Our trip to Antrim and the Dingle Peninsula, Ireland
April 9-23, 2013
Inch Strand, Sammy’s Cafe, An Canteen, Music at John Benny’s
Friday, April 19
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Inch Strand :
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Page 12: Sat – Dingle, Dinner at Michael & Dara’s, Music at Courthouse.
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Page 13: Sun – Cottage, Global Village Restaurant, Dick Mack’s Pub.
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Page 14: Mon – Dingle, An Canteen Restaurant, Pack and Return Home.
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Page 01: Tue – Prep and Travel to Dublin.
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Page 02: Wed – Drive from Dublin to Barbican Gatelodge in Antrim.
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Page 03: Thu – Giant’s Causeway.
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Page 04: Fri – Bushmills, Dunluce, Waterfall in Glenarm Forest.
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Page 05: Sat – Drive from Antrim to Dingle, Murphy’s Pub.
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Page 06: Sun – Dingle and Music at Courthouse
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Page 07: Mon – Shopping in Dingle.
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Page 08: Tue – Loch a'Dúin, Doyle’s Restaurant, Music at Courthouse.
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Page 09: Wed – Cottage, An Canteen Restaurant, Michael & John at Mighty Session
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Page 10: Thu – Fenit Pier and Bana Beach
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Page 11: Fri – Inch Strand, Sammy’s Cafe, An Canteen, Music at John Benny’s.
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Inch Strand, Sammy’s Cafe, An Canteen, Music at John Benny’s
An Canteen
John Benny’s Pub
Friday, April 19
Our wish list, from most to least important:
1. Climb to the top of Brandon Mountain, Cnoc Breanainn, highest mountain on the peninsula.
2. Climb to the top of Eagle Mountain, Sliabh an Iolair, second highest mountain on Dingle.
3. Cruach Mharthain, the 3rd highest mountain on the peninsula, behind Phil’s house, where Ryan’s Daughter was filmed.
4. ( The other side of Loch a'Dúin valley )
5. Coumaloughig (Valley of the Lakes) in Feohanagh River Valley
6. Beach on Inch Strand OR Smerwick Harbour Beach and
8. Dick Mack’s when it’s not packed.
We woke up at 8:30 and got out of bed at 9:15. KC made coffee and I had a smoothie while we discussed what we should do. It’s a beautiful day (at the moment) and KC really wants to go back to Inch Beach. He figures that we won’t encounter anyone else on Cruach Mharthain on the weekend so we should do Inch today because it will be mobbed on the weekend, and he is right about that.
While we were having our coffee, KC noticed a ship on the ocean in front of the cottage. We took a picture of it and then zoomed in using Photoshop on my laptop and it looks like it was a bulk carrier, one with several containers in its belly, rather than a tanker or a container ship. It disappeared behind Sybil Head so we fantasized that it was going to Fenit and wished we’d asked the harbor master when the next ship would be in!
Ten minutes later, there was another ship! Friday must be a good day for ship watching. I got several pictures with both cameras as it crossed behind Sybil head:
Close-ups taken with the small Canon Powershot Elph 310 HS:
Close-ups taken with the big Canon EOS:
We got dressed and ready for our hike and, as we were about to leave, Phil walked by. We talked to her briefly, then piled in the car and were on our way! It was 12:15 on the clock in the car.
Inch Strand, is about 45 minutes from the cottage:
In the car, I tried to call Mike and Eva, our neighbors, to find out what the weather in Chicago was doing, but I couldn’t get through. I inadvertently got through to Michael Herlihy, though, and he told me that Pauline and Eilis would be singing at John Benny’s Pub tonight. West Kerry Live said it would be Méabh so adding Pauline and Eilis would be a trifecta for me! We had not planned to listen to music tonight but under those circumstances, KC agreed to drive me in.
Map of Inch Strand, each square is 1 kilometer:
There were a lot of people at Inch, understandably, given the beautiful weather, so we decided to start with the eastern side and walked behind Sammy’s looking for the path. We found something that looked promising but it ended in a locked gate with a cautionary sign about farm safety. FARM? Livestock? We didn’t see any animals….
What looked like a path along the eastern side of the strand:
Not wanting to come face to face with a bull, we went around to the western side. There were lots of people on the beach but they were clustered around Sammy’s so we hurried past them and then had the beach to ourselves. We started walking around 1:00 pm.
What a glorious day:
We walked along the water’s edge until a large wave washed over our boots. Mine are waterproof but KC’s feet were now wet so we moved closer to the dunes.
For the first time this trip, I was appropriately dressed. I had left my big Barbour jacket in the car and was wearing only my fleece jacket. Underneath I had a long-underwear zip-neck mock turtle, and underneath that, a wool camisole. I always wear my ski goggles when it’s windy, and a hair net to keep my hair out of my eyes. I did NOT have my balaclava today.
