The Road Goes Ever On

Sunday, July 3, 2016

Camping Near Slea Head

We drove on from the Blasket Center into some of the more spectacular scenery...

Past a number of sea caves

Reminiscent of Fingal's Cave, on the Isle of Staffa, in the Outer
Hebrides

Not nearly as big as Fingal's, but still spectacular

Eventually we decided to over-night at this violent little cove

There were a couple other motor-homes there, plus several
souls braving the gale in tents

From our back window

Next morning

One of the Blaskets

The Three Sisters (Musketeers/Mouseketeers/Stooges)

More seascapes

More sea caves

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

Saturday, July 2, 2016

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.

Friday, July 1, 2016

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.