22/04/08

1430
We are sitting in the 200 year old Ashe's pub in Camp on the Dingle
Peninsula. There is a smokey open fire and the exposed low ceilings
and stone floor are more typically Irish than the Irish Pub Chain
O'Neil's. We have ordered Irish coffees for we need to warm up after
searching in the rain for Daniel's ancestors in a Castle Gregory
cemetery. We did find one tombstone dated 1866 belonging to the Rev.
Brunskill and his wife.

Today we have driven around the Dingle Peninsula; finally I actually
feel I have seen Ireland. Wild windswept coast, stone walled farms
with green fields and cute little cottages. Our consensus is that this
region is far more picturesque than the Ring of Kerry.

We drove on, scaling Conner's Pass which took us from Dingle over to
Castle Gregory. There were a few nerves as we wound up the road,
passing signs warning vehicles over 2 tonne and wider than 1.8 metres
to turn around immediately!!! We decided that our 3.5 tonne, 2.2
metre wide mean machine would make it - and sure enough, it was too
easy to get to the top. But the big test was down the other side, as
the width limit showed its reason for existing!!! We negotiated
narrow rocky passages without too much drama - but 'twas lucky we
didn't meet another Pat ;-)

Irish Heritage gained us entry to Ionad an Bhlascaoid Mhoir which
tells the story of the now deserted Blascaod island. This island has a
rich history of Irish lore and literacy but was evacuated in 1953 when
its population fell to 20 with no women of marriageable age to
continue the island's dynasty.

2130
We are now in a little village called Fedamore a little way south of
Limerick. We are saying at the Grubb's family home. John and Helen
Grubb are Servas hosts; Servas is an organisation we joined before
leaving the UK. It was set up after WWII to promote friendship between
different countries and cultures. In the 90's Daniel's parents were
Servas hosts so it was a concept of interacting and sharing that we
were familiar with already. We will stay two days with the host family
as guests and join in with their daily life. This evening we went for
an evening walk to some local landmarks, a 4000BC stone circle which
is the largest in Ireland then we climbed a hill which gave us great
views of Lough Guir and the setting sun.