Dingle Peninsula
We sailed all night from Inishmore in the Aran Islands towards Skellig Michael off County Kerry. A gale blew up about 3 A.M. and forced us to take shelter in Smerwick harbor on the north coast of the Dingle peninsula. As morning broke it became increasingly clear that we would need to change our plans about landing on Skellig this morning. We quickly reversed our itinerary and visited the Gallarus Oratorio, Kilmalkedar Church and the picturesque village of Dingle.
The Gallarus Oratorio is a monastic church which dates from the 7th century. It is made entirely of stone in the shape of an upturned boat. It uses a corbel building technique similar to that we saw at Skara Brae which is more than three thousand years older, a testimony to the persistence of a technology that works. We then visited the Kilmalkedar Church which is a fine example of Hiberno-Romanesque architecture of the 12th century. It has one very fine tympanum in situ which is reminiscent in its frieze of the design used in St. Magnus and Durham Cathedral. In the church yard there is an ogham stone which may be as old as the 4th century. Ogham is the earliest writing system developed by Celtic peoples. There are approximately 300 ogham stones in Ireland and 120 in County Kerry. This is the first and only ogham stone which we will see on the trip. It is about 7 feet high and the inscription on it translated from the Old Irish reads “Name of Mael Inbir, son of Brocan.”
We next visited the picturesque city of Dingle Town. Antiquity even holds sway in this modern city as there are ancient inscribed stone crosses in the precinct of the local monastery. Dingle Town is nestled hard against a very protected bay. Dingle is still an important fishing port, but the bay, since it is almost land-locked cannot accommodate trawlers larger than 75 feet. This ensures that fishing industry will remain in the control of locals. The shops in the four streets that make up Dingle are painted in a variety of bright pastels and one store front contains full size wooded sculptures of the legendary Dingle dolphin which has been resident and greeting visitors in Dingle harbor for 25 years.
We gathered at the Marina Inn for Irish coffee, pints of Guinness and two hours of rollicking local music. While the rain fell in sheets outside, inside we were singing, tapping our feet and toasting each other. We returned to the National Geographic Endeavour for an early supper of delicious Philippine food. At 9 P.M. Tom O’Brien announced that we had the Skelligs off our starboard side. The austerely remote clochans (bee-hive huts) perched precipitously on the North peak of Skellig. The spiritual tenacity of these Irish monks was immediately evident as we gazed up at their rock home 600 feet above the North Atlantic. We trundled off to bed tired but elated after a wonderfully full day.
We sailed all night from Inishmore in the Aran Islands towards Skellig Michael off County Kerry. A gale blew up about 3 A.M. and forced us to take shelter in Smerwick harbor on the north coast of the Dingle peninsula. As morning broke it became increasingly clear that we would need to change our plans about landing on Skellig this morning. We quickly reversed our itinerary and visited the Gallarus Oratorio, Kilmalkedar Church and the picturesque village of Dingle.
The Gallarus Oratorio is a monastic church which dates from the 7th century. It is made entirely of stone in the shape of an upturned boat. It uses a corbel building technique similar to that we saw at Skara Brae which is more than three thousand years older, a testimony to the persistence of a technology that works. We then visited the Kilmalkedar Church which is a fine example of Hiberno-Romanesque architecture of the 12th century. It has one very fine tympanum in situ which is reminiscent in its frieze of the design used in St. Magnus and Durham Cathedral. In the church yard there is an ogham stone which may be as old as the 4th century. Ogham is the earliest writing system developed by Celtic peoples. There are approximately 300 ogham stones in Ireland and 120 in County Kerry. This is the first and only ogham stone which we will see on the trip. It is about 7 feet high and the inscription on it translated from the Old Irish reads “Name of Mael Inbir, son of Brocan.”
We next visited the picturesque city of Dingle Town. Antiquity even holds sway in this modern city as there are ancient inscribed stone crosses in the precinct of the local monastery. Dingle Town is nestled hard against a very protected bay. Dingle is still an important fishing port, but the bay, since it is almost land-locked cannot accommodate trawlers larger than 75 feet. This ensures that fishing industry will remain in the control of locals. The shops in the four streets that make up Dingle are painted in a variety of bright pastels and one store front contains full size wooded sculptures of the legendary Dingle dolphin which has been resident and greeting visitors in Dingle harbor for 25 years.
We gathered at the Marina Inn for Irish coffee, pints of Guinness and two hours of rollicking local music. While the rain fell in sheets outside, inside we were singing, tapping our feet and toasting each other. We returned to the National Geographic Endeavour for an early supper of delicious Philippine food. At 9 P.M. Tom O’Brien announced that we had the Skelligs off our starboard side. The austerely remote clochans (bee-hive huts) perched precipitously on the North peak of Skellig. The spiritual tenacity of these Irish monks was immediately evident as we gazed up at their rock home 600 feet above the North Atlantic. We trundled off to bed tired but elated after a wonderfully full day.
