Hello from Dingle, Kingsale and Tipperary

Monday, June 06, 2022
Tipperary, County Tipperary, Ireland
We left Tralee and headed to Dingle deciding to take the scenic drive along the water. It had been raining overnight and it was a little overcast. The drive was via Connor Pass, which on a clear day would of been spectacular. Ours, well, the road got narrow and narrrower and the fog thicker, the thickest fog Mark said he has every driven through. The road was now one way and passing cars was very up close and personal. Mark enjoyed saying hello to every driver we passed.As the fog cleared we descended into beautiful Dingle and small port town on southwest Ireland’s the Dingle Peninsula with a population of 1200. We decided to do the slea head drive. The Slea Head Drive is  a 46 km loop beginning and ending in Dingle. It is part of the Wild Atlantic Way and one of the most spectacular routes you will drive in Ireland. Then we drove on to our destination of Kinsale. Kinsale is a town on the southern coast of Ireland, in County Cork. Two 17th-century fortresses overlook the River Bandon. It has a population of 2300.00 Not only is Kinsale one of the most picturesque and oldest towns in Ireland, it is also internationally renowned for the number and quality of its famous eateries.   It was a bank holiday weekend and it was very busy. Our accommodation was very central. Parking has been a bit of a challenge in Ireland and because this weekend was very busy.  The weather was not particularly nice so we headed to a couple of local pubs and the local game of hurling was on TV and it was a semi final so most of the locals were very focussed. Hurling is a stick and ball game, played by teams of 15 on a rectangular grass pitch with H-shaped goals at each end. A bit like hockey on steroids. The pubs had a great atmosphere. We got to experience a few of them which was nice. The houses were painted bright pink, blue, yellow and green, so pretty.
The next day we left for Cobh. Cobh has a population of 12,000. Cobh is known as the Titanic’s last port of call in 1912. The cathedral’s spire was the last thing on solid ground that the Titanic victims saw. We visited the Titanic museum “the Titanic Experience” this is on the White Star Line old ticketing office right on the waterfront and the original wharf is still there and is where the last 143 people embarked on the fateful voyage and only 43 of them survived. We were given our own boarding pass (with the name of one of the passengers that boarded in Ireland) and at the end of the the experience we checked whether we had survived the journey. Let’s just say being a girl I was more likely to survive than Mark. Strolling along the waterfront we witnessed the docking of a huge Caribbean cruise ship. No big deal however we hadn’t been that close to. A large ship for several years. We also saw the pretty colours of all the shops and houses on the waterfront. We then drove to Tipperary were we are staying at a golf course resort hotel so Mark and Tim could play Golf. Tipperary has a population of 4,900. Unfortunately they didn’t have any hire clubs (due to Covid and supply issues according to the pro) so they had to share some loan clubs. A driver, 7 iron, wedge and putter. A nice place for a wind down after some lengthy times in the car. Mark said it was one of the nicest courses he has ever played on. He obviously played well if he said that!

Comments

Jan Riley
2022-06-07

Love the colours of the houses.

Sue & Steve
2022-06-07

Great photos! So picturesque 😍

Carol Lyons
2022-06-07

What a bright,colourful picturesque area and that Irish green grass.

Suzy
2022-06-07

Why did they paint the houses in such vivid colours? Particuarly reason or just to brighten up the place? Beautiful photos.

Panther and Vicki
2022-06-08

That fog ! Glad you went there in Summer. Lovely area

mellak
2022-06-08

Yeah the locals said it was to brighten the place up as it was grey and bland

2025-02-14

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