Dingle Peninsula

I think that Dingle Peninsula was my favorite destination in our week-long vacation. This is where I decided I could live if the stars ever aligned to bring me to Ireland. The landscape. The coast. The stone fences. The sheep. The ruins. Even the local ice cream. All of it was more beautiful, quaint, magical than anything I imagined. My pictures definitely don't do it justice...

The two-lane roads that were barely big enough for one vehicle weren't even stressful after a while. The Irish drivers are very courteous. I pulled over sometimes. They pulled over sometimes. But there was never a concern with getting stuck somewhere.

A snippet from the website dingle-peninsula.ie: There is no other landscape in western Europe with the density and variety of archaeological monuments as the Dingle Peninsula. This mountainous finger of land which juts into the Atlantic Ocean has supported various tribes and populations for almost 6,000 years. Because of the peninsula's remote location, and lack of specialised agriculture, there is a remarkable preservation of over 2,000 monuments.

Our first stop was Min Aird Castle, which was built in the 16th century. We spent most of the time climbing and playing on the rocky beach and enjoying the scenery and sunshine.

Next we stopped at Dùn Beag Fort. It was built beginning in 800 BC, and was still used up until the 10th century. Much of it has now fallen into the sea. Other portions are buried under heaps of earth. But it's remarkable that so much of it still stands.

It was raining pretty hard at this stop, so Joey and David opted to wait in the car.

Joey and David were sound asleep in the car when we arrived at the beehive huts. So they missed the fun climb up the grassy hill to these unique structures. It is difficult to date these structures. Like most of the historic stone buildings in this region, they did not have mortar, only stacked stone. Most believe that they were built in the 12th century.

We visited the Reask Monastic Site. It is famous for it's christian and celtic symbols. It dates back to the 5th and 6th centuries.

The Gallarus Oratory was an early christian church. There are several theories to the age of this building. Some say it was built between the 6th and 9th centuries. Others estimate that it was built in the 12th century. Regardless of the age, it was a very unique building. The walls were so thick! I would definitely feel safe inside during a storm.

Our last historical site was Kilmalkedar Church. From dingle-peninsula.ie we read the following: The ruined Romanesque church visible today dates to the first half of the 12th century. Also visible on the site are a sundial, large stone cross, and alphabet stone (inside the church near the chancel arch). Some fine stone carving can also be found inside the church.

If you are ever lucky enough to find yourself in the city of Dingle, go find this ice cream store. It was the best ice cream I have ever tasted. I recommend the Sea Salt ice cream. I'm still dreaming about it...

Fish and chips after a wonderful long day: