Day 5: Touring West Cork

At the Muster Arms Hotel, Kristy had our first Irish breakfast. I ordered the "full breakfast" and Kristy had an over-easy egg. The full breakfast consisted of Irish bacon, Irish sausage, a fried tomato half, fried eggs and black and white pudding. For both of us to share, the hostess brought us out 10 pieces of toast in a rack. In the back of the dining room was a counter with cold cereals, oatmeal, orange juice, yogurt and milk. Kristy drank Irish tea, while I had orange juice and coffee. We sat there and talked about the day ahead and waited for our food and wondering about the massive amount of toast in front of us.

When the food came, my plate was heaping and all of it tasted delicious, save the puddings which were puzzling and complex. Here is what the Irish breakfast looks like:


All of the food was flavorful and hearty, and also the same everywhere we had breakfast in Ireland. At the Muster Arms, the black pudding was the famous "Clonakilty Black Pudding." I tried them both and thought they were grain-based, however I was pretty sure the black pudding had blood in it. So, I offered a taste of the white pudding to Kristy and she ate a crumbs worth and diagnosed it as meat. And yes, after a second taste, there was definitely some kind of meat along with the grains in the pudding. Touche Kristy!

After finishing our first Irish breakfast, we went back to our room and began to pack for our departure. On the docket for the day were many West Cork Michael Collins sites. We hoped to end near the Ring of Kerry. I carried our suitcases down the stairs and we asked the kind receptionist for directions to Béal na mBláth, where Michael Collins was ambushed after leaving the hotel. She gave us great directions out of town and headed us off in the right direction.

As we drove out of Bandon, Kristy yelled out: "Pull over! Did you see that!?!" I questioned her but found the nearest spot and pulled in. We walked back a block and I saw it: the Chaplin Bar. It was a bright pink building and seemed to be dedicated to Charlie Chaplin. Kristy took pictures and I thanked her for the shout out. We pondered what relation Chaplin may have had to Bandon or Ireland at all as we walked back to the car.

Kristy and I drove for less than 20-minutes before we suddenly turned a corner and saw the Michael Collins memorial. It was situated along the road and sat stately above ground level. We pulled over, walked up to it and began reading the information and taking pictures all around. The site was dedicated on August 22, 1924- exactly two years after he was killed at the spot. Here is a photo of that day:

Kristy and I were the only people there for quite a while. We made a donation for upkeep of the monument and as we began to drive off, an Irish couple pulled over and paid their respects at the monument.

After leaving Béal na mBláth, we headed towards Clonakilty, where Michael Collins grew up and made many political speeches later in life. On our way, somehow we got lost and ended up in a small town called Ballineen. As we pulled onto the main street, Kristy called out to an older gentleman walking on the sidewalk and politely asked him which direction Clonakilty was in. Kristy repeated the question after he turned towards us, but he then signaled that he did not understand us. This was our first experience with someone who only spoke Irish and no English.

We drove a few blocks down the street and found a parking spot outside of a baby store. We went in hoping that the owner could at least give us some directions. The store was empty, but behind the counter was a staircase that apparently went up to an apartment where the owner lived. A kindly woman came down after a few seconds and gave us directions and chatted with us about America, politics and her favorite Irish destinations. After our conversation, Kristy found so many "adorable" things to buy. As we left, Kristy took some pictures of the outside of the store and we got back on the road... in the right direction.

In Clonakilty, a somewhat larger town, we drove down a few streets until we found a parking spot. And, we learned quickly that when you find a parking spot, take it and walk- it reduces stress. So, we walked and headed down a street towards a park. It turns out that the Michael Collins statue was on this street- a very lucky break. The statue is not too old as it was dedicated on the 80th Anniversary of his death in 2002 by Liam Neeson, who portrayed Michael Collins in the famous movie.

We took some pictures of the statue and the oldest Post Office Kristy had ever seen. It appeared to be a converted church. Continuing up the road, we entered a square that included the building where Michael Collins lived as a child. Another lucky break.

