The Ring of Dingle

Having finished our breakfast we were invited to go out to feed the lambs, Jo pulled on a loaned pair of wellies and we headed up the hill to find Seamus out moving some sheep with his dog, once the gate was securely closed behind them he led us to the stock shed.  It was not long before we were surrounded by baying lambs eager for a feed, it was a bit of fun.  we then went for a walk further up the hill, but not as far as Semus had suggested, it was bitterly cold as the sun still had not reached high enough to send us some warming rays, but it was lovely t sit and admire the view from our vantage point.

We headed off to drive the Ring of Dingle with no more research than Seamus telling us to drive anti clockwise so as to avoid being stuck behind tour buses, good move as there were several and we had most places to ourselves as we ducked between them along the road.

Our first stop was Brandon Creek, which was right down in a valley and as a result still freezing cold a the sun was not high enough to get over the hill, it was a beautiful little spot.  As we came out of the valley we were to find the sky's were blue and the sun shining brightly, it remained like that for the remainder of the day, right up till 10:00PM when we were out drinking in a quaint little pub in Dingle, still amazed at how long the daylight lasts here and each day seems to be longer.

The drive around the Ring of Dingle was truly breath taking and we had many opportunities to stretch our legs along beaches or across cliff tops, it was a wonderful day.

In the morning Jo had commented to Janet as to how beautiful her music was, with that we were invited to join her and Seamus in town were she would be playing in a band at a pub called Dick Mack's, which we were to find had started out as both a pub and a leather smiths workshop, though the leather smith no longer operates the pub has remained the same, so one side is the bar the other the workshop, with shelves full of men's shoes, wellington boots, a few hardware items and tools of the trade, it i unique.  The place was packed and luckily we were told to be there early to get a good spot, the spot we got is known as a Snug, the place where women would sit to have a drink in the old days, as they were not allowed at the bar with the men.  The Snug was very much like a confessional, only it had a window to the bar so you could place your money and a drink would appear, we loved the Snug as you had all the atmosphere of the pub, but you could still hold a conversation with the 4 or 5 occupants.  Janet played the mouth organ with the band and sung one song, she is so talented her music and voice were amazing.

Seamus seemed to get itchy feet and was longing to visit his favorite pub O'Flatherty's, so we left Dick Mack's and headed down the hill to another amazing pub, this one too was packed.  Seamus's cousin was sitting in the middle of the room surround by instruments, whilst we were there he played flute, banjo, guitar, piano accordion, violin and an Irish instrument like a guitar, he also sang with a bellowing voice.

Between songs he invited others up to sing, one such time a girl from Dublin sat on a stool and sung the most beautiful ballad, then when she got to the chorus the whole pub joined in and just about lifted the roof, it was fantastic and the second time that day where I had become quiet emotional with Ireland and thinking of how much my Dad would have loved to been beside me, the other time was earlier in the morning when Janet played Danny Boy, great memories laid down here today.

Dingle is the most beautiful place, I can see why so many have lived their entire lives here, when you are so close to heaven it is always going to be hard to leave.

Jo is waiting for me to go and discover Cork right at the minute, so will post photo's from our night out tomorrow, ciao Jack

made it back to top of hill, just