NOT bundled up for the first time since we’ve been here:
Look how far we’ve come:
We walked almost to the end of the strand and then stopped for a snack on a rock ledge. KC took his shoes off, to let them dry a little, and used a microfiber towel I had in my backpack to squeeze the water out of his socks.
The rocks at the end of the strand:
Barb chewing:
KC’s wet socks:
We walked around the end of the strand, Inch Point, and started back up the eastern side.
Inch Point:
Looking back on where we’ve been (you can see our footprints):
Just after we rounded the point, KC saw a seal in the water!
We eyed each other for a few minutes, and then we moved on. We stayed close to the water’s edge because the sand was harder there and easier to walk on. There was a lot of seaweed on the beach but the waves were small and uninteresting. The water was so far from the dunes we think the tide must have been out.
We saw a pack of manx shearwater, those gorgeous black-and-white birds we’d seen on Brandon beach last year, and which I had since identified using the bird book in the cottage.
Manx Shearwater on Inch Beach:
About half-way we encountered some mud flats so we turned towards the dunes and walked along the edge of the mud flats until we found a path. We were hoping this was the path back to the road. There IS one marked on the map….
The mud flats:
The path:
We saw LOTS of rabbits along the side of the path but they were too quick to photograph. We also saw one heron, flying along the water’s edge, but we never saw a group of them like we did the last time we were on this side of the strand.
Grey Heron:
The path zigzagged along the base of the dunes, sometime taking us what seemed like miles from the shore, at other time right alongside it. It seemed to go on forever. When we had rounded Inch Point, at the end of the strand, we estimated we’d be back at Sammy’s before 4:00pm and it was nearly that now yet we weren’t even close.
The winding path:
We passed what looked like an irrigation ditch full of water and hundreds of irises! In a few weeks they would be glorious.
Irises in ditch:
Right past that was a berm. Was this land once used for agriculture?
Berm:
We walked on and on and on… I removed my fleece jacket and tied it around my waist. I was so hot I had to carry my knapsack over one shoulder to let my back cool off. Thank goodness I hadn’t worn my Barbour!
Looking back on where we had come:
It seemed like we’d been walking forever, and the path kept taking us further and further away from Sammy’s, when we realized it was going to wind along the bottom of the dunes – ALL the dunes – before taking us back in. It’s a good thing we weren’t tired….just tired of walking.
FINALLY the path turned inwards and we started climbing upwards. We could see Greene’s Cafe, across the road from Sammy’s.
Crossing the dunes:
Greene’s across from Sammy’s:
But…we were now also seeing great piles of cow dung, fresh cow dung, and huge cloven hoof prints. I was really afraid we were going to come face to face with an angry bull. I would have taken a picture of the ground but KC had the camera and was way ahead of me.
All of a sudden, KC crested a hill, took a few pictures, and then turned off the path telling me to follow him. He said I would see why in a moment. Oh oh, a bull?? As soon as I crested the hill I saw it – a paddock full of cattle and the path was heading right for it!
Paddock behind Sammy’s:
Camera zooming in on paddock, we never got this close:
I didn’t see any bulls, only cows (I think the bulls are kept separately until they’re needed), but I didn’t want a confrontation with a cow, either. They were eyeing us but didn’t show any inclination to chase us. Nevertheless, we walked quickly to the fence and slithered under it in case it was electrified.
Barb after negotiating the possibly electrified fence, you can see the posts behind me
(notice that gap between my hairnet and goggles…more on that later):
We knew we were close to Sammy’s now, though, because we had seen it behind the paddock. We scurried up the next hill and laid our grateful eyes on the beach.
Inch Beach:
Sliding down to safety:
We slid down the hill, trudged across the patio, and plunked ourselves down inside Sammy’s for our reward – chocolate fudge cake and Irish coffee for KC, carrot cake and water for me. I totally forgot to take pictures. KC’s cake, which had been warmed, was delicious. My cake would have been better warmed as well. Sugar is a huge avoid for me and this was not worth the consequences so I ate a few bites and KC ate the rest. I drank the whole bottle of water.
Below is the surveyor’s map of the strand again. We had started at 1pm and it was now 5pm so we had been walking for four hours. We think we walked about 10 miles because the eastern side is much longer than the western (which is 3-miles long) and the trail zig-zags so much. The map doesn’t show that.
Next year, we need to bring a pedometer although I don’t think I would do this walk again. Not only is the back side pretty monotonous, but those cows were on the dunes at some point during the day; probably when we started, or we would have seen them beyond the locked gate. I would not walk the eastern side again before talking to someone at Sammy’s about the cow’s schedule. OR, I would leave the path and cross over the dunes half-way, as we did in 2010.
Map of Inch Strand, each square is 1 kilometer:
In Sammy’s I FINALLY got through to our neighbors back home, although the connection was less than ideal. They told us that the rain had stopped and it was now snowing! The water in the retention pond was receding and our pump was still working. It looked like we had dodged a bullet and would NOT have to cut short our vacation. Thank you, Mike and Eva, you preserved our peace of mind!
