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Debra's
Diary ~ July, 2008 We flew to Kerry on the west coast of Ireland , intending to catch the airport bus to
Tralee, the county town and then on to Dingle. The bus
didn't come. Five of us waited patiently, in the warm
sunshine, but it still didn't come. So I enquired
within, at the Information desk, and the woman behind the desk
leapt into action in a froth of indignation on our
behalf. She was certainly formidable, and soon we were
on our way to Tralee in a taxi, the tab being picked up by the
bus company and from then on, it all worked and we arrived at
Dingle to be met by our guest-house lady, Maggie. The
buses work, and we certainly used them, but they are not
cheap. In fact, nothing in Ireland is cheap; not even
the home brew. Dingle is a colourful, cheerful and
thriving town. Strand Street parallels the harbour, and
the sounds and cooking smells that emanate from the waterfront pubs
are inviting. Dingle has about 37 pubs - it once had 52
- and it's easy to see how life revolved around them. In
several of the preserved old ones, you could do your shopping
on one side and then rest your weary self on the other with a
pint. Mark you, the shopping would be more of a male
nature - a bag of nails, a hammer or screwdriver, a pair of
workboots. We sat in Foxy John's and just listened to
the locals, immersing ourselves in a culture that carries on
regardless.
Our
walks were some of the most enjoyable we've done, even though
there was a lot of road walking. It has its
compensations: you get on faster on even ground and don't get
muddy boots, and most of the 'roads' were little more than
cart tracks, so little traffic. I could not believe the
hedgerows - the majority of them were made up of fuschia trees
and personally, I've never seen such rampant growth - my
fuschia is puny compared to these. There is abundant
archeology on these hills - it's an ancient land. Part
of the Dingle Way is joined by the Pilgrims' Way, near to Slea
Head, with magnificent views of the coast and the Blasket
Islands. It's a view you drink in time and time again,
and the long 'strands' of beach are a pleasure to walk on - no
wonder David Lean chose it for location shots for Ryan's
Daughter.
It's
an Irish-speaking area, and there is an old-world courtesy
extended to those of us who haven't mastered Gaelic. You
are never made to feel inadequate for not managing to curl
your tongue around their language,
but it is a delight to hear it spoken. The road signs
are mostly dual language, but the publican John Benny Moriarty
that we met explained the 'storm in a teacup' as he described
it regarding the change of name of Dingle. The
government decided to revert to one of its Gaelic
names, and the townspeople objected. They hadn't been
consulted and they weren't having anything foisted on
them. They were up in arms and it made a bit of a splash
in Ireland until they compromised on both Irish and English
signs. But the government are slow to put Dingle back on
the signs, we noticed. The people were friendly, with
that direct way of speaking that denotes an openness you don't
always find in other countries, but the Irish sense of humour
always seems to there - whether you know it or not.
We
broke one of our walks at Anascaul to go into the South Pole
Inn - we'd heard about it being the home of an Antarctic
explorer. The pub is a shrine to Tom Crean, a little
known Irish hero and it has become the life's work of Eileen
Percival (whose family now runs the pub) to make Crean's name
a household word not just in Ireland but worldwide. Her
passion for the subject is endearing, and you are soon drawn
into hearing the story of this local lad who left home at 15
to join the British Royal Navy; a treasonous act for the Irish
of the time. We couldn't resist - I'm a sucker for
heroes - so we included the story in our film. It is
inspiring. We walked in rain and drizzle, wind and
sunshine, for you'll get all of them on any given day so you
just have to get on with it. There are some wonderful
drives too, if you base yourself in Dingle. The town is
fun, but it is really the pubs - with their food, music and
craic - that are the life of the town and on a rainy day,
there isn't a lot else to do. It is a good base from
which to explore the peninsula, and to carry on to the Iveragh
peninsula too. There are boat trips to the Blaskets, and
we took a trip out to the mouth of the harbour to look for
Fungie the tame dolphin. Sure enough, he showed and it
was lovely to see him, but they will refund your money if you
don't see him.
The
food in the pubs and restaurants is good, but the music is
what the Irish really do best, and it comes from the
heart. To listen to a musician like Eilis Kennedy sing
unaccompanied in Irish is a pleasure that stays with you a
long time and makes the hairs on the back of your neck
stand on end! The talent of these musicians is
phenomenal, and considering you are hearing first-class
entertainers for the price of a pint (or two...) and a meal,
you'd have to travel a long way to beat that.
Post
a
comment:
blog
your experience in
Dingle or on the Dingle Way
E-mail
Debra at:
grindelwald_prods@lycos.com
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