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


Page Six – Annascaul

Friday, April 20.


I woke up early, at 7:45, and it was raining! Hallelujah! I used coffee to coax KC out of bed again but we still didn’t get on the road until after 10 so I suspected we’d miss our date with Michael. On our way into Dingle, we passed a hitchhiker on his way into Ventry, a man who looked like he was in his mid-twenties, and picked him up. Fortunately, he spoke English (many people in the area only speak Irish) and told us he lived in Dunquin. We discussed the vegetation on the side of the road and how it was cut back. He mentioned that the road to Ballyferriter was so overgrown it was impossible to walk it for, if a car passed, the thorns in the gorse (the yellow-flowered bushes we saw everywhere) would rip your clothes to shreds.

We dropped him off and went on to Dingle to pick up my CDs. Thankfully, Caitriona had them for me, but the street was so parked up KC was circling the block and I couldn’t stay and chat. She expressed dismay over the weather but mentioned that the castle was beautiful in the mist. What castle? I didn’t have time to ask.

Annascaul:




In spite of the weather, our first view of Annascaul Lake was breathtaking! It’s nestled between two huge mountains and is fed by a long, long waterfall. When we got there, KC discovered that the big camera’s battery had died so all we had was my little one. The pictures are OK, not as good as the EOS would have been. Regardless, we started up the path, not knowing where it would lead us. At least *I* didn’t know. KC was hoping it would take us to the top.

In fact, he INTENDED to walk to the top. His problem was getting me to go along. He managed to do this by coaxing me along, one bend-in-the-road at a time. At every weigh-point, when I wanted to start back, he would urge me to go ‘only to the next curve’ to see what was there and, all of a sudden, we WERE at the top, much to my surprise and his delight. I must admit that it wasn’t as hard as I thought it would be and we did see some incredible scenery. Yes, it was worth the climb, and I’m glad he made me do it.

Start of the climb at Annascaul Lake:




The end of the rivulet which runs into the lake:




At the end of this stretch, I was ready to stop because the road became very rocky and I wasn’t sure I could get across it; or, if I managed to, whether I could get down. KC persuaded me to continue by climbing over the rocks and assuring me that the rest of the path was grassy.

It WAS grassy, but also very soggy as there were at least 3 waterfalls feeding the lake. My wellies enabled me to handle the wet grass but they were very slippery on wet rocks and I was still worried I wouldn’t make it down. KC’s hiking boots were not waterproof but had a lug sole so he favored the rocky parts.

Looking back on the lake, it was worth traversing the rocks:




Looking back on the lake from further down the path:




We’ve come quite a distance now and I’m again ready to start back but KC wants to press on. Every time the path turned, he coaxed me forward by wondering what we’d see around the next bend and, every time, he then exclaimed how beautiful this “new” view was. Little by little, he drug me further and further up, as the weather got worse and worse. I was expecting the clouds to break any minute but they never did.

At a junction where a second waterfall joined the first:




At this point, the path had wound around so that the lake was no longer visible.

The widest part of the waterfall…was that a pool it was forming?




Looking down on the lake from even further up (yes, it was a pool):




We’ve now crossed back over and can see the lake again.

The first of three bridges:




The terrain is less steep here and KC uses that to urge me forward. We did eventually reach a point where we could see the top of the first ridge. The clouds had descended to the top of it though, and the wind was blowing pretty hard, so I waited while KC sprinted up to the top.

A view of the top:




You can see that the view is now totally obscured by the clouds.

Finally, a view from the top. It took us 1.5 hours to get here:




Starting our descent:




Somewhere between here and the next picture, I stepped on some ‘wet’ grass and my right foot sank in over my ankle. I tried to shift my weight back to my left foot but I was off balance and my right foot went even further into the water, halfway up my boot. I panicked, thinking I was sinking into quicksand, shrieked, and started flailing in an attempt to get back onto solid ground.

Fortunately, KC was right behind me and pulled me out by the scruff of my neck telling me not to panic. Although I was ‘safe’ now the stress had been too much for me and my bladder was about to burst. With no other choice, I announced that I was going to drop my drawers. “Here?!!!!” KC asked, incredulously. Yes, here. Fortunately, we had not seen a soul all day, but KC still laughed all the way down.

He claims that every time I tell the story I downplay the amount of shrieking and arm waving that went on. I keep reminding him that he was lucky it was ME who sank into the water since his boots were canvas and I could NOT have pulled him out by the scruff of his neck…. Regardless, we both were more cautious the rest of the way and, although it was downhill, it took us an hour.

View of the lake from our descent:




Our last shot at the lake:




At the bottom, just before we reached the car, the wind picked up again so I wrapped my scarf around my face but I didn’t tie it, I just tucked into my hood. The scarf is Tibetan lamb and very fluffy. All of a sudden, the wind whipped the scarf from around my neck, it caught on my glasses and ripped them off my face! Once again, I shrieked (I did a lot of that on this trip) and started frantically looking for them. KC, bewildered by all the noise I was making (as in, “What now?”), turned around and calmly picked my glasses up off the ground. He’s gotten me out of four ‘messes’ so far. I wonder what will be next.


When we got back in the car, we knew it was too late to go sailing so we called Michael and let him know. We then drove into Annascaul and had lunch at The South Pole Inn, former home of Tom Crean the renowned explorer. It was good, I had tomato soup and a grilled cheese sandwich, KC had a burger with ham and pineapple, and we bought the book, The Unsung Hero on our way out. We asked the proprietor if there was a castle nearby and he said, yes, Minard. We found it on our map and piled back in the car.

LINK: Thomas Crean’s website (a new window will open).
LINK: The Unsung Hero on Amazon (a new window will open).


