Day 5 - A Day Of Good Fortunes

Today was a busy and very satisfying day!!  We started off with our first Irish breakfast of the trip.  Tom, our B and B host, whipped it up for us and it was delicious!!  Blood pudding (not too much), two types of sausage, one piece of bacon (more like back bacon for us Canadians), beans, an egg, and two pieces of toast (with marmalade on the side).  I can’t think of a better way to start our day.  Yum!!!

Next order of business was to figure out how to wash some clothes.  Tom advised us of a cleaners in town - there’s only so many times you can turn your underwear inside out he said!!! 🤣 We dropped off a load of clothes on our way out to the hike we had planned today.

Our trail today was the Dingle Coast Walk that would take us from Dingle, past Hussey’s Folley, to the lighthouse at the entrance of Dingle Harbour, around Beenbawn Beach, and finally up to the cairn at the top of the southern point.  The path was easy to follow, the scenery was spectacular, and the weather could not have been better (Thank you, Tom.  You really came through for us today!! 😁)

Hussey’s Folly - A Little Dot On The Far Point

Approaching Hussey’s Folley

Hussey’s Folly is a freestanding, square-plan tower, built during the Great Famine (1845-1849) as a means of providing work for the poor.  There are a number of follies in Ireland - buildings with no real purpose but that have striking or unusual designs.  After talking with Tom I think they are remnants of British rule that the locals like to roll their eyes at, but I’m not 100% sure…

Jojo And Hussey’s Folly

Next stop was the lighthouse.  There is a cottage  beside the lighthouse but it has been unoccupied for over 10 years.  The lighthouse has a red light that is operated automatically, to aide shipping vessels that go by.

The Lighthouse And Cottage

Hidden Rest Spot Below The Lighthouse

After the lighthouse we passed Beenbaw Beach.  It looked beautiful from above and when the sun was shining the water had a gorgeous blue colour to it.  We did not stop on the way, but made a quick detour down on the way back.

Finally we made it to the cairn on top of the south point.  The views in every direction were stunning.  We stopped for some water and a few pieces of chocolate.  There was a group of French people who were clearly enjoying all of the seabirds.  We struck up a conversation and found out they were particularly excited about the “Fou de Bassan”, which we would later find out was a Northern Gannet.  If you watched them they would circle and then dive towards the water like a spear, completely submersing themselves in the ocean below.  It was amazing to see and we were fortunate enough to watch 6 or 7 of them do it.

Chocolate And Water Break

Summit Shot - Merci, nos amis Français!

Jojo And The Summit Cairn

Old Men Comparing Knee Braces 🤣

Beenbaw Beach From Above

We made our way back to town after what was a truly relaxing and scenic hike, feeling peaceful and happy.  A quick detour brought us to “Bean In Dingle” for a flat white (Jojo), a tea (JM), and a shared piece of maple walnut cake.  Once back at the B and B we showered, cleaned up, and had a little rest.

Yummy!!

Tonight our good fortunes continued as we had an amazing experience that we will likely never forget.  After collecting our clean laundry we decided to have a pre-dinner drink.  We ended up at a place we had seen yesterday, Dick Mack’s Pub.  It was a multi-room pub.  I peaked around one corner to a back room where there was a big table, and a guy on his phone waved us in.  We took a spot at the opposite end and started our drinks.  When he got off the phone he struck up a conversation with us.  His name was Damien and he is a recent transplant to Dingle from Dublin.  He told us he was a musician (mainly accordion but also piano and harmonica), and plays with bands at a number of places in the area.  He was very kind and personable, and was struck by the fact we were father and son travelling together.  Before we knew what was happening he told us he wanted to play us a tune so he pulled out his harmonica and played a beautiful ballad for us in front of the rest of the pub.  We were both very touched.  After a little more chit-chat he left us to our drinks and moved over to the piano where he met some friends.  They started jamming and playing a mix of songs, some familiar covers, and some traditional songs.  They were all very good, and we really enjoyed the impromptu performance, as did the rest of the pub.  We were enjoying it so much we ordered a second drink and settled in for a while.  When it came time to leave, Damien refused to shake our hands, and insisted on hugging it out with both of us.  We must have connected with him the same way he connected with us, because as we left he pulled out his harmonica and insisted Jojo take it.  I don’t know how to describe it, but it was such a special experience that neither of us will ever forget…

Dick Mack’s Pub Selfie

Damien Killing It On The Piano

It has been an amazing day on all fronts, and we will be going to sleep soon, thinking about the great memories we made today!!