After our B&B breakfast at O’Connor’s, the pub owner himself, Michael O’Connor, took us to the start of today’s hike. We carried lunches, prepared by the pub, for there was no place to stop on today’s hike. Michael dropped us off beside the house where he said his mother was born. “Just go around the side of that car and follow the path,” he said as he dropped us off and wished us well.
Today we are walking inland across the Dingle Peninsula, and not following the final stage of the Dingle Way. Ireland Walk, Hike, Bike said it would be a way to see the interior of the Peninsula which can only be accessed on foot. It was a beautiful clear day that we began by following some narrow paths, overgrown with bushes, nettles, blackberries and weeds. But soon enough it put us on easy to walk farm roads.
We walked through a beautiful valley for a long time as the mountains on either side seemed to grow taller and steeper. There were no homes and few signs of human activity beyond the one young man we saw in the distance with his dogs and his many sheep. Plenty of rock walls along the way, a stream flowing through the bottom, and occasional remains of cloghans.
The path then began to climb up the left side of the mountain and our road became a narrow mountain path that was sometimes hard to find. Before long we were looking down from above, watching the shepherd gathering his sheep and moving them to a higher ground on the other side of the valley. This was climbing along a very narrow path with a steep fall to our right. But the day was clear and the mountains beautiful.
Making our way across some large rocks, we crossed over to another ridge and climbed still higher. As the path led to a plateau, the ground was more boggy, and we were still unsure of the way. For the first time we actually resorted to checking our compass to confirm our direction. Then we saw the “road of red stones” described in our itinerary that took us over the highest point. Our descent from here was along a clear country road, quite rocky and in spots quite wet, but otherwise easy walking. We stopped to eat our lunch at one of the three bridges crossing the mountain streams.
The view as we descended was lovely. The valley below features Annascaul Lake, and lots of sheep along the way. Soon we were passing the lake along a more paved road and walking by a few houses. We began debating definitions: How many homes does it take to make it a village, a town, a settlement, a hamlet, etc.
Eventually our path would lead us through a “forestry” before we came to Annascaul. It was a lovely pine forest following along a running stream with very little undergrowth, just the pines and a rich carpet of pine needles. We remembered a few days past when we saw just such an environment behind the “South Pole Pub” in Annascaul, so we hoped this might lead us right there. Along the way was a “Fairie Village” built in the forest, with a welcome sign and a number of small fairie dwellings and figures among the trees.
And before long, sure enough, the forest path along the stream, now a river, led us right into the back of the South Pole Pub. Needless to say, we stopped for a brew before checking in again with our B&B just up the street. It was another challenging hike with a significant climb, but the views were again breathtaking and beautiful. It was well worth the effort.
Another highlight of the day: Watching a game of Gaelic Football with the fans in another pub. It was a semi-final match between teams from Tyrone, up north, and Kerry. Half of the fans in the pub wore their green “Kerry” shirts, and the others were all in sympathy, for this area is part of the Kerry region. I had wanted Sara to see what Gaelic Football is like, and there was nothing comparable to watching this with the fans in an Irish pub. I could not remove the smile from my face. The game was tight, and Kerry had a two-point lead at one point, but in the end, Tyrone scored a three-pointer and won.
And thus ends our walk on the beautiful Dingle Way. Tomorrow we take a taxi from Annascaul to Tralee, a train from Tralee to Limerick, where we take another train to Galway for a few days.
On Gaelic Football: If you’ve never seen Gaelic Football, do check it out. It’s a cross between Soccer and Rugby. The field is larger than our soccer or football fields, and each team has 15 men on the field. Any player can carry the round football for up to four steps before he must bounce the ball or drop and kick it back into his hands. He can also pass the ball in any direction to a teammate. It’s a free-for-all as players tackle and grab, pass and kick, trying to get in position to score without losing the ball. The goal at either end is like a soccer goal, but it also has the tall upright goalposts through which American footballers kick their field goals. You score in two ways. If you can kick the ball into the soccer-like goal, you win three points. But you can also drop-kick it, from any point in the field: if it goes through the uprights, you earn one point. So you can see how Gaelic Football is a fast-moving, and sometimes brutal but exciting game to watch.
