Bidding Farewell to the O’Sheas & to Ireland.

Heading out to Bally Ferriter tonight, to Cain’s pub for some food and drink. Aine’ is bringing her Mom Eileen out for a “drop” and Padraig will try to join us as well. Prior to the evening gathering, we got to meet the kids. All 10 grand children. I can’t remember all their names, but we got it on tape so when I get home I can put names to faces for the blog.

Tomorrow we pack up and drive away from Dingle as we work our way back towards the airport Shannon. The plane leaves in the AM, so this will be the last post I’ll be making to the blog. I hope to update it later after I get home. With 6 gigs of pictures and video, I have enough photos to last a lifetime.

So this will be the last post (on this side of the Atlantic) for this blog. Thanks to all who have followed our trip. We appreciate the e-mails and comments, and look forward to sharing our pictures and stories in person.

Slan Go Foill,

Cullen, Phil, & Bob

The Blasket Island Heritage Center

What I formerly called the “blight” upon the Dun Quin landscape, has actually turned out to be a really nice tribute to the Blasket Island people. It is built to have a low profile, so as not to detract from the view of the landscape, but is still very visible from the Slea Head side of things.

Anyway, 3 Euro let us in to see (another) movie, but this one was well done I think. We then got to take a self guided tour through the facility. There are lots of references to Thomas O’Criomtnin? and others who came afterwards in Irish Literature infamy. We were all very impressed with the exhibits. Well worth looking at if you are ever in Dun Quin.

Ryan’s Daughter School House

This is all that is left of the 1960’s school house movie set built on location. The roof is half torn off but the structure still stands.

We missed the sunset, but there was a nice after-glow.

Gallarus Rip-off! (Oratory)

The “new” Ireland, as we like to call it, loves to charge $ for its sights. This was not always the case. 10+ years ago, one could simply walk up to ruins, cut through a farmer’s field and see stuff for free. At the very worst, you may get a farmer who would ask for a $1 Quid tress pass free but…

Enter the Irish Tourist board. In the new Ireland, everybody pays. Any possible lump of old rocks that can pack a tour bus in a tiny parking lot is money! Sometimes the price is fair for what you see, and sometimes not. Today was one of those “not” days.

We drove over to the Gallarus Oratory, which is about 1000 years old, and still water tight. (see picture) We see a giant parking lot and a visitor center where they wanted $3 Euro (roughly $5 US) to pass through the gate. They then shuttled us to a short 5 minute video on the ruin & the surrounding area. After the video was over they told us we could now walk up the hill to see the site.

After arriving and snapping pics, I started to walk away and noticed a long path that led off to some parked cars. I asked the girl what was up, and she told me, “Oh, that’s the public access way for the public parking.” I smiled politely, thanked her and walked away.

Moral of the story: We paid 3 Euro not to see the ruin, but for the film. The park is set up so that unsuspecting tourists who enter are made to think that THIS is the only vantage point to access the ruins. The video was actually pretty lame & almost put us to sleep, so that is how they justified making us pay a fee. Regardless, it’s a pretty shady setup and the locals in the pubs all tended to agree with us.

For some lucky lass back home...

We found what they call "Kerry Diamonds" near the sea cliffs off Slea Head. It's basically quartz crystal, but could be
made into a pendant or jewlry of some kind.

Climb Mount Croaghmarhin (a.k.a. Pointy Mountain)

After the beach, we drove to the foot of the mountain to begin our climb. We established what we liked to call “base camp” at the power station/radio tower. It took us a steady 45 minutes of climbing to reach the summit. The view from above was quite amazing. We had the perfect day, and the weather held up for us. A slight rain shower quickly passed over us, and left us with views that we’ll never forget.

Me Father may look like he had a heart attack, but he's still alive & didn't expire on top of the mountain. The climb was pretty harsh though. A lot longer than I remember. Good thing he was in practice at the gym all these months. Turns out this outcrop of rocks is called a bed by some of the locals, for obvious reasons. I'm proud of my Dad who at age 62 made the climb.

Cominole Strand

We checked out from Eileen Collin’s B&B in Dingle this morning, and made a few calls to set up our last few nights B&B arrangements before leaving. Turns out Eileen’s husband is related to none other than the famous Michael Collins, who helped free Ireland from British rule.

