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Our trip to Dunquin Cottage
on the Dingle Peninsula,
Ireland, April 11-21, 2007


Page Four
Blasket Islands / O’Flaherty’s

Monday, April 16.


The Blasket Islands


Map of some of the islands (the smaller ones aren’t shown):




Another sunny day. What happened to all the rain that was forecast? After another delicious oatmeal breakfast, we drove into Dingle to buy a knapsack and walking stick, having established a need for them on our trip to Dunmore Head. We also needed more peat for the fire and anti-motion pills for the ferry ride that afternoon. On our way back, we stopped at The Stonehouse and had a quick but delicious lunch – roasted tomato and red pepper soup for me and beef stew for KC. We got home in plenty of time to pack up for our trip to the Blaskets. I took two motion sickness pills and we walked to the pier. It was a short walk, just up the road from the cottage.

Stones holding down the ferry shacks, so they didn’t blow away:




Hmmmm….. when we got to the pier, there were very few people there. It was 2:30, our tour was supposed to leave at 3:00, and we were told that it wouldn’t be running that day because the weather was too rough. Rough? It was another sunny day with very little wind. We suspected the problem was lack of people but weren’t really in a position to argue. They told us to come back tomorrow but, since the ferry was still running to the island and back, suggested that we spend an hour walking around on the island today (which was part of the eco-tour package) and do the eco-tour (a three hour excursion) later in the week. Since I was already pumped full of anti-motion medication, we agreed, and it turned out to be the perfect way to see the islands – on them the first day, and around them the next.

Steep path down to ferry dock:






We were the only two people on the ferry, excluding the captain, Martine, and first mate, Pedro. Pedro gave us his standard ‘spiel’ which was very informative, as the ferry made the 10-minute trip across. We boarded the ferry directly from the dock on the peninsula but had to take a motorized dinghy from the ferry to the island pier. Not my favorite part of the trip, but KC enjoyed it. There weren’t any seals on the beach when we arrived but the sea round the rocks was teaming with them, sticking their cute little heads out of the water. They seemed to be as interested in us as we were in them.




Great Blasket landing:




The island was FASCINATING! It’s mind boggling to think that people actually lived there. Everything is just how the inhabitants left it, in 1954 when they agreed to leave. There is talk of the Irish government taking over the island and installing ‘safety’ measures like stairs and railings but that would adversely affect the impact that the island makes on you. If you’re thinking of visiting, go now, before they ruin it!

The islanders are responsible for protecting the Irish language during the British occupation (they spoke only Irish) and their small community produced over 40 important literary works which have been translated into many languages. The link below is a condensed write-up which is easy to read and very informative.

LINK: the Blasket Islands website (a new window will open).


Great Blasket Island:




Quoted from the link above: All the houses had a large kitchen, with enough room to dance a set or to wake a corpse, an adjoining "lower room", and in some cases an "upper room" behind the hearth wall. The kitchen had to be large enough to accommodate animals at night or during bad weather. There was a loft above the lower room – in some houses a makeshift bed was placed there – and a narrow loft above the fire for storing nets, fishing lines, trawl lines and other goods.

The king’s house:




We might have tried to walk around the island if we’d had time, as there is a path. Instead, we fed the donkeys, small shaggy beasts with long curved hooves. When we asked why their hooves looked so weird, we were told it was due to the fact that they’re wild and their hooves aren’t groomed, or worn down by rocks. One hour was just enough time to see most of what was there.

Donkeys on the island:






The ferry collected us on schedule and we were back on the peninsula around 5. On our way in, we watched Pedro clean the fish he’d caught on the way out, 3 mackerel and 2 pollock. They had offered them to us and, in retrospect, we should have taken them. Martine and Pedro persuaded us to take the eco-tour on Wednesday as they would not be working on Tuesday.

Since the Blasket Center was close to the cottage, and it was earlier than we’d expected, we decided to take the back road (path through the fields) and see what it had to offer. On the way, we discovered the way down to the water! It was very rocky and I had trouble crossing the small stream the fed into the sea (slippery rocks and poor balance) but the colors of the stones were so beautiful – turquoise, lavender and gold – that I HAD to take some home with me!

Colorful rocks on trail to Blasket Center:



Barb trying to cross over slippery rocks:


What is this HUGE plant?





We got to the Blasket Center at 5:30 in time to spend 30 minutes before they closed. The movie, with interviews with the last residents, was fascinating, and the rest of the information was very interesting. There was even a recipe for rabbit, cooked over a fire. We were sorry we didn’t have more time and hoped we’d be able to return.

The sun was going down now and KC took some gorgeous pictures. Which of these two do you prefer?