The other place in Clonakilty that we wanted to see was O'Donovan's Hotel. It was a favorite of Michael Collins and where he gave many political rallies. Here is a picture taken on June 15, 1922 as he rallied support for the treaty:


O'Donovan's Hotel was pretty hard to find, well, at least compared to the other sites. We found it a few blocks on the other side of the car. As usual, we took some pictures and discussed the history of the Hotel.

Kristy and I left Clonakilty and headed for Skibbereen. We thought about seeking out Michael Collins' birthplace, but as it is in a very small village and not on any of our maps, we decided to save that for a return trip... some day. Anyway, the drive from Clonakilty to Skibbereen was along the southern coast of Ireland. It was really amazing to see.

In Skibbereen, we parked immediately and began the hunt for either a lunch spot or the Eldon Hotel which is where Michael Collins spent his final night. Here is his convoy leaving the hotel:


We found J. J. Fields Grocery and Bakery first and had a small lunch and drink. We were both still pretty full from our first Irish breakfast. We watched the people, talked about our plans and relaxed for a long time in what must have been the place to be in Skibbereen on a Saturday.

After lunch, we strolled throughout the town. This was our last Michael Collins stop and basically our last stop in County Cork.

As we left the County, we took note that it had almost four times the number of deaths on its roads than County Kerry. This information is posted as you enter and exit each of the Counties. We thought nothing of it driving into Cork, without a reference point, but by the end of the trip, we came to realize that it was the "deadliest" County we had been in. It was not hard to see why as the roads were the narrowest and the drivers were the fastest. Anyway, we made it out alive and witnessed our first sheep near the road just at the County Kerry border. We stopped and took some pictures and headed deeper into County Kerry.

Day 5: Honeymoon in Killarney

After we had our fill of Michael Collins' sights for the day (just kidding- Chad could never tire of Michael Collins), we started driving toward the Ring of Kerry. Along the way, we stopped in Glengarriff, a beautiful, one main-street town along the water. We found a traditional Irish gift shop and stopped to view the wares.

Ireland is well-known for producing many things, including Irish lace, wool sweaters, crystal, etc. and this shop had everything. Our special interest was centered on the tweed Irish caps that all the Irish gentlemen wear since Chad decided that he wanted one about five minutes after our trip was booked. Chad was fitted by the sales woman to be a size large and then spent at least fifteen minutes pondering which cap to choose. We finally chose a green tweed in the traditional style. From the moment he put it on, people treated Chad like one of their own, a young Irish lad with his cap. I guess that meant I looked like his foreign wife from Italy or Greece because no one confused me with a native (even though I am the one with actual Irish blood!)

Cap in place, we then continued our drive toward the Ring of Kerry. We passed through Bantry, but didn't stop because we were already going to be short on daylight. Although we could have stopped in Kildare for the evening, we decided to drive part of the Ring of Kerry up to Killarney and rest there for the evening. Little did we know that we would be driving the most treacherous part of the entire ring in the wee afternoon hours and into the dark night.

Kildare was an adorable little town that we hit right at busy hour, about 4:30 PM, when everyone gets done with work. The traffic is always ridiculous, as is the pedestrian traffic, and so this slowed us up quite a bit. We contemplated staying for the evening again, but chose to press on despite the darkness that was beginning to descend.

We started driving the Ring of Kerry and were astonished at the beautiful landscape; however, what was even more startling was the high speeds at which people whipped around the sharp corners. Once it got dark enough to use headlights we were at a greater advantage because we were able to see lights around the curves before we could see the car that was about to swerve into our lane as they peeled around the turn. What's more, the Irish mist made it's way down from the mountains just enough to create an additional hazard on the roads and our windshields. Needless to say we were relieved to see the exits for Killarney.

