When you haven’t visited a beautiful place for too long, the
result is that its breathtaking natural beauty and the creative culture can become
an all too distant memory.
And yet Ireland’s far south-west is easily
accessible. It’s available without having
to endure the irritation of security at airports and ports. To avoid the discomfort of security queues
and the invasiveness of body-searching when going abroad, the relaxing
alternative is to remain on terra firma.
My wife and I decided on a late summer tour from one end
of the island to the other, from County Antrim to Co Kerry, from Belfast to
Dingle. The children, now parents, were
very young when we last set foot in Killarney.
Regardless of prognostications about impending
gloom in the wake of Brexit, a lot of history - much of it good - has been
recorded on both sides of our “seamless” border since then.
To make travel easier, not to mention our retirement
objective to reduce carbon footprint, this journey offered the ideal
opportunity to leave the car locked up at home.
We would travel by train, tram, and buses with a couple of short
transfers by taxi. Where we live, there
is a wonderful benefit for resident 65+ year olds to use all forms of public
transport at no personal cost. Apart
from buses, trains, and trams it even includes publicly-run ferries, a generous
facility which operates equally in both jurisdictions (hopefully unhindered in the future by Brexit).
So, apart from the bragging rights for good green
credentials, driver fatigue and road rage disappear. The chauffeured traveller can peacefully read
a thriller novel while sipping green tea, and delight in making family and
friends jealous with photos of beautiful scenery.
The novelty of our experimental trip was instanced at the
end of the first stage of the journey when, on arrival in Dublin, we
transferred from Connolly station direct to our hotel[i] on the new (to us) Luas
line. This sleek modern tram took us
efficiently (Luas being the Irish Gaelic word
for speed) across the city centre at our leisure and without fuss, thence a
short walk to our overnight stop.
The
choice of hotel was determined because it is adjacent to Hueston station from where,
next morning we would take the train to Tralee, the county town of Kerry,
population about 35,000.
The best things we did on this three-night stay based in
Tralee[ii] were a visit to Dingle, a
tour round the beautiful Ring of Kerry, and a theatrical evening at Siamsa
Tíre.
Lying thirty miles south-west of Tralee, Dingle provides
– apart from an array of sights[iii] - an impressive range of
restaurants, mostly specializing in fresh locally-caught seafood. These are sufficient reason for a visit and
probably explain the droves of discerning foreign visitors from Europe and
north America. These tourists are attracted
by the same catch as the town’s most famous resident.
One of the best things to do in Dingle is to go on a boat
trip, the most popular being the short journey to see Fungie the dolphin. Having arrived in Dingle Bay in 1983, Fungie
has become such a huge attraction that a bronze sculpture of him is on display
at the harbour. Several operators
provide tours “all day, every day, all year round.” Apparently it can border on chaotic in high
season when numerous boats jostle for position.
Nowhere else in the world, apparently, has a dolphin
adopted a place long-term like this, meaning that this bottlenose’s continuous
presence over 35 years is unique to Dingle.
Our journey along “Ireland’s most spectacular mountain
road, the Ring of Kerry” started and finished in Killarney, long famous for its
jaunting cars. The commercial bus tour took us, along with about 20 mostly American
visitors anti-clockwise around the Iveragh peninsula which lies on the southern
side of Dingle Bay.
Killorglin village was the first place of interest, being
famed for Puck Fair.[iv] The clue is in the name – poc
being the Irish Gaelic word for a male goat.
The high point of the annual event is the crowning of a wild goat as a
King of the Fair. He sits in an exalted
position for the duration of the 3-day event keeping a watchful eye on
proceedings.
Celebrity endorsement followed
with a subsequent and successful visit by Queen Victoria in 1861[v]. The monarch was responsible for naming one
beauty spot Ladies View.
On an otherwise amusing and informative tour, the only
aspect of the driver’s commentary which dismayed me was his remarks about the
island of Skellig Michael which lies 8 miles off the coast.
He repeated the story of the filming of part
of the latest Star Wars film[vi] and the benefits to the
local economy. He omitted to mention its
significance as a World Heritage site,[vii] being the location of
one of Europe’s earliest Christian monastic sites, a place of enormous
archaeological importance and also a special haven for wildlife.
When I advised some of our visiting
colleagues of these facts, they were more impressed with this than by the
Hollywood angle.
After plenty of bracing fresh air, a cultural evening of “mirth
and music of the land” is the perfect match.
Siamsa Tíre means exactly that, a
pleasant diversion with musical entertainment.
It is the name of the National Folk Theatre of Ireland which is
celebrating its fiftieth anniversary this year and lies next to the centre of
Tralee.
The company’s repertoire brings Irish folklore to life
through music song and dance. I was
lucky enough to see its original show Fadó
Fadó, Long
Ago, a tale of rural life on a simple homestead over the four seasons. The mesmeric quality of singing, both solo and choral,
alongside the intricacies of traditional Irish dancing and backed up with skilled musicianship
were an uplifting combination of perfect harmony.
Tralee is a good base from which to explore County Kerry. Less touristy than resort towns like Killarney and Dingle, it is the venue for the enduringly popular Rose of Tralee pageant. Incidentally, the county’s other main town, Listowel, has won the award as Ireland’s Tidiest Town 2018[viii].
As the county town, Tralee has a bustling
commercial town centre, a beautiful central park complete with an impressive
rose walk and garden, and a pleasant riverside walk to the Blennerville
Windmill. Roses abound.
©Michael McSorley 2018
[i] https://www.ashlinghotel.ie/ Aisling in
Irish means vision or dream.
[ii] https://www.therosehotel.com/
[iii] https://www.authenticireland.com/14-things-to-do-in-dingle/
[iv] http://puckfair.ie/history
[v] An
Irishman’s Diary Irish Times 30 April 2011
[vi] Irish
Times 9 December 2017 https://www.irishtimes.com/life-and-style/travel/ireland/experience-the-force-a-guide-to-the-star-wars-magic-in-kerry-1.3317637
[vii] http://www.worldheritageireland.ie/skellig-michael/
[viii]
Irish Times 24 September 2018 https://www.irishtimes.com/news/environment/tidy-towns-listowel-in-co-kerry-announced-as-2018-winner-1.3639448
Note:- Photos by the author, except for those of the sculpture & Skellig (sourced from google images), and Siamsa Tíre (from its Facebook page).
Note:- Photos by the author, except for those of the sculpture & Skellig (sourced from google images), and Siamsa Tíre (from its Facebook page).
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