9/9: Dingle Peninsula's Famine Cottages, Beehive Huts & Fungie the Dolphin

When preparing our itinerary, we'd read the Dingle Peninsula, located on the westernmost tip of Ireland and also of Europe, is one of the country's most popular drives because it contains "the right mix of far and away beauty" and ancient archaeological wonders all within easy reach of the town of Dingle itself. It sounded like a perfect place to explore for several hours especially because it was only 10 miles wide and 30 miles for the entire loop.

Across the River Milltown Estuary was the stately Milltown House where Robert Mitchum stayed during the filming of Ryan's Daughter fifty years ago this year.

A nearby B&B, The Milestone, was named for the stone pillar in the yard that may have been a prehistoric grave or a boundary marker between two tribes. The Dingle peninsula was like an open-air archaeological museum with in excess of 2,000 monuments like the pillar, dating from the Neolithic Age - roughly 3,000 BC - through early Christian times. Another stone pillar was in the field across the street.

The picture-perfect long beach at Ventry Harbor would be a great place when the sun comes out but the more than 40 inches of rain a year which gives the peninsula its 40 shades of green meant not a lot of sun!

In the first days of WW II, a German U-boat arrived in the bay and dropped off 28 Greek sailors on neutral Irish soil who had survived their merchant ship being sunk by the same Germans. That sort of humanitarian gesture is not something normally associated with German U-boat captains.

The bamboo-like rushes on both sides of the road were used in thatching roofs, a practice that was largely discontinued because of fire danger until anti-flame retardant treatments became available. Thatched roofs are still very uncommon because few qualified thatchers still live in Ireland.

This intersection had the three G's: God (a church), groceries and Guinness (a pub)! The latter, Paddy O'Shea's, was named for the Irish football star who was a household name in his home country as he won eight all-Ireland football titles as a player for County Kerry before training the team for many years.

I loved seeing the stone-fenced fields on Mount Eagle as they reminded me once again of a patchwork quilt.

After learning so much about the devastating Great Potato Famine first in Dublin's EPIC Emigration Museum and then subsequently, I was very curious to stop at the Slea Head Famine Cottages that had been abandoned by the Kavanaugh family around 1848. If you read my earlier posts, you'll recall that a potato blight from 1845-1850 resulted in Ireland's population dropping by over two million as a result of death and emigration. The current owners operated a sheep farm and animal park in addition to opening up the cottages to tourists.

Too cute, huh! I realized later as I was leaving I hadn't been given a small bag of food to feed the animals and that was why they were unusually friendly toward me!

On the property was an ancient burial site with two engravings of early 5th century Christian crosses near the site of a stone-aged village called An Catha Nua. These sites were often used for burying unbaptized children or those who had committed suicide as burial wasn't allowed on church property.

Pat's House was described as a 'type of hovel' Irish peasants occupied during the famine years when they were employed by farmers or landlords as workers on the farm. They weren't usually paid in cash but instead given a patch of land where they would sow the potatoes that they survived on.

A peasant farmer by the name of Peats lived here after being evicted from his own home in a nearby village. He was allowed by the Kavanaughs to stay here with his wife, two sons and a daughter. Their main source of food was potatoes and fish from the sea just a few yards away. For fuel, he would cut turf, gorse and heather from Mount Eagle and carry it on his back as he didn't have enough money for a donkey of a wicker basket. It seems impossible from my, by comparison, rich background to consider that five people could have existed in this hovel. The only comfort it provided was a roof over their heads.

A short distance away was the main farmer's cottage built in the 1840s by the local landlord, the Earl of Cork. It was one of the earliest homes in the area to have a slate roof. The timber work on the roof came from a shipwreck as searching for shipwrecked material at the base of the cliffs was common for local people. The

rooms at the back of the house were built in 1910.

Over time, rooms were expanded, windows enlarged, etc. Electricity was installed in the 1960s when it was still inhabited by descendants of the original family.

The famine pot was used to make soup and other types of food to feed up to 50 people. The ingredients of the soup during the famine were contrived by the infamous London chef named Soyer, a friend of the high classes and British parliamentarians. His soup was accepted because of the low cost of the ingredients but the watery mixture had no nourishment so medical journals denounced him which resulted in his resignation.

The famine grid was mostly used in workhouses to bake biscuits and poor-quality bread by relief committees during the famine. Ingredients were published on how to bake the blight-affected potato into a type of biscuit but the concoction was so inedible. Boiling the damaged potato would give off such a stench that the cabin would have to be emptied by everyone for hours until the smell died down.

Admission to the workhouses was often a death sentence and a last resort. During the famine, peasants would have to give up their land and public assistance would only apply for those who didn't have more than a quarter of an acre of land. Dingle didn't get a permanent workhouse until 1852, at the end of the famine. Before that, people would have to travel on foot up to 40 miles to Tralee to enter its workhouse. The workhouses were old and overcrowding was common and conditions unbearable.

