) He said that their Beef & Guinness stew was amazing, and with that recommendation, I needed to go there to try it out. The food was good, hearty and warm. We sat next to a nice American couple, visiting Ireland and Scotland for a number of weeks – we chatted for most of dinner about Ireland, what we had seen and where we were going.
Then Jared and I headed out to the pubs. We did 3 different pubs, all with traditional music. The first had two gentlemen playing the guitar singing folk songs. They were funny, but when I learned there were no Irish in the house (except for them) I wanted something more authentic.
We headed up the street, to a dark bar with some more men on guitars. That was fine, but Jared was certain the craic was at a place we had passed earlier. We went headed back to The Dingle Pub, where there was 1 man and a guitar singing ballads. I thought Jared was crazy, but after 5 minutes we were treated to the publicans son doing traditional Irish step dance. It turns out he is an Irish national champion, and believed by all to be the next world champion. He was amazing. He danced 3 dances and we were awe struck.
