9/4: Kinsale-Kenmare via Mizen Head & a Fairy Tree!

On our way out of Kinsale where we'd spent the last two nights, I couldn't resist having Steven stop so I could take a photo of the lakeside Timoleague Church as we drove along the Wild Atlantic Way west on our way to Courtmacsherry or, in Gaelic, Curt Mhic Sheafraidh!

Living in Colorado you get so used to the weather changing quickly but we didn't realize the same was true here in Ireland, too. Dark and stormy one minute and then the sun pops out and all is right again with the world! In Colorado, we 'blame' the mountains for the sudden changes in temperature but in Ireland, it's surely got to be due to its being an island nation and in close proximity to the sea winds. 

What a difference the sun makes, huh!

In County Cork in southern Ireland, a lighthouse was just visible at the tip of the the beautiful Galley Head peninsula.

I had the easy job as there wasn't much navigating to do but the very narrow lanes which passed for roads where you could drive at 80 km per hour or 50 mph proved nerve wracking after a while. Steven has said a couple of times that Ireland will be the only country there's no chance of his getting a speeding ticket as the roads are too twisty and narrow!

Thank goodness there weren't that many drivers on the roads so we could stop frequently for photo breaks and a chance for Steven to catch his breath for a bit. It was coming upon vistas like these that made my heart sing and thrilled we'd finally made it to Ireland after traveling to so many other lands.

We drove forever along the narrowest of lanes until we reached the lighthouse only to find it was closed to visitors. We had to remind ourselves it was the journey and not the destination that mattered!

You certainly had to have your wits about you driving on two lane roads like these!

While driving along the largely coastal Wild Atlantic Way, I loved seeing the interesting town and village names that must have been dreamt up by a poet or someone with a way with words: Clonakilty, Leap, Bawnklahan, Toe Head, etc!

Steven and I laughed when we heard these cows making a horrific ruckus as they were the loudest ones ever! We figured they were taking umbrage at being interrupted by our presence.

It was seeing spectacular views like this that I will always love about our time in Ireland. The following were from Toe Head.

Only in Ireland would there be a Fairy's Home tucked away in the undergrowth alongside the road! If we'd been going more than about 20 mph, I wouldn't have spotted it.

I can't recall ever seeing the heathery shades of hydrangeas before in the US that bloom in such profusion all over Ireland. Does any gardener know whether they only bloom this lushly in early fall?

It's impossible to spend any significant amount of time in Ireland and not learn about the Great Potato Famine that devastated the country from 1845-50. Skibereen in west County Cork, the epicenter of the horror, suffered more than most other places. The Skibbereen Heritage Centre estimated that 8,000 to 10,000 victims of the Famine were buried in the famine burial pits of nearby Abbeystrewery Cemetery. 

The monument was erected in 1887 to the memory of the victims of the Great Famine, Ireland's single worst disaster, that resulted in the deaths of over one million of its people.

To get a feeling of the devastation wrought by the Famine, I encourage you to read this powerful poem that was written at the memorial:

A million a decade,
Corpses lying in fever sheds,
Corpses huddled on foundering decks,
And shroudless dead on their rocky beds,
Nerve and muscle, heart and brain,
Lost to Ireland, lost in vain.

Pause and you almost hear

The sounds echo through the ages

The creak of the burial carts appear

The rattle of the hinged coffin lid

The sigh of the spade on the earth door

Now and again all day long

Here in humiliation and sorrow,

Not umnixed with indignation,

One is driven to exclaim,

Oh God, that bread be so dear 

And human flesh so cheap

It concluded with this dedication: 

To the nameless dead
Victims of famine and fever
Who lie here in the abbey
And in other cemeteries
And in wayside graves.

This Celtic cross was a tribute from the Skibereen Famine Committee. Skibbereen was also the focal point of Ireland's first National Famine Memorial Day in May of 2009. The town was selected as it was in one of the areas worst affected by the Great Famine.

An ancient church in the cemetery: 

Having visited the powerful EPIC Emigration Museum and witnessed the agonizing Famine Statues on our first day in Dublin, and then heard so many subsequent references to the Famine in the last week plus, I found walking around this famine cemetery to be a profoundly sad experience as it was such a chilling reminder of man's inhumanity to man. 

Further on was the very scenic turnoff at Cadogan's Strand with a great picnic area to enjoy the beach views and the ships in Schull Harbor.

And on we drove along the Mizen Peninsula.

In Toormore Bay, we stopped to see the Altar, a sacred place by the shore that indicated people have worshipped here for more than 4,000 years. The tomb, built from local slabs, was one of a dozen on the peninsula.

Its entrance deliberately lined up with the distant Mizen Peak. Bronze Age families may have honored the spirits of their ancestors whose ashes were buried in the wedge tomb. 

