Ireland Travel | West Cork Travel | Kerry Travel | Dingle Travel | Irish Travel | Ireland Travels
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In the early winter of 2012, I spent nine days trudging from field to field and tower to tower in Southwest Ireland. My trip was based in the Mizen Peninsula in West Cork. Along the way, I visited Castledonovan, Toormore, attempted to have tea with Jeremy Irons at his Kilcoe Castle, got lost down beautiful country roads, scaled the walls to visit the ruins of Rossbrin Castle and Raheen Castle near Rineen. I also spent a fantastic day exploring the Dingle Peninsula in County Kerry. While there I visited Inch Beach, Minard Castle, the Dunbeg Promontory Fort, Coumeenoole Beach, Gallerus Oratory and Kilmalkedar Monastery. I finished my nine days in West Cork exploring an old estate and castle in Downeen near Rosscarbery, Coppinger's Court, the ancient Drombeg Stone Circle and braved the lady of the lake at Three Castle Head. Please join me on this fantastic tour of one of the most amazing places on earth.
As Robert Frost Once Said...
Over the coming weeks, I will be sharing my personal thoughts, practical ideas and historical facts about my most recent trip to West Cork. On this particular trip, I was by myself as I explored many sites in the West Cork area that over time have largely been forgotten. I also spent a very long day seeing Dingle. I will be telling the story using my words and photographs. I make no claims of being Mark Twain or Ansel Adams, but I will do my best to create an image that captures the magic of West Cork.
The title of this series is Nine Days in the Mud. I know it's not a very original considering I was in Ireland for nine days in late November and early December but Road to West Cork sounded too Bing and Bob.
Planning for this trip started like most when I'm traveling without my wife and kids. I travel a great deal for work and adding that extra week away from the family is sometimes hard to reconcile in my mind. Shawn, my wife, keeps assuring me that it is fine. I grumble about feeling bad for leaving them yet again for the sake of having fun. Ultimately, the cycle is broken, and I head to the Aer Lingus website to purchase my ticket. There's no turning back now. On the evening of November 25, I'm headed to Ireland!
With two days to spare, I decided to get my trip planned. I don't want to be over prepared! I grabbed my books, my ordinance maps and a cup of coffee. It was reminiscent of an old war movie with a grizzled general studying the map table determining his strategy. One book in particular was very helpful. It was written by Jack Roberts and is called Exploring West Cork: The Guide to Discovering the Ancient, Sacred and Historic Sites of West Cork. The book details so many lost places in West Cork and gives a general idea of where they're located. From here, I would go to my collection of Ordnance Survey Ireland maps to find the exact location. I paged through the book marking places of interest and then marked them with color coded Post-its. My maps were painted with rainbows of Irish fun, and I was basking in the organized glow of the German part of my ancestry. With a plan in place, I was ready to go.
Before I end, I have to get something off my chest. This is a note (and the practical information portion of this program) for those of you who have never been to Ireland. ALL Irish tourist sites and brochures lie. Every one of them. Without exception. Scandalous words I know.
Here's my point before I'm taken out back and made to eat my words. You look at all this material, and what do you see? You see people in shirtsleeves enjoying the sites while basking in the sun. Oh sure, some of the photos have a bit of cloud cover and people wearing jackets. However, they never show the days, and there are lots of them, when it's extremely windy and raining sideways. Just once, I'd like to see a mass of miserable tourists huddled around a small fire attempting to raise their temperature to pleasantly frozen. A lot of places in the world claim to have four seasons in one day. Ireland does this regularly, beautifully and without fanfare!
So. What did Robert Frost say?
From his poem The Road Not Taken:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.
Let's take that less traveled road. You never know who or what you'll meet.
Places visited:
Castledonovan
Kilcoe Castle -- Jeremy Irons
Rossbrin Castle
Inch Beach
Minard Castle
Dunbeg Promontory Fort
Dingle
Coumeenoole Beach
Reask Monastic Site
Gallarus Oratory
Kilmalkedar Monastery
Raheen Castle
Castlehaven Harbor
Glandore
Downeen Castle
Coppinger's Court
Drombeg Stone Cirlce
Christmas tree Skibbereen
Lough Hyne
Three Castle Head
Durrus
Schull
Dunbeacon
Dumanus Bay
Bantry
Cashel
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Track title: Lonely Wanderer
License Type: Standard License
Publisher: SoundDogs
Ireland Travel | Three Castle Head | West Cork Travel | Dunlough | Irish Travel | Ireland Travels
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Ireland travel is about taking a journey into the magical. While taking a tour of Ireland you should always include time to travel West Cork and Mizen Head. You can experience more of the West Cork area and Mizen Head at my Ireland blog using the links above.