On the road we went out to Cominole strand. This is a sheltered beach along the neck of Slea head, one which the tourists seem to have found. Years ago, not many people knew about it, but that is no longer the case. Still, despite broken beer bottles, campers tents in the sand, and tourists falling over each other, the cove was still very beautiful.

Irish Ghost Town

After having soup at the Dun Quin pottery café, we hopped a boat across to the Blasket Islands. For those who aren’t aware of the history behind these islands, they were inhabited a while back until in the 1950’s the government relocated the villagers. Now the houses are deserted and stand in ruin. A boat leaves Dun Quin harbor and 30 Euro gets you dropped off and picked back up later in the day.

The boat traveled 2 miles off the coast, and then we used a zodiac raft to fiord to shore. We only had about an hour and a half on the island, but got a lot of walking in. Lots of wild sheep on the Blaskets, and one of the nicest beaches we’ve seen yet. Got home and crashed. No going out to pubs for me tonight, this Irishman is tired. The plan for tomorrow is to climb “Pointy Mountain” or whatever its Gaelic name is called.

Celtic Ring Fort:

Last Phil and I were here, it was not as commercial. We could just hop a farmer’s fence and see a 5th century BC (iron age) ruin. Now we have a gift center, bus pull off, and of course a place to sell tickets and collect Euros. Sad that even Dingle has not been spared the almighty tourist $, but it has proved no different than the rest of Ireland.

Anyway, we climbed through the ruins, and got some great shots of the seascape.
A boat went by below the cliffs and Dad wanted to go on a boat ride, which led us to the next entry.

PS I'll have to add a pic of the fort later, since i'm working off a USB drive at the internet cafe'

Day 11… On Top of The Emerald Isle.

This morning we drove from Dingle up to the Connor Pass. It runs along the spine of the peninsula, and is possibly one of the finest views in all of Ireland. We had a good day for it, and snapped a lot of shots. We hiked up high above the road and looked out over the Peninsula. It is possible to see the Skelligs from such a height. I’m sure our pictures just won’t do it justice, but it was breath taking!

Padraig’s Irish Music

We staked out a good table at the “Small Bridge” pub for a night of traditional Irish Music. Padraig had some accompaniment in the form of a guitar player, but for the most part, O’Se (Irish spelling for O’Shea) held down the show on his own. Phil and I filmed a lot of his songs, which I knew from his CD. He announced to the crowd “This one goes out to my old friends who are here with us this evening from Pittsburgh, Pa.” The crowd cheered and he broke into the tune of Bally Desmond.

By 11:30 the Kerry Sets (a form of traditional Irish dancing) developed, and had the whole pub in awe. Everyone had a wonderful time, and poor Padraig was dead tired. It was a fantastic evening.

greetings from Cali

Great to see the recent photos of Eileen and Padraig and wife. The quality of the photos are excellent.So how much do they want for Krugers ? Fran

Celtic Stones & Harbors

While climbing around Dun Quin today, I snapped this shot and thought these rocks just looked cool! I thought the strata and natural lines were pretty and worth sharing.

The Harbor shot is also from Dun Quin, and we're considering a boat ride around (or directly to) the Blaskets in the coming days. We have 4 more days on this peninsula, so we hope to get that chance.

Eileen says "hi"

Eileen says hi to my family & friends back home.

Day 10 Dun Quin & Meet the O’Sheas

Got an early start today, and made a straight path for some of the most beautiful parts of the Emerald Isle, which my family has come to know as Dun Quin. This seaside town is also known for being cast in the famous films, Ryan’s Daughter and Far & Away.

Before heading there, we stopped at yet another Irish beach, called Ventry Strand. This beach is not as big as Inch, but no less impressive. The water is clear and cool, about 55 degrees I’d say. (Lake Erie temps) Too cold to swim, but for those not too squeamish wading up to your ankles is not out of the question. Turns out we’ll stay in Ventry on both Sunday and Monday nights, so we’ll be seeing a lot of this town!