When we got back to the cottage, at 6:30, I was exhausted and fell asleep in the chair! When I woke up, I made spaghetti with cauliflower in a cream sauce for dinner, with tomato salad and Rueda wine on the side, and then fell asleep on the sofa. I’m sure it was the anti-motion medication making me so tired. KC did 2 loads of laundry while I slept, and the dishes. When I woke up from my nap on the sofa, I went up to bed and slept through the night. As I promised KC, there was no music tonight.

Tuesday, April 17.


I woke up early today but felt a bit dizzy, the remnants of the anti-motion medication, I’m sure. I sucked down an instant coffee (press-pot is too much trouble to clean) and toast. The oat bran and linseed bread from Garvey’s is sooo good I’m going to bring some back with me! I read until KC got up at 11:30 and then we both read until 1:30 when I made a quick lunch from the leftover potatoes. I fried some eggs in the middle of them and a few more sausages.

We stayed in most of the day, reading, and then took our first shower. We had some trouble getting the water to come out – everything has two switches, one to get the juice flowing (electricity, water, etc…) and the other to turn on the appliance. The water pressure was good and the bathroom was warm so it was a pleasant experience. We walked back down the back road to the water to pick up a few more colorful stones. KC found some that were shaped like ogs and suggested that I inscribe them with runes and use them as accessories for my dolls which I thought was a great idea.

We built another fire and read for the rest of the day. We found a great radio station, 93.9, which was totally Irish (Gaelic). It was hard to figure out who the artist was when we liked something but the music was wonderful. Dinner was self serve sandwiches and cider. I REALLY like the cider. We were surprised to discover it was higher in alcohol than the beer KC had been drinking. KC thinks the cider is “why Barb naps so much” but I’m sure it’s the anti-motion meds. My dizziness finally subsided at the end of the day. I checked the package and, sure enough, the pills work for 24 hours.

Although holing up in the cottage was something we’d planned to do with the wind howling and rain pelting down, the weather was still clear and sunny. Everyone else loved it but we’re a bit disappointed. We LIKE misty overcast weather.


Wednesday, April 18.


Finally! Woke up early today, 7:30, and brewed coffee to coax KC up, too. We left the cottage at 9am and drove up through Ballyferriter and passed the three sisters to Smerwick beach. There was another woman on the beach (we rarely see anyone) with 3 insanely happy dogs running circles in the sand and chasing a stick into the water. We walked over to Dun an Oir fort at the edge of the clif but there wasn’t much too see. 600 odd people were beheaded there, after being tricked into surrendering, so there is a stone monument honoring them.

Ballyferriter and Smerwick on the map:




The Three Sisters:




Smerwick Beach:






There were scores of odd looking ‘worms’ on the sand which, when you disturbed them, turned out to be sand. We found out later they ARE piles of sand, pushed out by digger worms that burrow 1-2 feet into the sand and excrete it out behind them. Worm poop.

We drove back into Ballyferriter for lunch but nothing was open yet (11:30) so we had a coffee and pastry in the café. We were too full to eat after that and drove back to the cottage, stopping at Louis Mulcahy’s pottery on the way. His work is renowned but we couldn’t decide what to get so we decided to mull it over.
LINK: Louis Mulcahy website (a new window will open).


Back at the cottage we grabbed a quick sandwich and set off, once again, for the ferry. Half way there, I realized I’d forgotten my glasses so KC ran back to get them (his legs are longer and he moves much faster when I’m not along) while I went on ahead to make sure they didn’t leave without us. Today, there were dozens of people there and, sure enough, the eco-tour did go. While I was waiting for KC to get back, I struck up a conversation with a couple who turned out to be from Chicago, Carla and Allan Price. They were very interesting and I’m sure we’ll see them again when we get home.

I didn’t want to suffer through another 24 hours of anti-motion medication stupor and thought I’d be OK given that the ferry was open but didn’t take any chances and hung near the edge of the boat the entire time. It paid off; I didn’t have even a twinge of nausea. Because this was our second trip to the Islands, Pedro’s spiel was old hat and we were able to concentrate on taking pictures. I was glad we’d spread the ‘trip’ over two days and would recommend doing that if you have time as the price is the same, 40 euro apiece.

Pedro:



Some pictures the Price’s took on the ferry:




Barb and Allan with the captain, Martine, at left and the sleeping giant in the background:



As we approached the main island, Pedro said we were going to investigate what appeared to be a fin sticking out of the water near the shore. When I saw it, I shrieked with excitement which was the WRONG thing to do. All of a sudden, everyone else in the boat was crowding in front of me and I couldn’t see a thing! As the boat edged closer, whatever it was turned towards us and swam along side; MY side, fortunately, and I was able to get a movie of it. Whatever it was, it was huge! The fin was black and the body was grey with speckles. The crew thought it was a small whale but KC said it had the wrong type of fin…he thought it was a shark. Apparently, the crew didn’t want their passengers, of which some were about to get into a small dinghy, to know there was a shark in the water. It was a Basking Shark though, which feeds on plankton. Nevertheless, I was glad *I* wasn’t getting off on the island today!

