Dingle Peninsula - Ireland 2014 - page 384

24.9 km: Grab the scenic pullout. The view is spectacular. Ahead, on the right, study
the top fields, untouched since the planting of 1845, when the potatoes didn't grow, but
rotted in the ground. The faint vertical ridges of the potato beds can still be seen—a re-
minder of the famine (easier to see a bit later). Before the famine, 40,000 people lived on
this peninsula. After the famine, the population was so small that there was never again a
need to farm so high up. Today, only 10,000 live on the peninsula.
The lousy farmland on both sides of the straight stretch of road was stripped of seven
feet of peat (turf) in the 19th century. The land may have provided a lot of warmth back
then...but it provides no food today.
A breezy 15-minute walk leads out to Clogher Head. The dirt road stretches off to the
left and peters out after 200 yards. But after that it's open ground and easy to navigate. Just
step carefully over bog puddles and head uphill through the rocky heather to the lumpy
summit. There you'll be rewarded with postcard-worthy panoramic views.
30 km: The town of Ballyferriter (Baile an Fheirtearaigh), established by a Norman
family in the 12th century, is the largest on this side of Dingle. The pubs serve grub, and
theoldschoolhouseisamuseum.Itsmodestexhibitsprovidethebestcoverageofthisvery
historic peninsula (€2.50, May-Sept usually daily 10:00-17:00 but hours vary, closed Oct-
April, tel. [phone], www.westkerrymuseum.com ) . The early-Christian cross in front
of the schoolhouse looks real. Tap it...it's fiberglass—a prop from the Ryan's Daughter
bus-stop scenes.
31.4 km: At the T-junction, signs direct you left to An Daingean (Dingle, 11 km). Go
left, via Gallaras (and still following Ceann Sléibhe/Slea Head Drive signs). Take a right
over the bridge, following signs to Gallaras .
32 km: Just beyond the bridge, you'll pass the Tigh Bhric market, pub, and microbrew-
ery (good pub-grub lunches, tel. [phone]). Five yards before the sign to Mainistir Ri-
aise (Reasc Monastery), detour right up the lane. After 0.3 km (up the unsigned turnout on
your right), you'll find the scant remains of the walled Reasc Monastery (dating from the
6th to 12th centuries, free, always open). The inner wall divided the community into sec-
tions for prayer and business (cottage industries helped support the monastery). In 1975,
only the stone pillar was visible, as the entire site was buried. The layer of black tar paper
(near the base of the walls) marks where the original rocks stop and the excavators' recon-
struction begins. The stone pillar is Celtic (c. 500 B.C. ). When the Christians arrived in the
fifth century, they didn't throw out the Celtic society. Instead, they carved a Maltese-type
cross over the Celtic scrollwork. The square building was an oratory (church—you'll see
an intact oratory at the next stop). The round buildings would have been clochan s—those
stone igloo-type dwellings. One of the cottage industries operated by the monastery was
a double-duty kiln. Just outside the wall (opposite the oratory, past the duplex clochan, at
the bottom end), find a stone hole with a passage facing the southwest wind. This was the