Dingle to Killarney
Welcome back to Part II!
We packed our bags and left them with the manager of the Emlagh House and headed out on our journey to Killarney.
This one-lane farm road paralleled the main highway and was adorned with beautiful wild flowers. It was a great trail, the only problem was that along the way a farmer was mucking his fields. That is spreading a slurry of liquified manure on the hay fields. All very good for sustainable farming, but his slurry trailer must have been leaking because the road literally became a shitty mess!
We stopped at this EuroVelo 1 route sign to use the grass to de-muck our tires, and more importantly to rinse off our water bottles before rolling on. We were off and on this velo route often during our tour. It runs from Rosslare Harbour down south to Wexford on the Atlantic side, about 2,300 miles!
In the heart of County Kerry, the team flag was everywhere!
Wild flowers and Minard Castle on Dingel Bay. The castle is a 16th century tower house attributed to the Knight of Kerry, a branch of the powerful Fitzgerald family. Built around 1560 as a stronghold. It was besieged during Cromwell's conquest of Ireland. Eventually Cromwell's troops were able to get gunpowder underneath the vaults and detonated it, killing the occupants inside. However the external walls were so thick they survived while the interior collapsed.
While we were taking a break admiring the castle, this group of hikers stopped to chat. They were on a Camino walk and were delightful to visit with.
This is Storm Beach, the unusual round boulders were used as Ogham Stones, early medieval inscribed stones found throughout the Dingle Peninsula.
Like me at this time in the trip, this horse really needed a haircut!
A few miles later we rejoined the very busy Wild Atlantic Way highway. We had a wonderful tailwind that pushed us along to Inch Strand. There was a restaurant here (Sammy's) but it was closed with sand drifting up like snow in the doorways and around these tables. Luckily there was a coffee trailer that also had sausage rolls that took the hunger edge off.
I wandered down to the beach to take a few photos. The signs warn about rapidly rising tides. Apparently motorists have misjudged the tides to their peril!
Nearly every local school we passed was decked out in Kerry flags and colors.
With Sammy’s closed at Inch Strand, there were only a few food options on the route, and we decided that the Anvil Pub looked good to stop. It had outdoor tables, so we ordered drinks while we checked out the menu, the early returns looked good. But the inside looked better and we could secure the bikes nearby so we went in.
Debby had the seafood chowder and I had the seafood pasta special. Basically the same, but instead of bread, mine had pasta. It was absolutely delicious!
The outside of the Anvil Pub, don't judge a book by its cover!
This monument and poem honored a local gunslinger named Jack Duggan who traveled to Australia at age 16. The 'Wild Colonial Boy' robbed the rich and helped the poor, but eventually was gunned down by Aussie Troopers, so the poem goes!
As we neared Killarney we were happy to get back on secondary roads and off the Wild Atlantic Way!
This local cemetery had interesting ruins of an old church with the doors and windows filled in. The other side was gone and grass and trees now fill the space.
This is the view of the Lough Leane from a lookout above Killarney, the lakes and hills beyond are part of the Killarney National Park. We met some local cyclists here who gave us a tip on the weather in these parts, expect rain!
It started to rain as we arrived at The Great Southern hotel so we scurried inside and checked in. The only glitch of the trip was that our bags had not yet arrived. Apparently the driver did not account for it being a bank holiday weekend and was stuck in traffic!
No worries, Shawny the Bell Captain and his team assured us our bikes would be well taken care of and they found an unused meeting room where they would stay.
We, on the other hand, were assigned the Jackie Kennedy Suite. OK, not the whole suite but our 1/3 was still very nice! Our bags arrived in time to clean up, change and attend the 7 pm Mass across the street. We were very impressed with this 5-star hotel and would highly recommend it.
After church we headed back to the hotel for a light snack in the pub and called it a day.
Killarney Loop to Cork County
After yesterday's 44 miles and light to moderate rain in today's forecast, Deb wisely took a rest day. While I missed her company, I did enjoy the use of her rain jacket. I set out with grand ambitions to do the extra-long loop, but decided to take the 40 mile option that touched County Cork and returned to Killarney through a portion of the Killarney National Park.
This was about a third into the ride and the first time the rain let up enough to take a picture without my phone getting soaked! These guys thought I had treats and started walking over to see.
Interesting ruin of a storehouse. Just up the hill is a relatively modern house, a common sight during our tour.
Much of the ride was on country lanes like this. Here I am about to cross from County Cork back into County Kerry.
