Breakfast in the Listowel Arms was a pleasant affair.. I was sorry we hadn't been in time for dinner the night before, as we made our way into the multi-level restaurant, and followed our noses to the bottom level, and breakfast. We had a table overlooking the river, which apparently has fishing in it, and the racecourse on the opposite bank; I bet they get a lot of trade from both anglers and racegoers. And indeed, despite the persistent lack of WiFi, I would recommend this as a place to stay - it is gorgeous:
(As usual, I'm just showing a sample of the photos taken; the rest for the day can be found here.) Before we left Listowel, we explored a little. First was Listowel Castle - now a ruin, there is still a remnant of a tower house, which you can arrange a tour of: but we just read the information boards and moved on.
We were intrigued by the apparent presence of two churches, opposite each other on the square: one turned out to have been converted into a very atmospheric arts centre, complete with theatre.
Day 6 was to be dedicated to the Ring of Kerry. I knew there'd be more than enough in that to occupy us for the whole day.. First, however, was Killarney, where I determined we must make a stop. In the Listowel Arms, we'd picked up a most useful free tourist booklet about Kerry, including some street maps - which was how we knew where to park in Killarney: and we found a decent car park without difficulty, and made our way into the town centre. And you know, it wasn't long before we made our way to Quills. And, of course, it's a natural law that you can't leave Quills without buying something.. put it this way, they have a range of woollens and capes that is pretty well unmatched. Never mind the usual tourist fare!
Lunch followed - a filling affair, in a café on a side street, but sadly I can't remember the name. This is what comes of delayed blogs (sigh*). Anyway, we found the energy afterwards to drag ourselves to the cathedral, directions again kindly provided by the booklet:
It's truly a spectacular building.
And when we left, it was finally to embark on the Ring of Kerry.. but hey, you know, it wasn't long before we were enticed off of it! Well, I was in the mood for detours, and the Gap of Dunloe was a must-see. Not far from the main road - but drive carefully, this is the country of jaunting cars, and you are liable to meet horse-drawn transport on narrow lanes anywhere around here. You can't drive all the way unless a resident - Kate Kearney's Cottage provides a café, pub, restaurant, car park and jaunting car hire location. Oh, and a comprehensive gift shop. To go further, you need to walk or take a jaunting car; we just strolled a bit of the way up the road - we didn't really have time for a horse-drawn tour.
Our business there concluded, Helen suggested that we continue down the middle of the peninsula, rather than follow the Ring around the coast. Fair enough - it'd be a bit more direct, and I love my mountains.. so we followed the road to Glencar. And for sure, we didn't lack for scenery:
(..although what that farmer, busy footing turf, thought of our standing there taking photos of his hard work, I can't say.. as usual, more photos at the above link.)
We got back onto the coast at the southern end of the Ring, near Waterville - just in time for another, very necessary detour. The latest Star Wars film was partly shot near here, you see - on the Skelligs, most dramatic rocks just off the coast, once used as monastic settlements. Whether a fan of the film franchise or not, this is scenery not to be missed, and I'd never seen them before.. a secondary road, known as the Skellig Ring, detours off the Ring of Kerry, following the coast closely, and this is the way we went, north from Waterville. Poor Helen nearly had a heart attack, I got so excited at every view of the Skelligs as we wound our way along mountain roads. But they were so gorgeous, rocky outcrops in the sparking sea..
Apart from getting a boat trip out there - which we weren't of a mind to do, it already being late in the day (and besides, wild horses couldn't drag me onto the steep steps cut into the rock of the larger island, the only one of the two you can visit) - the best view is from the Kerry Cliffs, where we were making for. Beware though - walking, cycling, or driving, this is not an easy road; the gradient is steep, and my poor car voiced her discontent as we struggled up the slope. But the cliffs are gorgeous, and the descent to Portmagee much easier. Past the car park (and welcome toilets!), a ticket booth guards the path to the cliffs. Worth the price of admission:
Useful reconstructions of the monastic huts on the islands serve as consolation for those of us who can't get out there:
Well, determined to get a bed in time for a decent meal tonight, we barrelled along the southern half of the Ring of Kerry, stopping every now and again for the gorgeous scenery. I revise my opinion - a day isn't enough to do it justice, you need at least two. Anyway, we decided to stay in Kenmare, for the sake of its convenience to the Ring of Beara, which we'd need to do the next day, for the sake of visiting Alihies, because someone at work is from there. Our priority for the night, however, was to find a bed asap - on our way into town, we came across the Brook Lane Hotel, and pulled in there.
Yes, we could have a room, and again at a reasonable rate. And we had a little time before dinner stopped serving - however, we might prefer to eat in the bar, as the restaurant had a set menu that included a show, which was now half over. But before we could be shown to our rooms, we had to be introduced to the errant cat, being fussed over by one of the hotel workers, who had caught him after he wandered into the restaurant, if you please!
Sumptuous décor.. no WiFi, as usual, but otherwise we were well pleased with our find. After sprucing ourselves up a bit, we headed straight for dinner - which was lovely, and most welcome. And we were within sound - and partially sight - of the show in the restaurant, which turned out to involve some traditional Irish dancing. And when we went out to collect our cases afterwards, it was to find the same hotel worker fussing over the same cat.. so much for being cross with him!
