An Daingean go Gaillimh (Dingle to Galway)

Hi everyone, both Jean and Mandy here!

Mandy: What an eventful day so far! Jean’s poison ivy has progressed further, so we finally sucked it up and went to the Dingle Medical Centre, where the wonderful Dr. Conor Bronson wrote a much-needed prescription for some prednisone. After collecting that from the local pharmacy, we were on our way!

Jean: Before heading to the Doctor and the Pharmacy we had an AMAZING breakfast at our B&B! We had a few fresh baked scones with various jams and nutella, coffee and tea, Irish meats and cheeses, and we both had Eggs Benedict, which were far beyond creamy and delicious!

Everyone told us to make the drive to the Slea Head Drive, but unfortunately due to the time we had to use to go get me checked out we couldn’t do it. We started out today’s trip going up Conor Pass, which is up a small mountain road and probably some of the most gorgeous views

I’ve seen in a long time. It reminded me a lot of when I was in Italy in the Cinque Terra and when I was working for Carnival Cruises and I went to the top of a mountain in St. Thomas. There are two lookout points in Conor Pass. The first stop gives you great views both towards Dingle and to the other side of the peninsula. The other stop at first looks like just a little waterfall with a rock face. But if you know what to look for (thanks to Mandy), with a little scampering up rocks about 150ft up you come to a HUGE wading pool where water gathers off the mountain and offers you a superb view.

As we continued on, we went through Tralee and on to Ennis to visit Siobhan (a family friend of Mandy’s) to drop off some presents and have a cup of tea before heading out to the Burren and the Father Ted Parochial House.

On the way to Tralee, the easiest and ‘fastest’ way is to use the Shannon Ferry from Tarbert to Kilrush so we didn’t have to drive all around the inlet which would have made our drive a little longer……. It takes about 15 minutes and made me miss being out on the water

Mandy: The ferry ride was beautiful, if not a little windy and chilly. Once arriving at the other side we were off to visit the site where the popular BBC TV show ‘Father Ted’ was filmed. This was quite possibly the highlight of my trip! Well, it would have been if we didn’t come upon a bad accident where we were asked to turn around. Unfortunately, Irish towns don’t offer multiple ways to get to a place, so we ended up going several kilometers out of our way, just to have to backtrack and get back on the road we wanted. We made it though, and arrived at the Fr. Ted/Craggy Island Parochial House just before sundown, with strains of Neil Hannon and Duke Special’s remix of ‘Songs of Love’ playing on the car stereo J

After photos and ogling, we made our way out of The Burren. By this time night had fallen, and this made for some interesting driving! Eventually though, we were back in civilization, and on our way to Galway. Upon arrival we met up with Ails, a friend of mine from the Duke Special message boards (Hi Ails!) and had some dinner. After that, we were pretty much shattered from the long day, so with a quick drink in the hotel bar, we were off to bed, falling asleep almost immediately.

Tomorrow we’ve got another loooong day of driving, but it seems to be mostly on main roads, so we’ll see what adventures that will hold. Next stop, Bushmills (yes…that Bushmills … ;) )!