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This morning, after leaving Kinsale, our first stop was in the quaint town of Kenmare where Pascal walked us out to a very special site, a stone circle surrounded by hawthorn trees, which is locally known as The Shrubberies. The trees, Pascal told us, were fairy trees. He passed out little wishing tags to all of us so that we could write down a wish to tie to the branches of the fairy trees. Hawthorn trees are considered to be sacred and magical trees in Ireland and in Celtic mythology. It is said that the fairies live underneath the Hawthorn trees as guardians, therefore the trees are treated with great respect and care. It is bad luck to break a branch or harm the tree unless this is respectfully collected as is often done by brides who would then wear these in
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The setting for the sheep herding was absolutely idyllic. When we arrived one of the dogs was sitting on a nearby rock poised and awaiting the signal. It was fascinating to watch the dog run the sheep around the valley and up into the pen beside us. After the demonstration we were taken to one of the barns where we could observe a sheep shearing demonstration and a marking. The whole process was really interesting and entertaining to watch! Check out the video below to see the dog, and sheep, in action! This was one of our "wow" moments!
After our visit to the Kissane Sheep Farm we drove to the Killarney National Park where we stopped for lunch at the This private concert was another "Wow" moment! we were so appreciative to Pascal and Rick Steves Tours for giving us this opportunity to experience some of Ireland's culture
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site of the Muckross House. There was a cafe where you could order lunch, but we had packed a picnic lunch which we enjoyed on the grassy lawn of the Muckross House. We wandered around the botanical garden and purchased some ice cream before meeting back on the bus to finish the day's travel to Dingle, the music center of Ireland! Our group was split between two hotels, Heaton's Dingle and Castlewood House. We were assigned to Heaton's Dingle where we had a group dinner followed by a private concert put on by two fabulous music artists, Gerry O'Beirne (who sang and played guitar, his website attached), and Niamh Varian-Barry (who sang and played violin, her Bandcamp profile attached). Our favorite song was one of Gerry's that he had written while living in Dingle. It was called "The Last King of Feothanach".
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Pascal told us that breakfast in Dingle was the best on the trip, and he was telling the truth! There were so many options for deluxe meals. We both picked eggs benedict. Yum!
After breakfast we loaded into the coach and drove over to Dingle Crystal Studio for a crystal cutting demonstration. The process they use to cut the crystal is really remarkable. You could see the skill and ease that Sean used to etch the designs in the bowl he was carving. It looked so effortless! The product of his efforts was beautiful. |
After the crystal cutting demonstration, we met up with a local guide, Tim Collins, of the Ancient Dingle Sciuird Archeological Tour. He narrated our rather rainy drive along the winding, narrow road of the beautiful Slea Head Drive, discussing the history of the surrounding area, pointing out notable filming locations for various movies including Far and Away and Star Wars. Due to the heavy clouds, viewing the offshore Blasket Islands was difficult to impossible in most instances. It was still a lovely drive, with coastal views, and beautiful rock walls hand made by the farmers. We stopped at the newly remodeled Great Blasket Center and did a walk through. After this we finished our drive with a visit to the Gallarus Oratory, a chapel built 1300 years ago.
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Today was our day to explore Dingle on our own. We had pre-booked an adventure to explore the water surrounding Dingle and the Blasket Islands today by RIB boat. We had a last minute reschedule where the ride was moved to a later time. We took the morning to walk through the relaxed streets of Dingle and to visit the town's Convent where the beautiful Harry Clark windows are on display. They were each stunning and included so many beautiful details and vivid colors. We quickly realized why they were so special! Yesterday we learned that they only had money enough for 6 sets of stained-glass windows. The windows behind the alter were designed by a German company in the style of the Harry Clark windows.
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Around midday we met up at the Fungi dolphin statue along the waterfront. This was where we found the Dingle Sea Safari. We suited up in wet suits and heavy jackets. They have a limited supply of plus sized pants (1 pair, on another trip for that day), so I opted to just wear my jeans. I was thankful for the heavy jacket though! It did get chilly on the water, but it was great with the jacket on. We also all had to wear life vests.
The trip was fabulous! We had a mix of beautiful blue and broody skies. We got to see so much! The cliffs of Ireland are incredible, and the islands were also breathtaking. We were lucky to see so much wildlife including a cormorant family on the cliffs, many seals, puffins, a Risso's dolphin fin, |
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many common dolphins and 2 minke whales!
We were bummed to head back into port, only because we could have spent all day watching the dolphins and other critters out in the deep waters. Back in Dingle we parted ways for a short time while Mom walked out to the Dingle Lighthouse and I stayed in Dingle. We met up for dinner at Reel Dingle Fish for tasty fish and chips. We made friends with the local seagulls and shared the remainder of our chips, then finished the day off with some tasty Dingle ice cream from Murphy's, where we tried on our adventurous caps and enjoyed such flavors of Dingle Sea Salt and Irish Brown Bread. We slowly wandered the streets leading back to our hotel, meanwhile listening to |