Dingle, Ireland 20 Aug - 25 Aug 2011

We left Doolin in the morning and started our drive to the south of Ireland, our destination was a town called Dingle.  Many friends had told us this town was a must see so we had rented an apartment for 5 days right in the centre of Dingle.  On the way we stopped at a famous castle called Bunratty and had lunch in an almost as famous pub called "Durty Nelly's".  Both the castle and the pub were interesting.  The area around the castle was set up similar to Upper Canada Village.  There were actors in the different buildings who described what daily life would have been under the Lord of the Manor.  There were outbuildings that reflected what life in the country would be like and there was also a full scale village set up with stores, pubs, doctors office and a school.

Typical thatched roof farm cottage

Interior of a farm house showing the one fireplace that was used for heating and cooking

One of the shops in the village

Entrance to Bunratty Castle

Bunratty Castle

Great hall in the castle

After our tour of the castle and outbuildings we went to Durty Nelly's for lunch.  Whenever we mentioned to people that we were going to Ireland they all said that we must stop at Durty Nelly's.  It was an interesting pub but you will see later that we found a few more pubs that were more authentic and had a large cast of characters that even Hollywood would not have been able to cast in a movie.

Durty Nelly's look at the sign in says the Village Inn since 1620

The pub was close to the Bunratty Castle, pictured behind was one of the towers that were part of the castle.

Inside Durty Nelly's

After our stop we continued on to Dingle.  We had rented an apartment right downtown across from a pub called "Foxy John's" and around the corner from one of Ireland's most famous pubs "Dick Mack's".  These two pubs are some of the few pubs still remaining that incorporate full service, for example you could rent a bike, purchase hardware or plumbing fixtures at Foxy John's.  The bar was on one side of the room and a full service hardware store was on the other side.  Once the hardware store closed at 17:00hrs the patrons actually sat on the hardware counter if all the seats at the bar were full.  This was the case every night we were there.

We also went to the pub Dick Mack's, this pub has been in the same family for three generations and is also a haberdashery store.  But I don't think a pair of shoes or a shirt had been sold there since the early 50's.  We had the fortunate honour of meeting the present owner, Oliver Mack and he could have been right out of a movie.  Once we had ordered our drinks (Guinness for me and Heineken for Sam) he had a look around and said he was going for a smoke and I was to look after the bar.  One of the regulars told me that if you disturbed Oliver while he was having a smoke you would get thrown out.  So we patiently drank our beer and enjoyed the ambiance and the characters that came and went.  We spent a great afternoon speaking with Mr. MAck and some of the patrons.  Each had a story about the pub.

Oliver Mack behind his bar.  They say he never takes his hat off.

On the opposite side of the bar is the shoe and clothing display with a picture of Oliver Mack's grandfather Dick Mack

The outside of Dick Mack's

Foxy John's pub that was right across the street from our apartment.  Notice the hardware and bicycles in the sign.  The front window of the pub had a small pink girls bike suspended in the window and one day as we were walking by we heard a small British girl say "oh look, Mommy you can ride a bike in the pub"

The side of Dick Mack's leading to the smoking area where there appeared to be more people there than inside the pub.

At either end of the bar in Dick Mack's there were two small little rooms called "snugs" these were meant for privacy.  In the old days business would be discussed in them or if you happened to slipping out with a lady that wasn't your wife and you didn't want anyone to happen to see you, the snug was the place to go for a drink.  You can just see a person on the left side of the window. There werre shutters that closed off the window when required.

Mr. Oliver Mack tending to his bar after his cigarette, you can see the snug in the left of the picture.

While in Dingle we also drove around the Sleahead Drive, this is a scenic route around the edge of the peninsula that follows the coast line.  There are small buildings along the route referred to as "Beehive Homes".  We saw similar houses in Alberobello, Italy called Trullos.  This are homes that were made out of flat stones laid one on top of another.  There was no mortar used it was just the weight of the stones that held the building together.  We also on the same day went up the mountains behind Dingle to experience the Connor Pass.  This is a treacherous road that at certain points is only wide enough for one car to get by so on coming cars were required to back up until they reached a pull out.  Very tricky driving especially when you have tourists not used to right hand drive.

Connor Pass the road is along the edge of the mountain two/thirds of the way up in the picture

Entrance to one of the Beehive Houses, they were not exactly the most comfortable things. one room in most with a fire in the middle

Connor Pass and yes the broken line is not even on the road.  It was a tight squeeze for two small cars when you met anything large like a normal size Ford one of the vehicles had to back up until they found a small pull off just big enough to allow the cars to pass.