After beaching it, we headed around the horn towards Slea Head. This is a massive outcropping of rock, which reaches out towards the Blasket Islands. The drive along a sea cliff is breath taking, and whenever we come across a tour bus coming the other way, we always have to squeeze ourselves through the few inches they give us. The sun has been out between the clouds all day, so we are finally getting some good weather, and the forecast is called to be looking pretty good.

There is an island that is known as the "sleeping man" which can be seen in the back ground. Sometimes referred to as the sleeping bishop as well. I don't recall it's proper name, but if you look closely it does seem to resemble a man laying on his back with a beard or whatever.

Dun Quin (as Nora so rightly points out) has changed!!! Sooo many houses, and a new Blasket Island Heritage center which is VERY visable coming from the Slea Head side, which we understand to be a tourist magnet. However the landscape is still pretty. :-( We also learned that Krugger’s pub is up for sale!

Found Eileen’s house and went in for tea. She’s looking well, and gets around on her cane. She’s in good spirits and welcomed us with tea. We talked for a while until Michelle and Padraig arrived. Their kids were in school, which doesn’t let out until next Wed. It was good to catch up, and we shared stories over the years long gone. Padraig then had to do a show (on radio) and we went on our way. Tonight we’ll catch up with him as he plays at the “Small Bridge” Pub. Can’t wait!

Meantime, the drive home took us through Bally Ferriter, and on the way we got some great seascape shots. I’ll post what I can. We are in Dingle tonight, and tomorrow night. Last night for dinner we had Chinese food, just to break the monotony. Irish Breakfast, while good is slowly killing us via cholesterol. Eating eggs every day isn’t healthy, so we’re always trying to mix it up a bit.

I hope to post some more pics soon. Love to all back home.

Day 9 The Journey towards Dingle.

Arrived in Dingle this summer solstice evening. The town is packed for the weekend, and now we are scrambling to find lodgings in the city. We somehow squeezed in the next 3 nights but just barely.
We started off the day by leaving our picturesque location on Catherdaniel and headed up to a 7th Century AD Celtic Ring Fort, which we got to climb through. Then we passed through Waterville and up to the Island of Valencia. We visited the Skellig heritage center which was a substitute or sorts since we couldn’t book a trip ourselves since the roster was full. It was touristy and the video could have been better, but it gave us an idea of what life was like to some degree.

The real treat today was the drive up along the north ring of Kerry and along the Dingle Peninsula. We saw some nice scenery and since the sun stayed out all day (for a change) we got some really nice shots across the bay looking at the Dingle Peninsula and the Blaskets. Every 5 minutes or so we pull over the car for some quite remarkable shots! Ireland does need more "pull-offs" I do believe.

It sounds as if Padraig O’Sea plays Friday nights at the “Small Bridge” Pub. So we’ll definitely be seeing him tomorrow night. Meanwhile we’ll use tomorrow to see the highlights around Dun Quin.

Before pulling into Dingle we happened upon the longest beach in Ireland, named the Strand of Inch. (beach) Parts of the Film Ryans Daughter were filmed here as well. Surfing seems to be quite popular in Ireland with lessons being advertised all over the place.

There is an internet café in town, so it should be easy for me to update the remaining days here of our trip. Can’t believe the time has flown by, only 5 more nights to go. Well off to watch the end of the longest day of the year set over the Blaskets. More later.

Killarney & Beyond

Raining again. Today we did get spotted sunshine in-between the raindrops. We left Killarney and I was able to fix the blog problem with posting of pictures. We toured Ross Castle and Muckross abbey, where we crashed a funeral. (not really) Then we happened upon some amazing waterfalls called Torc Falls, which sit up above the 3 Lakes of Killarney. There was a serious hike to be had up a mountain, which had a very scenic overview, but the rain came back and it got too foggy.

The ride around the “ring of Kerry” was the amazing part of our day. Every bend in the road revealed mountain landscapes so breath taking, that I was snapping pictures just about every minute. We had fresh seafood chowder in the village of Sneen, and found our B&B in Catherdaniel on the tip of the peninsula in one of the most beautiful seascapes I’ve ever seen. The picture here is taken literally out our back yard of the B&B, and we spent the evening staring at the harbor watching the waves. Apparently there was a bit storm that took out the power for all of County Kerry, which made the national news. We were lucky enough to hit a bar called the Butler in Arms hotel, aka the Fisherman’s pub, which had its own power generator allowing us something to eat.

