Today we walk from Dingle Town to Dunquinn. This is our first sunny day – no rain, with mist in the distance. With no accommodation available in Dunquin, our “Ireland: Walk, Hike, Bike” folks have arranged a transport back to Dingle from Dunquinn at the end of the day. They also take us out in the morning to the spot we ended today and a little beyond to avoid narrow, curvy road walking. On our morning taxi drive, we pass a couple of hikers we recognized, Tony & Jill who we met at our B&B in Camp. Finally the driver stopped where another road turned up to the right. He said the shorter route was to continue on the main road, but the scenic route, the one on our Dingle Way Itinerary, was up this hill. We took the scenic route.
Climb, Climb, Climb. The morning was dry, but grey with a promise of clearing skies. Again we hiked high up through mountainside fields full of sheep. When we descended into Ventry, we saw Jill & Tony at their coffee stop. How did they jump ahead of us so? They took the main road. We chatted as they finished their coffee stop and we began ours. Then we watched them walk the beach along Ventry Harbour, then followed ourselves fifteen minutes later. The beach is beautiful and the walking is pleasant and easy.
Leaving the beach we enjoy easy walks through lowlands, but soon we’re climbing again. This is all hillside, sectioned off with shoulder-high rock walls and fences. The path lies through these sections, full of sheep with stiles taking us from one field to another. We walk more slowly along zigzag pathways, uneven ground, and our vain attempts to avoid stepping on sheep droppings.
Although the walking here has become much harder, the views are spectacular. From our perch on the mountainsides, we see the roads and villages along the water. We also see the remains of ringforts or stone beehive structures that go back to pre-historic times. It’s fascinating, but we’re a little disappointed that we can’t visit them easily from the Dingle Way path.
Below us we see a farmer on a 4 wheel with his sheepdogs rounding up his sheep. We look down on ancient structures, ringforts from the early Christian era; the stone wall remains of abandoned homes, Clochans or “Beehive huts” built completely of stone. Our path up the mountainside doesn’t allow for a closer look.
Down to Slea Head, the southwestern point of the peninsula. Views are spectacular even though the mist sits on the water and obscure’s the islands. Six Blasket Islands sit just off the shore. The largest is Great Blasket Island, where people lived a simple lifestyle up until 1953. You can still ferry out on a calm day to visit and walk the island. In Dunquinn, just up from Slea Head, is the Great Blasket Interpretive Centre that’s supposed to do a great job telling the history of these island and the islanders. Unfortunately, it has not yet re-opened after the Covid shutdown.
The Interpretive Center was our target for this hike. We had not yet found it when our driver from the morning, a welcome sight, came down the road to find us. We ran a bit late due to a thirty minute stop for an apple pie. He brought us back for the night to our B&B in Dingle.
A quick shower and then out to dinner at Doyle’s Seafood; we had a 6:00 reservation for this recommended restaurant. We split a starter of Scallops and a main course of Spicy Seafood Linguini, prepared at Sara’s request without the “Spicy” part. We both thought it was fabulous.
