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Adare, tralee, dingle, dingle ride, dinner at hannigan's, Courtney's of Killarney

So I left Cashel today and was looking forward to a great second day of the trip. Eileen at Ard Ri House recommended I stop in Adare on my way and I am very glad that I did. Adare is a neat little town on the road to Tralee. They held the Irish Open this year and there was a lot of stuff remaining from that. I mainly enjoyed a walk through Adare City Park, it is small but right in the middle of town and across from the church and middle school. It was the first day of school in Ireland and there were tons of kids running around in very formal school uniforms. I also ran into a couple from St Louis, he had on a cardinals hat and the first thing I said was GO CUBBIES! Got a smile out of that one. I then headed out of town towards Tralee.

Tralee was much larger then I was expecting, about the size of St Paul but much more crowded. After a quick lunch I went to the museum where the special exhibit was on William Melville. He made a name for himself investigating and capturing members of the Fernians who were basically an early form of terrorists. They used dynamite bombs to bomb targets in England. They were mainly Irish nationalists who wanted a free Ireland. Suprisingly, or not, they got their start in New York, and most of their funding from Irish immigrants in early America. He eventually gained so much popularity that he was a celebrity and the daily papers would write about his escapades as a member of Scotland Yard. He went on to be a personal guard to the Queen and many visiting dignitaries asked for him by name.

Another great exhibition at the museum was called The Medieval Experience. They have setup, in the basement of the museum, a model version of a Medieval town. The model houses and shops were very cool, and the narration is prompted by sensors as you walk through the town. It was a really great way to see how people lived back in those times.

At this point I was running way late and still had to visit Dingle town and peninsula before I got to Killarney.

Dingle town was and still is a very busy fishing port. As I arrived the fisherman were putting their nets away and mooring their boats to the docks. Dingle, like many Irish towns has become very touristy, but if you walk off the beaten path and away from the gift shops it is pretty easy to imagine how the town was before. Once in Dingle all I could think of doing was the Slea Head drive, so I only spent about an hour in town before leaving and heading out to the end of the penninsula. The scenery was amazing on the drive, I found myself wishing there was someone else there that could drive for part of it so I could stare at the countryside and shoreline. As it was I just made frequent stops at small pullover areas to take in the views. The roads however were skinnier then skinny, this has been the only time I was extremely nervous driving since I left the airport.

My favorite part about the coast drive was Dunberg fort, or the "City of Fahan". This is basically a stone fort that has been around since before the stone age. It backs up right to the cliffs above the ocean, and much of the grounds has fallen into the sea but the main fort and a large part of the outer wall are still intact. As you approach the fort there are a series of ditches between which there would have been wooden palisades. The entry to the inner yard is low and narrow so attackers would not be able to charge through without braining themselves. They would have had to walk crouched down and almost sideways to get in the door. The wall itself is a bit lower then expected but the fort wasn't built to hold off armies, mainly raiding parties of 10-20 could have easily been held off by guards. From the inside the walls are actually stepped up and plenty of guards would have been able to stand and fire bow and arrow on anyone coming from a very long distance. On a side note the woman that runs the fort and visitor center (great dvd about the history of this fort and many like it on Irelands coastlines) has 2 brother in laws living in Minnesota (Roseville, and Inver Grove Heights).

From there it was on to Slea Head, the head of Dingle Peninsula.  Need I say more then the picture? It's breathtaking.I wanted to stay and watch the sunset but I was still 2 hours drive from Killarney and starving so I headed back towards Dingle town via R559 which is a pass road only about 1.2 cars wide. Luckily I only saw 3 cars coming the opposite direction.

In Killarney I had a great dinner of roast duck at Hannigan's then headed to Courtney's for a pint. Courtney's was a bit touristy but still fun.