Whether you are walking the paths of the many parks, climbing the rocky hills, fishing from the rugged coastline, sitting on a sandy beach, taking photographs of the Irish countryside or cycling the winding roads; a tour of this scenic area of southwest County Cork, Ireland is a must.
Leaving the small village of Goleen you will head in the direction of Mizen Head ( Continue past the turn to Crookhaven, and you will approach the left turn for the Mizen Head Signal Station and Barley Cove. Keep going straight until you get to the T in the road. At the T, turn right and head into the beautiful pastureland of the Mizen and Dunlough area. The road will continue to wind for several kilometers until you come to Dunlough Pier.
Leave your car in the small parking area and head up the driveway of the farm. Because you are entering private property, be mindful of locking gates and not disturbing the livestock. It would be very sad to have the castles closed from visitors because of the trouble they caused.
On foot, follow the signs and well-worn tracks in the fields. The first part of the walk is fairly easy. It isn't until you get to the bigger hills that the climb becomes harder and the footing a bit uncertain. Upon climbing the first hill, a small, shallow valley will open up in front of you. Walk through this small depression and continue up the other side. As you approach the top of the rise, be prepared for the incredible site of Dunlough Castle.
With the castles now in view, the last part of the hike is a bit touchy as the track down is steep and rocky. But, before you head down the hill to the castles, take a moment to enjoy the views in every direction. If your camera isn't overheated yet, I'm not sure what it will take!
The castle itself has three different towers that are joined by a crumbling wall that rises to about 15' (5 meters) in height. For towers built eight hundred years ago, they are in magnificent shape. In no time, you will be climbing around the site letting your imagination go as you let the history of this place come over you. It is not too hard to imagine the people in and around the castle. If you look carefully through a security gate on the east side of the largest tower, you will see the bottom of a perfectly intact staircase leading up to a higher floor. What I would pay to be able to climb on those steps and see where they go.
Besides the towers, another prominent feature of the site is the lake. In typical Irish fashion, there is always a story, and the story I have heard goes something like this. While the king and his two sons were away at battle, word came back that two of them had been killed. To preserve the fortune of their house, the lady, or queen, threw all their worldly possessions and treasure into the lake. The story goes that if a person searches for the treasure with greed in their heart, the lady of the lake will come for them. Death will follow soon after. You have to love a good Irish story!
The walls around the lake are original walls. At the far east end of the lake, where the cliffs drop into Dunmanus Bay, there is also an original dam that holds the water. I have also been told that you can see small mounds near the castles that were part of a promontory fort that pre-dated the castles. I need to go back so that I can find them for myself!
After you have finished exploring the castle site, a walk up the hills past the towers is worth it. Up there you will find another lake, a stone monument used to measure the height of the hill and stunning views to the north. On a clear day, you will be able see Sheep's Head, the entrance to Bantry Bay and the mountains of County Kerry.
You can easily spend several hours enjoying all the different areas of Three Castle Head. You will be in a very remote place, and it is likely you won't see another person during your hike. What is an absolute must for this hike besides good shoes? A picnic and a thermos of tea. For some reason, tea tastes so much better while sitting on a cliff at Three Castle Head.
Planning your next vacation to Ireland? Don't forget to tour West Cork, Three Castle Head and Dunlough Castle.
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Track title: Arrival of Spring
License Type: Standard License
Publisher: SoundDogs
Ireland travel mizen head west cork travel west cork ireland blog ireland three castle head dunlough castle.
Crookhaven atlantic ocean barley cove coastline goleen irish.
Countryside bantry bay county kerry mountains cycling photography.
Cork, Ireland 2019
Places :
-Sheila's Hostel
-A pub I can't remember the name of
-Greene's
-Blackrock Castle
-Cork City Gaol
-Titanic tour
-Elizabeth Fort
-The English Market
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-MUSIC CREDITS-
Jeff Kaale - Strawberry :
Cost Of Living In Cork, Ireland In 2019, Rank 75th In The World
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Explore TV Ireland - Mizen Head
Mizen Head is located at the extremity of the Mizen peninsula. If you love dramatic cliff scenery, wide ocean views and colourful seafaring history, then enjoy as the Wild Atlantic Way drops you right at its doorstep. One of the main transatlantic shipping routes passes close by to the south, and Mizen Head was, for many seafarers, the first (or last) sight of Europe.
