Dingle, Ireland
Up next after the Cliffs of Moher was exploring Dingle by car and spending a night at the Dingle Esk View hotel. Like our drive to the Cliffs, we pulled over on the N86 highway to snap a few photos of a lovely Irish countryside view. This view is located right before driving through Camp in County Kerry.
Once in Dingle my fiance and I drove around the peninsula while his brother and brother's fiancee went for run. Dingle is in County Kerry and is the only town on the Dingle Peninsula, which sits on the Atlantic Coast about 40 miles northwest of Killarney.
Dingle was originally developed as a port after the Norman invasion of Ireland. By the 13th century more goods were being shipped through Dingle than Limerick, so Henry III imposed customs on the port's exports in 1257. Fishing used to dominate the town, which is now more known for its musical and gastronomical charm, not to mention for its scenery. Dingle is also part of a Gaeltacht, which is a region where the government subsidizes the preservation of the Irish language and culture.
Aside from the scenery, my favorite thing about Dingle were the Clocháns, or beehive huts. They're located to the west of Dingle Town on a farm, where you pay a Euro or two to the farmer to gain access to them. The beehive huts are a short 2-minute walk from the "entrance."
Don't forget to turn around on the short walk to the beehive huts for a wonderful view out over the water.
These huts were built without mortar with a process called "corbelling." They were built in a circle of successive strata of stone, each layer lying a little closer to the center than the one before it. The age of the huts is unknown, but it's believed that these huts likely date from the 12th century when Norman invaders forced the farmers from this prosperous area.
Like the other sites we'd visited before we arrived in Dingle, this town wasn't at the peak of tourist season yet, so we felt like we more or less had everything to ourselves. We were one of the few people walking through Dingle Town for a place to eat dinner. But I did have the best Irish stew I've ever had and afterwards we found a bar to enjoy some live music and a couple rounds of beer by a nice warm peat fire.
Comments
Post a Comment