Today we spent exploring the Dingle Peninsula - a well-worn tourist circuit with many important archeological sites and breathtaking (running out of adjectives!) coastline. Lots of walkers and cyclists out on the route but we were happy to cover the area by car, saving our energy for our Kerry Way walk.
The port of Dingle
Our first stop was to a group of houses which have been preserved as a historical reminder of the Great Famine in the mid 1800s, when the Irish population fell by 2 million people due to deaths and emigration.
This was particularly poignant as there are still records of the family that lived here for several generations. In fact, the house was lived in until the 1960s.
Adjoining the property is a small graveyard with an early Christian marker considered to be from 5th to 6th century.When the plot was excavated they found the graves of 6 babies all from one family during the Great Famine, possibly buried here because they died before they were baptised and not eligible for Catholic burial.
There was a beehive hut, common in ancient times as a dwelling but in more modern times converted to animal stalls.
This beehive hut, built from sandstone, was part of a ringfort, which were used in ancient times until 1200 AD. This one is called Cathair na gConchuireach. The stones have a downward and outward tilt to keep the dwelling waterproof.
A similar structure is The Gallarus Oratory which is considered the most important piece of early Christian architecture in Ireland. Number 8 on the map.
The coastline is dramatic and features several islands called the Blasket Islands, inhabited until 1953, when, with only 20 residents, the community moved to the mainland. Up until then it was considered
invaluable for the preservation of the Irish language and produced several writers and poets, who have been the subject of much research.
We climbed Slea Head to get a better view of the Islands and the coastline.
This seagull flew on at one of the vantage points when several buses arrived and just stayed on the pole while everyone took photos and had a chat.
Because of the significant contribution of these literary islanders, The Blasket Centre was established to record their achievements and promote Irish language learning. This statue is in the grounds of the modern building, with spectacular views of the islands. Personal stories are presented, an excellent bookshop and interesting audio-visual presentation.
In nearly every conversation we've had with locals, Irish language is a common topic. Maugie speaks it fluently, John is interested enough to practise when he can. Our present B&B hostess is a language assistant at the local school. Dolores, Maugie's sister, was an Irish language teacher. Brian, her 15 year-old son, was going to Aran Mor for 3 weeks of his holidays for Irish language immersion, as he has done with hundreds of his cohort for several years now. Students return to the same area where Irish is spoken and stay with housemothers, attending classes during the day.
Along the way Mark noticed a fellow shearing sheep. He was trained by a New Zealander. The wool goes to England, as the bottom fell out of the Irish wool market, with the trend to wooden flooring and no demand for carpet. So now it is used for industrial and commercial heavy carpets. There is not even a scouring plant in Ireland to wash the wool, so the whole process takes place in the UK.
Some of the treasures of Dingle
Woollen garments a big part of their souvenir market
and Celtic memorabilia
Germany vs Brazil- what a massacre - 7-1!
Easy listening music in pub tonight. Walking home we ran into Dave Cox, a high school teacher of mine, and his wife, Kim, who are in Ireland for a wedding.
This is the effervescent Morris, the other half of the B&B team, aiming to get another star on his Trip Advisor chart.
Thought for the day
M&M
8/6/2014
No comments:
Post a Comment