If you take a look at the map of Ireland, you'll notice that this was a long, long trip for one day, passing through three counties.. Anyway, we started the day in Galway City (of course), stopping for photos and a brief stroll in Salthill, the beach area. This is the longest sea walk in Ireland:
Again, more photos here.
I knew that the Spanish Arch car park would be the best located for strolling around town, and the receptionist at the Connemara Coast Hotel had told me to hug the coast as I drove there. When I finally got her attention - you know, it's a funny thing: I used to live here, and have noticed this effect before, but it was interesting to see Helen pick up on it unprompted. As she pointed out, everywhere else, people were only too delighted to help - but in and around Galway City, you do tend to get the feeling that, in asking them for help, you're imposing on their day. From my experience, I think I can put this down to their determination to have a good time; they're so busy trying to relax that mere customers get in the way. You'll see it everywhere - hotels, shops, restaurants..
Anyway, we made our way to the car park, and after a tight spiral upwards (typical of city car parks), parked and set out about town. Well, we strolled around quite a bit; not much shopping was done this time, although we did stop in to St. Nicholas' Collegiate Church, where I've been to the odd classical concert in my time. Finally, we decided it was lunchtime, and headed to Maxwell's.
In my day, the decor in here was dark, a maze of booths - and it was a pretty standard family restaurant, serving the old favourites, which would have done us fine. It's certainly changed! They've ripped out the entire interior, making it brighter and airier, for sure. And here we were to see Galway service culture at its finest; we did get seated quite quickly - beside a table where someone, with one of those voices you can't ignore, seemed to be conducting job interviews(!) - but it was ages before anyone bothered to furnish us with a lunch menu (lunch having literally just started). Well, Helen ordered an open sandwich, I decided I'd like a Tandoori butter chicken, which is apparently one of their specials.
Of course, we had nearly walked out by the time more than a jug of water arrived. I believe the sandwich was fine - the butter chicken was pretty awful, honestly tasting as though they'd used a butter substitute instead. I couldn't finish it. The boss seemed to be serving personally - he'd taken our order, but he must have had too much to occupy him, because he just completely forgot to give the barman our order for a jug of homemade lemonade. To be fair, when it finally did arrive, it was really excellent - definitely the highlight of the meal. We skipped on dessert, understandably - for one thing, we'd already been in here far too long, and wanted to be on our way.
We got a couple of ice creams from the newsagent's up the road - sadly, they only have a freezer now, having dispensed with the ice cream machine - and went to Eyre Square, just up the road, to eat them. Mind you, it was hard enough to find a spare patch of grass to sit on - most of the square was fenced off, for some unspecified reason! Anyway, we had a pleasant spell there until a near miss from a bird perched on an overhead branch persuaded us to move on.
We wound our way to the cathedral, which is always worth a look - no expense was spared in its construction and ornamentation, with roof, walls, pews, altar and floor all worth closer inspection:
From there to the university..
By now, the day was moving on swiftly, and I wanted to get to the Cliffs of Moher - which I figured were a must-see - and down to Kerry for the night, just because there was so much down there to see in our remaining days! So, reclaim the car, and out of town, following the signs for the Wild Atlantic Way, briefly - we had plenty of detours on our trip, but the signposts proved handy on occasion. Black Head proved as scenic as I knew it would be:
At the edge of the unique Burren landscape, of which Cromwell's troops, during their murderous rampage through Ireland, remarked: "Not a tree whereon to hang a man; no water in which to drown him; no soil in which to bury him." Unusual plants grow in the cracks in the rock, and the area is globally renowned. I'd have liked to stay longer in the area, but we needed to press on..
And so to the cliffs. Couldn't really miss these, another world-renowned feature. I see you buy your entrance ticket as you enter the car park, now - and they've improved the pedestrian access, the car park being across the road and up a bit. They do say it's better to visit in the evening, when the crowds are lesser - and we did get a great view:
Again, more photos at that link.
An excellent gift shop, and finally we were on our way to the ferry - the fastest way to Kerry. We did well to get there in an hour, but were too late for the 8 o' clock, and ended up on the last one, at 9.. a brief, but cold, crossing, and we were finally in Kerry.. with no accommodation sorted. We decided to head for Listowel as the best hope of a bed, arriving there at 9:40. Spotted the Listowel Arms in the town square, got about the last parking space, and went in. No problem, and we had a welcome bed. Sadly, we were 10 minutes too late for dinner, and the Indian across the road only did takeaways - with nothing else within walking distance, we ended up in Mama Mia's chipper. Which might have been recommended to us, but honestly I've had better. We did get to meet about half of the population of the town, though - this seems to be a real focal point! As for the town's most famous resident - the playwright John B. Keane was everywhere: a statue, a painting in a shop window - and when we returned for a drink in the hotel bar, he was gazing down on us again.
Hey-ho, we were in Kerry - and early to bed, for another long day ahead!