It was 5:30 now. We had been planning to have dinner at John Benny’s Pub and then stay for the music but I had been craving the calamari at An Canteen so we went there instead. The next two shots were taken through the car window on our way into town.
My favorite valley:
Cruach Mharthain, the pointed peak in the middle:
An Canteen was crowded today, Friday, so we didn’t have as much opportunity to talk to Niall and Brian.
KC started out with a Sunburnt Irish Red beer but my picture didn’t turn out.
For my appetizer, I ordered the garlic eggplant, and for dinner a huge portion of calamari; KC started with a bowl of turnip-bacon soup and finished with fish and chips. I know, boring, but Niall does these SO WELL.
Garlic Eggplant (aubergine) at An Canteen :
Bacon and Turnip Soup at An Canteen (with Sunburnt Irish Ale on the side):
Fish and Chips for dinner at An Canteen :
Calamari for dinner at An Canteen :
KC’s second bottle of beer was a Howling Gale Ale.
We had already had dessert, at Sammy’s, and were too full for more so we drove home, intending to return later for music at John Benny’s Pub.
KC stopped in front of Global Village so I could run in and make a reservation. The girl who took it down commented that I had gotten some sun today and I wondered how she knew. When we got home I looked in the mirror and I had a bright red stripe across my forehead, in-between where my hairnet and goggles were! Oh well, there was nothing I could do about that now.
We were tired so KC took a nap. I didn’t want to risk missing the music so I updated this webpage. An hour later, I woke KC up, he showered and dressed, and we drove back into Dingle.
We got there just after 9:00pm and got two seats at the end of the bar with a great view of the musicians. I ordered an Irish coffee, hold the Irish, with sugar and extra cream. It was PERFECT, and looked as good as it tasted, but I forgot to take a picture until after I’d had my first sip. The pic is a bit yucky looking but you can still see the proportion of coffee to cream.
Irish coffee, hold the Irish, with sugar and extra cream at John Benny’s Pub:
KC worked his way through their extensive selection of Irish whiskey and John was able to provide expert advice. He must be a whiskey aficionado, too.
The music started on time and a few minutes later Dara walked in with Liam and a cute little blonde who was introduced to us as Kathryn. I talked to Liam until he joined Mark and Méabh. Two musicians are good, but three are great.
Liam, Mark and Méabh at John Benny’s Pub:
About half-way through the set, Liam announced that the men sitting at the table behind Méabh would be dancing to the next tune. Dancing! Well, only one man got up, and while he wasn’t a professional, he was very entertaining.
Dancer at John Benny’s Pub:
Riona came in with her red-headed friend and sang three songs:
And then Méabh sang a beautiful Irish tune, accompanying herself on the accordion. I asked John (Benny) what it was and he told me it was an old traditional song but I don’t remember the name. I need to find it on CD.
Méabh:
All of a sudden, John said, Méabh, they’re on! The live music stopped and everyone turned their attention to the TV in the front room which was tuned to The LATE LATE Show . The host was introducing a group of young musicians from Dingle: Walking on Cars , playing their debut single, Catch Me If You Can. Apparently, John Benny’s son is part of the band and they were getting national exposure. Exciting!
Walking on Cars Catch Me If You Can:
Walking on Cars acoustic session - Bennigans Bar, Northern Ireland - Other Voices weekend from Andy Yoong on Vimeo.
When Walking On Cars finished playing, the TV was turned off, and our traditional trio finished their set.
Pauline and Elis weren’t there but we had enjoyed the evening anyway. The music stopped at 11:45 and we were home at 12:15. I went right to bed; KC fixed himself a sandwich and then joined me.
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Page 12: Sat – Dingle, Dinner at Michael & Dara’s, Music at Courthouse.
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Page 13: Sun – Cottage, Global Village Restaurant, Dick Mack’s Pub.
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Page 14: Mon – Dingle, An Canteen Restaurant, Pack and Return Home.
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Page 01: Tue – Prep and Travel to Dublin.
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Page 02: Wed – Drive from Dublin to Barbican Gatelodge in Antrim.
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Page 03: Thu – Giant’s Causeway.
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Page 04: Fri – Bushmills, Dunluce, Waterfall in Glenarm Forest.
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Page 05: Sat – Drive from Antrim to Dingle, Murphy’s Pub.
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Page 06: Sun – Dingle and Music at Courthouse
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Page 07: Mon – Shopping in Dingle.
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Page 08: Tue – Loch a'Dúin, Doyle’s Restaurant, Music at Courthouse.
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Page 09: Wed – Cottage, An Canteen Restaurant, Michael & John at Mighty Session
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Page 10: Thu – Fenit Pier and Bana Beach
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Page 11: Fri – Inch Strand, Sammy’s Cafe, An Canteen, Music at John Benny’s.
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Original, all-on-one-page version.
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Last Revised: May 27, 2013
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