Blaskets Center

The Blaskets are a set of islands some few miles west of the Dingle Peninsula. People have lived on them, some of them, for centuries, in relative isolation. The last few left in 1954, under government order, when it became clear they could no longer be provided essential health and other services. In any case, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, linguists and particularly those with interests in strains of Irish less affected by contact with English, discovered the Blaskets, and a flurry of books appeared...both by the scholars as well as by the inhabitants, who had a wealth of folklore and social history to convey. Somehow we missed the Blasket Center, a museum of the Blaskets, on our 2009 visit to the area, but we were sure to see it this year.

A look down the long corridor of the Center

Articles on the various scholars and natives who carried their language and stories
into print

Not least of whom was Muiris O Suilleabhain, Twenty Years A-Growing

Who, along with others, emigrated to New York; compelling photo, I thought

Among the exhibits

Blasket terrain

The big island

The western-most

And a thought to ponder

As we left, clouds were spilling over the hills to the east

Dingle Peninsula

After Tralee, we crossed over to Dingle town, looked around it a bit, and then began driving the Dingle peninsula, stopping at the Blaskets Centre and then over-nighting near Slea Head.

We were on or near the "Wild Atlantic Way" the better part of
the next ten days; "wild" indeed...while the visibility was good,
the wind  was really up

Typical view

Unless you have a death wish, you drive the peninsula clock-wise,
as the tour-buses and heavy goods vehicles are required to do; ever
since Norway, Vicki often handles the camera in order to distract
herself from the road...

This bit of Ireland is covered in stones and stone fences and
stone everything

Looking out toward Slea Head and Ireland's land's end

"The road goes ever on and on, down from the door where it
began..."

Slea Head parking area

Ever on, hoping not to encounter a tour bus...

Wild Atlantic

Tour bus in extremis

More wild Atlantic

One of the world's great seascapes

Tralee And The National Folk Theatre of Ireland

Moving on into County Kerry, we headed to old friend Tralee, staying again at the Woodlands Park campground, just a ten minute walk to the city center, specifically to see a production of Siamsa Tire, the National Folk Theatre of Ireland. In 2009, we had seen their Fado, Fado--Life in Ireland in Times Past, with which we were impressed. This time we chose Turas, a two-hour medley of traditional music, song, instrumentals, and dance. We were more than impressed. There is a no fotos! policy with things of this sort, so I have only the stage before and the closing bows. It was fabulous, however, and something we'd recommend most highly.

Lough Gur Stone Circle And Tomb

Carrying on through County Limerick, we came to Lough Gur, one of Ireland's hundreds of beautiful lakes. There are several megalithic sites around, and we wanted to see the so-called wedge tomb (to us, an allee couverte) and the great Grange Stone Circle, Ireland's largest, 150 feet in diameter, with 113 stones, ranging to almost 3 meters high, and oriented toward the summer solstice sunrise. Standard neolithic, c.3,000 BC, although considerable broken Beaker People pottery was found above the clay mound inside the circle.

A bit of beautiful Lough Gur

Two views of the wedge tomb

All the rock conglomerate

Modern day entrance to the circle

Panning around

Largest of the orthostats, 45 tons; the 360 degrees are divided
by 12 such rocks, each directly facing its counterpart across
the circle

Tree vs. stone; trees always win

Entry way; the sun shines right down the path
on summer solstice sunrise

Whirling dervish pano view of the circle

Kilduff Castle; And So Much More

So we are driving along in County Limerick, and Vicki shouts "pull over!" She is ever on the look-out for real estate bargains and the prospect of flipping something really interesting, and I knew at once she was on to something.

Indeed it was a castle, Kilduff Castle

Thus

Actually just a tower house (or tower of power,
as we called them in Scotland); but still quite
interesting

Alas, it failed our basic criteria of having at
least three walls and a roof

My examination of the premises certainly attracted the
interest of a flinklet of bovines passing by

But, no, this was not a prospective flipper

Looking around, I noticed I was standing in the midst of
someone's private exhibit...

19th century hand pump; we were to see many of
these in the western counties

Bog wood: and a big piece, too; shorter version: 8,000-10,0000
years ago much of Ireland was covered by dense conifer forests;
conifers retain much of the moisture that falls in their upper
limbs, etc; there were few bogs; then there was a warmer/dryer
climate, humans arrived and deforested the place, and, with
more climate change, the bogs began growing; occasionally,
a solitary tree would succomb and fall into the bog to be thus
preserved; dendrochronology with bog wood can be carried out
to the extent of 10,000 years...

So the cows kept lumbering by and at length I noticed they
were using a cow under-pass to get past the highway

We have seen cow over-passes before, but never an under-pass

Emerging on the other side

To join the much larger herd on the other side

All this going on at St. Anthony's Nursing Home and adjacent
lands