Day 4 Dingle

As experienced by Tim

This morning we woke up to sunshine with beautiful views. It was daylight by 5:00. Breakfast began at 8:15 and it was great. Our host, John, is constantly in motion seeing to the needs of his guests. He seems to be everywhere at once. This morning he is the head Chef in the kitchen as well as taking orders at the tables. You can tell that he is proud of his town, always making sure his guests know where they are going and not missing the highlights.

After breakfast we went to Conner Pass for views of Dingle Bay on the south as well as the countryside to the north to the Atlantic Ocean.

From there we headed out on the loop drive we previewed yesterday. Our first stop was Dunbeg Promentory fort. Built on cliffs overlooking the ocean, it dates from 500 B.C. to 500 A.D.

Next, we stopped at the Beehive Huts. They were used from ancient times up until1200 A.D, No mortar was used in the construction of the huts. The stones have a downward and outward tilt to keep the inside of the huts dry.

From the huts we went to the Great Blasket Centre. It was an interesting account of the island off the coast which was inhabited until the 1950’s, however, we have been threatened with a mutiny if we stop at any more museums.
Moving on we came to the Gallarus Oratory, one of Ireland’s best preserved early Christian churches, built 1300 years ago.

Leaving the Oratory, we went in search of Kilmalkedar church ruins, which was a 12th century Norman church. Little did I know I was about to be blindsided. After looking around the church and surrounding graveyard, everyone seemed to be gathering around a stone spire with a hole in the top. A little later I learned this was called the Ogham Stone which was erected 900 years before the church. Originally it was used to “seal the deal” of any agreement by standing on the graves of their ancestors in front of the church, touching thumbs through the hole in the stone and taking an oath. Now it is common for married couples to renew their vows in the same manner. I wasn’t aware of this as my dear wife is the research guru and she purposely did not share that little tidbit of info with me. Needless to say I was speechless standing there with everyone watching as she gives me an anniversary card with an ancient Gaelic proposal written inside asking if I would put my shoes under her bed and we re-sealed the deal. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, woman you read way too much.

On the way back to Dingle we came to a small stretch of sandy beach at the bottom of a short cliff. We stopped and Joy, Sloane and Stacy walked down to the beach and walked through the sand to the water. They were going to get their feet wet but a wave wet their jeans up to their knees. The water was ice cold, but the sand warmed their feet in no time.
After the loop drive we went for a short rest before going to The Chart House restaurant for our anniversary dinner. It was a nice place to eat and the food was very good but the service was slow, which usually isn’t a problem but we were running late and couldn’t get them moving.

From there we went to St John’s church for a music concert. We saw a singer named Pauline Scanlon who was very good followed by Eoin Duignan who played uilleann pipes, the Irish version of bagpipes. He was accompanied by a guitarist whose name I didn’t get but he was fabulous.

Special note to David at Eastman: You will be glad to know: that is all the details of our anniversary
Special note to Shirley at Eastman: You will be sad to know: that is all the details of our anniversary.