Lacking both bright eyes and bushy tails, we made our way through the Galway marathon and onto the road that would lead us to Dingle. I rode with Kevin’s parents and Maryann while Kevin and the rest of the group took the other car. Halfway through our trip, we decided to stop in the town of Adare for a quick meal. Adare is a quaint village in County Limerick and home to Adare Manor, a beautiful Georgian manor house that began construction in 1832 and is now a popular hotel and golf resort.
Too cheap to pay for the international data back in 2013, I remember specifically writing down the directions to Dingle on pieces of paper that morning in our Galway rental house. Remember, this was New Years Day and the night before had been a doozy, so I’m not surprised that I missed one of the 60 roundabouts on the directions, which led to us getting very lost in Newcastle. Looking at our phone maps, we ended up taking the coastal road to Dingle, in the dark, after a pint or two in Adare. To this day, Kevin has vowed to not drive in Ireland again after this treacherous and terrifying drive.
We chose Dingle for one main reason – Kevin’s grandfather was born outside of town in the small village of Camp and there was still family in the area that we wanted to meet. Kevin’s mother had spent a few summers there when she was younger and his grandfather took several trips back throughout his life to reconnect with his family. The fact that we could visit this beautiful Irish coastal town while also having a direct connection to those who live there made this a particularly special trip for us.
The younger members of our group had rented a house near the center of Dingle town, while the older travelers chose the Benners Hotel, which was centrally located and where they had stayed on previous trips. The house we rented ended up being a gorgeous mansion named Greenmount Manor with impressive views of Dingle Bay. Unfortunately, the drinking over the last few days had caught up to me and I had a terrible sore throat by the time we got to our house. The others were starving so they walked to town for a bite to eat while I lied in bed reading one of the few books in the house, appropriately a Maeve Binchy novel. The group wasn’t gone long as pubs weren’t open late due to the holiday, and as they were coming home they noticed odd flashing lights throughout the sky surrounding Dingle. By the time they got back, they were convinced that UFOs must have been circling around the town. We found out later that it was the opening weekend of the Dingle Distillery, and they were promoting the event with the strobe lights. Meanwhile back at the house, I attempted to sleep amidst creaking windows and very spooky old house noises that made me convinced that there were spirits present. While we also learned the next day that Dingle was experiencing unusual flooding and almost hurricane-force winds that January, I still think that house was haunted.
The next morning, we woke refreshed and ready to explore Dingle. Kevin and I met up with the others at Benners, where we asked the front desk for a tour guide recommendation. While waiting, we happened to notice a flyer posted on a bulletin board listing the latest town lottery winners. To our surprise, John Galvin, Kevin’s distant cousin and the son of his grandfather’s uncle, who also shared his name, was the weekly winner.
The front desk put us in touch with a man named John Joe O’Connor, who was luckily free that day and willing to take us on a tour of Slea Head and Connor Pass, one of the highest mountain passes in the country, which was located right outside of Dingle. As soon as John Joe arrived, we learned about all of the inclement weather Dingle had been having that week. Gale force winds and severe storms had caused major flooding in the farmland around the town, so while our intrepid tour guide was willing to take us where we wanted to go, it was up to fate to see if we could actually make it.
Our first stop was at the Gallarus Oratory, a single room stone church of mysterious origins. Believed to have been built between the 6th and 9th centuries, its purpose is not entirely known, but the general consensus is that it was used for religious ceremonies. The Celtic gravestones nearby also led historians to believe it may have been used for funerals.
We then made our way up Connor Pass, realizing quickly that this wind was no joke. John Joe stopped at a lookout point, and the moment we unlocked the door it went swinging, the wind almost knocking us out and a misty rain whipping around us. While we tried to get a few good photos of the scenic view, we couldn’t stop laughing as we had never witnessed wind like that before. At this point, knowing that the beautiful Slea Head drive was out of the question, John Joe offered to take us back and continue the second half of the tour the next day, when the weather would be milder. On the way back, we did stop for a quick photo at a breathtaking waterfall and another lookout spot on the water, where the waves were so large that they crashed over the barrier fences, leading us to run back quickly to our safe and cozy van.
Maureen had planned to meet up with family for happy hour at Benners Hotel. Her cousin, Josie, organized a group of family to meet us and informed us she would be hosting a large family party for us at her home the following evening. After the get-together, we began a proper Dingle pub crawl, starting at Foxy John’s, a unique establishment where half of the front room is a pub and the other half is a hardware store. We found it amusing that we were enjoying our Green Spot whiskey while locals came in to purchase nails and screws.
Next on our crawl was J. Curran’s, a famous haunt that was featured in the film The Irish Pub, and the Dingle Pub. For dinner, we ended up at the Dingle Bay Hotel, where a delightful young woman served us traditional Irish fare like fish and chips and local Kerry pork. The hotel had a family band playing traditional music, with some of the Harry Potter soundtrack mixed in, which of course I loved. They were so good that I asked if they were playing anywhere else in Dingle the next few days, and found out they were actually French and were touring around Ireland playing at various pubs and restaurants. After the music, knowing we had a big day ahead of us, we walked in the dark back to the rental house, our cell phones lighting our way. Still not feeling 100%, I went to bed while the others had a nightcap or two, played pool and ate a pot of white rice and some chocolates as a late night snack (the only food they could find in the house).
Recommendations:
- Benners Hotel. Main St, Dingle, Co. Kerry, Ireland. https://www.dinglebenners.com/.
- Coastline Tours. Dingle, Co. Kerry, Ireland. http://coastline-tours.com/.
- Gallarus Oratory. Dingle Peninsula, Co. Kerry, Ireland.
- Foxy John’s Pub & Hardware Store. Main St, Grove, Dingle, Co. Kerry, V92 PD6F, Ireland.
- J. Curran’s Pub. Main St, Grove, Dingle, Co. Kerry, Ireland. https://www.facebook.com/pages/Currans-Pub/155497427842181.
- Dingle Bay Hotel. Strand St, Dingle, Co. Kerry, Ireland. http://www.dinglebayhotel.com/.