This was not a flat ride at all, lots of sharp steep hills, but the views were tremendous.
Another house adorned in Kerry colors. I stopped at this football pitch to catch this photo. The local club was playing a scrimmage and at first I thought they were playing rugby. No it was Gaelic Football, a smash-up of soccer, basketball, and rugby. The ball is slightly smaller than a soccer ball, and can be advanced by throwing, kicking, or carrying it. Well, carrying for 4 paces then dribbling it. Shoulder to shoulder contact allowed. 1 point if you put it through the uprights above the goal and 3 points if you put it in the goal. The field is larger and there are 15 players vs 11. Even though is was a practice it was fun to watch, until the rain returned!
Heading back to Killarney the lake comes into view.
Muckross House in the National Park, was built around 1840 in the Victorian style. The biggest event of the house was hosting Queen Victoria and Price Albert in 1861 when they visited Ireland. The Herbert/Balfour family built it and its huge estate is now part of the Killarney National Park.
From the park I made my way back to the hotel in Killarney, using bike paths like this to avoid the traffic.
Across the street from the hotel a carnival was going on. We were curious but did not check out the Route 66 Zero Gravity ride!
During one of our breakfasts in Dingle we met another American couple that had just arrived from Killarney. They asked us for dinner recommendations in Dingle and we told them about the Land to Sea restaurant. They recommended The Tan Yard in Killarney. It was just down the street from our hotel and was another great meal. Great to share some local intel with fellow travelers!
Killarney Loop to Dunloe and Molls Gaps
After another great breakfast at The Great Southern the skies started to clear after a night of heavy rain.
The roads were still wet as we headed out of town. The Great Southern breakfast started at 6:30am and we were able to get up, eat, kit up and head out before the weekend traffic picked up in town.
We quickly entered the Killarney National Park and headed toward our first objective of the day.
The Gap of Dunloe is a glacial mountain pass with a narrow paved one lane road. Another reason for our early start was to get through with less traffic.
The climb takes a series of ramps over a 5 mile climb that averages 4%.
Don't let that fool you, it averages 4% but there were sections where the gradient is over 14%. Here Debby is yielding to downhill traffic (its the law Emma told us), a horse drawn wagon. While this one was empty, we guessed it was heading down for its first tourist ride of the day.
The climb was spectacular; you just had to watch for uphill traffic and find narrow pull outs to let them through. Oh, and with the horses and rain you can guess what other hazards were on the road, it was quite slick!
At the top of the Gap of Dunloe. Apparently this gap was named for a nearby fort named Dunloe. Over theyears the unnamed gap near the fort became the Gap of Dunloe.
We descent into Black Valley from the gap where the clouds were dark and wet with rain.
The rain came in shortly as we descended in to Black Valley and became quite heavy at times. We soon bottomed out and started up the next climb of the day to Molls Gap. Another 4 mile average 3% climb with most of the steep climbing in the last mile of the climb.
Molls Gap is named for Moll Kissane who operated an unlicensed pub here in the 1820's when the road was being built. Today a modern cafe sits at the gap so we went in to get a coffee and a snack. I was very happy with the new rain jacket I bought in Salzburg, but we were both chilled and looked forward to a hot coffee in the Avoca Cafe.
Two cappuccinos and a sausage roll please. We split the roll and it was so good, we wished we had gotten two. Easily the best sausage roll we have
ever had!
After devouring our sausage roll the rest of the ride was downhill all the way to Killarney. We did pass the Kissane Sheep Farm that is an operating sheep farm with sheep dog demonstrations (none when we passed through) that is owned by descendants of Moll Kissane!
We reentered the National Park and made our way through lakes and heritage sites on the way into town. We had a taste of the weekend traffic jams, but were able to use the bike lanes to pick our way through and back to the hotel.
We made reservations at the Celtic Whiskey Bar and Larder. Initially thinking it was more whiskey than food, we dismissed it, but after checking out the menu we decided to give it a try. Another winner!
These mussels were outstanding, and the flatbread was a great side, although they looked and tasted more like homemade flour tortillas.
Debby's beef rib and my pork chop were delicious Irish favorites.
They do have a wide selection of whiskey so...
I'll have a decaf Irish coffee with a shot of the Dingle Single Malt for dessert! A great way to end a wonderful day.
Tomorrow we saddle up and head over Moll’s gap a second time and ride to Kenmare. See you in Part III!
Steve
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