Minard Castle:




The water closet (this chamber opened out at the bottom):




The inside:







When we got back into Dingle we stopped at Sean’s store and bought a carafe and two glasses in the Celtic Flame pattern. It is without a doubt the heaviest crystal I have ever felt! He showed us the bowl he had to make to qualify as a master craftsman – it was very impressive and very interesting: Each candidate has to make the same bowl and it combines every technique needed to cut glass.

Sean is a really interesting guy: he rides a Harley Davidson and many of his promo pix feature him on his bike, holding a piece of his crystal, which creates an unusual dichotomy.

Here’s a picture of Sean on the front of the local things-to-do-in-Dingle magazine:




And here’s a link to a picture of the pattern we bought, Celtic Flame.
I just LOVE this pattern!
It’s simple, vibrant, classic and contemporary, and the glasses fit perfectly in my hand.
I suspect it’s very difficult to cut because of the curving lines:

LINK: Celtic Flame (a new window will open).

LINK: Dingle Crystal website (a new window will open).


While we were in Sean’s store, Clare came in looking for her cell phone (we didn’t have it or know where it was) and then we ran into her again on the street – it sure is a small world! But then Dingle is a small place….

We then went back to the music store to file a report on the day’s activities. We had hoped to thank Caitriona for her recommendation, but she wasn’t there. Michael was, and told us that he hadn’t taken his boat out as he’d had no one to go with him. We felt really bad but wouldn’t have missed Annascaul for anything so we asked for a rain check. We then asked him what times of year were best for the area.

He recommended Dingle in September or October, so we may come back then, just to see what the country is like in autumn. Michael plied KC with more Jameson’s (do those glasses ever get washed?) and recommended a new Portugese singer, Mariza Reis Nunes . She WAS phenomenal, I’ll have to track down a CD…. We reluctantly said goodbye because we had lots of packing to do. I secretly hoped we’d be able to pack quickly and have one last night in town.
LINK: Mariza’s website (a new window will open).


Packing was difficult because we had so many oddly shaped things, like the walking stick and my new boots, and heavy things like the surveyor’s compass and river stones. We were also concerned about bringing back potentially hazardous things from the soil so we washed our boots and the rocks before packing them! Amazingly we got everything into our three small bags with room to spare and none were overweight. Taking two smaller bags each, rather than one big one, was definitely an advantage.

I had hoped we’d be able to return to Dingle for one last music session (KC did not know this and, I’m sure, would have resisted) but it took a LONG time to pack and it was after 1pm when I was done. I hadn’t made an entry in the guest book yet but I was too tired and left that for the next morning. Even then, I didn’t have time to write all I’d wanted to so I limited my comments to helpful advice, rather than praise, because anyone visiting the cottage could see how wonderful it was and didn’t need me to reiterate that! KC was so caught up in his new book, The Unsung Hero, that he refused to come to bed and I have no idea how LITTLE sleep he got!

Satruday, April 21.


The Drive to Shannon:




We were up at 6:00am on Saturday so we’d be in Shannon by 10 and, miraculously, we made it, although we didn’t leave the cottage until 7:20. There was very little traffic on the road but, what there was, was huge! I think we passed 5 of those yellow quarry trucks with wheels as big as our car. We passed another hitchhiker, a middle aged woman, but we didn’t pick her up as we were afraid we’d be late. When we got to the airport, we missed the drop-off point for the car and had to drive around twice.

Once inside, though, the check-in line moved swiftly, as did the one for immigration. We barely had time to pick up some Lily O’Brien chocolate in the duty free shop (I’d remembered them from last year). There was also no time to check out the AA lounge as the flight was boarding when we got through immigration.

The plane was a new configuration with an infinitely adjustable seat that KC played with for most of the flight! The food was edible but, after finishing the salad, which had ranch dressing on it, I started to get a migraine. I took the medication, which aborted it, but I spent the remainder of the flight running to the restroom every 15 minutes.

Since I didn’t have even one migraine the entire time we were gone, and got one from almost my first bite of ‘American’ food, I’m convinced that MSG is the culprit. I know ranch dressing has MSG in it and should have known better than to eat it. I felt so good, though, that I didn’t think it would bother me. Next time, I’ll know better. And, from now on, I’m going to be more diligent about avoiding ALL foods with even a trace of MSG.

Although you might think it’s weird to end this page on a negative note, that is how the vacation ended for me, and I thought it would be appropriate to share it.

On a positive note, the flight arrived early, we breezed though immigration (because we’d been pre-cleared) and our three bags were among the first six on the carrousel. We were so early that the car picking us up was still in transit. KC read his new book while we waited and was almost done with it by the time we got home. He’s STILL talking about the things that expedition went through!

At this point, KC’s lucky streak ran out: he realized he’d forgotten our duty free bag on the plane so we now have no gifts for anyone. I contacted the airline and they have alerted the lost and found but I doubt we’ll get it back. Sorry!

I started this page shortly after we got home as I wanted to get it off my plate ASAP. I forced myself to stay awake until 11 and picked it up again when I got up on Sunday. At 3:00 am I was finally done. Or so I thought. I made a few changes Monday morning and I’m sure I will tweak it again as people point out my mistakes. And, if KC thinks it’s necessary, I’ll add those things I didn’t think were relevant. It’s so long already though I’m reluctant to make it longer.

In any case, I hope you enjoyed it. Feel free to send me your comments, corrections, and suggestions. You can email me at BarbHalley@aol.com or by pressing the button at the bottom of this page.


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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OOAKFolk, Inc., and artist Barbara Healy are not affiliated in any way with the original manufacturers of the dolls pictured in this site. No photograph, text or graphic on this site may be copied without written permission from Barbara Healy. Copyright © 2004 OOAKFolk, Inc.

Last Revised: May 2, 2007
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