Eire
The scouts took me to the Republic of Ireland for my second overseas trip. Our target was County Kerry in the extreme southwest and our journey back in the 1950s to us through Wales by train to the port of Fishguard where we walked onto one of the longest ferry routes in Europe to Cork. The ferry went well out into the Atlantic swell and it was very rough. Let me just mention that everyone was seasick including the ferry crew ! Overnight we finally arrived in Queenstown Cork`s harbour too late to catch our steam train direct to Killarney so a quick chat at the train station rerouted us to Mallow where the remaining scheduled train terminated for the day. We then needed to find somewhere to camp for the night. Asking the rail staff they directed to a field adjacent to a nice looking house. When we asked who we should get permission from the train guys said - no worries, we`ll just tell them you`re OK there for the night! Being shattered from the long ferry crossing we were late waking up next morning and arrived an hour ltere than the train was due to leave for Killarney BUT, this being Eire they knew that we wanted to catch the train so delayed it`s departure until we got there!!! The Irish are nothing if not laid back and flexibile. The crossing from Fishguard no long heads for Cork/Queenstown but instead takes a shorter route to Rosslare further north.
Kerry/Killarney was/is a fabulous wild place to visit. We had a campsite close in to Killarney, and it`s lakes, planned but also intended to visit the McGuillycuddies Reeks which stretch from the Gap of Dunloe for 12 miles westwards. The Reeks are Ireland's highest mountain range, and over 1,000 metres (3,300 feet) in height. Near the centre of the range is Carrauntoohil - the highest point. We hiked through the Gap of Dunloe which was fairly demanding so as we emerged on the western side , having spotted that the track curved in a huge loop below us we unwisely cut about a mile off our journey by striking out straight down. Bad move.Ireland gets a LOT of rain and Kerry gets most of it. Underfoot was 25% sphagnum moss and 75% stagnant water!! To say that we were very wet by the time we reached the cart track again would be an understatement. The Gap is a very popular trip for tourists even today. Back in our day they used to get there on a `jaunting cart` - see my pictures - lo and behold they still do! The other `must visit` was Kate Kearney`s Cottage. She was a well-known character in the years before the Irish Famine and used to produce illicit poitÃn (aka Irish Whisky) selling it to passers by. Nowadays her cottage has become a cafe and souvenir shop. When we eventually got back to our Killarney farmer`s field that we were being allowed to camp in we decided to repay him by removing all the noxious Ragwort which he needed to get rid of before he could graze his stock.
There is much ancient history in the area, including several impressive stone forts but also it has moved into the 21st century by the creation in 2013 of the only Gold Tier Dark-Sky reserve in the northern hemisphere so if you are into star gazing then you need this on your bucket list! It`s also pretty large covering an area of 270 square miles (over 170,000 hectares). I`m so old that I remember looking up and identifying all the constellations and gazing in wonder at the Milky Way. Nowadays we have so much light pollution that it`s just a memory I`m afraid. However down here in the deep south of Ireland it is still possible to do. Killarney itself is interesting. The first thing that struck us was that every grocer`s shop also possessed a bar inside with several local men permanently attached to stools with a pint of Guinness in front of them. And the shops sold a Cadbury`s chocolate bar containing crushed its of honeycomb which was wicked - never found it anywhere else, sadly. A few years later I was to visit Ireland briefly for a second time but this was on an early transAtlantic flight in a SuperConstellation aircraft with a flying range which menat westwards it needed to set down at Shannon airport to take on fuel so We didn`t exactly see much of Ireland that time!!
We have a good range
Tony is a lo
Links to my pages on these social media sites
Browse through the picture galleries below relating to this page and you will get a much better idea than just reading my words! Each page has it`s own set of relevant images - where possible taken by us.