We made our way to the main street in Killarney, expecting to find it as bustling as Kildare had been earlier. Yet by then, the Irish had begun to head home and the roads were relatively empty. We stopped by two bed and breakfasts to inquire about vacancies and both informed us they were closed until March. They both gave us the name of the same bed and breakfast on a different street and so we decided that this would be our best bet. We purchased some souvenirs, including a Guinness poster and some Connemara worry stones, and then got back in our car to find the bed and breakfast.

We were surprised, but pleased to find that the bed and breakfast had a small parking lot in the front and additional parking around back. After making our arrangements with the B & B owner's daughter, we brought our luggage into a small, but neat bedroom with one single and one double bed. Since it was nearly 7 PM and we had not eaten dinner, we made the five minute walk into downtown and found a pub for some grub.

The pub was actually full since we were eating at normal Irish dinner time and we just managed to find seats. After ordering our food (my favorite fish and chips, while Chad ordered sheppards pie), we watched a tense rugby game between Ulster, the Northern Ireland team, and Munster, a team in the Western region of the Republic of Ireland and the defending European champions. Needless to say that our pub vigorously cheered on Munster, but to no avail. To put it in Irish terms, Munster got "walloped" and our pub was seriously disappointed with their performance. It was like watching the Vikings beat the home field Packers in the Krolls bar - not pretty.

After our meal and sport, we headed back to our B & B for a quick nap. We set our alarm (this room had one!) for 10 PM so that we could get up and head back into town for some traditional Irish music. Luckily our alarm worked and we actually woke up. We walked back into town and tried the first pub that advertised music. As soon as we stepped in we knew that we wouldn't be staying. The music was provided by some young pup with his guitar and the bar was filled with hip Irish twenty-somethings. We turned right around and walked out.

The next bar was much improved. The crowd was much older and the music that was about to start was going to be played by one mid-age gentleman and two older gentlemen. The area where the music was going to be played had only about 15 seats, including two couches. Every seat was already filled, except for one couch which had a lone man sitting on it. Chad politely asked if the rest of the couch was taken and the gentleman told him that he was saving his wife a seat. Although Chad was a little puzzled, because we clearly could have fit two more people on, he decided not to push the issue and we found two standing seats near the bar with a good view of the music area. Within a few minutes, bartenders brought out bar chairs for all the ladies who were standing, including myself.

The music started and was just what we had imagined- wonderful traditional music that the crowd knew and could sing along. While viewing the seating arrangement near the music, Chad picked out one clearly foreign couple. The wife was Italian or Spanish and loved the music, tapping along and bobbing her head. Her German husband, however, was not at all a fan and Chad pegged him for being the first to leave. We closely observed them as they finished their drinks and got another; yet, Chad was certain they would leave before 11 PM.

The bar began to get more crowded, with a variety of ages filling in all the standing space. I was on my second Irish Cider when we noticed the foreign couple begin to gather their coats. In a flash, Chad and I were in motion and had already sat down at their spots before anyone else in the room knew what hit them. We congratulated ourselves with a fist pound and celebrated with another Irish Cider and a Bailey's for Chad. We kept both beverages in the middle of the table, though, so no one would have to know whose drink was whose.

After a few minutes of enjoying our new seats, a group from Cork came and stood near us. On the other side of us was a different group of people (next to the rude couch couple), also from West Cork. They were both merry bunches and their energy was contagious. Soon the musicians played a song from West Cork and an older woman from the left group randomly grabbed an older gentleman from the right group and pulled him onto the dancing area in the middle of the room. Without even hesitating, they began to dance together to the fast paced rebel song. Chad and I were truly astonished at their agility and ability to dance with a stranger.

At different points in the evening, the Corkers danced to songs and when they weren't dancing they were belting the words out along with the singer. One fellow in particular was fond of shouting, "yeeeeehaaaaaaaaaaaw" at various points during the songs, as you can hear on the video we recorded. The music wrapped up around 12:30 AM and the patrons, including ourselves, headed toward the door. It had been a wonderful evening and we would be humming Irish songs to ourselves for the rest of the trip.

Video: "Rock on Rockall"