Basking Shark:



MOVIE: basking shark (a new window will open).


The trip around the islands wasn’t as interesting as I’d hoped it would be. The woman doing the commentary, Ruth?, who lives on the island when the ferry is running, spinning and weaving, was willing and able to answer questions but didn’t really provide a running commentary like Pedro did. In her defense, it was very noisy and her voice didn’t carry so she had ‘private’ conversations with whoever approached her. The fact that she actually lives on the island, in a house owned by the Stagles, the authors of The Blasket Islands: Next Parish America, one of the best books about the islands, is pretty amazing, and many of our questions were about her life which she didn’t appear to think was that unusual. At the end of the trip, she served us home-made scones and apple cake!

We did see the puffins they’d promised us but they were so far away it was hard to see them. The best parts of the trip, therefore, were the cathedral rocks and the ladder (and the shark, above).

Cathedral Rocks:





Ladder:



Interesting crag:




The lighthouse island is also interesting although we didn’t go around it. It’s supposedly the smallest island in the world and has the world’s smallest railroad as well, built to service the lighthouse. Although the lighthouse is still working, it is controlled remotely and no longer manned.

Lighthouse Island (pointed island behind cathedral rocks):




When we got back to the cottage KC, once again, didn’t want to go into the city for music, but I thought we should check out at least one other pub so I dragged him down to O’Flaherty’s. On our way there, over the mountain pass, we got stuck behind a van that we couldn’t see around (it is a one lane road – that is, exactly ONE lane for both directions -- if there are cars traveling in both directions, one of them has to pull over so the other can pass). The van suddenly pulled over but, instead of an oncoming car, the usual reason one pulls over, we saw a herd of sheep heading towards us!

I sprang out of the car and pulled out my camera. I filmed them as they passed me, bleating continuously. They were followed by the farmer, in his car, and were kept in line by his dog, which I didn’t see until the last minute. What a thrill! (If I can get the movie to load, you will hear the excitement in my voice.)

Sheep in the road:



MOVIE: sheep in road (a new window will open).


When we got to Dingle, everything was closed! So, we nipped into Garvey’s to restock our coffee, eggs, and cider and then went over to The Old Smokehouse for dinner. KC had a t-bone and I had their peppered salmon. I have never had such good salmon! It was perfectly cooked and served on colcannon with a lemon cream sauce. KC’s steak was good but, as he put it, dairy beef is not the same as cattle. With dinner we had a bottle of 2004 Bodegas Eschorihuela High Altitude cabernet tempranillo from Mendoza, Argentina which was so good we’re going to see if we can find it here. For dessert, we shared a sticky toffee pudding. It wasn’t out-of-this world like the one at Murphy’s Pub but it was still very good. The difference, I think, was the caramel sauce and ice cream; this one was also served warm but with whipped cream on the side. We’d forgotten the lesson we learned at Gogarty’s and got burned again when we paid with a credit card.

We walked from the restaurant to O’Flaherty’s. It was deserted but, once again, I staked out a seat right by the music and waited. KC played solitaire on his Treo and then went outside to take a call. This time, we had a lute, played by a guy from Massachusetts, and the pub’s owner, Fergus O’Flaherty, playing every instrument in an Irish band – accordion, banjo, guitar, and whistle. All of a sudden, Eric appeared! Bodhran again! And, I had a prime seat with a direct view of both sides of the drum! In addition, none of the instruments were amplified so you could actually hear the bodhran. I was in heaven!

Music at O’Flaherty’s:



MOVIE: music in O’Flahertys (a new window will open).

LINK: write-up on O’Flaherty’s (a new window will open).


Halfway through the set, who should walk in but the Prices, the folks we met on the ferry earlier today. KC noticed them – I was too preoccupied with the music. When the music stopped, KC moved to their table and I cornered Eric. Although he’s from Lyon, France, he’s been in Dingle for years and is their most prominent bodhran player. He recommended several CD’s with heavy bodhran. Once I’d picked his brain, I joined KC and the Prices and we discussed our past and future vacations until they had to leave. We chatted a bit with Fergus (he says he loves Americans!) and then went home ourselves.


Page 1: Dublin
Page 2: Dunquin Cottage.
Page 3: Dunmore Head / An Droichead Beag.
Page 4: The Blasket Islands / O’Flaherty’s.
Page 5: Gallarus Oratory / Shopping
Page 6: Anascaul
Original, all-on-one-page version.

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Last Revised: May 2, 2007
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