At the rear of the house was a beehive hut which were common features in ancient times and used by reclusive early Christian monks. They were converted to house the household pig during the famine years.

Once more people had emigrated because of the famine, the farm holdings increased. The cow house and stable were constructed in 1880 for the farm animals during the winter months and where the cows were hand-milked. Before the very lean years, the animals would be kept in the family home.

Many of the family members of this main cottage emigrated to the United States or to England during the famine years and in subsequent years because of extreme poverty, harsh weather conditions, small farm holdings and poor quality of agricultural land.

From the early to the mid 20th century, the family's horse was kept here as it was an important animal on the farm. It was used as a means of transportation and was invaluable for plowing the land.

I read how this area of West Kerry was one of the regions to experience some of the most horrific suffering during the Famine because of the district's remoteness from the nearest poorhouse. However, apart from Pat's House, I didn't feel I had a good understanding from what I'd seen in the main cottage and outhouses of how desperate lives would have been during the famine years.

All lined up ready to be fed!

Less than a kilometer away were a group of reconstructed beehive huts that looked like stone igloos that were clustered together within a circular wall. Historians believe they would have been inhabited from ancient times to 1200 AD and, because of the small site, likely occupied by a single family. The huts were often found attached to each other with a doorway leading from one to the other.

They were generally made of stone because that was the material they had in abundance. They were erected in the form of a circle of successive layers, with each layer lying a little closer to the middle than the one under it.

That continued until only a small opening was left at the top which could be closed with a single flagstone or capstone. No mortar was used in the building! We noticed the stones had a downward and outward tilt so water could come right off. This method of building was called corbelling.

The capstone:

Some areas were obviously used to prevent livestock from straying or to protect them from cattle raiders.

Just like the ring forts we'd seen on the Ring of Kerry, one of these huts had a souterrain or underground passage.

It was neat wandering around and inside the many huts but I would have benefited from having a guide explain more what we were seeing.

Back on the peninsula drive, also part of the Wild Atlantic Way, which was a clever marketing campaign by the Irish Tourism Board.

Slea Head with its crucifix and a pullout was the halfway point of the drive and the peninsula.

The spot was ideal for marvelous views of the Blasket Islands which we hoped to take a boat trip over to see if the weather cooperated the following day.

After not being able to land on Skellig Michael because of the swells, we knew our chances of landing on these islands was also pretty iffy but we were sure keeping our fingers crossed.

We were exceedingly fortunate that there was hardly a cloud in the sky so our views from the lookout were spectacular in every direction.

The sight of the beach looked so enticing but we needed to turn around as we had reservations for a Dingle harbor cruise at 2 pm. We planned to do the second half of the drive around the peninsula following our half-day on the Blasket Islands.

Because there was thankfully no car on our tail here as we drove back toward Dingle, we were able to stop so I could hop out and take a photo of where we had just forded a stream. This bit of road was nicknamed the "upside down bridge" even though there's never been a bridge here - it was designed as a ford! The stream was running pretty quickly on the other side of the road!

There weren't a lot of sights to see in Dingle as people are drawn to the lovely town and the peninsula because of its fabulous views, its archaeological sites and the traditional music scene in its pubs. We'd seen some of the archaeological sites and would later hear a concert of traditional Irish music. But Dingle is 'famous' for having Fungie, a bottlenose dolphin who moved into its harbor in 1983 and became a local celebrity!

Steven thought the whole idea of taking a harbor cruise so we could see Fungie - pronounced FOON-ghee - rather hokey but he kindly played along since we both enjoy getting out onto the water when we travel.

The harbor was pretty small but cruise companies have their eye on expanding it so smaller ships can dock as Dingle has become quite famous as an 'it' spot to visit in Ireland. I was glad to visit while it still retained so much small-town charm.

Of course, with views like this, who wouldn't want to come to Dingle?!

As we left the harbor, we passed by Eask Tower.

It had been gloriously sunny all morning but the clouds looked pretty ominous and our boat was too small for us all to take cover and keep dry.

Once we were in the mouth of the harbor, the captain slowed the motor in the hope that Fungie would come out to play! I know Steven din't mind one way or the other as we still had gorgeous views of the coastline to admire.

The captain took us near the cliffs thinking Fungie might be near the caves.

Since seeing Fungie is such a lure, other tour boats were also hoping to see him. Some operators even offer a deal that you don't pay unless you see him! What will the tour boats do when Fungie passes on into his watery world? Some people theorize that Fungie is actually one of a half-dozen dolphins released from Dolphinariums under pressure from animal rights activists in southern Britain.

It was pretty exciting when we did finally see Fungie or possibly another dolphin if you believe some people.

I didn't have much luck getting any good shots of Fungie although my eyes were peeled on the water and my finger was ever so ready to take a photo! But what fun it was watching it play around, as if it had just been waiting for us.