Lough Hyne, Skibbereen, Co Cork
Aerial footage of Lough Hyne, West Cork.
Lough Hyne (Irish: Loch Oighinn) is a marine lake in West Cork, Ireland, about 5 km southwest of Skibbereen. It was designated as Ireland's first Marine Nature Reserve in 1981.
Lough Hyne was probably a freshwater lake until about four millennia ago, when rising sea levels flooded it with saline ocean water. The lake is now fed by tidal currents that rush in from the Atlantic through Barloge Creek. The stretch between the creek and the lake is known as The Rapids. The lake's small size, only 0.8 km by 0.6 km, creates an unusual habitat of highly oxygenated yet warm seawater that sustains an enormous variety of plants and animals, many of which are not found anywhere else in Ireland. A wide variety of environments such as cliffs, salt marsh, beach, and areas of greatly varying water movement add to the area's biodiversity. Some of the seawalls around the lake and the Rapids were built as relief work during the Great Hunger.
Scientific investigation of the area began in 1886 when Rev. William Spottswood Green first recorded the presence of the purple sea urchin Paracentrotus lividus. Prof. Louis Renouf resumed the scientific work in 1923 and promoted it as a 'biological station' and sustained studies have been carried out there since then. It is now one of the most-studied sites of its size in the world. Several laboratories were constructed near the shores of the lake, supporting ground-breaking ecological research under Prof. Jack Kitching and Dr John Ebling. An illustrated history of the marine research was published in 2011 'Lough Hyne: The Marine Researchers - in Pictures'.
The area is a tourist attraction with a permanent exhibition on the lough and its importance at nearby Skibbereen Heritage Centre. The ruins of Saint Bridgit's Church are on the shores of the lake, as well as holy wells, Tobarín Súl and Skour Well, on the side of Knockomagh Hill. Castle Island is located in the center of the lake where the ruins of Cloghan Castle, once a fortress of the O'Driscoll clan, are still visible. A nature trail up Knockomagh Hill offers superb views of the lough and the surrounding area. Lough Hyne is a popular kayaking and swimming destination for locals and tourists in the summer.
Ireland Retrospective Part 1
Part one of the highlights of our Ireland trip.
Glandore, West Cork
Aerial footage of Glandore, West Cork.
Glandore (meaning harbour of the gold) is the name of both a harbour and village in County Cork, Ireland. Glandore is located about an hour's drive west of Cork city.
The village has several pubs, with traditional music. It is a very popular holiday destination for Irish holiday makers in particular. Famous homeowners include Margaret Jay, former leader of the House of Lords, and prominent business-man Tony O'Reilly. The Church of Ireland which is being restored is located at the entrance of The Rectory originally a private home and then home of the Rectory but now a popular wedding venue. The Rectory (originally called East View) along with Bearna Donn (originally called West View) & Stone Hall were built in the 19th Century by the Allen Family. The village yacht club's official headquarters is located near the pier on the Old School Road.
The Irish Coast Guard has a unit based in Glandore at the Rocket House at the western end of the village.
The annual regatta takes place the third weekend of August. Sailing is the main attraction to the village; however, rowing and swimming are also a part of the community. In former years there used also be Irish dancing competitions in the village square. The Lar Casey Cup is awarded to the winning Dragon class yacht.
Every 2 years (on odd years) the Glandore Classic Boat Regatta is held during the second week of July.
Minaun Mount - Achill Island - County Mayo - Ireland
Falaises de Minaun - Île d'Achill - Comté de Mayo - Irlande
Coordonnées GPS: 53°57'26.7N 10°01'35.5W
Le sommet de cette falaise, d'une hauteur de 466 m, offre un splendide panorama de l'île d'Achill. On y voit les monts Croaghaun et Slievemore, Achill Head, Keel Bay et Trawmore Strand.
Cependant, pour arriver au sommet, il faut prendre une route très étroite (pente plutôt raide) qui sillonne en bordure d'un précipice.
Pas moyen d'échapper aux moutons... Ils sont partout sur la route.
Lors de notre passage, la visibilité était partiellement réduite par le brouillard qui commençait à nous envelopper. Cependant, nous avons réellement apprécié la vue que nous avions de cette magnifique région.
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Inner Light par Kevin MacLeod est protégée par une licence Creative Commons Attribution (
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Ireland Villa
Ireland Trip 2010