In our raingear at the Foilmore Church (mapholder around my neck)
We expected rainy weather in Ireland… and encountered sunny, surprisingly hot weather our first three days of walking. Day Four (our rest day) was cooler and a little overcast, but the rain finally came on Day Five. But what’s a walking trip without some rain? We hauled our raingear all this way—shouldn’t we get to use it??
Today’s walk was eleven miles from Glenbeigh to a very remote area near Kells. Our path took us around a mountain on a forest path, then out along the cliffs overlooking the sea. On a clear day we would have had absolutely beautiful views across Dingle Bay, but we struggled with rain, wind and quite a bit of mud. It was a very challenging day, especially working our way across the exposed mountain pass and through the many boggy sections.
We had lunch under cover, in what our hiking notes described as the remains of a “ghostly hamlet,” perhaps abandoned during the potato famine in the mid 1800’s. This part of Ireland lost three-quarters of its population back then. People starved to death or fled to other countries like America. Despite what seems to be lots of fertile land, we’ve seen very little farming… some sheep and cows, but no crops.
Finally the rain let up and we reached our destination—the Foilmore Church, where we met up with Tim and Linda. We had traded the lead with them on and off during the day. Mrs. Morris—our host for the night—picked us up around 4:00 pm and drove us another four miles to her farmhouse for the night. She took our wet clothes away to dry, and we sat by her peat-fueled fireplace and drank big mugs of hot tea and coffee. Kelly was excited to find a friendly dog and also a motherless grey lamb named Tinker Bell who loved to have her head scratched.
Along the Dingle Bay
