Anascaul to Dingle

This was a longer day than the first, 14 miles in all.. We got away from Anasacul a little after nine, on a windy, threatening morning. But it never rained, and even cleared up later on.  The walk out of Anascaul took us around the side of a series of mountains on a country lane, then dropped down to Dingle Bay at Minard Castle. Minard Castle is an early Irish fortified tower, that was taken by Oliver Cromwell’s English forces  after a siege. Cromwell tried to level the castle by putting charges in each of the four corners of the tower. It didn’t work, and Minard is still there today, with small damaged areas in each corner of the tower.

From Minard, the trail worked it’s way up from the bay, across a long valley, and up the side of a mountain range on the other side, until we got below Conor Pass. From there, it was down the far side into Dingle.

Dingle is a great place.  It’s on a small bay, and has been around since the Middle Ages as a fishing village. It’s a small town, probably 5 blocks square. Lots of colorful  buildings, it’s what you would picture as an old Irish town. Kind of like an Irish Sausalito, but with no pretense and with an end of the world feel. Out in the Bay lives Fungie, a friendly dolphin who took up residence  in the 80’s and has  been the object of boat tours ever since. Marty and I decided seeing the dolphin might cut into pub time too much, so maybe I’ll see Fungie next time.

When we checked in at our B&B on Main Street, the proprietor asked if we were good sleepers. Our room was upstairs at the front of the house and on Saturday nights in Dingle the party spills out onto the streets from the Main Street pubs.   And it did, until way past midnight.   But this was a tough hiking day so the party went on without us.