Crossing the Shannon, Tralee and Dingle

Big adventure today. I was so brave... I went on a boat! For those who know me well, this is a big challenge. I would have to be the worst sailor... but it made sense in order to save about 100km or so. In the map below, I crossed at point A, otherwise I would've had to go all the way around through Limerick to get into County Kerry.

The plan was to catch the 10am ferry (they go on the hour) but alas and alack after having dinner with the rellies last night, I was a little slow this morning and missed the ferry by about 10 minutes...

BTW - here's a pic of dinner with the Curtin's last night.

I went to Mass first, then Sean dropped off Nora to go in my car and we went up to Marie and Pat's for dinner. It was so lovely to be amongst family, and that's how it felt.

Anyway - back to the ferry trip...
So, what can you do when you see the ferry pulling out from the dock...?? Go to the toilet, buy a cup of coffee and a paper and sit down and relax. So, that's what I did. I met up with a couple who also just missed the ferry and they were from Germany and Switzerland, and they had been living in Galway for three weeks to learn English. She was telling me they stay with the host family and they must speak English for those 3 weeks. if you don't know the word, you do without... Could be tricky!

Anyway, the ferry takes about 20 minutes to get across then returns... Here are a few pics

I didn't want to sit in the car, so I hopped out on to the deck, which was fine, except it was freezing out in the middle of the Shannon, and it got quite rough in the middle. Lucky it was only a short trip!

Anyway, apart from nearly freezing to death, the trip was good and we drove straight off at Tarbert in Kerry. I had looked at the map previously and noted that my route went through Listowel, home of Tadgh Kenneally from the Sydney Swans. I looked out for him in the streets, but couldn't see him. Took a couple of pics of the town though...

There was hardly a soul around, but it was Sunday morning so nothing even stirs until about 12-ish. I was looking for a coffee shop in Listowel, but couldn't find one, so pressed on to Tralee.

I especially wanted to go to Tralee because it's the home town of my friend Mary Catlin. She has always talked about it, and I couldn't get this close and not go there. By this time it was one o'clock-ish so I went into a pub (the Imperial) and had my standard toasted ham and cheese sandwich. I also went to visit the Church - St John's- but was nearly mown down in the rush, because 12 noon Mass was just coming out. I guess they were all on their way to the Sunday session!!

Pictures of Tralee

It was still relatively early, so I thought I would press on to Dingle. In my previous bus tour twelve years ago, I remember being more impressed with Dingle than the Ring of Kerry (re-inforced by my recent experience!). So off I went again... faithfully led by Gaby Garmin GPS.

The drive was absolutely beautiful. As I've found so many times on this trip, the photos can't really capture the magnificence of the scenery. The weather changed a bit during this part of the trip, and made the driving a little hazardous, so once I hit Dingle, I decided it was time to turn around and go back the way I came. If I had more time, I would've loved to complete the whole Dingle Peninsula, but I was conscious I had to go on that boat again!

Here are some pics of the Dingle Peninsula.... (thought of Nadette from Newman who spent time in Dingle as part of her Medical pracs...)



The town of Dingle itself is very pretty. It's a harbour and obviously has lots of boats. As noted above the weather had changed a bit by the time I go there, so I didn't dilly-dally. Just had a quick cup of coffee and set the GPS for Tarbert again (the ferry port)

Here are some pics of Dingle....




I made it back for the 4.30pm crossing which was good, because the next one would've been 5.30pm and it's quite dark by then. The crossing back was uneventful - less rough, but just as cold.
We berthed back at Killimer just on 5, so I set Gaby Garmin for Lahinch. But she has a mind of her own sometimes.... she doesn't realise that the shortest way as the crow flies often means negotiating the back roads and lanes, and sure enough, that's where she took me. I was quite keen to get home by now, as it was almost dark, and the rain started again. But I followed her instructions and ended up on this lovely little road that took me God knows where, but I eventually ended up on the Lahinch Road. The last part of the journey was quite tricky driving, because the road winds a bit and it was dark, and of course it was raining.

I was so glad to get back into Lahinch that I drove straight to the Shamrock Inn - my favourite watering hole! I've become one of the family there now, and I know Declan, the boss, and Sean and Peter who served me every night. They all call me Moira too and ask me about my day and where I've been. No wonder I feel at home! I'll miss them as I head back to Dublin tomorrow.
I had to celebrate my last night in my patch with an Irish Coffee.... and it was beautiful. I don't know if I've had one of them since my Mum died in 2000.... But it was worth waiting for to have the genuine article.

Irish coffee at the Shamrock Inn

Well, that's it for Lahinch. Tomorrow I move on back to Dublin to stay with Mary and Nicky again. It's been just wonderful being here and meeting up with my family and feeling very much at home in my country. Hopefully I will come back here again soon, because it's place that I have grown to love.