Friday, 5th October
The Beara Peninsula
We left Killarney bound for Cork via the Beara Peninsula. We were
both delighted with the scenery in Beara. It is wilder and much less
touristy than the Ring of Kerry. We saw very little traffic and no
tourist coaches. Our first stop was at the small fishing settlement
of Bunaw. We had a short walk and then continued on our journey. We
drove through the village of Ardgroom with its attractively painted
houses along the main street before stopping at a beautiful viewpoint
at Duneen near Allihies. This was once a copper mining area and
evidence of the workings still exists.
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| Near Bunaw |
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| Painted houses at Ardgroom |
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| Painted houses at Ardgroom |
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| Guiness advert painted on the wall of a house in Ardgroom |
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| At Dunoon |
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| Mirabel at Dunoon |
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| Fuschias and view at Dunoon |
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| Old copper mine pumping house on hillside above Allihies |
Button got her walk and playtime on Allihies beach then we
continued our journey via Catletown-Berehaven and Glengariff to
arrive at our next site, Blarney Camping near Cork. We found the
drive quite tiring so we ordered Pizzas to be delivered to the site.
They were very good.
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| Button on the beach at Allihies |
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| Allihies Bay |
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| Allihies Bay |
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| Beara Seascape |
Saturday, 6th October
Cork and Garryvoe
We had decided to go into Cork today for the Cork Folk Festival.
The owner of the camp site suggested that we should park at the
Blackpool Shopping Centre and walk in to the city as parking is
difficult for car drivers and near impossible for motorhomes! The
walk was a lot further than we had expected, around 45 minutes. We
watched a pipe and dance group from Galicia in Emmett Square for a
while then walked to investigate other venues to check whether they
would allow Button in. None of them would so, disappointed, we
returned to Mirabel – another 45 minute walk. Not pleased with our
experience we left Cork and headed out to Garryvoe to give Button
some beach time. Garryvoe was nice enough but the tide was right in
and there was very little sandy beach exposed. Button did get a
chance to chase the ball a bit before we headed back to Blarney.
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| Garryvoe beach |
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| Ballycotton lighthouse from Garryvoe beach |
In the evening we went to a nearby restaurant for a very nice,
though expensive, meal. Overall we were disappointed with Cork. It
was too busy, too difficult to park or to find the folk venues and
none of those would allow dogs in.
Sunday, 7th October
Farran Forest Park and Kate Rusby
Lyn went to a Church of Ireland harvest service at Carrigrohane in
the morning while I looked after Button. We had intended to go to Blarney Castle and gardens after this but they don’t allow dogs
either! As an alternative we drove out to Farran Forest Park and had
a very nice walk under the autumn woodland colours.
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| St Peters C of I church |
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| Deer in wildlife enclosure at Farran Forest |
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| Lyn and Button in Farran Forest |
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| Autumn leaves |
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| Taiscumar Reservoir, next to Farran Forest Park |
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| Rook perched on kids play equipment at Farran Forest |
In the evening we took a taxi into Cork leaving Button to guard
Mirabel. We found one of the festival venues, the Corner House and
went in. It was a very busy, typical Irish pub where a bluegrass trio
were playing. We enjoyed our drinks and the group before leaving for
a hurried meal in Nando’s and going to the Opera House for our
pre-booked Kate Rusby concert. The supporting act was Seamus Begley
and Jim Murray. They were very good, singing several of their songs
in Irish. Seamus played excellent accordion and Jim played guitar.
After the interval we were treated to an excellent set from Kate Rusby
lasting over 1½ hours. After the gig we phoned for the taxi to take
us back to Blarney.
Monday, 8th October
The Old Head of Kinsale
We drove down to Kinsale but didn’t stop at the pretty harbour
town because of the lack of parking for Mirabel. We drove on to the
Old Head of Kinsale instead. Here, there is a museum dedicated to the
sinking of the Lusitania during the First World War. The passenger
liner Lusitania was torpedoed 18 Kms south of the Old Head of Kinsale
with the loss of nearly 1200 lives. The museum, housed in one of the
many signal towers dating from the Napoleonic Wars, was very
interesting and the views from the walkway at the top were extensive.
It was very windy though so we didn’t spend long up there!
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| Lusitania image made up of over three thousand different size perforation in a steel sheet |
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| Old Head of Kinsale from the top of the signal tower |
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| Passenger names |
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| Detail of commemorative bronze |
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| Lyn and the commemorative bronze with names of all aboard the Lusitania |
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| Flags of the nations of the passengers |
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| Wild Atlantic Way post at Old Head of Kinsale |
We drove on to find a beach for Button to have a run but the first
one we stopped at was so exposed that we were sand blasted as soon as
we stepped out of Mirabel. The next beach was better, still windy but
with wet sand from the receding tide so we didn't suffer from sand
being blown in our eyes. Button had a good play with the ball before
we left to continue via Timoleague and Clonakilty back to Blarney.
The drive along Courtmacsherry bay was very attractive. We stopped to
do a little birdwatching at the mud flats and found many ripe
blackberries which served us well as dessert in the evening.
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| Lyn and Button on the beach near Old Head of Kinsale |
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| The beach near Old Head of Kinsale |
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| Waves |
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| Courtmacsherry Bay |
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