Archaeologists recently uncovered some burnt human remains which they radiocarbon dated to about 2,000 BC. Shallow pits, probably with food offerings, were dug into the chamber floor  in the later Bronze Age - between 1250 and 550 BC - and Celtic Iron Age people  - between 124 and 224 AD - filled a pit with sea shells, fish and whale bones. Priests in the 18th century held services at the tomb and holy well when it was illegal to celebrate Mass in a church.

These squiggly lines were the symbol for the Wild Atlantic Way (WAW), the spectacular drive bordering most of Ireland. 

This lime green house reminded me of one our HOA used to call the Doublemint House in our neighborhood until the residents finally painted it a more subdued color!

Our drive to the tip of the peninsula took us across gently rolling hills and tiny communities of just a few homes.

We arrived at the Mizen Head Signal Station, one of a few Signature Discovery Points on the WAW. A footbridge on Ireland's most southwesterly point on the WAW was originally built in 1908 and then rebuilt in 2011.

I read that it's almost impossible to accurately count or detail all the vessels that have been wrecked on the coast in the vicinity of Mizen Head over the centuries. Built in 1909 as a fog signal station, there was no lantern but a light instead mounted on a freestanding pedestal. In 1931, Mizen Head Signal Station had the first radio beacon in Ireland providing a navigational aid to shipping. 

Since we'd driven a long way to get to the head, we figured it was worth the expense of then paying to walk across the footbridge and then all the way to the lighthouse! Neither one of us likes heights so, for a while, it was a tossup as to whether we'd go or not.

It was a long way down, baby!

View toward the ocean while still on the bridge:

There were seals cavorting in the turquoise pools just under the bridge!

A view looking back at the footbridge!

How incredibly lucky we were to have the sun shining while admiring these wonderful views we'd driven so far to see! The wind was blowing so hard I had trouble focusing it for these shots!

What a long way it was back up all the stairs!

In 1995, the 9-ton propeller from the 8,000-ton British ship, Irada, that was lost off Mizen Head in December of 1908 was recovered in 40 meters of water and salvage preparations were carried out.

Before arriving in Ireland, I'd never associated lovely swim beaches such as this one near Mizen Head with the country. We figured the water must have been darn nippy and that's why we didn't see anyone enjoying the fabulous day. 

Drove through the small town of Bantry as we headed up the other side of the peninsula toward Kenmare. Like so many of Ireland's coastal communities, the street facing the harbor had picturesque homes painted in a variety of bright colors. 

Its narrow streets were not planned to accommodate such huge tour buses as you can see!

As we headed inland, the weather changed quickly.

Ultra cute and charming Kenmare was our 'home away from home' for the next two nights. The little town known as Neidin or 'little sea' in Irish drew us in right away with its vividly painted homes with brightly colored chimneys. 

If we've seen one Turkish barber shop in small town Ireland, we've likely seen fifty of them by now!

The South Pole Inn on Main Street was founded by Kenmare local Tom Crean, who was part of three expeditions to Antarctica and was awarded the Alfred Medal for lifesaving after walking 56 miles in 18 hours with only three biscuits, a little chocolate, and no tent or survival equipment to seek help for another explorer who was very ill. When he returned to County Kerry after his exploits, he was so modest he never spoke of his experiences in Antarctica and put all his medals away.

The Catholic Holy Cross Church was completed in 1864 and known for its ornate wooden ceiling supported by ten larger than life angels, a lovely marble altar and pretty stained-glass windows. 

The church was very grand and imposing for only a fair-sized town.

Near the church was Rose Cottage that was the temporary home of the St. Clare nuns who arrived to set up a new convent in Kenmare. 

A brief walk outside of Kenmare's center was the Stone Circle which dated back to the early Bronze Age about 3,000 years ago and consisted of 15 stones arranged in a circle with a center stone. The rock used to make the circle was greenstone and brownstone although neither was found nearby. It was unclear what the monument was used for, possibly for druid priests, as a primitive calendar, or as a burial site beneath the central stone.  

Before entering the Circle we were each given a wishing tag to place on the Hawthorn Fairy Tree as hawthorns are considered the most sacred tree in Celtic mythology and symbolizes love and protection! I read that the Hawthorn tree is traditionally seen in Ireland as a tree that brings good luck to its owner and prosperity to the land where it stands. Nobody cuts a Hawthorn as it is believed the tree represents a meeting place between worlds for mortals and that of the fairies in another world.

The trees are often found at ancient pagan sites or holy wells so people leave prayers, gifts or a personal token of some kind attached to the tree branch in the hope of receiving healing, good fortune or having a prayer answered.

Kenmare may have been a smallish town but it was positively bonkers in its loyalty to its County Kerry football team!

Views at sunset of Lake Kerry from our B&B although it's really a river!

New post: The really exciting sheep herding demonstration near Killarney National Park, I kid you not!

Posted on September 21st, 2019, from divisive Belfast in Northern Ireland.