Killarney to Baltimore
The owner was serving breakfast, but did not appear at reception when we were checking out even though she was in the background and we felt this was a bit cowardly of her. Our Wise Card and my Revolut card were both refused again by their system - they never got to the banks concerned - just rejected out of hand by the hotel's bank. So we had to pay for the meals on the sterling card. The morning receptionist dealt with the situation very well. But the owner did not come out well as she sculked out of sight well away from reception.
We headed back up the Kenmare Road and stopped at Ladies View. Where we met some Americans, taking a photo of a puppet a bit like Archie Andrews. We walked out of the rocks. The views were a bit misty as the morning clouds had not yet lifted. We then continued to Molls Gap and then dropped down to Kenmare which was very busy. David helped one of the Americans to pop piece of he bonnet bodywork back into the car - she put it down to problems with "skinny roads"
From here, we headed for the Ring of Beara on what our last American friend called "skinny roads" which were very difficult to pass anybody on at all. We detoured off to a little harbour where they were growing mussels and there was a bed and breakfast with something like 50 tables outside it. We then passed two more Wild Atlantic Way hangman. one at Dooneen where there has been a large copper mine back in 1870. Picnic lunch here.
We then proceeded to Castletownbere, and from here we wandered along the coast to Glengariff,
From Glengariff, we headed on into Bantry and then to Skibbereen and then to Casey’s Hotel just outside Baltimore. This was a three star hotel and we were had a lovely room in the lodge a few metres away along the road with views over the lake. We took advantage of the free scone and coffee they were offering and at this outside the bar overlooking the lake - a proper Irish scone. Then we walked down into Baltimore - quite a long walk The place was full of trailers and boats then at 8 o’clock we went in for dinner . Where we shared a large seafood platter which also included chips and had our usual half of lager. On the way out we stopped in the bar and listened to 6 musicians for about 10 minutes, which was great fun.
From Baltimore
We have to had a pleasant breakfast with superb fresh orange juice.
We set out on the road back to Skibbereen and Bantry before doing the tour of the Sheeps Head way. This was extremely scenic. We stopped a couple of times for short walks at hangman and then stopped at Ahakista where there was a well-kept garden in memory to the 1985 victims of an air India air crash. This was in a wonderful position overlooking the sea. Air India Flight 182 was a flight operating on the Montreal–London–Delhi route. On the 23 June 1985 the airplane on the route, a Boeing 747-237B, was blown up by a terrorist bomb at an altitude of 9,400m and crashed into the Atlantic Ocean while in Irish airspace. A total of 329 people were killed, including 280 Canadians, 27 British citizens and 22 Indians. The incident was the largest mass murder in modern Canadian history.
Then we stopped in Durrus: first at a derelict grain warehouse used for famine relief and then for a walk round the churchyard of Saint James Protestant church still in use today. We drove down to Crookhaven, which was a lovely spot, full of people enjoying a Sunday at the very scenic pub.
After this, we drove to Mizen head where we shared an ice cream and decided not to walk down to the Lighthouse as I was under the weather. David did a really good job, entertaining a lump of lard all day as I had had a terrible night with my cough.
We walked to Tullagh church before dinner where we had seafood, chowder, fish and chips and a crème brûlée.
Caseys of Baltimore. Casey's of Baltimore .
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Ladies View, Kilmackilogue, Dooneen, Casletownbere, Ring of Beara
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Baltimore
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Sheeps Head and Beara Head Loops
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Mizen Head
Mizen Head is traditionally regarded as the most southerly point of mainland Ireland although Brow Head is the actual southernmost point.
At the end of the Mizen Peninsula, the cliffs of Mizen Head rise high above the Atlantic Ocean, where the currents meet from the west and south coasts and waves from the mid-Atlantic crash into the land.. A ten minute walk to the Signal Station down the famous 99 steps, and over the Arched Bridge amid stunning scenery with the possibility of seeing seals, kittiwakes, gannets and choughs. Though we gave the walk a miss as it looked pretty challenging!.
The signal station, once permanently staffed, is now a museum housing displays relating to the site's strategic significance for transatlantic shipping and communications, including the pioneering efforts of Guglielmo Marconi. Nearby Brow Head, also on the Mizen Peninsula and a short distance to the east, is several metres further south than Mizen Head. Nevertheless, geography books have long measured the length of Ireland, diagonally northeast-to-southwest, as "from Fair Head to Mizen Head" or north-to-south "from Malin Head to Mizen Head".
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