Skellig Island requires advanced booking, so Dad said he’d be happy to settle with a trip across the bridge to Valencia Island, where there is a Skellig museum instead. Then we’ll push onward toward Dingle to round up our last 4-5 days on that peninsula. We will hopefully hear Padraig O’Shea playing this time tomorrow night. More pictures and news to come.

Love to all back home,

PS Our view outside our Catherdaniel B&B is unbelieveable no? Moran's Farm House B&B in

case you ever go there.

Pictures are fixed!!!

I added pics from the last 3 days. Scroll down.

Back on the West Coast again

Before leaving Kells today, we found some more McEntee roots. Turns out there’s a McEntee store & undertakers who seem to be as related to us as Maura. We stopped in the shop, but no one was in. Snapped pics of the place and then proceed up the street to a 5 story round tower built in 1076 AD. I boosted Phil up inside and he got some cool shots, and we found some cool Celtic crosses in the cemetery, which the English later used to hang the Irish from in the 1700’s . (spit)

From Kells we headed over towards Dublin’s M50 bypass (ring road) and then N7 across the country. Along the way in a little town called Mounthrath, we had some of the best Leg of Lamb ever! We made it from Dublin to Limerick in just under 5 hrs, but hit some really bad construction on our way to Kilarney. It rained solid all day long, so it was a good day to be in a car, since it was miserable outside anyway.

After dinner, at 9 PM the sun finally did come out, so we hurried over to the Dunaloe Pass outside Kilarney and took our car up into the Lochs. It was some very scenic country, and if I can ever figure out a way to post pics again on the blog I’ll try and get a few up for you folks.

Tomorrow will be the “Ring of Kerry” as we’ll work our way over towards the town of Caheraniel. The island of Skellig Michael awaits.

Old sot on the old sod

Phil
Here's hoping the Guinness is still Guinness, the days are long, and you are having a great time. Somehow I hope you are remembering that you owe me a lot of money. I hope you are experiencing some of those places that are so unforgettable. Hearing some of those wonderful brogues. Seeing some of those steeples from the highways that foretell the closeness of a town. Going to the bathroom in some nasty shed. No I don't miss it. Hope to hear about it soon.

Meeting the McEntees

County Meath & Louth

Woke up and turns out this B&B has broadband, but for whatever reason we can’t post pics which kind of sucks. I blamed the upload speed at this place, but I'm beginning to suspect it may be the Blogger we site getting too big, so I may have to go in and blow out some prior pictures. If that’s the case so be it.

Headed south through Navan and we hit the Hills of Tara. The Irish Kings once lived here and its one of the higher rises in Ireland, however due to the rain it kind of washed our view. Then we bounced over to New Grange, which told us to go to the visitor center, which we figured was a money making scheme and we refused to play along. We got to New Grange only to learn our fears were true. 2 hrs wait for a tour and $9 US which we’re glad we passed on. Instead, we use some Farrell “Cheap” ingenuity and found a way to get around the Irish Tourist Bureau. Let’s just leave it at that.

We got lost a bit before coming to the Famous 1625 Battle of the Boyne site, where again they wanted money for stuff that we could skirt around and zoom in and get good pics of anyway, so we “cheaped out” again, but felt we saved good money while still getting good info and pics.

After lunch in the Morning Star Pub, south of Collon, we happened across a sister abbey of Cong’s named Mellifont abbey. We were very impressed with its layout and enjoyed touring the grounds. At about 4 PM we found Maura (McEntee) Rafferty’s dairy farm. Phil brought the kids tops and we talked and had tea before heading over to Moynalty, and the McEntee homestead which dated back prior to the year 1800.* The old family house got bulldozed last year and is no longer there, so good thing I got pics back in 1992.

