Ireland 2014

We spent our main holiday for 2014 in Ireland. Our first stop was West Cork, Baltimore to be precise. The trigger factors for Ireland were West Cork Whale Watching (Nic Slocum and his team) and the IWG Annual Seminar that we've attended for the last few years but just for the weekend until now. As usual for one of our multi centre holidays, there are a few pages so please click below for where you'd like to visit.

West Cork

West Cork, page 2

Dingle Peninsula

Dingle Peninsula, page 2

Kildare

Sligo

Our first morning was supposed to be out on the water looking for whales and dolphins. So was our first afternoon. Both trips were cancelled due to the sea being too choppy so we decided to drive from Baltimore to Mizen Head and enjoy some lovely scenery. It was really windy at Mizen Head so any London cobwebs we brought with us were well and truly blown away.

on the way

tigger

This is Tigger - our hire car for the holiday.

plants

There were loads of wild flowers around so I'll scatter them through the page.

road

on the way

plants

The views were spectacular all along the road.

donkeys

We saw quite a few donkeys on the way. Saw lots of cows / cattle and a few horses and sheep as well but didn't photograph them.

on the way
on the way
donkey

plant

We drove through some pretty towns and villages as we went along.

on the way
plants
daisy

ss

Sometimes you just have to make a bit of effort to get to what you're trying to photograph.

plants
on the way

plants

The blurb tells us ...

Built from local slabs, this wedge shaped tomb is one of a dozen in the Mizen peninsula. It was first erected at the end of the Stone Age, around 3,000 to 2,000 BC, with its entrance deliberately lined up with the distant Mizen Peak.

Archaeologists recently uncovered some burnt human bone which they radiocarbon dated to about 2,000 BC and believe that the tomb continued to be used as a sacred site in the centuries that followed. Shallow pits, probably with food offerings, were dug into the chamber floor in the later Bronze Age - between 1,250 and 550 BC - and Celtic Iron Age people filled a pit with sea shells and fish bones between 124 and 224 AD. Whale bones were also found from this period.

The ritual use of the site ended with the arrival of Christianity, but it was briefly resumed during the 18th century when the tomb was used as an altar by priests who were forbidden by law to say mass in a church.

tomb
tomb
on the way
plant
plant
on the way
on the way
plant
plant
on the way
jc

plant

Jonathon's not quite as much on the edge as it appears.

daisy
on the way
on the way
clover
wave
bay
We spent a bit of time on Barley Cove Beach - a lovely place. The sand was very soft and the bridge over to it was interesting.
walkway
seaweed
seaweed
barley cove
jc

shell

I've no idea what he was looking for.

grass
barleycove
barley cove

shell

There were a few shells around and the water had left the sand damp, with pretty patterns in some places.

bird

barleycove
barley cove
shell

birds

barley cove
jc

plant

We finally arrived at Mizen Head. It wasn't really that far from Baltimore but we stopped quite a lot to take photos so it took a while to get there. Mizen Head is the most South Western point of Ireland and is closely linked with Fastnet Lighthouse. We walked across the bridge on the right.
mizen head
mizen head
The two lovely art works were in a set of five. They were on the wall of the information office - very impressive.
mizen head
mizen head
plant
plant
mizen head
mizen head

ss

As you can see, it was a long way down!

ss

I couldn't see the Fastnet Lighthouse however hard I tried!

mizenhead
No cetacean trip doesn't mean no wildlife so Jonathon enjoyed taking photos of the Gannets. He even found a lizard and some pretty little brown birds (meadow pipits I think).

lizard

gannets
gannet
Jonathon stayed "up top" to photograph the birds while I climbed down yet another steep slope and more steep steps to see the arch in the rock. It was beautiful but, beginner's mistake, I put my finger on the button to take the photo and the camera told me its battery was exhausted and closed down. Where was the full battery? In the car - duh!
bird
bird
skib

skib veg

We called in to Skibbereen on the way home. They were enjoying a food festival and it was very busy.

skib - bread
skib
skib

skib

There was even a band. We think they were called "The Other Side" and they did decent covers of well known songs.

little egret

Finally back to Baltimore (after yet another quick stop to photograph some waterbirds).

By bedtime it had already been established that the sea was too rough for the next day's cetacean trip so we booked to go on a different boat trip, hopefully to see seals and some birdlife.

Monday was a lovely fine day so we had a wander around Baltimore and ventured up to the Beacon.

birds

stone house

We were staying at The Stone House in Baltimore and Rianne and Jerry looked after us really well with comfy beds, delicious breakfasts and lots of ideas of what we could do instead of whale and dolphin watching.

blatimore
church

buoy

The church on the left is Church of Ireland.

cottages
cottages
view

bird

Rianne, our host, gave us a map and a good route to get to the Beacon whilst enjoying lovely views along the way.

brambles
view
view

chough

We were delighted to see some Chough here.

cows

Nosy animals, aren't they.

cows
view
cow
butterfly
view
view
fuchsia

fuchsia

There were loads of Fuchsia hedges in the area, both cultivated (like this one) and seemingly wild in the countryside. Very colourful.

hedge
jc

flower

I don't think Jonathon realised how close to the edge he was getting this time around!

caterpillar

Jonathon spotted this furry friend, photographed him then moved him to safety off the path.

path
beacon
beacon
plants
view
beacon
beacon

sheep

We "helped" with these sheep because they were running away from the farmer and, as you can see, the dog was being no help at all.

You can see how tall the beacon is - if you look ever so carefully, you'll see a tiny Jonathon shaped dot on the right hand side.

beacon
plant
bird
bird
label

voyager

seals

We went out with Nic on Voyager in the afternoon. Unfortunately not far enough out to see any whales or dolphins (too rough) but we did see some seals and a few varieties of marine birds.

 

seals

gull
gull
razorbill
cormorant
cormorant
cormorant
gannet
gannet
gannet
gannet
gannet
oyster catcher
tern
tern
tern
terns

cape clear

We called into Cape Clear Island, the most southerly inhabited place in Ireland, for a welcome drink.

cape clear
The info told us that the Cape Clear Island people were the first in Ireland to believe in Christ. St Ciaran was born there in the 4th century and it is said that when he heard from sailors about the new religion in Rome he went there and embraced Christianity. He was ordained there and after thirty years returned as bishop to Ireland. He converted the island community to Christianity and built a church there.
cape clear

cape clear

I was trying to decide what kind of animal this rock formation reminded me of. I'm still not sure.

cape clear
Back on the water again and a highlight for me was a sighting of the Fastnet Lighthouse, albeit in the misty distance. If I'd known we were going to see it today, I might not have walked to the very end of Mizen Head yesterday to not see it because of fog!
fastnet
ss
view
fishing boat
jc

fire

It was disappointing to see the gorse (furze) being burnt, particularly on a small uninhabited island like this one. I can't see the purpose and it was definitely harming (as in probably killing) the Oyster Catcher chicks that were still in their nest. So sad.

baltimore

Back on dry land and we went to Casey's Hotel for dinner. Lovely food and good service. Jonathon even said that his meringue and strawberry desert was the best he'd ever had anywhere!

 

It seems this page is full so I've created a second page for West Cork - please click here to have a look at the photos for Tuesday and Wednesday.

West Cork

West Cork, page 2

Dingle Peninsula

Dingle Peninsula, page 2

Kildare

Sligo

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