The McEntee family took us in and fed us. There were about 20 people who showed up to meet us, and for Phil, it was the first time since the death of Bill McEntee that he met a male McEntee relative in his family. Seamus and Noel both bear resemblances we all think. You be the judge. (provided I can post this pic)

Day 7 will be the journey back across country and should take about 5 or 6 hrs to Killarney. We factored this all in for the trip, so we should be ok. We’ll now have begun phase 2 of our Ireland tour south of the Shannon as planned. Probably spending 2 days doing the Ring of Kerry, and 4 days in Dingle. Up to this point, it’s been magical, despite the Sun being shy. Phil and I really connected with our relatives (again) and it was well worth the few extra hours on the highway to be with family.

* A freaky twist of Irony has to be pointed out. Moynalty was a Manor Economy village, which is to say that it was run by an Irish Landlord family which of all names on the planet happened to be …. Yep, you guessed it. The Farrells!!! Don’t think this went unnoticed by my father! We now have been riding Phil about this the entire trip, calling him lackey boy, or serf and we’ve been getting some good mileage out of this historical quirk. Anyway, the jokes continue to fly all night long as to the fact that the Farrell family (at least of Moynalty) seemed to dominate the farmer McEntees. Poor serf boy Phil.

Meeting the Farraghers

Sorry, but no internet the past 2 days…

Woke up at a Beautiful B&B today, run by Mary Lydon. Turns out her family is married into the very Farragher clan that we came here to see. We went down to Ashford Castle, where we promptly got the “brush-off” since we weren’t their residents. We found a beautiful nature walk by a stream in Cong which was even better than the Castle itself.

Today is a day for meeting the Farragher relatives at Jimmy’s 63 acre farm overlooking the Connemara Mountains. We arrived to good food and warm hospitality. Soda bread, ham, pie, cookies, etc. The women pictured are all of Jimmy’s (Farragher) sisters, Anne, Catherine, mary & Peggy. Jimmy took us up to the fields with his border collie “Spotty” and showed us how a real Irishman farmer can use that dog to herd the sheep. Phil got it all on video tape, which we all agreed was one of our true highlights of this trip so far.

From 3 PM to 7 PM was spent in a car on semi-decent roads, but nothing like highways as we might call them in the states. Some are like the Worthington-Cowansville roads but the Irish kamikaze drivers (all of them) are absolutely insane! We are by far the slowest car on the roads, which probably added time onto our drive today, but we feel much safer.

We put down in the town called Kells, famous for the “Book of Kells” which is mere miles from the Family McEntee homestead in County Meath. Tomorrow will be the Ruins at Tara, New Grange, Castle at Trim, and we’ll wind up the evening with the Maura Rafferty and the McEntee clan.

From Clifden to Cong

We have a new driving technique, which seems to be working nicely. Phil is adapting to the oncoming collision roads, and we haven’t hit any sheep lately. Our new motto is DRIVE SLOW. We are much more comfortable and safe in doing it.

We started up the day by taking a Sky Way drive along the peninsula of Clifden. This is some of the most beautiful seacoast we’ve seen thus far on the trip. It’s right out of a James Joyce novel. Here is a shot overlooking the tip of the Peninsula.

After filling up the tank with gas for the first time, which only cost us $55 US (split that 3 ways and it’s not too bad) we got back on the road and went up to Kylemore Abbey, which has become a tourist dump. We still managed to get some nice shots and moved on. Further down the loch is where we got some really nice sight seeing as well.

Then we took one of the nicest roads through the Conemara along the 12 Pins and saw some beautiful country and stopped by a mountain stream where me father got a soggy bottom from this prone position.

After lunchtime in a town called “Recess” (I know) we rode over to Clonbur, the town of my Great Grandmother, Mary (Conroy) Farraher. We got an 80 year old bar keeper to give us the location of the place and found it. It took us a while, but Bob pulled out the ole’ tin whistle and dedicated a song to Mary Farragher.

Finally we arrived at Cong, which we decided to bed down for the night, but not before contacting Jimmy Farragher who joined us at Dunagher’s pub for a pint over traditional Irish music and family info. Jim then took us over to the Cong cemetery and showed us some of the family gravestones, which allowed me to get more info for the old family tree. Jimmy also invited us to meet the Farragher family at 11 AM on Sunday morning, which we are all looking forward too. Enjoy the pics, we’re having a ball.